Check covid.cornell.edu for the most up-to-date campus guidelines.

Campus Updates

Fall Checklist and Personal Responsibilities

To clear registration holds, all students must complete their Fall Checklist (via the Daily Check) immediately.

Transportation Around Campus

Transportation Services reminds all students to consider how to get around campus this coming semester. Some common options that our graduate students participate in are:

• TCAT Bus Access with your CU ID card. All students have unlimited access after 6:00 p.m. weekdays and all day Saturday and Sunday. Student OmniRide passes are $200 annually and allow you to ride unlimited in Tompkins County.
• Cycling on campus. Biking is one of the best ways to get around campus. Please check out Transportation’s cycling information.
• Along with cycling, walking may be the most healthy and economical mode of campus transportation.
• Parking on campus. Parking on campus is restricted to permit or payment at all times unless posted otherwise. 
• Parking permits – If you bring your personal vehicle to campus, you must register with Transportation Services and have the option to purchase a permit. Check out this site for more information.
• Good news! Daily Decision parking options allow graduate students more options when it comes to where to park and how to pay. Visit the Daily Decision webpage.

Please take time to consider the full range of options to make commuting easy, economical, efficient, healthy, and sustainable. If you have any questions or concerns, visit the Parking and Transportation website.

Registrar

Welcome, New and Continuing Students!

Please review important course enrollment and student ID card information below.

Cornell requires all students to complete the Fall Checklist. If you did not complete the Checklist by the August 10th deadline (via the Daily Check), an enrollment hold has been placed on your record preventing you from enrolling in classes for the fall term. If you have not completed the checklist, please do so immediately.

Fall 2021 Enrollment and Important Dates

• Aug. 17 Course enrollment begins (refer to Enrollment Guide for details)
• Aug. 26 Classes begin
• Sept. 09 Add deadline
• Sept. 17 Last day to register without a late registration fee

Checking Registration Status and Holds

To check your registration status, log into Student Essentials and view your “Registration Status” at the top of the page. If you are registered, your Registration Status will state “Registered” with a green checkmark. If the green checkmark is not present there may be a hold on your record preventing registration. There are several types of holds that may be placed on a student’s record. Holds that prevent university registration require immediate attention. Click on “more information” for complete details including steps on how to resolve a hold.

Course Enrollment Reminder

All research master’s and Ph.D. students have been automatically enrolled for 12 credits in a research course by the Graduate School each academic semester. Below are the GRAD courses and the population each is used for.

• GRAD 9010 Graduate-Level Research – pre-candidacy Ph.D. students
• GRAD 9011 Doctoral Dissertation Research – post-candidacy Ph.D. students
• GRAD 9012 Master’s Thesis Research – research master’s students
• GRAD 9000 Non-Degree Study – non-degree students
• GRAD 8000 In Absentia – in absentia students

Students should enroll in field-specific research course offerings with their faculty during the Add period in addition to the GRAD course. At the end of the Drop period the Graduate School will adjust the number of credits in the GRAD course to balance to a minimum of 12 credits. The credit hours for the GRAD course cannot be adjusted prior to this and the course cannot be dropped.

Student ID Cards

Student ID cards will be distributed to your field/college who will provide you with pickup/distribution information.

Reminder: Deadlines for Dental/Vision Plans and Dependent Care

Insurance for Students

Student Health Benefits offers optional dental and vision insurance plans to supplement students’ health insurance coverage. All students are eligible to enroll in the Dental Plan and Vision Plan, whether you are covered by Cornell’s Student Health Plan (SHP) or a private health insurance plan. Learn more about Cornell’s student Dental Plan and Vision Plan. The deadline to enroll is August 31.

Insurance for Dependents

Plan enrollees may also choose to enroll dependents (spouses, domestic partners, and students). The deadline for enrolling dependents is August 31. Please visit go.gallagherstudent.com to enroll dependents.

News

Graduate Students Targeted by Phishing Scams, Suffer Financial Losses

You receive an email from your advisor. It reads: “Do you have any free time now? I need you to take care of something urgently, send me your cell number where I can text you. Thanks.”

You are now faced with a dilemma, as you suspect this email might not actually be from your advisor. Do you send your cell phone number in case this is a legitimate request? Or do you ignore the email and risk potentially upsetting your advisor?

Read the full story.

Troubled Waters: Microplastic Pollution

Ithaca’s Fall Creek rushes around biological and environmental engineering doctoral candidate Lisa Watkins in her waders, the waterproof garment that joins pants and boots. She submerges a net to filter the brisk water and capture microplastics–tiny bits of plastic that lace our rivers, rain, drinking water, and even salt.

During the 10 minutes it takes to collect her sample, Watkins gazes at her surroundings…

Read more about Watkins’ research.

Student Spotlight

Hannah Cole is a doctoral candidate in comparative literature from Glastonbury, Connecticut. After attending Brown University as an undergraduate, she chose to pursue further study at Cornell due to the freedom to explore interdisciplinary interests through the comparative literature program as well as its faculty. Read more.

Check out our other student spotlights and learn about students’ research, hobbies, and experiences at Cornell.

Kudos!

Sociology Doctoral Candidate Selected to Receive ASA Award

Erin McCauley, a doctoral candidate in sociology, was awarded the Howard B. Kaplan Memorial Award from the American Sociological Association’s Medical Sociology Section.