Program Information and Resources

Minimum Credit Requirements

FMS Learning Goals

How to Create an Individual Development Plan (IDP)

Professional Development Opportunities in Graduate School

Graduate School Requirements and Completing Your Degree Guide

Rubric for Masters PhD

FMS Grievance Procedures

FMS MS Enrollment and Credits Information

FMS Ph.D. Enrollment and Credits Information

Students should consult the following document when determining the correct number of credits to enroll in each semester:

Minimum Credit Requirements

The Graduate School considers full-time enrollment to be 8-15 graded credits taken at 300 or above, excluding pass/fail and audit, during the fall and spring semesters, and 4-12 credits during the summer term, but it is not possible or advisable for graduate students to take that many actual course credits. To help with this, students have the ability to enroll for Research credits. The credits for this course are variable and can be used to help fill the gap between actual course enrollment and full-time status.

Students are strongly encouraged to talk to their advisor about the number of research credits they should enroll in for any given semester. UW expects students to put in an average of 45 hours (3hrs/week) to receive one research credit. For example, if you work 9 hours per week you should enroll for 3 credits. All students in the CFL must be given permission to enroll in Zoology 990. If your advisor is in a different department i.e. CEE or bacteriology, you must get research credits through that department. Permission would be for a specific semester for future semesters you’d need to request permission again.

To request permission to enroll in Zoology 990, email Kelin Boldiis (boldiis@wisc.edu), and provide the following information:

• your name
• campus ID
• name of your advisor
• term in which you want to enroll

Kelin will send you a confirmation email so you can enroll through your Student Center in MyUW.

Note: If your advisor is not iBio faculty or a zero-time affiliate of iBio, you will need to request permission for research through the department your advisor is affiliated with.

A warrant is a program’s recommendation that a student be admitted to doctoral candidacy (a preliminary examination warrant) or be granted a degree (master’s or doctoral), and is the Graduate School’s notification that a student has met both the Graduate School and the program requirements. Warrants are requested electronically by the Graduate Program Coordinator and must be returned to the Graduate School with faculty signatures upon completion of the degree requirements.

Please complete and submit the following form at least 3 weeks before your preliminary exam, master’s thesis defense, or doctoral dissertation defense to notify the Graduate Program Coordinator of your intent to request a warrant:

Zoology/FMS Warrant Request

Once received from the Graduate School, the Graduate Program Coordinator will notify you the warrant has been processed and will explain the next steps.

Upon successful completion of the preliminary exam, master’s thesis defense, or doctoral dissertation defense, the student’s advisory committee must complete and sign the warrant. This signed form must be turned in to the Graduate Program Coordinator.

Note: Students who have successfully defended their doctoral dissertation must upload their signed warrant to ProQuest before turning in the hard copy to the Graduate Program Coordinator.

There are many national associations that students in our department are members of or attend their annual conferences. The Scholarships page has department and university wide scholarships to support travel to present your research at a conference. Below are a few common associations:

• • American Fisheries Society
  • American Geophysical Union
  • Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography
  • International Association for Great Lakes Research
  • The Ecological Society of America

Here is a list Graduate Program Assistantship Rates

• Internal Resources for iBio employees
• Central Campus Teaching and Learning Support
• Graduate Student Professional Development
• Employee Assistance Office
• Teaching Assistant Association (TAA) – you don’t have to be a TA to join
• Graduate Assistantship Policies and Procedures (GAPP)
• Learn@UW Division of Information Technology
• The Writing Center
• University Libraries
• McBurney Disability Resource Center
• Recreation and Well Being Center
• Office of the Dean of Students
• University Health Services
• Campus Child Care Centers
• Graduate School Website
• University Veterans Services
• Ombuds Office
• Bursar’s Office– for payment, tuition, and segregated fee questions
• Office of Compliance Student Support Information page
• Delta Teaching Program
• Data Science Hub Resources
• Guide to academic and professional writing
• UW library course on copyright and fair use for projects
• Diversity Training Resources
• L&S Disability Accommodation Employment

If you have questions or concerns related to credit hours, annual reports, forms, degree and graduation requirements, contact:

Kelin Boldiis, Graduate Program Coordinator, B154 Birge Hall, boldiis@wisc.edu; 608-262-2742

If you have questions or concerns about degree progress, mentor-mentee interactions, program requirements and expectations, contact:

Olaf Jensen, Ph.D., Professor, Director of Graduate Studies, ojensen@wisc.edu;