Graduate Student Perceptions of the Texas A&M University Campus Climate

The Office of Graduate Studies (OGS) hosted a one-hour brown bag lunch on Tuesday, April 23 (noon-1pm) in 2400 MSC to explore the initial findings of the Graduate Student Campus Climate Survey, administered during the spring of 2012.  Topics that were covered include graduate students’ perceptions of the Texas A&M University campus climate – overall, in their academic departments, and based on experiences with their faculty advisor(s)/committee chair(s). The presentation examined campus strengths, differences between selected demographic groups, student concerns, and leverage points for creating a campus that is welcoming to all.

     Presentation

     Supplemental handout

According to Section 1601.1021 of the Texas Insurance Code, postdoctoral fellows and graduate student fellows who meet the following criteria are eligible to participate in the Texas A&M University System insurance programs.

• Holds a postdoctoral fellowship and is currently receiving a stipend from an applicable fellowship, or

• Holds one or more graduate student fellowships awarded to the individual on a competitive basis that, either singly or in combination, are valued at not less than $10,000 per year, and is currently receiving a stipend from an applicable fellowship.

PLEASE NOTE:  The fellow must pay the full premium cost for the insurance coverage. This process pertains to Graduate Student Fellows who are NOT employees and NOT currently paid as employees through Texas A&M University or other System Payroll Office.   Graduate Assistants (GATs, GANTs, GARs, and GALs) are employees of Texas A&M University and continue to be eligible for the insurance programs.

When does the postdoctoral or graduate student fellow become eligible for accessing the group health insurance plan?
Beginning September 1, 2012, fellows who meet the above guidelines are eligible to enroll in the group medical insurance plan following the procedures established for Postdoctoral and Graduate Student Fellows.

Which fellows are eligible? What documentation is required?
Fellows must hold in aggregate a “competitive” award or awards of $10,000 or more per year and receive a stipend from an applicable fellowship. Department Heads, the Office of Graduate Studies, or the Office of the Vice President for Research must certify that an individual meets the criteria above.  The Postdoctoral Fellows or Graduate Student Fellows Certification form will be sent to Human Resources (HR).  Upon receipt, individuals who meet the criteria will receive notification from HR regarding insurance options and instructions for enrollment.   For fellowships not administered by Texas A&M University, the fellow will need to present evidence of an award show the amount and dates of the award to the Office of Graduate Studies.  The funding and dates on the fellowship document should fall within the fiscal year during which the fellow is eligible to purchase the health insurance.

Is a student eligible for the group insurance plan if the student has a fellowship that pays a stipend of less than $10,000 per year, but the student also has a separate tuition payment credit, and the total of the stipend plus paid tuition is $10,000 or more?
No – the stipend paid to the student has to be $10,000 or more per year.

Is a student eligible for the group insurance plan if the student  has a one-semester or summer-only fellowship that pays a stipend of at least $1000 per month during the months they are on the award (i.e., the monthly rate is high, but the total amount of the award is below $10,000)?
No – the stipend has to be $10,000 or more per year.

Is a student eligible for the group insurance plan if the student  had a one-semester award for $5000 for the fall, but subsequently picked up a second award for at least $5000 for the spring?
Yes – the fellow could enroll in the group plan starting in spring once they have qualified on the basis of having a total stipend of $10,000 or more per year.

Is a student  eligible for the group insurance plan for the full year if the student  has an award stipend of at least $10,000 for the year, but it is paid to the student in one lump sum at the beginning of the year?
Yes – as long as the stipend is $10,000 or more per year, and it is obvious from the award letter that the award is for the full year period.

What will it cost for a student to enroll?
Go to the benefits section of the HR web page for premium costs and additional benefit information.  www.employees.tamu.edu

When can eligible fellows enroll? Are they limited to the summer open enrollment period?
Fellows eligible for the insurance have three enrollment/change opportunities: the initial enrollment period, Annual Enrollment, drop coverage, and any mid-year qualified change of status events.

• The initial enrollment period is a 60-day window.  The 60 days will begin on the date that Human Resources notifies the fellow or the start date of the fellowship, whichever is later.
• Annual Enrollment is the open enrollment period during July when changes can be made for any reason.
• A student  has the option to drop coverage at any time and may re-enroll only during the following Annual Enrollment period held in July.
• A mid-year qualified change of status event allows individuals to make certain applicable and appropriate changes to the benefit selections.  Examples of qualified changes of status include events such as a marriage, birth, or loss or gain of other group insurance coverage that would allow the individual to make applicable insurance changes within 60 days of the event (or even enroll for the first time if they didn’t previously). Individuals experiencing a qualified change of status should contact HR to determine enrollment or benefits change options applicable to their type of change in status.

Go to the benefits section of the HR web page for premium costs and additional benefit information.  www.employees.tamu.edu

Could a student  enroll for the insurance in January or at some other time if he/she were eligible in September but chose not to enroll?
No – not without a mid-year qualified change of status event (see above).

What list of insurance coverage options are students  eligible for?
Eligible students may enroll in the following plans:

• Medical
• Dental
• Vision

Eligible fellows may also enroll their eligible dependents in the medical, dental or vision plans. Fellows are not eligible for any other plans offered to employees as part of the university’s group insurance program or the university’s retirement programs.

Go to the benefits section of the HR web page for additional information. www.employees.tamu.edu.

How would a fellow enroll in the program? Where do they go to enroll?
All eligible fellows may enroll through HR. Contact 862-1718 or benefits@tamu.edu for additional information regarding the enrollment process.

How will the premiums be paid?
Fellows are responsible for paying the full premiums. Upon enrollment fellows will complete bank draft information for the premiums to be paid automatically each month.  Programs have the option to increase stipends to enable students to receive more funds from which they may pay the premiums directly if they so choose. It is not possible to deduct the premium amounts from payments the fellow receives through their student account.

Will the Office of Graduate Studies be able to increase the size of fellowships this fall to cover the amount needed for the medical premiums?  
No – all our fellowship funds were committed in the spring for FY2012-2013. We will consider how to reconfigure future fellowships. However, the Office of Graduate Studies makes available a reimbursement for up to $2400 (the equivalent of the old graduate student health insurance plan) for many fellowship holders.

Thesis/Dissertation format requirements, as well as other services and processes, are changing for students who will graduate in December 2012.  This announcement will summarize the major changes. For resources and other guidance please visit the Thesis/Dissertation pages on the Office of Graduate Studies website.

Format Changes

Style Guide

Students will no longer submit a sample journal article from a selected journal model to the Thesis Office. See the chart below, and consult with your committee and/or department, for allowable style choices in the thesis/dissertation.

Page Numbering

The location of the page number has shifted to the bottom center of the page. Students are no longer required to rotate the page number placement for pages in the landscape orientation.

Preliminary Pages

• Copyright and Approval Pages have been eliminated. The unique information these pages (committee listing and copyright notice) have been moved to the Title Page
• Preliminary lines have been eliminated from the Abstract Page.
• The Abstract Page is the first numbered page (using the lowercase Roman numeral ii)

Body

A journal model sentence will no longer be included on page 1 of the thesis/dissertation.

Back Matter

The Vita has been eliminated. The last page of the thesis/dissertation should consist of reference or appendix material.

Review and Service Changes

In addition to format changes, the Thesis Office has also made the following adjustments to review processes and services:

• The pre-submittal conference will be offered in a face-to-face, group format approximately once per week. Students who cannot attend in person should consult the online pre-submittal conference tutorials.
• The Thesis Office will no longer provide copy-edit feedback on the Abstract, Dedication and Acknowledgments; however, if content therein does not meet standards, revisions will be requested.
• Corrections feedback will be more generalized, pointing to patterns of problems in the document with reference to examples, as needed. Students will need to review the entire document to address all iterations of an identified problem.
• Students requiring extended rounds of review (more than 3) will lose priority in the review queue in order to ensure fixed resource are able to serve all students equitably. Feedback times may be extended for these students, while deadlines to clear Thesis Office in order to graduate in a given semester will remain in effect.