Frequently Asked Questions

Previously face-to-face classes are meeting via remote delivery starting on Monday, March 30, 2020, and will continue to do so through the remainder of the spring semester.

The Graduate College provides some resources for making the switch from face-to-face to remote. Please visit The Graduate College’s strategies for remote learning page.

All of the Shop Talks for the remainder of the semester will be accessible remotely. Please visit the Shop Talks page for a full schedule.

Yes, and for some documents, such as transcripts, mail may be necessary. However, The Graduate College encourages using email when possible. If you have questions about what can be sent via email, please email us at gradcollege@txstate.edu.

You need to communicate with both your instructor and your graduate advisor about the class and any impacts on degree timelines.

Deadline extensions for master’s and doctoral students can be viewed on The Graduate College’s deadlines page.

Forms may be filled out and signed electronically, and sent via email to The Graduate College at gcdegspcl@txstate.edu. Please contact our Degree Audit Specialists at gcdegspcl@txstate.edu if you have any questions.

Until further notice, thesis and dissertation defenses and oral comprehensive exams are not to take place in person. Instead, they will be held remotely via Zoom or Teams. This decision was made to help protect the health and well-being of the entire campus community.

Spring 2020 Commencement has been postponed until Thursday, August 6, 2020, and Saturday, August 8, 2020. The schedule can be viewed on the university’s commencement page.

If Spring 2020 graduation candidates are eligible to graduate at the end of the spring semester, they will still receive their degree and a diploma (via regular mail) even if they are not able to participate in the rescheduled commencement ceremonies in August.

In some disciplines, COVID-19 has a greater impact on research activities than others. All graduate students, though especially those whose research and/or progress towards their degree is negatively impacted by COVID-19, are encouraged to reach out to their research advisor, graduate advisor, and to The Graduate College to discuss potential changes to research timelines, the scope of the work, research methodology, course sequences, etc.

The IRB office has been reaching out to researchers (PIs) with active human subject research protocols to address this topic. Please visit the university's IRB website for more information.

The university’s COVID-19 page provides detailed information on the travel restrictions currently in place at Texas State University.

The deadline to apply for the Fall 2020 round of the Thesis and Doctoral Research Support Fellowships has been extended to July 15 this year. (The next round of Research Support Fellowships opens September 15 - November 15.)

Instructional assistants and teaching assistants are automatically paid for the additional week since this week was used to transition courses to remote teaching. Research and graduate students working in administrative positions will be paid for the hours they worked during that week.

No, since all instruction has moved online, it is the expectation of the university that meetings of an instructor with teaching assistants are held online as well. 

Teaching and instructional assistants can participate in training sessions. Please visit the faculty training opportunities page for more information.

Many graduate students may have invisible underlying health conditions which put them at a much higher risk of becoming infected. Other graduate students with families have childcare or eldercare duties. With department chair approval, graduate student employees are eligible for remote working provided that the student’s work can be accomplished from home and that they have a secure internet connection and an appropriate workspace. A Remote Working form needs to be filled out by all graduate student employees who have been allowed to work from home.

Many graduate students may have invisible underlying health conditions which put them at a much higher risk of becoming infected. Other graduate students with families have childcare or eldercare duties. With department chair approval, graduate student employees are eligible for remote working provided that the student’s work can be accomplished from home, and that they have a secure internet connection and an appropriate workspace. A Remote Working form needs to be filled out by all research and graduate assistants who have been allowed to work from home. The university strongly recommends that research and graduate assistants be allowed to work remotely or, if working assignments cannot be completed remotely, that social distancing be practiced or potentially (where possible) that assignments be altered to allow work from home. If students have concerns regarding their work environment, they should address them to their supervisor or to the chair of the unit employing them. For unresolved concerns, please contact The Graduate College at gradcollege@txstate.edu.

Please do not come to work, and instead get the medical help that you need. Please notify your supervisor as soon as possible so that arrangements can be made (e.g., a substitute can be found, arrangements for making up hours can potentially be made or for you to be able to apply for emergency aid sick leave, etc.). If your illness affects class participation, consider contacting the Dean of Students Office at dos@txstate.edu so that they can notify your instructors.

Yes, it does apply to graduate student employees. Signed into law on March 18, 2020, the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) provides two new distinct leave categories that Texas State University is making available to all students, staff, and faculty to alleviate some of the work, health, family, and leave challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. The FFCRA is effective April 1, 2020, through December 31, 2020. Since this is a new emergency measure being implemented in a very short time frame, we are asking supervisors to work closely with employees to make sure they are aware of their options and can make the best decision for themselves and their families. For more information, view the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) for Texas State Employees.

• The emergency funding assistance available from the Dean of Students Office is also available for graduate students. Students can apply for the funds via the Emergency funding assistance form.
• Graduate students who face financial hardship can also participate in free professional financial coaching. The university has partnered with a program from the US Department of Education, which offers free financial coaching to students (both undergraduate and graduate). This coaching is done by professional financial advisors/counselors. It is entirely confidential; no information is provided back to the university. The link to the program is on the Bobcat Gold page under “financial coaches”. It might be useful to talk to them about potentially consolidating credit card debt, etc.
• In addition, Bobcat Bounty provides food assistance and links to other resources.

If it is a trip which already occurred, that reimbursement will be processed as usual. If a conference was cancelled and there were no refunds given, The Graduate College will provide funds according to its usual amounts and process. If a conference is postponed to a date prior to August 31 and university travel restrictions will be lifted, previously awarded funds will be available to the student, provided they have not graduated by the conference date. If the conference is postponed until after August 31, and provided that university travel restrictions have been lifted, the student will have to submit a new travel request.

In addition to information provided by the Counseling Center, The Graduate College has compiled some mental wellness-related resources on our strategies for remote learning page.

Please navigate to the ISSS website for updates and contact information.

Yes, registration for new students is open, and students are encouraged to register.

Yes, The Graduate College will be holding an online New Graduate Student Orientation on Wednesday, August 12, 2020. More information will be communicated to admitted students via email in the coming weeks. Graduate programs might be holding separate orientation events. Check with the graduate advisor of your program.

The Graduate College is holding all its information sessions as webinars. The schedule is available on our Graduate Information Events page.

All campus tours have been cancelled until further notice. In the meantime, undergraduate admissions is offering an online campus tour.

Some of the graduate programs have extended their application deadlines and/or are offering rolling admission. Please visit the individual program pages for more information.

Not all of our programs require the GRE/GMAT, and several programs have waived the requirement for summer and fall 2020 admission. Please note that for future semesters, ETS is offering a GRE at home test for students in the U.S. and Canada and in several countries abroad. For a complete list, please check the GRE website. We are monitoring the situation to make possible adjustments to admissions requirements for future semesters.

ETS has launched a TOEFL iBT® Special Home test to help test takers in some countries. In other countries, testing centers for the TOEFL and IELTS test have been closed. Please check the TOEFL and IELTS websites for the most up-to-date information. If an applicant is unable to take the TOEFL/IELTS test due to test centers in their areas being closed, contact The Graduate College at gradcollege@txstate.edu to inquire about deferring your application to a future semester.

Many of the graduate programs allow an applicant to defer admission to a future semester. Please contact The Graduate College at gradcollege@txstate.edu to inquire whether this is an option in your program.

Please contact The Graduate College at gradcollege@txstate.edu to inquire whether you can start the program while in your home country, and/or to inquire if you can defer admission to a future semester.