October 25, 2023 - Fall Grad School

The University of Maryland’s Independent Student Newspaper

THE DIAMONDBACK

October 25, 2023 Grad School Guide FALL 2023 8 Pages Full color guide grad student

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Table of contents

CONTENTS

3: Grad Student deadlines 5: UMD revokes health insurance waivers for some International students

6: UMD GSG’s priorities for graduate student advocacy this year

7: advice for grad students Founded 1910, independent since 1971.

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Deadlines

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Grad Student DeaDlines

By Sam Gauntt | Staff Writer

FALL 2023

Winter 2023

Oct. 2 – Nomination of thesis committee Nov. 6 – Change credit level, grading option or drop a course Nov. 10 – Dissertation Forms – Dissertation and Report of Examining Committee Form due Dec. 6 – Thesis forms due

Jan. 5 – Master’s Programs/Post-Baccalaureate Certificates Jan. 18 – Degree appears on record Feb. 6 – Application for graduation Feb. 21 – Nomination of dissertation committee form March 1 – Nomination of thesis committee

Spring 2024

Summer 2024

April 16 – Dissertation forms April 29 – Thesis forms May 27 – Master’s Programs/Post-Baccalaureate Certificates

June 11 – Degree appears on record June 17 – Nomination of dissertation committee form July 12 – Nomination of thesis committee July 15 – Apply for graduation July 26 – Dissertation forms Aug. 9 – Thesis forms Aug. 23 – Master’s Programs/Post-Baccalaureate Certificates

FAll 2024 Sept. 2 – Degree appears on record

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Health Insurance

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UMD revokes health insurance waivers for more than 100 international graduate students

By Sam Gauntt | Staff Writer More than 100 international graduate students had their health insurance waivers canceled by the University of Maryland after they purchased plans from a private healthcare provider.

Full-time graduate students are automatically enrolled in this university’s Student Health Insurance Plan unless they sign a waiver proving they have other health insurance. Students who bought plans from International Student Health Insurance to avoid SHIP enrollment were informed on Sept.

12 that their plans were invalid.

After informing students about their invalid insurance coverage, the university extended the deadline to waive SHIP enrollment from Sept.

30 to Oct. 16, leaving many students with only a month to find a new healthcare provider.

Some international graduate students said they chose private insurance because it is cheaper than the $2,234 SHIP coverage offered by this university. Students enrolled in SHIP are required to pay the entire amount at the beginning of the year.

Robotics graduate student Tharun Puthanveettil said he purchased a plan from ISO because he thought SHIP coverage was expensive.

“They’re not giving a lot of options, it is one insurance for all,” Puthanveettil said. “Myself and a lot of other students … really wanted to consider any other alternatives which fall within the bounds of the university requirements.”

University Health Center director Spyridon Marinopoulos wrote in an email to international graduate students on Sept. 12 the waivers were canceled because of Affordable Care Act standards.

[Some expired COVID-19 tests are still usable.

Here’s how you can check.]

“International students who are planning to purchase health insurance should first make sure that the plan meets the Affordable Care Act (ACA) standards,” Marinopoulos wrote in the email.

“However, the ISO plans do not meet this requirement.”

Some international students who purchased an ISO healthcare plan for the 2023-2024 academic year had their waivers initially approved by this university. Others were still waiting to hear back from the university when theirs were canceled.

Marinopoulos and Stephen Roth, the graduate school’s associate provost and dean, wrote in an email to international graduate students Sept. 18 that “it is unfortunate that some ISO plans were approved in error.”

Robotics graduate student Akash Parmar also purchased an ISO plan because of the lower cost.

“I thought that university insurance is really,

really costly,” Parmar said. “I didn’t have to use the insurance in the first year. So I thought like, ‘Let’s go for the cheaper one.’”

This is the first academic year where graduate students were automatically enrolled in SHIP unless they submitted a waiver, according to Graduate Student Government president Autumn Perkey.

In past years, Perkey said all graduate students were expected to have health insurance but didn’t have to submit verification of coverage to avoid SHIP enrollment.

Saleel Anthrathodiyil, the GSG financial affairs and student fee matters vice president, said the issue is especially concerning because the majority of students impacted were international students who may not be well-versed in the United States’ health insurance system.

Neuroscience and cognitive science graduate student and GSG representative Rose Ying said the rollout of the policy requiring graduate students to submit a health insurance waiver was “extremely disorganized.”

[UMD GSG once again supports graduate student unionization rights] “Someone who wasn’t in GSG and didn’t have a GSG rep would have no idea that this was coming,” said Ying, who helps organize for the Graduate

Labor Union, a campus organization lobbying for collective bargaining rights for graduate students.

The Sept. 12 email from Marinopoulos to international graduate students said that confusion surrounding the ISO healthcare plan “has been exacerbated by the fact that ISO’s website incorrectly indicated that its plans satisfy UMD’s requirements.”

According to the email, ISO corrected its website and notified this university that it will refund insurance premiums for students who purchased insurance plans through ISO. But some international students said they haven’t received their refund yet — including Puthanveettil, who said he’s been trying to follow up with ISO and said the refunds are coming in on a first-come, first-serve basis.

Parmar said he has also not received a refund despite reaching out to ISO multiple times, adding that students who had their waivers canceled are contending with a lot.

“I wasn’t affected as much but I can see, still, people in the group really troubled by it,” he said.

“I would be devastated if it was my first semester and the situation happened to me. Because it’s not a small amount that you have to pay when you enroll in insurance.”

THE EXTERIOR of the Health Center on Sept. 26, 2023. (Giuseppe LoPiccolo/the diamondback)

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GSG PRIORITIES

Here are UMD GSG’s priorities for graduate student advocacy this year

By Sam Gauntt | Staff Writer

The University of Maryland Graduate Student Government plans to spend this academic year addressing several key issues graduate students face, including accommodations for post-doctoral classwork, stipends for graduate student workers, accommodations for graduate student parents and affordable housing.

The GSG passed a resolution Friday calling for the Maryland General Assembly to legalize collective bargaining for graduate workers in the University System of Maryland, marking yet another step in the organization’s fight for unionization. This issue, along with others like advocating for affordable graduate housing and accommodations for graduate student parents, have headlined the GSG’s list of priorities for several semesters.

“I really want to see unionization this year for the graduate students,” epidemiology doctoral student and GSG representative Nora Jameson said. “I think we are getting closer and closer every year.”

Autumn Perkey, the 2023-24 GSG president and a government and politics doctoral student, said the organization’s first priority this semester is to increase its recruiting effort.

The organization faces a high amount of staff turnover at the end of each year, she said, and it is important for the GSG to recruit a large staff representing as many departments across the university as possible.

“After that, it’s kind of laying the foundation of what’s important to people,” Perkey said. “It tends to not change much because graduate students tend to have the same issues year after year.”

Keegan Clements-Housser, the journalism studies doctoral program’s representative, said the GSG is currently running special elections to fill seats for departments with no representative, adding that the organization’s representative numbers are “pretty low.”

“There’s this kind of vicious cycle that happens where … people don’t run because they don’t feel like they’re being represented, because they don’t run,” Clements-Housser said. “So the more people we have, the more representation we have, the more weight GSG and student government in general has, the more we can accomplish.”

The GSG also plans to continue to work on creating templates for statements of mutual expectations and improving its relationship with university administration, according to Jillian Andres Rothschild, the body’s legislative affairs vice president.

Rothschild said the GSG plans to invite university administrators to speak to graduate students about current university initiatives so the two groups can partner on various efforts.

The relationship between the GSG and this university’s administration is a partnership, Rothschild said.

“We all care about graduate students,” Rothschild said.

“Most people in university administration were once graduate students themselves. So I think reminding them of that, and reminding graduate students of that and yeah, trying to just be more collaborative.”

Rothschild said the GSG will continue to fight for graduate students, even if they don’t get involved with the organization.

“Even if you never think about GSG ever again after this moment, know that we’re fighting for you your entire time here,” she said.

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GRAD ADVICE POLL

GRAD ADVICE POLL

By Abigail Warwick | Enaggement Editor

What is one piece of advice you have for other graduate students?

Have a graduate student as a mentor -@m.r.y.samadi2

Don’t waste your time on something not worth it -@krisluyue1013

Housing is really expensive in CP and on-campus jobs are limited. Try to save money -@m.r.y.samadi2 What is one takeaway from your experience as a grad student at UMD?

Find an advisor who cares about your wellbeing.

Grad life is 100x better if your advisor is supportive. -@debankur.rivu Sign a union card with GLU!! -@_dmgreene_ Time map your day!!! Google Calendar is really good with that -@kingxlex

Advance professional mobility with UMD’s innovative graduate degrees. Learning options include in person or online.

PROFESSIONAL GRADUATE PROGRAMS pp.umd.edu

Have a goal for next two or five years - @m.r.y.samadi2 It’s not easy but the experience I’m getting is well worth it- @kingxlex

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