North Carolina Council of Graduate Schools Annual Meeting
October 26 and 27, 2017

Reach for the Stars: Pathways to Success

Hosted by The Graduate School of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

The Graduate School of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is honored to host the 2017 N.C. Council of Graduate Schools Annual Meeting. This annual meeting is an opportunity for colleagues throughout the state who support graduate students and graduate education to come together to:

Registration is $85 per person and includes a welcome event at the Morehead Planetarium and Science Center on October 26 and the conference on October 27. Hotel accommodations are separate.

Please email GraduateSchoolDean@unc.edu with any questions about registration.

Twitter hashtag: #nccgs2017

Conference Accommodations

Two hotels – both convenient to campus – have reserved blocks of rooms for 2017 NCCGS Annual Meeting attendees. All guests must identify themselves as a member of the NCCGS to receive the event rate. Extensions for Friday evening are limited so please make those arrangements quickly.

Courtyard by Marriott Chapel Hill
100 Marriott Way, Chapel Hill, NC 27517. Phone: (919) 883-0700
This hotel is conveniently located across the street from the William and Ida Friday Center for Continuing Education. The conference rate, for October 26 and 27, is $159. The last day to reserve rooms with the special rate is September 26, 2017.

Hampton Inn & Suites
370 East Main Street, Carrboro, NC 27510. Phone: (919) 969-6988
This hotel is conveniently located in downtown Chapel Hill-Carrboro. The conference rate for October 26 is $139, and the rate increases to $199 for October 27. The last day to reserve rooms with the special rate is September 26, 2017.

Registration Fees

Registration is $85 per person and includes a welcome event at the Morehead Planetarium and Science Center on October 26 and the conference on October 27.

You can pay your registration fee individually (check or credit card) or your institution can pay for all its attendees at once. If your registration fee will be paid by your institution, please select "Check" as your payment option. When paying for multiple registrations in a single payment, please include a list of attendees whose registrations are included with the payment check.

Checks should be payable to UNC-CH and sent to:
Attn: Rhonda Ethridge
200 Bynum Hall, CB# 4010
Chapel Hill, NC 27599-4010

For NC state agencies, registration fees may also be paid via CMCS (Cash Management Control System) using UNC-CH agency number 6020. If you have any questions about registration fee payments, please contact Rhonda Ethridge at rhondae@email.unc.edu or (919) 966-2611.

Conference Schedule

Thursday, October 26, 2017
Morehead Planetarium and Science Center

The opening reception will be held at the UNC-Chapel Hill Morehead Planetarium and Science Center, located at 222 East Franklin Street, Chapel Hill. See information on parking near the Morehead Planetarium.

The Morehead Planetarium and Science Center, the largest fulldome planetarium in the southeastern United States, reaches more than 150,000 visitors each year with its science programs. In addition to its GlaxoSmithKline Fulldome Theater, the center includes several exhibits and the Science Stage, where visitors participate in live science demonstrations.

During the 1960s and 1970s, the planetarium provided training for U.S. astronauts from the Mercury, Gemini, Apollo and Skylab programs — 62 astronauts, including 11 of the 12 men who walked on the Moon, trained here.

The Morehead Building opened in 1949 as a gift of John Motley Morehead III (1870-1965), a UNC-Chapel Hill alumnus who wanted to provide the people of his home state with the best possible resources for science education.

Thursday, October 26
Time Activity
6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.

Reception and welcome, State Dining Room

Hors d'oeuvres (catered by Green Planet Catering)

8:00 p.m.

Special showing of “Carolina Skies” Planetarium Star Show (optional and no tickets required)

“Carolina Skies” takes Morehead visitors on a guided tour of the nighttime sky as it appears on the very night above North Carolina. Visitors learn how to identify celestial objects visible to the naked eye and how to find the cardinal directions using celestial signposts. They learn about the legends and myths created by ancient cultures to explain the astronomical phenomena observed by those cultures.

Currently, "Carolina Skies" shows also include an exciting "fly-out" experience that travels beyond our Solar System into the Milky Way Galaxy and beyond into our universe!

Friday, October 27, 2017
William and Ida Friday Center for Continuing Education

The 2017 NCCGS Annual Meeting will be held at the William and Ida Friday Center for Continuing Education, located approximately three miles east of the UNC-Chapel Hill campus, just off Hwy. 54 East.

Download parking pass for the October 27 Friday Center events pdf icon

Friday, October 27
Time Activity
8:00 a.m. - 9:00 a.m.

Conference registration and continental breakfast
Sponsored by ProQuest

9:00 a.m. - 11:15 a.m.

Plenary sessions

  • “Utilizing Holistic Review Practices in Admissions”
    Presenter: Casey Miller, Ph.D., Associate Dean for Research and Faculty Affairs and Associate Professor, Rochester Institute of Technology
  • “The Future & Growth of Graduate Student Affairs”
    Presenter: Lisa Brandes, Ph.D., Assistant Dean for Student Affairs and Director of Graduate Student Life, Yale University
  • “Making the Leap: Key Factors that Get PhDs Hired into Non-Faculty Jobs”
    Presenter: Paula Chambers, Ph.D., Founder and CEO, Versatile PhD
11:15 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. Break in the atrium
11:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.

Development and fundraising
What are best practice approaches to securing private resources for graduate education?

Student funding resources
How can faculty and staff members assist graduate students in researching, applying for, and managing external or internal funding opportunities?

Admissions/CRMs
What are best practices for recruiting, reviewing, admitting and communicating with new graduate student cohorts?

Student professional development
What skillsets and competencies are necessary for preparing graduate students for a changing and diverse workforce?

12:30 p.m. - 1:45 p.m.

Lunch
Opening remarks by Marlene Coles, ProQuest

Post-Conference Sessions
2:00 p.m.

N.C. Council of Graduate Schools executive board business meeting

NC PSM Directors Meeting

We look forward to seeing you in October!!

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