College of Innovation and Technology Graduate Programs

5th Floor West, William R. Murchie Science Building
(810) 766-6807
https://www.umflint.edu/cit/

CIT Faculty and Staff List

Graduate programs in the College of Innovation and Technology (CIT) provide students with practical, hands-on learning, as well as theory. CIT graduate programs prepare students to be leaders in industry. Through rigorous study, students are empowered to enter and excel in careers such as administrator, analyst, designer, developer, or programmer leading technology teams.

Graduate Academic Advising

CIT Student Affairs Mission Statement

The Student Affairs unit within the College of Innovation and Technology (CIT) recognizes that students expect to receive a quality education in a quality environment. It is the role of CIT Student Affairs to ensure that, in the continuum from admission through graduation, the student’s individual educational needs are met while maintaining the academic standards established by the faculty of the college. As a primary source of college information, the professional staff within CIT Student Affairs promote and facilitate excellence through advising. The CIT Student Affairs unit believes that its services should assist in maximizing the academic experience and student achievement in the expectation that students will become lifelong learners and attain their career objectives. These services are provided with expertise, courtesy, and a positive attitude.

CIT Advising

The College of Innovation and Technology (CIT) operates under a two-tiered advising model where a student’s degree progress is overseen by a Graduate Program Manager and at least one faculty mentor.

Graduate Program Managers within the CIT serve as representatives of the dean. They are a CIT student’s primary point of contact and work closely with the Registrar’s Office at UM-Flint to aid with the degree certification process. All CIT graduate students are assigned to a Graduate Program Manager upon admission into the college. Graduate Program Managers are agents of the college and collaborate with stakeholders within the college, including CIT administration, Directors of CIT Faculty and Academic Affairs, educational committees such as the Academic Standards Committee (ASC), and faculty.

Faculty mentors are faculty within a student’s area of study who are experts in their field. Students are assigned a faculty mentor upon admission into the college. Faculty mentors work closely with their students and help foster, guide, teach, and enhance individual learning experiences. Faculty mentors assist students to explore career paths and interests in areas in which the mentor has more experience and knowledge.

Both the Graduate Program Manager and faculty mentor support their students from orientation to graduation, and both play critical roles in a students academic success. Here is how the roles differ -

Graduate Program Manager

The Graduate Program Manager will assist you in learning about campus resources and the way the university works.
The Graduate Program Manager will assist you in making official updates to your declared curriculum when needed (ie, update a concentration, add a new degree component, etc).
The Graduate Program Manager is knowledgeable in the UM-Flint resources available to help you succeed. These services include academic advising, career services, counseling services, international student considerations and more! They can answer general questions, and will be able to direct you to the exact person you need to talk to if you have a problem that needs to be resolved.
The Graduate Program Manager is an expert in reading degree plans and checking your degree progress report to ensure you are on track for a timely graduation. They are well informed about required paperwork and university deadlines and will send out timely reminders so that you never miss a deadline.
After you apply for graduation, the Graduate Program Manager conducts a final review of degree requirements and transcripts and determines eligibility for graduation. ● The Graduate Program Manager is knowledgeable about discipline specific activities held in and around the UM-Flint area and virtually, including - student organizations, guest speakers, conferences, etc.
The Graduate Program Manager assigns faculty mentors to students upon their admission into their graduate program. If you would like to speak to someone about the possibility of changing your assigned faculty mentor, please email the Graduate Program Manager. In your email please include: your first and last name, UMID, the name of your newly requested faculty mentor and a brief explanation of why.

Faculty Mentors

Faculty mentors are experts in their field, so having a mentor in your major is critical. Faculty mentors talk with students about the current state of the field, job prospects, and new research that might be of interest.
Faculty mentors are knowledgeable about the classes in their field, and help students choose the classes that will challenge them and meet their personal learning objectives. They will also help with graduate research projects.
Faculty Mentors are a great resource if a student is thinking about changing their curriculum (concentration, CIT major, etc.) but they are not sure which direction they want to go in. A faculty mentor will help a student explore all of the options UM-Flint offers and select the option that is right for your future professional goals.
Faculty mentors can give advice about continuing education.
Faculty mentors understand the value of networking, and will support students both in their professional networking and also in identifying professional organizations they should consider joining. They will also connect students to other mentors and agencies outside of campus to help increase the students professional circle.

In short, CIT students are equipped with a full student success support team from day. Students are strongly advised to consult with both their assigned Graduate Program Manager and faculty mentor at least once a semester.

If you’re not sure who your Graduate Program Manager and/or faculty mentor is, you can find this information listed within SIS.

Mandatory Advising (MA)

All CIT students must make an advising appointment with the Graduate Program Manager at least once a semester (fall and winter) to be eligible to register for classes for the following term. Students will be contacted via their umich email with additional information about this requirement; however, students should feel free to make an advising appointment at any point during their time in CIT.

MyDegreePlan

MyDegreePlan, also referred to as a degree audit, is an individualized report that displays all courses a student has completed and demonstrates their progress towards meeting their degree requirements. A student’s degree audit is available to them at any time via my.umflint.edu. Students should review their degree audit regularly and always consult with their CIT Graduate Program Manager if they have questions. MyDegreePlan also features the ability to view a hypothetical degree audit, which allows a student to see how their completed and in-progress courses would be applied to a major that is different from their current one.

The responsibility for selecting courses and meeting graduation requirements rests with the students, who must plan well to make their programs consistent with their goals and with college requirements. All CIT students will review their degree audit within their Mandatory Advising session.

MyDegreePlan also allows the student, in collaboration with the Graduate Program Manager, to create an individualized semester by semester Graduation Plan. This plan will be reviewed each semester during a students Mandatory Advising session and updated as needed.