News & Events

Revised: March 24, 2020 at 5:01 pm.

Spring 2020 Commencement Postponed

March 24

Due to the ongoing public health emergency, the May commencement ceremonies – including the Veterinary School and Law Center ceremonies are postponed. Students will have the opportunity to participate in a future commencement ceremony. More details will be announced when they become available. 

Students will be considered LSU graduates as of date all degree requirements are completed. Diplomas will be mailed in advance of the graduation ceremony. 

Complete the 2020 Spring Commencement Survey to provide their mailing address and indicate the preferred date of a future commencement ceremony. 

TOEFL and GRE Tests Now Available At-Home

March 29

ETS has introduced a solution for students who have been impacted by the coronavirus to take the TOEFL iBT® test and the GRE® General Test at home until test centers can reopen. TOEFL® testing began on March 26, and GRE on March 27.
Testing will be conducted through the use of live remote proctoring serviced by ProctorU®. This high-touch, real-time human monitoring of test sessions limits the number of seats available. Students can register now in the following countries:

  • United States
  • Canada
  • Colombia
  • France
  • Germany
  • Italy
  • Spain
  • Hong Kong (China)
  • Macau (China)

Visit the ETS website to learn more on availability, schedule and tests.

Campus CLOSED

March 23

Governor John Bel Edwards issued a statewide stay-at-home order that requires all Louisianans to shelter at home except for essential tasks beginning today at 5 pm. In accordance with the Governor’s Executive Order, LSU’s campus will close except for an extremely limited number of essential personnel and those students who have received permission from Residential Life to remain in on-campus housing. Please review the Governor’s Order online and adhere to it. 

Unemployment Insurance

March 23

Student workers and other hourly employees may be eligible to receive unemployment benefits.

The State of Louisiana has implemented new measures concerning the special circumstance of COVID-19 as it relates to unemployment insurance. If your hours have been reduced due to COVID-19 or you are unable to work remotely due to the nature of your position, you may be eligible for unemployment insurance. Transient, WAEs, and student workers or other staff who are otherwise not eligible for leave are eligible to apply for unemployment insurance. Please note these considerations do not apply to employees who are working remotely, on paid leave, or continuing to be paid for a full 8-hour work day.

Please visit LSU’s Human Resource Management website for information concerning the special circumstance of COVID-19.

Other Helpful Links

LSU COVID-19 Updates

Reduce Your Risk

Weekly Announcements

Student Employment FAQs

 

Due Dates

  • Check the Grad School''s Calendar for deadlines.
  • The Professional Development Workshop scheduled for Monday, March 30th has been cancelled due to the on-campus class closure.
  • All final defenses should proceed as scheduled.  However, due to the new class arrangement, all-remote participation for defenses will be allowed for the remainder of the Spring semester. Remote participation forms are not required.  Please check with your committee chair and/or department’s graduate advisor for further instructions regarding defense location and guidance. Please include the dean’s rep in messages about all arrangements.
  • Academic Services officers are operating normal office hours and are available via phone or email. 

Graduate Defenses

  • All milestone examinations should be conducted remotely until further notice. Remote participation rules as given in the catalogue are waived.

Graduate Assistantships

Graduate Assistants and student workers may continue to report if they choose to do so. An FAQ for student employment can be found at lsu.edu/careercenter/studentemployment/faq. Please contact the Student Employment Office for further guidance at stuemployment@lsu.edu.

Questions about individual, currently-assigned assistantships should be addressed to gradawards@lsu.edu. 

Graduate Admissions

Application deadlines for the Fall 2020 semester will be extended to the following dates:

  • Domestic Students: July 15
  • International Students: June 15

Department Deadlines for Admitting International Students

Applicants in the United States in F-1 status:

  • Summer 2020: ‪Friday, May 22
  • Fall 2020: ‪Friday, August 7

Applicants Outside of the United States: 

  • For international students who need to apply for the F-1 or J-1 student visas, there are deadlines for processing Initial SEVIS forms (I-20 or DS-2019) that are needed for visa applications. 
  • LSU Admissions Applications with no decision made by the Graduate School or Undergraduate Admissions before the following deadlines, no initial I-20s or DS-2019s will be issued.  

Semester I-20 / DS-2019 Deadlines for International Applicants outside the United States

  • Summer 2020 ‪- April 20
  • Fall 2020 ‪- June 30
  • Spring ‪2021- November 20

Graduate Student Travel Awards

  • The Graduate School will meet with the Graduate Student Association to determine how to handle reimbursement for conference cancellations.  Information will be provided in the next two weeks.
  • Awards (Fellowships/Scholarships):  To accommodate the campus transition to online instruction, deadlines will be extended if necessary.  
  • Award Deadline
    BOR/SREB March 31
    Tuition Awards Ongoing

Other Conference Cancellations

LSU is prohibiting all international travel and limiting domestic business travel to that which is essential to the fundamental academic and research functions at LSU.

 

LSU