September 2013 – Elliott School Graduate Student Services

Winter Study Abroad Program

GradAdvisorSeptember 26, 2013Leave a comment

Interested in studying abroad this winter? The School of Business offers select short term abroad programs to qualified graduate students. The deadline for the following programs is October 4.

GW School of Business candidates as well as qualified graduate applicants from the Elliott School will enjoy a unique learning experience through a faculty-led study abroad program to Dubai, UAE. [6 credits]

Russia : Behind the Scenes at the 2014 Winter Olympic Games Over the course of the program students meet with various 2014 Winter Olympic stakeholders from International Olympic Committee Members, sponsor executives, local organizing staff to media, volunteers, and athletes. In addition, students gain access to some of the Olympic Game's sport, media, and hospitality venues. [3 credits]

GWSB GEE Winter Deadline Flier_GW (2)

Share your experience by participating in Graduate, Distance, and Professional Student Focus Groups.

GradAdvisorSeptember 18, 2013Leave a comment

Share your feedback about the Graduate, Distance, & Professional Student Experience at GW! Join us at one of our five Focus Groups next week or sign-up to be a part of our Focus Group Conference Call. To register, RSVP here.

Join us at one of the following dates and times:

Monday, September 23rd | 9-10 PM
Tuesday, September 24th | 12-1 PM
Wednesday, September 25th | 7:30-8:30 AM
Thursday, September 26th | 5:30-6:30 PM
Friday, September 27th | 2-3 PM
Conference Call | Date TBD

The hour long focus group will include the opportunity to discuss and share one's experience as a GW graduate student with GDP staff to help us and our university partners better craft experiences related to your needs. All attendees at the focus groups will receive complimentary food and beverages at each session held on the Foggy Bottom campus sponsored by the Graduate, Distance and Professional Student Experience within the Center for Student Engagement.

Where's George?

Last spring George set off to explore the GWU campus and Washington, DC. Each month we'll post picture and clue of his latest whereabouts on Facebook.com/19thandE. The first person to correctly identify his location by commenting on the Facebook post will win an Elliott School T-shirt! If you haven't already done so, be sure to like us on Facebook so that you'll have a chance to win!

Completing Your Initial Plan of Study

GradAdvisorSeptember 5, 2013Leave a comment

Attention students who began programs this fall: Your Plan of Study is due October 15^th.

The Plan of Study outlines the degree requirements for each Elliott School graduate program. This is an evolving document, and we expect you to make changes and updates to your plan as you progress through your program. But you should fill out the plan of study completely with your best guess of the classes you intend to take and the semesters in which you will take them.

The Process

Locate your program’s plan of study on the Elliott School website under Forms & Applications.
Review your program’s curriculum using the Elliott School website.
Using blue or black ink, or typing directly into the form (save a copy to your desktop first), enter complete course information and the semester you intend to complete each course on the form in the appropriate space.
Submit your form to your program director for review. If you plan to meet with your program director to discuss your plan, we strongly encourage doing this well in advance of the October 15 deadline.
Deliver your completed plan of study, signed by your Program Director, to the Office of Academic Advising and Student Services (1957 E Street NW, Suite 302). You do not need an appointment to submit your plan of study (you are of course welcome to schedule an appointment with your academic advisor if you have questions). You can also email your Plan of Study to advising@gwu.edu or fax it to 202-994-9537.
Your plan of study will be reviewed by your Academic Advisor. Once reviewed, you will receive an electronic copy of your plan of study. This process can take up to 3 weeks. Therefore, we encourage you to complete your plan of study and submit it to Academic Advising in advance of the deadline. All plans received on or before the October 15 deadline will be returned to students before Spring 2014 registration begins.

Failure to submit a completed plan of study, signed by your Program Director, by October 15^th will result in an administrative hold on your account which will prevent you from registering for Spring 2014 classes. Forms received after the deadline are subject to this hold. If the plan is received late, we will do our best to remove the hold as soon as possible, but this will not happen immediately.

What to Include in Your E-mails to Your Advisor

GradAdvisorSeptember 3, 2013Leave a comment

As you may know, or will soon learn, e-mail is one of the primary forms of communication you'll use to contact your academic advisor and/or faculty, staff, and peers. When it comes to e-mail, we aim to respond to your messages in a timely manner with accurate information. With the exception of extremely busy times of year (like now!) we can typically get back to you within 2-3 business days, unless the nature of your inquiry is complicated.

The following tips are based on real e-mails we've received from students:

Include your full name and GWID in the body of your e-mail. Not only will this help us quickly identify who you are, but it will enable us to make sure that your e-mail correspondence is uploaded to your student file for record keeping.
Give your e-mail a subject which accurately reflects the content will help us reference e-mails from you. Please don’t leave the subject line of your e-mail blank or vague or use overly-dramatic language (“Questions”, “URGENT”, “HELP ME”, “RESPOND IMMEDIATELY”, etc.).
Send one comprehensive e-mail that contains all of your questions and thoughts. Treating e-mail like an instant message is counterproductive. We want to give you a complete response to your question, but first we need to know all of the information you’re going to provide.

Tip: When sending an e-mail with detailed information and complicated scenarios write a draft and save it. Marinate on your thoughts, edit the text, and then hit send. 9 times out of 10 you’ll find that you have a follow-up question, forgot to attach a document referenced in the e-mail, etc.

We truly appreciate when students follow-up! It’s great to stay on top of things, and make sure you get the answers you need, but allow a reasonable amount of time to pass before e-mailing us again. We typically respond to messages in the order they’re received (accounting for real emergencies and time-sensitive issues of course), so sending us multiple e-mails won’t speed up the response time.

Considering these tips when drafting your e-mails could help us meet our primary goal, which is to help students succeed! You can also incorporate these tips when e-mailing other individuals at GW (i.e. professors and administrative offices).

Attention students who began programs this fall: Your Plan of Study is due October 15th.

Attention students who began programs this fall: Your Plan of Study is due October 15^th.