New Graduate Student Checklist
Not sure where to begin? Here’s a quick checklist of the steps to complete right away to get your first year as a grad student at UMaine off to a great start.
1.) Preparing to Enroll
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2.) Funding your graduate education
enter your anticipated resources
Make sure to complete this step at the earliest opportunity to avoid a late fee. If a 3rd party — an assistantship, military benefits, your employer, or a loan for example — is paying for your tuition and/or fees, you will want to enter the amount the 3rd party is paying into anticipated resources. Tuition bills are generated on a schedule. If a bill has not yet been generated for your tuition, visit the Bursar’s Office Website to see an estimate of the potential charges.
if you have an assistantship, complete your i-9
Once your appointment form is completed and processed by payroll, you will receive an email confirming that your job is activated in MaineStreet and outlining the next required steps. You will then complete the first portion of the online I-9 via MaineStreet > Employee Self-Service > Personal Details. When the first portion of your I-9 is completed AND the job is activated in MaineStreet, you will then go in person to the Office of Student Employment in Wingate Hall with your documents so that they can verify and complete the second portion of the I-9. More information about mandatory paperwork can be found on the Student Employment website.
if you don’t have funding yet, research your funding options
Visit the Graduate School’s webpage about funding options to learn about assistantships, scholarships, fellowships, and grants.
3.) Preparing for your campus experience
graduate school orientations
New Teaching Assistant Orientation
Wednesday, August 28, 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. @ TBD
This event is the place for new TAs to learn about what teaching at UMaine entails, and provides a chance for you to meet and network with fellow TAs.
New Graduate Student Orientation
Thursday, August 29, 1:00 – 4:00 p.m. @ 316 Aubuert Hall
This information-filled day is a great chance to start your graduate school experience off right. Participants will
additional trainings and orientations around campus
More information will be added here as it becomes available.
New STEM Teaching Assistant Orientation
Friday, August 30, 9:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. @ TBD
This STEM-specific orientation will focus on teaching strategies and approaches that are effective in supporting student learning. During this workshop, you will learn about facilitating small and large group discussions with students, discuss features of teaching as part of a multi-section course, practice your first few minutes of class, and meet with the faculty supervisor (and other TAs) for your course. This session is in addition to the general orientation held on Wednesday, August 28.
Need to learn Brightspace as an instructor?
The University of Maine uses the Brightspace learning management system (LMS). You can think of the LMS as a portal for your students to gain access to course content including the syllabus, videos, reading materials, assignments, exams, external links, and publisher content. Sign up for an asynchronous online course with optional synchronous Q&A to help you get started.
