IU and IU Bloomington
In the past three years, new staff positions have been created to support graduate students.
* A new graduate career coach was added at the Walter Career Center in 2022.
* A new Associate Vice Provost for Graduate Student Development was hired in 2021.
* An additional peer consultant was added at the Grad Grants Center in 2021. These are just a few examples of new resources available to graduate students.
* GPSG representatives are currently working with Dr. Aaron Carroll’s Mental Health Task Force to identify needed improvements in mental health and counseling services for graduate students.
The College and Schools
All graduate students have access to professional development, career counseling, and support services.
The following are school, college, or discipline-specific examples and are not meant to represent all variations of support for graduate study.
In 2020, the College funded a new career counselor position dedicated to graduate students who are interested in non-academic careers. Fifteen departments in the College fund special workshop programs and/or courses focused on professionalization in their discipline. Twelve College departments offer dedicated courses and/or programs for graduate students on "teaching the teacher,” which provides pedagogical development.
The Eskenazi School of Art, Architecture + Design has worked with the Walter Career Center for career development, work opportunities, and job search advice/opportunities for its graduate students. A new summer 2022 residency program was established through the Center on Rural Engagement for six graduate students to engage directly in regional communities through their art practice.
Starting in Fall 2021, the Luddy School of Informatics, Computing and Engineering launched new Associate Instructor fellowships offering the opportunity to participate in a pedagogical learning community with an instructional expert, with the goal of preparing them to be more effective in supporting a class (as lab instructor, discussion instructor, grader, etc.). In 2022-23, the Luddy School is piloting a new program for future faculty that will support four advanced doctoral students in enhancing their teaching portfolios by co-teaching a class with an experienced faculty member and developing their own syllabus with assistance from an instructional expert to offer an elective in their area of research.
In 2019-20, the School of Public Health began providing Professional Staff Academic Advising for Master of Public Health students. Beginning in Fall 2021, new laptops were provided for all incoming doctoral students in the school.
The Division of Student Affairs added a professional development program for its Graduate Assistants and provided opportunities for GAs to attend professional conferences to supplement their formal and practical training.
In 2021, the Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies purchased tablets, laptops, software, and other new technologies for graduate student use. HLS also funded new career coaching support for master’s students in international affairs.
For students in the Graduate Legal Studies Program, the Maurer School of Law increased support for dissertation and academic legal writing; grew individualized program offerings for international students and scholars; launched a new professional development program, including workshops, peer advising, and career advising; and expanded access to financial resources for international students experiencing financial hardship.
In 2021, the School of Optometry increased its Career Development Series to three times each semester; the topics are chosen by graduate students.
In Fall of 2020, the O'Neill School added a new course on “Grantwriting and Other Skills for Ph.D. Research.” The course is already proving successful with several fall 2020 students having since received large fellowship grants (>$100,000) based on proposals they developed in the course.
