Newly Formed Office of Professional Development for Graduate Students
The newly formed Office of Professional Development in the Graduate School
has hit the ground running this fall with a variety of programming, resources, and events specifically designed for VCU’s diverse graduate students. The inaugural Director of Professional Development, Dr. Erin Brown came on board at the end of June. In her role, she is responsible for overseeing professional development for graduate students. This includes managing the Preparing Future Faculty Program, the Leaders Entrepreneurs Academy, relaunching the Graduate School Mentoring Program as well as collaborating with partners on and off campus to bring high-quality professional development programming to students. She also serves as the faculty advisor for the Graduate Student Association, an organization that advocates for graduate students while providing opportunities for them to learn, connect, and network with one another.
The year started strong with the Graduate School’s annual Fall Orientation with more than 400 students in attendance who heard from key campus partners such as campus police, Career Services, the Writing Center, and University Counseling Services. For the first time, the Graduate School hosted an orientation for Graduate Teaching Assistants (GTAs) from all programs where 125 participants were provided with a greeting from Dean Manu Gupta, critical information from the Student Accessibility and Educational Opportunity Office, Office of Student Contact and Academic Integrity, as well as a student panel of veteran GTAs. Later in the semester, GTAs were able to participate in a mid-semester reflection session to discuss their experience working as teaching assistants.
Thirty unique programming opportunities were hosted this semester that were attended by more than 250 graduate students. Programming included informational sessions and interactive workshops that were held virtually and in-person. This included activities that were a part of Graduate Education Week as well as newly created Graduate Student Fellowship Week and Career Exploration Week. To incentivize participation in professional development workshops, the Graduate School developed three foundational digital badges this year in collaboration with the Office of Continuing and Professional Education – Introduction to Mentoring, Presentation of Research, and Teaching Best Practices. Twenty-six students have qualified for badges thus far.
As the Spring semester approaches, Dr. Brown looks forward to continuing to deepen relationships with key partners as well as providing meaningful and impactful programs for students. "We have so much to look forward to in the new year from our themed weeks highlighting experiential learning and research to our Richmond Series which will help graduate students learn about the city while reflecting on how they can positively impact it. Our graduate students are so diverse and talented. It is a joy to help them connect their passion to their purpose through professional development.”