Current Graduate Students

Tuesday, December 12th – Spring 2024 tuition statements emailed to students.

Wednesday, January 10 th – Spring 2024 tuition due date. Student Financial Services will assign finance holds on students’ accounts who have not paid their tuition by that date. You will need to contact SFS directly to remove finance holds to enable you to enroll. (434) 982-6000; sfs@virginia.edu.  

Monday, January 15th – Martin Luther King Holiday (University Holiday)

Wednesday, January 17th – Spring classes begin.

Thursday, January 25th, 12:00 p.m. – Deadline to enroll and resolve holds.

Wednesday, January 31st 

ADD deadline for all UVA Engineering courses (full-time students must be in 12 credits by this date)

Deadline to change grading option from graded to non-graded credits.

Wednesday, February 28th – DROP without grade of W for all UVA Engineering courses.

IMPORTANT NOTES:  UVA Engineering students must adhere to other schools’ deadlines! Drop deadlines for other schools at UVA are much earlier.

Arts & Sciences DROP deadline is February Ist Other schools drop deadlines: https://registrar.virginia.edu/enrollment-information/spring-enrollment-2024

See UREG’s Academic Calendar for updates and other information https://registrar.virginia.edu/. 

Saturday, March 2 – Sunday, March 10 – Spring Break

Wednesday, March 13 – DROP with final grade of W for all UVA Engineering courses.

Tuesday, April 30 – classes end

Thursday May 2 – Friday, May 10 – Final exams

Friday, May 17 – Sunday, May 19 – Finals/Graduation Weekend

Full-time spring enrollment = 12-15 credits

GTA/GRAs receiving any form of financial aid (fellowship, GRA or GTA) from the School of Engineering this spring, must be enrolled in 12 credit hours/full-time (this can be all research hours in your research advisor’s section). You must be enrolled to receive financial aid.

Part-time Enrollment = 6 credits or less. NOTE: Part-time students’ tuition is based on what you register for, and you should not register for more than 6 credits or receive any financial aid from SEAS.

If you register for a multi-section research or independent study course, choose your instructor carefully. The instructor of the section for which you register is the only one who can give you a grade at the end of the semester. If he/she doesn’t know you, the grade will not likely be a satisfactory one.

SIS Holds Preventing Enrollment. Click on “details” to find out who placed the HOLD and who to contact to get it lifted. The Engineering Graduate Office can only lift an “Engineering Hold.” We can’t lift financial holds, Student Health holds, ISO, Dean of Students holds, etc.

You don’t see the 1242 – 2024 Spring term in SIS. You are not term activated for spring, meaning that SIS is not expecting you to be a student in the spring semester. This often happens if you are expected to receive your MS this semester but plan to continue in a PhD program. Check with your Graduate Director to see if your expectations match your department’s expectations. If so, your Graduate Administrator can contact me to request term activation for Spring so that you can register.

Review your SIS account at the beginning of each semester for enrollment accuracy.  Please communicate with your academic advisor or departmental Graduate Coordinator regarding course enrollment, and check your Academic Requirements report in SIS to be sure your courses satisfy your degree requirements. 

If you have any problems or questions, contact me jef2f@virginia.edu or Ashley Haddox aka4a@virginia.edu

All on-grounds, degree seeking students are required to be enrolled full or part-time according to their approved full or part-time academic load.

Students graduating in May 2024. All May degree candidates must be enrolled in coursework/research (or affiliated status for students who qualify). If you are interested in affiliated status enrollment, please contact me jef2f@virginia.edu for further details before January 8th. The deadline to apply in SIS for May graduation is February 1st.

NOTE: VEO Students do not have to be registered for classes at UVA every semester.  Also, due to the nature of this program, you do not have to be registered for classes at UVA every semester. If you have problems or receive confusing emails, please contact the VEO administrator, director, or advisor - contact information can be found here: https://engineering.virginia.edu/online/current-students/contacts.

If you are a degree-seeking VEO student, you should enroll in the course section with an online instruction mode (typically course sections numbered in the 600s) and can enroll yourself without instructor permission unless you do not meet the course prerequisites.

If you are a non-degree VEO student, you will continue to require instructor permission to enroll in courses.

If you are a student in an on-Grounds degree program, you only have permissions to enroll in the in-person course sections, not online sections.

• If you wish to enroll in an online section of these courses, you must request an exception via the approval of Associate Dean for Graduate Education, Jim Smith (jas9e@virginia.edu) before seeking instructor permission to enroll in the course. Exceptions will not be granted based on student preference; rather, they will be reviewed for educational need (e.g. student is doing research fieldwork away from Charlottesville during the semester).
• Students seeking course accommodations for medical or disability-related condition should contact Student Disability Access Center (SDAC), which will work directly with school representatives to determine what accommodation is appropriate.

There may be a limited number of courses for which only an online instruction mode is offered for pedagogical reasons, and for these courses you have permissions to enroll yourself in this section if you meet all other listed catalog requirements for the course.

When students arrive they will attend an informative orientation led by the department that will help them become familiar with all of the resources we have to offer here in the Department of Chemical Enginering. This is also a time for new students to meet other students as well as faculty. Typically this orientation is held within a week prior to the first day of the fall semester. The 2024 schedule will be available soon!

All new international students holding all non-immigrant statuses are required to bring their legal documents and proof of the orientation quiz completion to the ISO upon your arrival in Charlottesville.This is required so that the ISO can determine your legal status and make copies for our records as required by U.S. law. You can find all of the information on this on the INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS & SCHOLARS WEBSITE.

• UVA GRADUATE HOUSING
• HOUSING GUIDE (PDF)
• UVA OFF-GROUNDS HOUSING SERVICE
• BLUE RIDGE APARTMENT COUNCIL
• UNIVERSITY CLASSIFIED ADS
• CRAIG'S LIST

Each student will receive (3) different ID's at the University. The first is your Computer ID which will also be your email address (followed by @virginia.edu). The second ID will be your University ID. This ID number will appear on your ID card and be the one you will use the most on grounds. The third ID number is your SIS ID which the administration will use for your class registration, grading, transcript, and other official functions. You can find all three IDs in your Student Center in SIS. You can obtain your University ID Card after you register at the ID Card Office, Observatory Hill Dining Hall, during normal business hours.

Activate UVA Email Account & Systems Access

You will need to follow the procedures listed HERE to gain access to your email account and other university systems such as UVA Collab and the Student Information System (SIS).

All UVA students must have health insurance and must complete the Health Insurance Hard Waiver. Students receiving funding will be provided with health insurance through the University. You will need to sign up for this once you arrive and need to sign up each year in August. If you are not receiving funding you may also sign up, but will have to pay for your premium. All students may add dental insurance that can be purchased separately. This premium is not paid by UVA. Visit the following links for more information and to sign up:

• STUDENT HEALTH: INFORMATION FOR NEW STUDENTS
• AETNA: UVA STUDENT HEALTH INSURANCE WEBSITE
• UVA'S HEALTH INSURANCE HARD WAIVER REQUIREMENT

In our department, we have three types of positions that are filled by graduate students: MTAs, GTAs, and GRAs.

MTAs are Masters students who are paid by the hour for tasks such as grading assignments, holding office hours to help students, etc. The current MTA hourly rate is $15. MTAs are scheduled approximately 10-20 hours per week. MTA positions offer no other benefits and do not waive or reduce the tuition costs – so tuition would still need to be paid in full by the MTA student.

GTAs are typically PhD students who are serving as Teaching Assistants, and GRAs are typically PhD students who are serving as Research Assistants. 

In each academic year, the department expects to fulfill a significant number of MTA positions. Being an MTA can help a student reduce their overall cost of attendance. Being a MTA is a great way to learn a topic more deeply, and our current MTAs say that helping other students learn is a very fulfilling experience. While Masters students are certainly not required to be an MTA, our UVA CS community relies on this expertise, so Masters students are encouraged to apply. 

All new PhD students are usually considered GRA's (even if your admission letter says that you are receiving a "CS Fellowship"). So, if you are an international student and expect to receive funding, then one of the first things you need to do when you arrive is to get your social security card. You must be in the country for 10 days and then go to the social security office: 1470 Pantops Mountain Pl, Charlottesville, VA 22911. 

New students who expect to be an MTA, GTA or GRA  must obtain a Social Security Card as soon as possible. If you are a PhD student, then some time after you arrive, you will receive information on your stipend and when you should expect to receive your payments. You will also receive a notification from Workday (the HR system) about completing your I-9 form. Here is more information about the I-9 process and the required documents you will need: HTTPS://HR.VIRGINIA.EDU/COMPLIANCE/I-9-AND-E-VERIFY If you are a Masters student, then you will apply to work and this is an hourly position. Details will be given once you are hired. 

It may be as late as Oct. 1 before you receive a paycheck so try to bring enough money to last for 6 weeks. If you have questions about your funding you can email CS-OFFICE@VIRGINIA.EDU. 

EMPLOYMENT OF NON-CITIZENS

As soon as possible, you will need to get a social security card by taking their passport to the address below. This will need to be done before you will be allowed to receiving any type of payment. All PhD students will need a social security card.

Social Security Office
1470 Pantops Mountain Place
Charlottesville, VA 22911
(800) 772-1213
(434) 295-1144

You need a checking account at a U.S. bank in order to receive your stipend payments. Once you have a bank account, then you will need to set up direct deposit through your SIS account. 

DIRECT DEPOSIT DIRECTIONS.

All International Students whose first language is not English are required to take the UVELPE test. Note that you cannot fail the UVELPE; based on the results, some students are recommended for writing or spoken English classes, designed to ensure a successful research and teaching career at the University of Virginia.

If you are going to be a MTA or a GTA in the Fall, you MUST take the SPEAK test. (UVELPE and SPEAK are two separate tests). All of the information on these tests can be found on the CENTER FOR AMERICAN ENGLISH LANGUAGE & CULTURE WEBSITE.

Defense Instructions

NOTES:

1. Please pay attention to deadlines. They change every semester. 
2. On all forms, leave signature boxes empty. The student services coordinator will collect signatures electronically after the defense. 
3. Some committee chairs may request printed forms instead. These are also acceptable. 

STEP 1: APPLY TO GRADUATE IN SIS

• See UVA IT instructions.

STEP 2: COMMITTEE FORM 

• Complete and submit this form to Sam Caneda two weeks before date of defense. 
• Fill out all sections except for ‘SIS ID’ and signature boxes at the bottom of the form. 
• Talk to the chair of your committee about whether you wish to have a private question and answer period with faculty only. If so, the chair of the committee would excuse the non-faculty participants after their questions are finished. 

 STEP 3: ABSTRACT TWO WEEKS BEFORE YOUR DEFENSE

• Send Sam Caneda an email with:
  • Date
  • Time
  • Location
  • Names of Committee Members
  • Exact Dissertation Title
  • Abstract

STEP 4: DAY OF DEFENSE

• Send an email to your committee chair on the day of your defense with the following things: 
• Report on Final Exam Form 
  • Fill out all parts except for the Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory boxes and the signatures and email to your committee chair.  
• Assessment Form
  • Only fill out the top section of the form.
• List of publications 
  • This can be in the same format as your CV.
• Completed Approval Sheet & Title page
• Copy of Transcript 
  • This can be retrieved through SIS 
• Embargo Request Form, if necessary. 

STEP 5: LIBRA UPLOAD & SURVEY OF EARNED DOCTORATES

• After you pass your final defense:
• Complete the Survey of Earned Doctorates.
  • Save your Certificate of Completion and email it to Jayne Weber. 
• Wait for an email from the LIBRA  team with instructions to upload your thesis. 
  • Important Note: if you submit an embargo request form, please wait for confirmation from the LIBRA team that the embargo has been placed before uploading your thesis. 
• Upload your thesis according to instructions. 
• Verify that all course grades have been entered. 
• More information about this process can be found here.

STEP 6: KEY, ID & FORM TURN IN 

• Return your keys and ID to the front desk (CHE 117). 
• Complete the Lab Check-Out Form
  • This can be sent to Sam Caneda or can be brought in along with keys and ID. 

STEP 6.5: ALUMNI SURVEY

• Complete the alumni survey sent out by Sam Caneda at the end of the semester. 

STEP 7: CEREMONY AND CELEBRATION

• Diploma information can be found here.
• Let  Sam Caneda know if you will be attending the Department Diploma Ceremony.  
• Watch for emails about caps and gowns. 
• Health coverage typically expires around July 31st of the year you graduate. 
  • More information here.