Graduate & Undergraduate Support

Michigan State runs its graduate and undergraduate academic operations in a decentralized manner. Departments have considerable latitude to array their academic programs in a manner befitting their disciplines and faculty preferences. That said, there are a number of services, tasks, operations, policies, and offices that are shared resources throughout the university in the conduct of efficient undergraduate and graduate program operations.

  • Academic Calendar
  • Academic Programs Catalog 
  • Schedule of Courses
  • Overrides
    • Overrides are an authorization that typically originate with an instructor to grant permissions for students to enroll in a given course. The authorizations are processed through SIS, the Student Information System.
  • CLIFMS (Course Load Instruction Funding and Modeling System)
    • CLIFMS is the way MSU connects instructors to their courses to appear on the Schedule of Courses, as well as contingent services and information repositories.
    • CLIFMS Guide [PDF]
  • Work Copy
    • Work copy is the fundamental charting of courses that will eventually populate the Schedule of Courses for the upcoming academic year. Departments (and colleges) can use work copy to calculate course coverage, ensure faculty obligations are being met, determine graduate teaching assignments, determine where and when courses might run, set enrollment limits, etc.
  • 25Live Classroom Scheduling
    • Faculty, staff, and students can use 25Live to determine if a space is available for reservation. All room requests are reviewed/approved by the classroom scheduling personnel of the Registrar’s Office.
  • Schedule and Enrollment Limit changes
    • Depending on the department, advising specialists, faculty, program directors etc. will request changes for room and enrollment issues. Use the RO Faculty & Staff menu to request the changes under the Schedule Forms Menu.

Graduate Support

  • Annual Progress Report
    • Annual Progress Reports are filed by each program for each graduate student. Ideally, the annual progress report gives students a chance to reflect upon their progress within their respective programs, as well as for faculty to give their interpretation of that performance from a disciplinary and administrative point of view.
  • Dissertation/Thesis Completion Form
    • Ph.D. students and M.A. students are required to complete this form when they complete their dissertation or thesis. It requires the signature of their committee chair, and must be filled out in its entirety. Students can submit the form directly to the Graduate School (contact info is on the form), but should cc the program’s graduate secretary upon submission.
  • IRB (Institutional Review Board)
    • For those students and faculty who are doing research on human subjects, they are required to obtain approval for their research projects for research compliance. They use the Click compliance system to facilitate this process.
  • RCR (Responsible Conduct of Research and Scholarship)
    • Graduate students are required to participate in a number of modules of research training during their time at MSU, as well as participate in a number of face-to-face hours with program faculty.
  • GradPlan (student), GradInfo (MSU Sign On)
    • GradPlan is used by the Ph.D. students to track their program progress, as well as their graduate directors, secretaries, and committee members. GradInfo is used to review and enter information necessary to help students complete their GradPlan, as well as enter alumni placement data and track other information.
  • Graduate Assistantships
    • Class of student employees who are graduate students of MSU programs that work for stipend, tuition waiver, and health insurance from various units that are typically divided into two main categories of work assignment: teaching assistants (TAs) and research assistants (RAs).
  • GA Coding List (MSU Sign On)
    • In order to link a student’s billing status in StuINFO to their entitled tuition waiver and stipend, graduate secretaries/assigned staff submit APIDs to the Registrar’s Office for specified semesters to code students as entitled to their contractual employment benefits. 
    • Must be submitted by November 6th for Spring 2021.
  • GA Health Insurance
    • Health insurance benefits for GAs is overseen exclusively through MSU Human Resources, faculty and staff should direct students to Human Resources and their webpages for associated information.

Undergraduate Support

  • Center of Integrative Studies in the Arts and Humanities (IAH)
    • Undergraduate student’s program of study includes courses in general education in addition to their major. IAH is MSU’s unique approach to general education, offering courses that integrate multiple ways of knowing into an enhanced appreciation of our humanity, creativity, knowledge, and responsibilities for ourselves and our world.
  • Citizen Scholars
    • This program is designed to prepare the next generation of diverse, high achieving and engaged citizen leaders.
  • Excel Network
    • Establishes and supports a holistic approach to experiential learning, career education, student advising, and alumni-student networking to chart successful paths to meaningful careers.
  • MSU Education Abroad
    • Education abroad allows a student to take classes and earn academic credit that include instruction from MSU faculty or faculty from a host institution abroad.
    • CAL Study Abroad Programs 
  • Student Handbook (Spartan Life)
  • Student Life Office