The Graduate School recently received the Midwestern Association of Graduate School’s Excellence and Innovation in Graduate Education Award for its Graduate Futures Initiative (GFI).
GFI extends traditional career diversity efforts to provide graduate students access to interdisciplinary, partnership-informed, mission-driven support toward making career readiness an organic part of graduate education.
Margaret (Maggie) Nettesheim Hoffmann, director of career diversity and doctoral candidate in American history, and Dr. Theresa Tobin, associate professor in philosophy and Graduate School associate dean, accepted the award on behalf of the Graduate School.
GFI adopts a “student-first” approach that introduces the concept of “career diversity” to help students reimagine the role of graduate education in their professional pursuits within and outside the Academy by promoting:
- Experiences including internships that inform career discernment
- A wrap-around curriculum that provides tools and hones skills for transitioning into careers after graduate education
- Rich collaborations across campus and with community and industry partners.
GFI provides several opportunities for graduate students, including Graduate Futures Week in January, an internship curriculum for experiential learning and a Graduate Student Career Development Bootcamp beginning Monday, May 23, until Friday, May 27. The bootcamp focuses on a range of practical topics, from career exploration and values discernment to translating academic skills for navigating job opportunities in the “real world.” A networking lunch concludes the bootcamp.
Graduate students are invited to participate in this award-winning initiative. For more information and to register for the Graduate Student Career Development Bootcamp visit EventBrite.