Department of Pharmacy Administration

College of Pharmacy
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New Admits

INFORMATION FOR NEWLY-ADMITTED GRADUATE STUDENTS IN PHARMACY ADMINISTRATION

 

Congratulations on your admission to the Graduate Program in Pharmacy Administration at the University of Illinois at Chicago. We look forward to welcoming you soon and working with you over the next several years.

 

FIRST VISIT

If you are not already in Chicago, plan to arrive in the city in plenty of time to get settled.  Prior to classes beginning, each of you should stop by to check in with the Business Manager (Ms. Rosa Ortiz) for the Department of Pharmacy Administration, who will inform you further of required form completion and other business procedures.  We also encourage you to stop by early to say hello to the Department Head (Dr. Nicholas Popovich) and Director of Graduate Studies (Dr. Stephanie Crawford).  International students must also check in with the Office of International Student Services. 

 

ORIENTATION

Information will be sent to you regarding the first departmental orientation -- a Welcoming Seminar, which will be provided for you during the first week of the semester.  Among other topics, the information will include:

  • A short welcome to the department and allow you to meet other graduate students, faculty and staff;
  • Departmental procedures and expectations;
  • Advising procedures;
  • Academic integrity;
  • Discussion of teaching assistant and research assistant duties and responsibilities;
  • Plan of study requirements, yearly progress reports and annual progress review meetings;
  • Department seminar attendance;
  • Graduate student office areas;
  • Graduate teaching evaluations;
  • Policies on professional meetings, travel and vacation;
  • Departmental qualifying and preliminary examinations (for doctoral students), thesis and dissertation advisory committees; thesis/dissertation process;
  • Commonly-used university and departmental forms;
  • Campus safety; and
  • Answers to your questions. 

For those who are teaching assistants, we will send you information about your specific course assignments about one month before instruction begins.  We will also send you information about the Campus T.A. orientation and College T.A. orientation, when those dates and locations are announced.  You are expected to contact your assigned faculty supervisor(s) and make yourselves available to them one week before instruction starts (further information will be provided).

 

ADVISING

All new graduate students are assigned to the Director of Graduate Studies (DGS) as the initial program advisor.  The DGS will advise you in course selection for your initial (first-term) course registration. During the first six weeks of the initial semester, you are expected to familiarize yourselves with the departmental faculty and select your program advisor, who will guide you through your remaining plan of study.

 

PROGRAM POLICIES

The Graduate Catalog is available online.  A handbook of Policies and Procedures for the Department will be provided to you during the Welcoming Seminar (a summarized version is available by clicking here).

 

REGISTRATION

You may register for classes as soon as possible after initial advising (which will be via email).  Sometime after you receive your official admission letter from the Office of Admissions and Records you will receive, usually via email, information on when you may register and instructions, if not included with your admission letter.  Registration, including changes to any existing registration, begins a number of months before the term and continues through the first official ten days of the term (first official five days for summer session).  During the registration period, all registration activity is done by the student using Student Self-Service, which may be accessed from UIC Web for Student.  When attempting to register, if you receive an error message directly pertaining to the class or section you are requesting, consult with the department offering the course as an override may need to be input into the system to allow you to continue to register.  Once the override has been added you still have to register for the course in Student Self-Service.  If you receive an error message that you do not understand, consult the Registration Help Line at (312) 996-8600.

 

I-CARD
The i-Card is the official identification card of the University for students, staff and faculty.  It is important to obtain the i-Card and carry it with you at all times. The i-Card is needed to enter certain labs and buildings, for access to certain student-related events and services, and to check material out of the library.  Once you have registered for a course you may obtain your i-Card.  This should be done as soon as possible following your registration.  You will need to bring a print-out of your registration and either a driver’s license, state ID card, or passport to the i-Card Office.  Complete information, including locations, is available from the i-Card office.

 

MEDICAL IMMUNIZATION REQUIREMENT

Illinois state law requires proof of certain immunizations for students in most situations.  The policy and contact information are available at the Office of Medical Immunization Records.  It is important that you read this information carefully as registration for future terms is not allowed if you are not in compliance at that time.

 

TUITION AND FEES

Tuition and fees are set by the Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois.  The tuition and fee schedule at UIC is fairly elaborate so it is important to understand what your charges will be, as well as your payment obligations.  This information is available from the Office of Admissions and Records website. Further information about tuition waiver (e.g., if you have a teaching assistantship, research assistantship, or other waiver from the university) can be obtained from the departmental Business Manager or DGS.

 

EMPLOYMENT
If you have been granted an assistantship there are a number of important steps that have to be undertaken to ensure timely processing and receipt of your first stipend check.

  • You will receive a formal letter of offer from the Department of Pharmacy Administration.
  • After you have accepted and returned the formal letter of offer for the assistantship, the unit that is hiring you will complete the necessary information in the university database.
  • When the hiring unit completes the previous step, it will trigger an email to you with logon and other information for an online system called NESSIE. 
  • In NESSIE, you will need to complete the HR Application and Payroll information (demographic, educational, and bank deposit information). 
  • After that is completed in NESSIE, you will be instructed by your hiring unit to complete a Statement of a Drug-Free Workplace and I-9 forms, which you submit to the hiring unit.  The I-9 form is viewable in Nessie and includes a list of acceptable official identification you will need to bring in with the completed forms. 
  • For international students on a visa, the hiring unit will send appropriate information to the Office of International Services to initiate an Employee Clearance form.
  • The processing for international students on a visa allows less flexibility in regards to the start date, so it is important to complete the necessary steps in a timely fashion.

It is only after all these stages have been successfully completed that your appointment becomes official and allows you to begin your duties and receive the monthly stipend, which is paid on the 16th.  In addition, if the appointment comes with a tuition waiver, it is only at this stage that the waiver is available to be applied to your account, assuming you have also correctly registered for the total hours required to receive the waiver.  Generally, please be aware that the Tuition and Service Fee Waiver pays only for tuition and the service fee.  It does not cover General, Health Service, Student Health Insurance, Student-to-Student, Transportation, Academic Facilities Maintenance Fund, and any other fees the university charges.  If the appointment for the assistantship is offered or processed late, or any of the steps outlined above are delayed, there is a possibility of missing your first monthly stipend check.  Although you will receive an adjusted payment a month later (assuming the beginning date is properly processed and assuming you worked for that period), not having the first check can cause financial issues you did not anticipate.  Therefore, if you do not receive timely responses you should always contact the hiring unit to ensure procedures have not been overlooked.  See the Graduate College website for additional assistantship information.

 

NETID

The Pharmacy Administration program will send email to your UIC email account after you arrive.  Until that time, continue to check your email account that you used to apply.  After arriving at UIC, it is imperative that you begin using your netid (“netID”, which is your unique university username) and UIC email account.  For more information, see the UIC Academic Computing and Communications Center. 

 

For additional  information, contact Surrey Walton, Ph.D., Director of Graduate Studies at walton@uic.edu or Rosa Ortiz, Business Manager at ortizr@uic.edu.