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UMass Sesquicentennial

Training Information

Questions occasionally arise for staff or faculty when using the Graduate Admissions and Graduate Records software and SPIRE pages created over the last few years. We have, therefore, collected and published below some of our documentation for you to review. This is not intended to be a comprehensive set of documentation and you should feel free to contact the Graduate School via phone (413) 545-6002 or email gradreports@grad.umass.edu with any questions.

The Office of Information Technologies also offers extensive online and in person training for most basic SPIRE functions and many of the Graduate Admissions processes.

Statute of Limitations Extensions

In a simple two-step process, departments can now request Statute of Limitations extensions on SPIRE.

Academic Load Overrides

The Academic Load Override page in SPIRE is used to enter a graduate student's status as full- or half-time while they are working on research. This page replaces the need to write and send status memos to the Graduate School.

Using the Graduate Application Review Page

A note about this video: the SPIRE navigation links now appear at the top of every SPIRE page instead of on the side of the screen as shown in this video.

UMetrx

There are four reports that can be generated with the user-friendly UMetrx system: a list of prospective applicants seeking information from the program; a detailed list of current applicants which includes their status, contact information, transcripts and test scores; a summary report of applicant totals by status; and the results of the exit survey completed by applicants who have declined our offer of admission. Available for GPDs and staff only.

SPIRE Query

To generate a list of currently enrolled students or applicants, the SPIRE queries are always accurate and easy to run to Excel:

Graduate Admissions Decision Page

The Graduate Decision Page is used to admit or deny applicants. It is also where a department can change an applicants admission term or degree plan or sub-plan.