Grad School 101: Emergency Funding and Rackham Resources for Master's Students

Okay, hello everybody. Um so, I hope you're excited. I'm going to talk to you a little bit about my office, which is graduate student and program consultation services. Um so, first things first, um I am the conflict resolution and academic relations specialist for this office. So, what that means is I work with different graduate students as well as occasionally graduate programs to kind of gauge what needs are present, whether it's related to an individual student's experience in their program or related to the program providing additional resources and support to students. So, let's start with a poll. If you all will take out your phones and scan this QR code, I'm going to take you all to our interactive poll with a couple of questions that I'd love to get your responses to. And so, first things first, all as you begin to think about graduate school, what areas are you most excited about? I'm seeing a couple of lot of people are saying meeting new people, learning new things, moving to a new place, um and occasionally some of you are interested in, you know, advancing your research is the most exciting thing. Okay. Obviously, coming to a new experience, as you all are getting ready to go into your master's program, learning new things is definitely obviously what led you to pursuing a master's degree, but of course the people you meet along the way, your opportunities to advance your research, and being in a new environment um can really get you anxious and really excited. So, I'm glad to see that you all are excited about these things. Let's go to our next question here. As you think about graduate school, what are some areas that you're nervous about? I'm seeing learning new things. Some people, I'm sure, are anxious about maybe meeting new people or moving to a new place. Okay, I'm definitely seeing moving to a new place is winning out right now. But learning new things and advancing your research is also up there as well. So, reason I'm asking you some of these questions is because as you're preparing to kind of embark on this new experience for you, letting you get the chance to see that not just you, but other people in a similar situation as yourself are experiencing the same like anxieties or feeling nervous about similar things. So, a lot of people I'm seeing are moving to a new place as the thing that's kind of got you nervous. And then our last question here, where would you go if you ran into a problem? So, whether that's related to your academics or even personal while you're here in graduate school. Okay, my advisor, friends, or related support. Okay, we're kind of battling out between these last three, but giving you a idea as to where are some areas that you're more comfortable going to, but also where are some areas across campus that you can explore support or how to handle a situation. My office is one of those places and hopefully I'll get the chance to kind of show you some of the resources and services that we provide so that you can include us in the list of places that you can run to in case you have a problem, whether it's personal or academic. Okay. And now we are going to exit our poll here and go back to our presentation. All right, so we got a chance to get a good idea as to what are you excited about, what are you nervous about, and where would you go if you had any issues. Let's talk about a little bit more of my office's resources as to why we'd be a good place for you to go to if you have any issues. So, we provide student support, faculty and staff consultation, as well as resolution services. So, what that can kind of look like through experiences we provide a neutral and safe environment so that you feel comfortable to talk and we're here to listen to some of those concerns and complaints that you're experiencing. We also have the ability to kind of refer you to other campus campus resources if our office isn't the most equipped place for you to go to or if we know the appropriate place is somewhere else on campus. We also do mediate conflicts and we advocate and advise on university policy as well as advocating and helping you to advocate for yourself for a fair process. So, here's a couple of examples of some of those things. So, sometimes students will come to us and they'll say, "Hey, I'm having some concerns related to my relationship with my PI or my advisor or sometimes occasionally program staff and they're just wondering, how can I kind of navigate that?" So, whether that's related to a lack of feedback or getting too much feedback or maybe there's been some unclear expectations. Our office is here to help you kind of set expectations for yourself, gauge what type of support you're looking for and how to communicate that to your advisor or your PI. We also talk about academic progress or coursework concerns. So, what that can look like is maybe a student is experiencing some challenges in their coursework and they're wondering "What do I do to kind of get back on track? What are some resources across campus to support me?" Other times that can be related to you maybe being placed on probation or figuring out whether it's a good idea for you to maybe transition out of the program or seek another program that's better suited for you. We also help students to navigate lab settings. So, that can be group dynamics, safety or protocol concerns. We also talk about um emergency funding. So, as a student, you do as a Rackham student, you do have access to emergency funds. So, kind of talking through um how you can get access to that, but if you're not eligible for it, what other campus resources would be beneficial for you. And then lastly, we do include um some support for mental or physical health concerns. So, that could be related to emergency funding, that could be related to getting you connected to um folks across campus to help support you as you navigate your coursework, as you, you know, deal with maybe some physical or mental health concerns. And then some ways in which you can contact us. So, if you find yourself um having a problem or a conflict across campus and you don't really know where to go to resolve it, you can contact us. Um and we're resolution services. So, we help you with those things, but also sometimes it could be beneficial to connect you with a resolution officer who's within your college, within your area or discipline. Um if you feel that you're having concerns um and you don't feel like anyone's listening to you, you can also come to us and we'd be there to support you and help you navigate that. If you needed some information regarding policy um that are affecting, sorry, that are affecting you um currently in the moment or if you plan um on encountering some future issues in your program and you're wondering how is that policy going to impact you, you can always reach out to us so we can help support you in understanding Rackham policy, university policy, as well as sometimes your program policy. If you find yourself needing some help to resolve or maybe mediate a conflict, whether that's with administrative staff or faculty, we're here to support you. As well as if you believe that your rights have been violated or you haven't been given due process. So, that think about that related to probation, um reaching milestones, potential dismissals, um funding issues. All of those are areas in which you can reach out to us and we can help you navigate it. So now, let's talk about our emergency funds. So as a master student, you have access to the ability to apply for one emergency award throughout the time that you're in your master's program. For PhD students, that would be up to two times because they're here a little bit longer, but understanding that if you were a master student currently and in the future, you just decide to transition to a PhD program, they kind of start the clock back over again for once you get into a doctoral program. But as a master student, what's important for you to know about our emergency funds is that you're eligible for up to $2,500 for any eligible expenses. So, um emergencies related to like any medical needs, any events that are maybe impacting you financially. Um sometimes we get cases where there's been a theft and students are able to um get support in getting maybe a new laptop. Or in other situations, students have had a issue in which um there's been a death in the family and they're the sole person to kind of care for family back at home, so it's impacting their needs here wherever they are and we can help students in that way. Um occasionally, there's like a actual like weather issue or a disaster that impacts a student's living and we can assist in that way. But emergency funds um are publicly, you know, available once you go on to our website and look for it and it has all of the qualifications and kind of parameters to it. But if you ever have any questions or you need to explore this more in the future, don't hesitate to reach out to us. And then some Rackham resources. So, um as master students, you're not eligible to explore the leave of absence policy. However, as a master student, you do have the opportunity to take some time away or um negotiate reduced coursework from your program. And that can be related to any number of issues that require you to kind of take some time away from your academics. So, that could be a medical issue, maybe a personal reason that you want to take some time away. Um if you have to kind of like pause your education and maybe come back at a later time, you can do that as well. What's important for you to know as a master student, you only um need to be enrolled every 12 months. So, if you were to say in the middle of the semester, I need some time away, you can take some time away um understanding with any financial repercussions, but you don't have to go through a more formal process of submitting a leave request and getting approval from other folks. Other times students may be wanting to take a leave of absence, but they may not, you know, feel it's a good time for them. So, they can speak with their program and come up with a plan for reduced coursework so that they're not fully um taking on the brunt of all their coursework during a difficult time. So, that is something that you want to explore with my office. If you have any questions or you find yourself wanting to take some time away or explore reduced coursework, don't hesitate to reach out to us. And then we have our parental accommodation policy. So, for that parental accommodation policy, that's for any birthing parents or any um parents who are newly adopting anyone. So, that can be up to adoptions for children that are 6 years or younger. So, that allows for 6 to 12 weeks for birth or adoption, and each parent or partner is eligible. During that time, it is a reduction in your coursework and not a leave. So, that's the reason why we want to emphasize that to you is that to understand that it's more of a opportunity for you to have a reduced coursework rather than completely um ending or pausing your academic progress. So again, if you have any questions for that or you're kind of nervous about how to explore and utilize this policy, don't hesitate to reach out to my office. And then we have a couple of workshops. So um we have our first workshop which is that of our navigating difficult conversations. This is a workshop in which we provide resources and tools to help students navigate um uncomfortable situations. And when I say uncomfortable, I mean um maybe talking to your PI or maybe asking clarifying questions or navigating difficult situations where you're wondering, "What does my progress look like in the program? Um how do I come to a common ground with my advisor or the program on the progress that I'm making?" Or occasionally, if you find yourself doing research and you're wondering, "How do I kind of navigate this unfamiliar experience with maybe different personalities or different lab dynamics?" Things like that. And we also do a workshop going over group dynamics. So understanding that you're coming into a new environment of graduate school and sometimes you'll be in a cohort or you'll be with a different group and you have to figure out, "How do I kind of navigate this while also maintaining my interests and my goals?" And then another thing that we do is listening circles. So listening circles are not so much a workshop but rather facilitating a dialogue. So a couple of listening circles we've done in the past is maybe for our first-gen students, our Latinx students, as well as some of our first-time um international students. We've done that for a number of different select populations, but we've also done listening circles for maybe um labs who are maybe having a difficult time um working with each other. Um all of those are going to be focused on dialogue and rebuilding trust and working towards a common goal. And then this thing here, you're saying it says, "Look for the link in our weekly Rackham Student Newsletter." But during the academic term, so fall and winter, every Monday and Wednesday my office puts on virtual office hours. So you can just pop in on Zoom and ask us questions and get support in case you're unable to kind of set up a meeting on a standalone day. So you can know you can always just click on the Zoom for Mondays and Wednesdays from 2:00 to 3:00. So you can get access to someone from my office so we can help you kind of navigate any challenges or concerns you may have or even just answer any questions that have come up for you. And then here's our contact information. So um again, you can go on to our website and um include opportunity to set up a meeting. You can always reach out to us individually. I am the conflict resolution and academic relations specialist. So when you reach out to me, you're more likely going to talk to me first whether you email the office or you email me directly. But I also have my director's um email on here as well. Sometimes the director will also do consultations as well. So that's something to keep in mind. Either way, as long as you reach out to us, we'll always be speedy and um timely in getting back to you and try to set up opportunity to work with you further. Okay? So I know, you know, we're recording this, but should you all have any questions, this will be the time to ask them and I can give you a good ideas to some other things that we do in our office or if you have anything that's really specific and pressing, I'd be glad to answer that now for you. Okay? >> [clears throat] >> Do you know when we receive reloc- relocation stipend and our monthly stipends? So um normally stipends are given once a month. Um depending on the scheduling of it, it may not always be at the first of the month. But, if you want to know more details, it might be beneficial to work with your program for the specifics or our financing fellowships team. And then we have a question here that is, "So for in-person meetings, we have to set up an appointment." Yes. So if you want to talk with us in person, um you just have to set up a meeting with us. Um our office is hybrid, meaning there unless you talk to us, there might not be a chance that you can just pop into our office and catch one of us. So it's best to set up a meeting with us or just email us so we can coordinate a good time for everybody. No problem. Um so again going back to the hybrid portion, we meet with folks via Zoom very frequently, but whenever a student prefers to meet in person, we can always arrange it. So just kind of coordinating. Okay. >> [clears throat] >> So if there's no more questions, I can give you a little bit more details of maybe some of the common um consultations that we get in our office. So sometimes students will come to us because they're curious about opportunities for additional research outside of their program. They're sometimes curious around um reaching milestones or if they're worried about communication around progress towards milestones. Rare occasions, we get folks who are concerned about academic probation. So they've either been told that they're being placed on academic probation or they're nearing the end of their academic probation and they're wondering what resources or support they can get as they either get off of academic probation, um appeal academic probation, or if they're talking about potential dismissals. The best consultations, um so the ones that aren't as so heavy sometimes, are sometimes when folks are just wondering, "Hey, how do I get access to testing accommodations? Or how do I get a chance to get job opportunities on campus?" Those are easy referrals as well as we get a chance to connect you with other offices, do a warm handoff so that it's not just you Google searching and just trying to set up a meeting all on your own. We want to be a good resource to connect you to other campus offices or other folks on campus who could be just as helpful. Well, if there's no more questions, again, don't hesitate to reach out to our office as you embark on your journey here or set up a meeting on our website. And thank you all for being available and getting a chance to learn about our office.