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Complete Your Grad Student Tax Return (and Understand It, Too!) Webinar

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A tax workshop for graduate & professional students receiving stipends

Taxes are confusing! Especially when you are a funded grad/professional student! This workshop breaks down how to calculate your taxable income from your salary, stipend, fellowship, grant, and/or scholarships; minimize your tax liability using education tax benefits; and report your income, qualified education expenses, and estimated tax paid on your tax return.

This workshop, presented by Dr. Emily Roberts, personal finance educator specializing in early-career PhDs,  is  appropriate for US citizens, permanent residents, and residents for tax purposes (International students), and comprises pre-recorded videos, worksheets, and live Q&A calls.  **This is targeted to grad & professional students who are funding – receiving stipends.

Workshop is $5.00 with the remaining cost subsidized by the Council of Graduate Students (COGS) and The Graduate Office of Well-Being (GROW) for the first 100 MSU graduate & professional students to register.

Register Here: https://bit.ly/GROWCOGS  Must sign up with valid MSU Email.  Once successfully registered, you will be directed to a login page to access the workshop materials and can get started right away. Notifications for live QA sessions are sent to the registrant’s email. 

Dr. Emily Roberts is a personal finance educator specializing in early-career PhDs and has led several popular personal finance workshops for graduate students at MSU.

Workshop is co-sponsored by the Council of Graduate Students (COGS) and the Graduate Office of Well-Being (GROW).

2022 Referendum and Constitutional Amendment Passes

2022 Referendum: April 4 – 10, 2022   **Next Referendum will be April 2025

**UPDATE: COGS Renewal and Amendment has PASSED. Thank you!  You can view results for all initiatives here:  www.studentelections.msu.edu. **

The following tax collection and major governing organizations will be conducting a tax referendum during the Spring 2022 Semester.

  • Council of Graduate Students (COGS) – Tax Renewal & Amendment Approval (See Below)
  • Council of Medical Students (COMS) – Tax Renewal
  • Owen Graduate Association (OGA) – Tax Renewal
  • University Apartment Council of Resident (UACOR) – Tax Reinstatement
  • ASMSU General Elections (Undergraduate students only.)

Constitutional Amendment:  Article IV, Sections 6.3 and 6.4 of the COGS Constitution

On March 16th, 2022, the Council of Graduate Students Full Council affirmatively voted to amend Article IV, Sections 6.3 and 6.4 of the COGS Constitution. In accordance with the COGS Constitution, changes to the Constitution must move to referendum and be voted on by the graduate and professional student body.

COGS is seeking to eliminate language from the Constitution that states COGS Officers shall not receive compensation. COGS Officer positions require many hours of unpaid labor that is important to providing academic, economic, and social support resources to graduate and professional students. COGS would like to ensure that there are ample, competitive candidates for each position, and to do so will require allowing individuals holding Officer positions to be compensated for their work. In the 2021-2021 student election, all Officer positions ran unopposed, and the President position remained vacant for a month after elections before being filled while also being unopposed. In the past year alone, 3 Officers have resigned citing lack of ability to pursue the level of commitment required for the positions.

Approval of the amendment to Section 6.3 will eliminate the stipulation that Officers of COGS shall not be provided compensation. Approval of the amendment to Section 6.4 would allow for Officers of COGS to receive compensation in a manner that shall be outlined in the COGS by-laws.

PASSED as of Sunday, April 10 at 11:59 p.m. (Eastern Time)

COGS & Community Event with United Resiliency Center

Tuesday, February 11th from 4:30 to 6:30 PM

United Resiliency Center – 1504 E. Grand River Ave., Suite 200

 As we head into a week of solemn reflection, we invite you to join COGS and our friends at the United Resiliency Center for a gathering of art therapy, journaling, dialogue and community.  The United Resiliency Center, located at 1504 E. Grand River Ave, offers a safe, supportive space for healing and growth. You’ll get a close-up look at this great resource while spending time with your graduate & professional student community. Light refreshments will be served. RSVP Requested for planning purposes (*not required for entry)

RSVP HERE – FEB 11th

EVENT DETAILS: You’ll be treated to a tour of the space and it’s mission. You can choose to participate in a variety of  creative activities of mindfulness such as art therapy, journaling and quiet reflection and/or connecting with others through the “Stone Soup” Circle*  where we share in a safe, supportive open dialogue format.

*Stone Soup Circle is about sharing anything that has inspired, touched or moved you. The sharing may be in the form of writings and expressions, songs, music, dance, stories, activities, games or presentations. It helps to reach on time or even a bit earlier so we can sit together as a whole group for a round of sharing.

At the United Resiliency Center we provide a safe space and resources to help students and community members build resilience and overcome challenges. Every Monday from 7pm-9pm we hold a weekly Relax + Recharge event where community members have a safe space to come and partake in artistic activities, watch a movie and/or have a snack. It’s a time to unwind and prepare yourself for the coming week.

2025 Write Winning Grants Webinar

Register By 12/11 for COGS/Grad School Discount!  

Write Winning Grants comprehensively covers practical and conceptual aspects essential to the proposal-writing process. Learn how to tailor your content to relevant agencies, develop strategies for each section of the application, and to articulate your proposal in a way that makes reviewers want to read it.The Graduate School and COGS will pay $75 of the $95 fee for a limited number of doctoral students to attend.  Hurry to register by Dec. 11th! More information and  REGISTER HERE

 

RCPD is hosting a Community Group for Neurodivergent Graduate Students!

Meetings will take place:  Wednesdays from 5:30pm-6:30pm

beginning October 2nd on Zoom and will run for 7 weeks. Attend one, a few, or all meetings.
Register for meetings at this link: https://tinyurl.com/yzksehdp
This group is a place for you to connect with peers through shared experiences, conversation, and advice. We will cover topics like diagnosis stories, stereotypes, personal relationships, and a lot more. Being neurodivergent can mean a lot of things to different people, but generally refers to folks whose “neurocognitive functioning diverges from societal standards of normal” (e.g. Autism, ADHD, Learning Disabilities, mental health conditions). More info here: https://stimpunks.org/glossary/neurodivergent/
If you have fellow graduate students who consider themselves neurodivergent or relate to neurodivergence in general, feel free to forward this email to them. Group members do not need to be officially affiliated with RCPD to participate.

FALL WELCOME SCAVENGER HUNT!

COGS and The Graduate School are sponsoring a fun, fall welcome Scavenger Hunt – open now through August 30th! Participants will explore Michigan State University’s campus while searching for key landmarks and locations. Complete the checklist for a chance to win some swag and prizes from the MSU Graduate School and COGS!  Just have fun and get oriented to campus. Remote- friendly questions are also included!  Can’t get to all the locations, or not here on campus? No worries! Partial submissions will also be put in a random drawing pool to win prizes. Students can also log in multiple times to finish the hunt over time.  Participants must be graduate or professional students enrolled for the upcoming semester to win prizes.  (Not enrolled, but want to join the fun of exploration?  Feel free to download the scavenger hunt list pdf document on the webpage and have fun too!)

Scavenger Hunt Information Here

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Take a Spartan Nature Walk – with COGS!

Come with COGS as we participate in a nature walk with our friends from the Dept. of Forestry! Our hosts are tree experts and will add some fun facts as we enjoy the fresh air! We’ve always wanted to discover the beauty of Baker Woodlot. Now is a great time and we hope you’ll come too!

Date: Saturday, September 7th, 2024

Time: Starts at 1PM *Approx. 1 hour walk

MEET AT: EAST entrance to Baker Woodlot on Bogue Street, next to the Life Science building

Find out more! SPARTAN NATURE WALKS 

 

COGS Fall Welcome Celebration is Saturday, August 24!

Save the date!  Saturday August 24, 2024

COGS Fall Welcome Celebration will take place from Noon to 3PM at Benefactors Plaza, behind Chittenden Hall.

Join us and your fellow graduate & professional students as we celebrate the start of a new year at MSU! Family friendly event – find out more HERE!

2024 Fall Welcome Save the date flyer