Welcome, graduate students in Asian Languages & Literature!
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The following resources are most applicable to current graduate students. Prospective students should consult the Graduate Programs page to learn about available programs and admissions policies.
If you find errors here or have suggestions for additions/changes, send email to asianadv@uw.edu!
Jump To:
Communication
Funding and Employment Resources
Policies and Procedures
MA and PhD Degree
Graduate Certificates
Registration/Grades/Transcripts
Academic Progress
Changing Advisers, Committees, or Programs
Leaves of Absence
Concerns and Grievances
Career Planning
Graduate Student Association (GSA)
Additional Campus Resources
Communication
Please check, read, and respond to your UW email at least daily! Forward to UW Google (and access via Gmail) is recommended, but you can forward to another personal email address if you want to receive all your personal and university-related email in one account.
Email distribution lists (graduate students are already subscribed)
Asian L&L Graduate Students: asiangrad@uw.edu
Announcements of likely interest to our graduate students. This is a moderated list. The Graduate Program Coordinator (GPC), Chair, and Asian L&L staff can post directly.
Teaching Assistants: asiantas@uw.edu
Announcements and other work-related communications to our graduate teaching assistants. This is a moderated list. The Chair, TA Training Committee members, and Academic Counselor can post directly.
Advisers and other faculty
Do not hesitate to contact your faculty adviser and other department faculty when you have academic questions! Take advantage of faculty office hours! Prepare for your meetings with faculty!
GPA, GPC, Chair
When you have questions or concerns that are not best addressed by faculty or if you are not comfortable raising issues with faculty, contact the Graduate Program Advisor (GPA) in Gowen 225 or via email at asianadv@uw.edu. If you have a concern about your interactions or working relationships with faculty, you can consult with the GPA, the Graduate Program Coordinator (GPC), or the Department Chair. Also, see the Concerns and Grievances section below.
Staff
The department staff are
- Administrator: handles payroll, financial and administrative tasks
- Academic Counselor and Graduate Program Advisor (GPA) (asianadv@uw.edu): primary point of contact for all questions related to graduate policies and procedures: requirements, examinations, graduation, petitioning to proceed, going on leave, funding opportunities, etc.; TA coordinator; Ping-Pong tournaments coordinator
- Coordinator (asianpc@uw.edu): scheduling classes, classrooms, and events; handling add codes
- Assistant (asianll@uw.edu): first point of contact for the department (front desk and email); helps with administrative tasks including travel reimbursements, marketing and communications, events, and Gowen building issues.
Calendars
- Asian L&L Department Calendar (internal) Visit the help pages from Google and from Outlook for more information on how to subscribe to Google calendars and view them alongside your own calendar.
- Events Calendar (external)
- UW Academic Calendars
Funding and Employment Resources
Graduate Student Funding
Teaching Assistant Opportunities
Resources for Current TAs
Travel and Conference Funding Support
Policies and Procedures
The department's official MA and PhD Policies and Procedures document
MA Degree
Guidelines (milestones, requirements, graduating, proceeding to PhD program)
Graduation Steps
- Check that all coursework, examination, and research requirements will be fulfilled by the end of the quarter (ask Academic Counselor).
- Submit MA degree request on MyGrad.
- Submit research papers to committee and after approval, to the Academic Counselor; OR submit MA thesis with faculty signatures on Thesis Approval Form to the ETD site and to the Academic Counselor.
- Collect faculty signatures on Committee Signature Form (CSF) and submit to Academic Counselor.
PhD degree
Guidelines (milestones, requirements, graduating)
Graduation Steps
- Check that all coursework, examination, and dissertation requirements will be fulfilled by the end of the quarter (ask Academic Counselor).
- Submit PhD final examination (defense) request on MyGrad.
- Submit dissertation to committee.
- After final examination (defense) approval, collect faculty signatures on Committee Signature Form (CSF) and submit to Academic Counselor (or committee chair can do this).
- Submit dissertation to ETD site and make sure all Reading Committee members have approved the dissertation on MyGrad.
Graduate Certificates
There are several graduate certificates offered by other departments that Asian L&L students often add to their graduate degrees.
Graduate School Policy
Certificates often pursued by Asian L&L students
Manual audit for graduation
Students who are enrolled in a certificate program must complete a manual degree audit prior to graduation because the MyGrad degree audit will not function on concurrent student records. Please consult the Academic Counselor at asianadv@uw.edu for assistance!
Registration/Grades/Transcripts
Periods/Deadlines
Procedures
ASIAN 600/700/800
ASIAN 600 (Independent Study), ASIAN 700 (Master’s Thesis), and ASIAN 800 (Doctoral Dissertation) require faculty approval and a faculty code when you register.
First, students have the initial conversation with the faculty member, and then email the faculty member and the Academic Counselor at asianadv@uw.edu in the same message, requesting faculty approval for the course (e.g. ASIAN 600), quarter (e.g. Autumn 2024), and number of credits (e.g. 5 credits), based on your previous agreement with the faculty member. Then the faculty member will respond to the student and Academic Counselor with their approval and their faculty code. This will minimize the number of emails that need to be sent.
Add Codes
If a course requires an add code for registration, you must consult with the instructor of the course, who will give you an add code if they approve and if there is space.
Grading
For information regarding grades and grading practices for Graduate Students, see Scholastic Regulation, Chapter 110.1.B.
Note that courses taken for S/NS grades cannot be counted toward any department or program requirements, and that graduate students must maintain a Grade Point Average of 3.0.
Transcripts
You can always view and download your unofficial UW transcript in PDF form from MyUW. Official transcripts can be ordered from Parchment via the Office of the Registrar.
Academic Progress
adviser meetings
Annual Graduate Student Review (AGSR)
Graduate School policy
Changing Advisers, Committees, or Programs
- Student secures new faculty commitment and approval
- Faculty and student notify the Academic Counselor in writing (email)
- Student notifies the former faculty adviser, committee member(s), and/or program faculty
Leaves of Absence
Going on leave requires both departmental and Graduate School approval. Departmental approvals can be made for an entire academic year, but Graduate School requests must be done quarterly.
- Read and understand Graduate School Policy 3.5, Graduate On-Leave Status, and Department Policy 5.2.3
- Notify the Academic Counselor at asianadv@uw.edu
- Complete and submit the Departmental Request for On-Leave Status form
- Submit an on-leave status request on MyGrad at the beginning of each quarter of department-approved leave
- After approval, pay the quarterly fee online
Concerns and Grievances
Asian L&L Voicing Concerns page
Graduate School Policy 3.8: Academic Grievance Procedure
College of Arts and Sciences Academic Grievance Process
Career Planning
Your first and most important resource for career planning is your faculty adviser, other faculty, and your peer mentors. The department occasionally hosts an Asian L&L specific career panel with department alumni as panelists. The University also has career planning resources through the Career & Internship Center.
Graduate Student Association (GSA)
The Asian L&L Graduate Student Association (GSA) is the departmental organization representing all Asian L&L graduate students. It participates in a number of departmental and university-wide functions, as follows:
- GPSS Senators participate as departmental representatives in the university Graduate and Professional Student Senate (GPSS) meetings.
- Faculty Liaisons attend the Asian L&L Departmental Faculty Meetings and report back to the graduate students.
- Treasurer: The graduate student body has a specific fund with a bank account, managed by the GSA Treasurer. This fund is independent from the Asian L&L departmental finances and is to support the graduate students in the department in the areas of conference travel, Graduate Student Colloquium, computer maintenance, and other expenses relevant to the common good of the Asian L&L graduate student body.
- Annual Book Sale: This is a two-day event, taking place usually in the Spring Quarter. During the Book Sale, donated new or used books related to our field of study will be sold at a low price first to our own students then to the general public. These books, including materials on non-paper media, are donated by UW faculty members, former graduates, friends, students who have just finished their degree programs, and even current students.
- Annual Graduate Student Colloquium: This is held every year typically during the Winter Quarter so as to not conflict with the Spring Quarter Book Sale. The colloquium provides graduate students the chance to share research results and collaborate with one another. It further allows the organizers to have an experience planning and carrying out an event like a professional academic conference.
Interested in learning more about the Graduate Student Association? Graduate Student Constitution (PDF)
A complete list of GSA leaders can be found here.