Grad Advising News and Announcements
NEW Non-credit internships and the SIS Professional Experience Requirement
Students completing an internship this fall to fulfill the SIS MA Professional Experience requirement must
register the internship. Internships can be registered either for non-credit (no tuition charge, only fulfills
the Professional Experience requirement) or for academic credit (tuition charges apply, may fulfill the
Elective requirement in addition to the Professional Experience requirement). Students must submit their
completed internship registration materials (including any necessary approvals and attachments) to the
Graduate Advising office by Thursday, September 4 to allow time for processing before Monday,
September 8. Students who anticipate securing a fall internship after the registration deadline, or
who will be unable to complete the registration paperwork by the deadline, should contact their
academic advisor in advance of the deadline to discuss options. For more information about the SIS
Professional Experience requirement visit the SIS Graduate Advising website. For more information on
registering internships, please review the Add/Drop Registration FAQs
http://www.american.edu/sis/gradadvising/News-and-Announcements.cfmor visit the SIS Graduate
Advising website. http://www.american.edu/sis/gradadvising/index.cfm
NEW SIS Graduate Student Council (GSC) Elections
The GSC acts as a forum for the needs and interests of graduate students in SIS and provides
opportunities for academic and professional development, social interaction and community service.
Each year senators are elected from each program to represent their cohort. To vote for your program's
senator for this year's GSC, please visit https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/QDKKR3Z Questions about
the elections? Contact GSC president, Jane Burke at jb4192a@student.american.edu
Internship and Independent Study (including SRP and thesis) Registration Forms Deadline
Students registering Internships (for academic credit or non-credit to fulfill the professional experience
requirement) or Independent Studies (including SRPs and theses) for the fall 2014 semester are required
to submit their completed registration materials (including any necessary approvals and attachments) to
the Graduate Advising office by Thursday, September 4 to allow time for processing before Monday,
September 8. Students who anticipate being unable to complete the registration paperwork by the
deadline for any reason should contact their academic advisor in advance of the deadlineto
discuss options. Incomplete paperwork will not be processed. For information on registering
independent studies (including SRPs and theses) and internships, please review the Add/Drop
Registration FAQs http://www.american.edu/sis/gradadvising/News-and-Announcements.cfmor visit
the SIS Graduate Advising website.
http://www.american.edu/sis/gradadvising/upload/F14-X14-Registration-FAQs.pdfFall 2014 Add/Drop,
Express Advising and Registration FAQs
The last day of the add/drop period (the last day to make changes to your schedule for a 100% refund) is
Monday, September 8. Advisors are holding Express Advising hours for the duration of the add/drop
period, and will not resume appointments until September 15. For Express Advising schedules, please
visit: http://www.american.edu/sis/gradadvising/ For registration FAQs, please review the Add/Drop
Registration FAQs. http://www.american.edu/sis/gradadvising/upload/F14-X14-Registration-FAQs.pdf
Apply to Graduate for Fall 2014
Students planing to complete all program requirements this semester must apply to graduate via their
myAU portal (under Academics – Apply to Graduate). We recommend that you complete the application
as soon as possible (the application takes less than 5 minutes) so that your advisor can begin reviewing
your graduation eligibility for fall.
Fall 2014 Skills Institutes
For an updated list of weekend skills institutes being offered this fall, and instructions on how to make
registration changes for skills institutes after Monday, September 8, please visit:
http://www.american.edu/sis/skillsinstitutes/upload/F14-Skills-Institutes-5.pdf.
Fall 2014 Orientation Strategic Advising Materials
Materials from this year's Orientation Strategic Advising sessions, including a copy of the powerpoint
presentation and handouts provided, have been posted on the Graduate Advising website under News
and Announcements for any interested students. This includes a handout on campus resources and one
on language learning resources at AU and in DC.
Upcoming Events
TODAY Alumni in the Atrium: David Parker (Center for Strategic And International Studies)
Tuesday, September 2, 4:00-5:00pm, SIS Atrium
Please join SIS Career Center advisors in conversation with David Parker, SIS/MA '13, Research
Associate at CSIS. Students, alumni, faculty and staff are invited to join an informal discussion about her
work and career path since SIS. No RSVP is necessary. Come ask questions, receive advice, and build
your network. Join for just a few minutes or the entire hour.
NEW Office of Merit Awards Info Session: Critical Language Scholarship
Thursday, September 4, 4-5pm, MGC 200
The U.S. Department of State's Critical Language Scholarships provide funding for intensive overseas
study of "critical need" languages, including Arabic, Azerbaijani, Bangla/Bengali, Chinese, Hindi,
Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Persian, Punjabi, Russian, Turkish, and Urdu. Critical Language
Scholarships are offered for beginning, intermediate and/or advanced level summer language programs.
For more information: www.clscholarship.org/. The national deadline for summer 2015 is November 15,
2014 (tentative).
NEW Graduate Enhancement Workshop: Fulfilling (and Excelling at) your Foreign Language
Requirement Examination: Resources and Strategies
Monday, September 15, 5:30-6:30pm, Graduate Research Center
For more information and to RSVP: http://www.american.edu/provost/grad/upcoming-events.cfm
Presented by Center for Language Exploration, Acquisition and Research (CLEAR)
In this workshop we will review graduate language requirements and the best ways for you to prepare to
demonstrate the required proficiency. We’ll specifically discussing what is entailed by the required
proficiency examination and how to tailor your prep efforts. We will then utilize a standardized instrument
so you can individually determine your foreign language experience and capabilities and have a clear
idea of where you stand. For those planning on starting a new language or brushing up on a language
you have not revisited for some time, we will discuss strategies specific to language study as well as the
resources available to you at AU.
FOR SIS EVENTS: http://www.american.edu/sis/events