Welcome to the group of Graduate Contacts at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. If you are new to the position, it may seem daunting, but there many resources available for you to use and learn from. The duties of Graduate Contacts are as varied as the departments they serve, so many resources are available, but you might not need them all.

What immediately follow are the steps you need to take to get started if you are a new contact, or if you missed these steps when you began in your position. When you first accept your position, try to see if training from the former graduate contact is available, and if it’s possible, take advantage of it! And always remember that the staff of the Graduate College can always help you. Call the front desk at 333-0035 with your questions, and they will be able to answer them or direct you to someone who can.

Getting Started

• The first thing to do is to let the Graduate College know you are new in your role. The unit does this by updating their Authorized Signatories in the GC Roles and Access Manager.
• Banner is the university’s database, and contains all the student information, HR information and financial records information for the University. If you have any roles in student records, human resources, or business/accounting, you will need access to Banner. Access is requested by your Unit Security Contact to the needed Enterprise Applications. Ideally your Unit Security Contact will be able to set you up with the same access as the previous Graduate Contact.
• In addition to Banner, your Unit Security Contact can also request access to Eddie and MobiusView for you. Eddie and MobiusView allow you to access standard reports about student and catalog/schedule data.
• If you will be viewing any student records, you are required to complete Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) training. An online tutorial and brief quiz are available at https://registrar.illinois.edu/training-ferpa.
• If graduate admissions are part of your role, you will need to contact the Admissions and Enrollment unit, 244-4637 to enroll for training and be given access to the Slate application system.
• If graduate petitions are part of your role, contact Academic Affairs at the Graduate College at 333-2364. These permissions are part of the Graduate Contact role, but you will have to be added to the Petition Portal user group for your department.
• If certification of graduate degree requirements is part of your role, you will need to sign up for training and access to the Graduation Certification Process (GCP) database with Academic Affairs at the Graduate College, 333-2364.

Help me do my job!

The Resources for Graduate Contacts page and its left menu bar have links to information just for graduate contacts.

The Graduate College Handbook for Students, Faculty and Staff contains all of the Graduate College policies for students and programs. The Handbook has a search, that only searches the Handbook, so that is a good place to start.

The Graduate College Administrative Advisory Group (AAG) is a group of departmental contacts whose work focuses primarily on the operational aspects of Graduate College policies and procedures. If you have a concern or question, contact one of the members so the topic can be raised at a meeting. If you are interested in serving, please email the Graduate College and let us know!

Who do I call?

Contact the Graduate College with questions at grad@illinois.edu or 333-0035.

What did you say?

Acronyms and Terms for New Graduate Contacts

Help with Banner!

Banner screens by title and what information they provide.

How to search for a record in Banner.

Banner terms to explain how Banner defines some common terms.

Banner Aids and Training for Course Schedulers from Facility Management and Scheduling

What Course Level means in Banner and how it can be used.