Graduate School Newsletter

November 2024

Important Announcements

Compassion Project Workshop

Friday, Nov. 15^th | 10AM-12PM | Hannon Hall Room 180

The GradCat Wellness program is happy to announce another workshop with the Compassion Project - an organization whose mission is to spread and teach compassion through art and mindfulness education. Workshops are led by trained Compassion Project volunteers that are also in the Graduate Counseling Program. As fellow students juggling work, school, families, and their broader lives, they understand the challenges graduate students face and are excited to connect with you. Attendees can expect to be led in a group mindfulness practice, creative art activity, and small-group discussion. Please RSVP for the Compassion Project Workshop here.

Managing Election Stress

Experiencing election-related or midterm stress? Counseling and Psychological Services has extended mindfulness drop-in services and let's talk drop-in services during the week of November 4^th. To see more information on other available services, or to schedule an appointment, visit the Counseling and Psychological Services website.

Upcoming Dates & Deadlines

Nov. 11 – Veterans Day (no classes, offices closed).
Nov. 13 – Last day to drop classes with a "W" grade.
Nov. 25-29 – Fall Break (no classes, offices closed 11/28-11/29).
Dec. 2 – Last day for master’s and doctoral comprehensive examination or thesis/dissertation defense if the student plans to graduate Fall 2024.
Dec. 6 – Last day for formatting approval of Electronic Thesis or Dissertation (ETD) by the formatting advisor. 5PM deadline.

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Funding & Fellowships

INBRE and Tribal College Summer Opportunity for Graduate Students

Chief Dull Knife Tribal College (CDKC) is interested in having one or two graduate students engage and mentor their summer undergraduate research students in Summer 2025. Their program runs from early June to the end of July or early August for 8 weeks and involves a range of projects funded from NIH, NSF and NASA. The research team spends several days a week camping at Tongue River Reservoir and 1-2 days analyzing data at their college labs. There is a stipend of $6000, and housing for the non-camping nights will be provided. Graduate Students will need to have their own car. In past summers, graduate students have helped in a range of ways, from supporting the science data collection and analysis to creating a film. Please email Sarah Codd if interested scodd@montana.edu.

Identify Scholarships and Research Funding for Your Graduate Education!

The MSU Graduate School maintains a Funding & Fellowships webpage listing various ways you may find funding throughout your time at MSU.

The University of Illinois has an excellent Fellowship Finder featuring awards that are open to grad students from any university. It features several filters to aid your search.

The National Research Council postdoctoral program is used by federal agencies across the country to support postdoc searches. This is a great place to look when you are close to finishing your PhD and the salaries are quite good. Quarterly application deadlines.

For more funding opportunities, visit MSU's Research Funding Opportunities and the MSU Graduate School's Funding and Fellowships webpage.

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Workshops & Events

First-Gen and Non-Traditional Student Week

Nov. 4^th through 8^th | Various Events Across Campus

Please join us in celebrating National First-Generation Student Week by attending various First-Gen events in November.

Here are some resources that First-Gen or Non-Traditional Students might find useful:

GradCat 360, holistic professional development
Navigating Graduate School as a First-Generation Student (external link)
Graduate First-Gen webpage (lots of resource links)
Childcare grants (MSU)
GradCat Wellness (lots of resource links for food, community, wellness)
Food Security Scholarship
Students Raising Children student organization (find them on CatsConnect)
First-Generation student organization (find them on CatsConnect)

Your diverse experiences and perspectives enrich our campus community in invaluable ways. We’re thrilled to have you here, and we appreciate the unique contributions you bring to our academic and social environment. Thank you for being part of our community!

Graduate School Diversity Leadership Coalition (GSDLC)

Thursday, Nov. 7^th | 12-1PM | SUB Room 168

The Graduate School Diversity Leadership Coalition (GSDLC) is a collective of graduate student representatives from affinity-based clubs on campus. GSDLC meets two times per semester with the goals of 1) building community and collaboration between clubs, and 2) helping the Graduate School understand how to be a catalyst for improvement for the needs of students from diverse backgrounds.

Anyone who is a Graduate Student part of an affinity-based club on campus can participate in GSLDC. To participate in the next meeting, please identify one representative for each club and then RSVP at the GLSDC meeting form. If you have any questions or comments, please reach out to the Grad School Student Success GA at taylorladd@montana.edu.

Graduate Student Leadership Council (GSLC)

Wednesday, Nov. 13^th | 3-5PM | SUB Room 235

Join the Graduate Student Leadership Council (GSLC) at our Awareness Forum for free food and conversation. GSLC will be sharing updates from MSU councils as well as answering questions and gathering feedback regarding the graduate student experience, so bring your questions regarding policy, housing, or anything else you can think of to the event! GSLC wants to help identify resources and create solutions to issues faced by grad students, and your feedback goes a long way in getting us there! If you can’t attend the event, or are an online student, or want to get your thoughts on paper early, please consider filling out the question and feedback form at the link in the MSU calendar event. For additional information, reach out to GSLC through Michaela Johnson at michaela.johnson4@student.montana.edu.

Professional Development: GradCat 360

GradCat 360 is a comprehensive professional development program for graduate students at Montana State University. It is a series of programs and events designed by the Graduate School and departments across campus that center around nine focus areas. These areas are tailored to help students cultivate a unified set of skills and knowledge for educational success and professional preparation.

Check out our GradCat 360 Event Calendar, specifically curated for Graduate Students. We are constantly updating the GradCat 360 calendar with workshops and events that are uniquely useful for graduate students.

MSU Writing Center

The MSU Writing Center offers ongoing support to students working on graduate-level writing.