Two of the most important and time-consuming responsibilities of the program director are overseeing the admissions process and following through to encourage admitted applicants to enroll. The program director works closely with faculty throughout the admissions season. The program director:
- Understands, promotes, and upholds Graduate Studies policies to ensure the integrity of the admissions evaluation process
- Establishes the timeline that guides the evaluation and decision making process in the program
- Ensures that all application data is protected and kept confidential
- Ensures that all forms are reviewed and submitted to the Office of Graduate Studies in a timely manner
- Assists in reinforcing the Office of Graduate Studies’ admissions process
The program director’s leadership is crucial to ensuring a consistent and systematic process for the review and selection of graduate students.
Maintaining personal contact with admitted students can substantially improve yield. Personal contact from the program director, appropriate program faculty, program administrators, and current graduate students will make it much more likely that applicants will accept your offer of admission and enroll. Such efforts may include email, social media, or personal phone calls to discuss graduate life at Eastern Washington University and to answer any questions. In most programs, admitted candidates benefit from visiting the campus. The program director is often responsible for organizing events to showcase the strengths of the program and the University.
The Office of Graduate Studies works with programs to facilitate the best possible service to each applicant from the submission of the application materials to the admission of the applicant. The Office of Graduate Studies supports the process in the following ways:
- Gives guidance to graduate program staff and faculty on admission policy and procedure
- Gives guidance to applicants in application process
- Ensures a systematic approach to the collection of application materials
- Processes the application materials, which includes confirming transcript authenticity, accreditation of the institutions, and GPA calculation
- Manages application data and decisions
Assistance with registration is the responsibility of the department.
All applicants must apply online and submit a non-refundable $75 graduate application fee. This application fee is not waived, except for dual degree applicants and McNair Scholars.
Special instructions for McNair Scholars may be found on the EWU website.
Applications are considered complete when Office of Graduate Studies receives all the required documents, i.e. transcripts. Thus, the time it takes to process an application depends on many variables. Applicants not providing all the necessary documents, as well as the volume of applications in the queue, can affect the turnaround time you experience.
The status of your applications can easily be found in WebAdMIT. Here you can see which documents are missing. In the student file, look in the Documents section for transcripts and for uploaded documents. Uploaded transcripts can be found under the Transcripts tab. Transcripts that Graduate Studies has on-file, including EWU transcripts, are in the Admissions Uploaded Documents tab.
When the application is complete the “local status” within WebAdMIT reads EWU Grad Studies Complete.
It can be extremely helpful if you communicate with your applicants to help them understand the status of their application and offer your assistance. WebAdMIT allows you to communicate directly with your applicants. If you need training please contact the Assistant Director of Graduate Studies.
Applications are updated annually. Here are two downloadable checklists : New CAS Application Checklist, Annual CAS Application Update Checklist
If you have any questions about applicants that you cannot answer by looking in WebAdMIT, please email gradprograms@ewu.edu for assistance.
Find here a downloadable checklist: Graduate Program Admission Process in WebAdMIT
Applicants must submit one official transcript from each college or university attended. Applicants who have previously been admitted to EWU should submit transcripts only from schools attended since their previous EWU admission, if any.
Occasionally, transcripts will be submitted to the department instead of the Office of Graduate Studies. When this happens, please place the transcript back into the envelope, and send it over to the Office of Graduate Studies with a memo explaining who opened it.
The Office of Graduate Studies 206 Showalter Hall, Cheney, WA 99004 gradprograms@ewu.edu
Keep in mind that the United States government considers educational records federally protected and private. We cannot obtain applicants’ records unless they arrange for such records to be sent to us.
For graduate admission, applicants must have a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0 in post-secondary academic coursework.
If the cumulative GPA from the degree bearing transcript is below 3.0 the Graduate Studies office will recalculate the GPA based upon their most recent 90 quarter or 60 semester graded credits of post-secondary academic coursework. This calculation is done after the application is complete (all documents received). All courses are included in the GPA calculation, including courses repeated in the last 90 quarter or 60 semester credits. Occasionally, the recalculated GPA will rise to the needed 3.0.
For applicants who do not meet this 3.0 GPA standard, the Director of Graduate Studies may approve admission based upon considerations that include GRE or other test scores, performance in relevant graduate courses, and faculty evaluations in accordance with the University’s 10% Exception policy. Please review AP 303-22 Graduate Students for more information.
If a 10% Exception is desired, please add your justification to the application’s Notes section in WebAdMIT and mark your assignment decision as 10% Exception. The Director of Graduate Studies will review and make the final decision.
Admission emails are sent to the applicants by the Office of Graduate Studies two to five business days after the department has marked their decision in WebAdMIT. Applicants may request a hard copy of the official admission email.
The following circumstances determine which email the applicant merits:
Admission emails are sent if:
- Applicant has met all requirements, and full admission is recommended by the department
Recommended emails are sent if the department recommends admission but the following requirements are pending:
- Any required test scores (e.g. official GMAT, GRE, or WestB)
- Degree-bearing transcript
- Any other items required for admission
Admission letters include information to help applicants confirm or decline their intent to enroll.
- Applicants must confirm enrollment intentions with the Office of Graduate Studies, or they will not be able to register for classes. Confirmation should be done via EagleNet. Applicants will use the same Login ID and PIN used when they applied. If the applicant requires special accommodations or assistance for confirming their intent to enroll, please have the applicant contact the Office of Graduate Studies.
- Applicants at this time will activate their EWU email address. For more information, see instructions from EWU Information Technology.
Confirmation status will update in WebAdMIT shortly after the applicant confirms in EagleNET.
Reminder: A recommended applicant may not confirm his/her enrollment until formally admitted to a program. If there is a discrepancy or if you have questions, please contact the Graduate Studies Admissions Program Coordinator.
There is additional documentation required for international applicants.
- Official transcripts
- Official course-by-course evaluation through a credential evaluation service recognized by the National Association of Credential Evaluation Services (www.naces.org)
- Official English language proficiency score
- Official test scores (GRE or GMAT), if required by program
For a detailed version of the International Graduate Admissions Requirements, please see our website under International Graduate Students.
Applicants must submit a proposal to the Office of Graduate Studies along with an Interdisciplinary Studies graduate application. The proposal directions can be found on the Office of Graduate Studies website.
Program directors should contact the Director of Graduate Studies to discuss the student’s proposed plan before the student attempts to apply.
For admission, the applicant must meet the GPA requirement for regular graduate admission. This consists of a minimum 3.0 GPA of the last 90 quarter credits or 60 semester credit hours and refers to all graded courses taken during that time.
Completed Interdisciplinary applications must also include, like all other applicants, official transcripts from all colleges/universities attended, a non-refundable application fee, and an approved proposal.
This application is to be used by applicants seeking to enroll in a 500-level class without being admitted into a program. Information regarding non-matriculated students and applications can be found in AP 303-22 Graduate Studies Section 2-8. Only 12 credits of graduate non-matriculated coursework are allowed. Non-degree-seeking applicants wanting to take a 500-level class must have earned a bachelor’s degree or higher from an accredited institution.
The requirements for enrollment are as follows:
- Submit a graduate non-matriculated application to the Office of Graduate Studies with the non-refundable application fee. This application is found here.
- Provide an unofficial or official transcript showing a completed bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution.
- Signatures required:
- Department Chair or a Graduate Program Advisor must sign the application or send an email to the Graduate Programs Office (gradprograms@ewu.edu) stating the applicant’s name, quarter they are taking classes, and the department’s
- The faculty member who is teaching the course needs to sign the student’s In-Person Registration / Change
- Please note the following caveats:
- Enrollment is restricted to 500-level courses or below, subject to both program and instructor approval.
- Enrollment is subject to any course or program prerequisites.
- Non-matriculated applicants are eligible to enroll for up to one year and are not eligible for financial aid.
- Non-degree-seeking graduate applicants will pay graduate tuition rates.
- Non-matriculated status is not available to anyone holding an F-1 visa, nor will non-degree- seeking international applicants be issued an I-20.
- Non-degree-seeking graduate status is intended for applicants who do not wish to pursue a graduate degree or certificate; it is not to be used for provisional enrollment by those seeking regular admission to a graduate program.
- The Graduate Student policy allows a maximum of 12 pre-admission credits to be used in a graduate program. Students have a maximum of six years to complete a graduate degree, which means that any pre-admission credits being applied must fall within that six-year window as well.
- Enrollment as a graduate non-matriculated applicant does not guarantee subsequent admission to a graduate program.
- Anyone seeking undergraduate (400 or below) non-matriculated enrollment must apply separately through the EWU undergraduate admissions process.
Graduate re-admission is intended for students who have taken a leave of absence from their program and would like to re-enroll. To do so, students should submit a Graduate Re-Admission application to the Office of Graduate Studies. Students may only resume enrollment in their program using the Re- Admission application within six years of beginning their program. After those six years have elapsed, students will need to follow the regular application process described earlier in this section.
