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Department of Geology & Geophysics

College of Mines and Earth Sciences

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Onboarding

Congratulations! After a thorough review of your application, I am pleased to inform you of your admission to the
University of Utah.  You should have recieved an official notification from the University of Utah containting the below information and tasks. Please start working on these right away. Please note that our department office is not invovled in these processes; if you need assistance, reach out to the administrative departments listed in the text below. 

Request an official transcript and proof of conferred degree(s) be sent from all colleges/universities you have previously attended, except the University of Utah. If you have already had official transcripts sent to the Office of Admissions, please disregard this request. You may track the receipt of your official transcripts by going to admissions.utah.edu/track/.

In your acceptance letter from the U, make sure your residency status and academic program are correct. If not, reach out to the Office of Admissions.

In your acceptance letter from the U, you will be told your official University ID or "uNID".  Your default password is your birthdate in MMDDYY format. Your uNID and password give you access to your Campus Information Services (CIS) account, where you can register for classes, pay tuition, check UMail, and more. Try logging in now at Campus Information Systems.

The Graduate Catalog is available online at gradschool.utah.edu. Please familiarize yourself with institutional policies related to graduate studies, including the minimum continuous registration and immunization requirements.

Visit our onboarding webpage. 

Also, review First Year and Ongoing Semester action items you may need to do before your first semester.

 

Good to know:

  • Salt Lake City has a law that a car cannot be parked on the street in the spot for more than 2 days. 
  • You can apply for state residency after you take 40 credit hours.

Look for an email from our Director of Graduate Studies about the below events. 

Orientation: We hold a New Graduate Student orientation each August and January. 

Luncheon: We also hold a Back to School Barbeque Luncheon for all faculty, staff, post docs, and graduate students the Friday before the start of Fall Semester. It is normally at 11:30am in the Rock Garden (directly outside our building on the east side).

Camping Trip: Each August-September, we host this camping trip to celebrate your joining our department, but more importantly to encourage camaraderie within the new cohort. Current graduate students who were on the trip last fall are attending and are excited to get to know you and answer whatever university, research, or Salt Lake City life questions you may have.  Food, transportation, and camping gear (if needed) will all be provided. This is not a required event, but highly recommend it. This is a great way to get to know your new cohort and the current graduate students in a relaxed and fun environment. 

International Teaching Asssitant Program (ITAP):  International students whose first language is not North American English and who have been awarded financial assistance in the form of teaching assistantships by their academic department must be cleared by the ITAP Program prior to beginning their TA assignment. Students who are not cleared before the semester begins are not eligible to receive a tuition benefit as a teaching assistant. To be cleared, you must must first complete the required ITAP training. This training takes place BEFORE the start of Fall Semester and must be done in-person; plan to arrive to Salt Lake City at least 2 weeks before the first day of the semester. Request that our Department Payroll & Payables Coordinator register you and make sure to take the training date into consideration when scheduling your travel to come to Salt Lake City to start school.  For information, visit:https://gradschool.utah.edu/ita/ or http://www.utah.edu/ita.

  • Starting Summer Semester? Please work with our Payroll & Payables Coordinator to make sure you know how many credits you need to take for summer semester and how much you may need to pay.
    • International Graduate Students: Your VISA and tuition benefit requirements vary and you may end up needing to pay out of pocket for a few credit hours.
  • First Fall Semester: All graduate students need to enroll in “Reviews in Earth Science” (GEO 6950) during their first Fall Semester. (This course is not offered Spring Semester.)
  • Frontload Content Courses: It is ideal to take all your content-specific courses early on in your program and to take at least 2 per each semester. However, you should consult with your Faculty Advisor/Committee Chair about which courses to take each semester. Keep in mind that not all courses are offered every semester or every year. Refer to Department Course Catalog as a guide. 

Office assignments are made by the Director of Graduate Studies (faculty member). As much as possible, we try to keep research teams together. Once you know which room you will be in, you are welcome to select any of the unoccupied desks; it may be best to talk to your office mates to find out which desks are available. Full-time students have priority for office space over part-time students. Students who fail to make satisfactory degree progress and/or students who are found to be using their offices improperly (i.e., for non-university activities) will not be assigned departmental office space.  

If at any time you would like to change offices, please discuss it with the Director of Graduate Studies (faculty member). If a change is approved, please make sure the Graduate Advisor (staff member) is aware of the change. 

Faculty members who control individual research labs may decide which students will occupy space in their lab.

Check out our directory website.

Consider following our Deptartment on social media; find links on our homepage. We highly recommend connecting with us on FaceBook and/or Instagram and LinkedIn (which we are just starting to use in Fall 2023).

Also, consider following the U of U College of Science, College of Mines and Earth Sciences, Seismography Stations, and Global Change and Sustainability Center.

Check out our student clubs.

You are welcome to participate in Department events (see Events links in upper righthand dropdown menu).

Two popular weekly events that are: Refreshment Hour AND our DLS Lecture Series.

  • You will be assigned a shared mailslot in 301 FASB. Any mail that comes for you, will be put in your mailslot.
  • If you receive a package, we will email you and you may sign for it and pick it up in 383 FASB during business hours. Note: Any items purchased with university funds are to be mailed/delivered to a university address. 
  • If you need to send a package, we have shipping supplies in room 301 FASB. You may also work with administrative office staff to ship the package; please have the account (chartfield) to be charged on hand (see below). Also, there are outgoing off-campus and on-campus mail drops in the Dean's office (206 FASB).

 

Last Updated: 8/9/23