{"id":3519,"date":"2026-08-24T10:17:00","date_gmt":"2026-08-24T15:17:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mtsu.edu\/president\/?p=3519"},"modified":"2026-09-20T13:29:46","modified_gmt":"2026-09-20T18:29:46","slug":"fall-2026-graduate-studies-and-research","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mtsu.edu\/president\/fall-2026-graduate-studies-and-research\/","title":{"rendered":"FALL 2026 GRADUATE STUDIES AND RESEARCH"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Graduate education at MTSU continues to grow in reach, quality, and ambition. From new degree programs to new ways of supporting the students and faculty who make them thrive, here is a look at what our College of Graduate Studies has been building.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grad-AI: Applied and Ethical Artificial Intelligence (AI) for Career-Ready Graduate Education<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Preparing graduate students to lead in an AI-driven world requires more than awareness. It requires intentional, discipline-specific integration of artificial intelligence into the curriculum. Grad-AI is our initiative to do exactly that. Officially launched in April, Grad-AI supports graduate faculty across all colleges in developing AI-enriched courses grounded in real-world application, ethical responsibility, and career relevance. The initiative is designed for every graduate discipline, from the humanities and social sciences to education, business, and the sciences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the heart of the initiative is the Grad-AI Signature Label, a formal course designation that will appear in the catalog and class schedule, making AI-integrated learning visible to students and employers. Faculty may pursue the label through one of three pathways: Enhance, Create, or Certify, each supported by a stipend of $1,000, $2,000, or $3,000, respectively, depending on the scope of curriculum development involved. A series of faculty events has been underway since Fall 2025 in collaboration with the Provost\u2019s Office and the Center for Teaching and Mentoring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A cross-college steering committee, chaired by College of Graduate Studies Associate Dean Racha El Kadiri and including champions from every college, provides oversight and ensures Grad-AI reflects our commitment to academic integrity and ethical innovation. Approved Grad-AI certified courses and a full faculty resource library are coming in 2026\u201327. Learn more at mtsu.edu\/graduate\/grad-ai<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lightning Track: From a Spark to a Surge<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Lightning Track launched in Fall 2025, five students walked through that door. Fast-forward a year later, and 91 students are doing so this fall. That growth, an 18-fold increase in a single year, is the clearest signal yet that MTSU\u2019s high-achieving undergraduate students see value in our academic programs and want to continue their studies here. Lightning Track removes every obstacle that typically stands between a senior and a graduate school application. It fast-tracks students by not requiring GRE or GMAT scores, application fees, essays, and endless waiting on their admissions decision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Academically talented seniors with 90 or more earned credit hours and a 3.0 GPA receive an invitation to commit to a graduate program before general admissions even opens, guaranteeing their spot and their momentum. The pathway is now active across a growing number of programs spanning business, the sciences, education, the arts, and beyond. Learn more at mtsu.edu\/graduate\/lightning-track<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Expanding Access: President\u2019s Tuition-Only GA Pool<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the most significant barriers standing between a prospective graduate student and an MTSU degree is often a single line item: tuition. This year, we took direct aim at that barrier. Following a successful pilot in 2025\u201326, I have approved a significant expansion of MTSU\u2019s Tuition-Only Graduate Assistantship pool. This fall, more than 150 graduate students will receive full tuition waivers in exchange for 10 hours per week of service in teaching or research support. The pool is open to master\u2019s and doctoral programs across all colleges, with positions awarded on a rolling basis and allocations renewable based on enrollment growth and student progression toward completion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

University-Wide GTA Training: Coming This Fall<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This fall, MTSU will launch a consistent, institution-wide standard for how we prepare graduate students to teach. The University-Wide Graduate Teaching Assistant Training Program is a semester-long, cohort-based experience designed to equip GTAs with the foundational knowledge, practical skills, and professional identity they need to thrive in the classroom. With approximately 450 GTAs contributing to undergraduate instruction across our colleges, this initiative opens a structured, high-quality pathway for graduate students who teach to build the skills and professional foundation the classroom demands. The program will serve 50 GTAs per semester, selected through an application process, with plans to assess and scale based on need and impact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The program is built around six faculty-designed modules covering instructional design, classroom practice, assessment and feedback, academic integrity and compliance, instructional technology and AI literacy, and professional identity development. Each module includes a signature assignment contributing to a structured teaching portfolio. Upon completion, participants earn the Instructional Excellence for Graduate Teaching Assistants digital badge and a $250 completion stipend. A faculty design cohort was hard at work this summer building the program\u2019s modules and materials. The program is a joint initiative led by Associate Dean Racha El Kadiri (College of Graduate Studies) and Biology Department Chair David Nelson (College of Basic and Applied Sciences). It offers additional specialized training for GTAs teaching in STEM fields.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Graduate education at MTSU continues to grow in reach, quality, and ambition. From new degree programs to new ways of supporting the students and faculty who make them thrive, here is a look at what our College of Graduate Studies has been building. Grad-AI: Applied and Ethical Artificial Intelligence (AI) for Career-Ready Graduate Education Preparing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":192,"featured_media":3493,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3519","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mtsu.edu\/president\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3519","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mtsu.edu\/president\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mtsu.edu\/president\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mtsu.edu\/president\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/192"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mtsu.edu\/president\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3519"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.mtsu.edu\/president\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3519\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3548,"href":"https:\/\/www.mtsu.edu\/president\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3519\/revisions\/3548"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mtsu.edu\/president\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3493"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mtsu.edu\/president\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3519"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mtsu.edu\/president\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3519"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mtsu.edu\/president\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3519"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}