Graduate Student Services and Resources

Graduate Student Services and Resources

 

Graduate Student Activities

Graduate Student Orientation (GSO)

Graduate Student Orientation (GSO) is held prior to the start of fall and spring semesters. All new graduate students are encouraged to attend and all new teaching assistants are required to attend. GSO provides an opportunity to learn about university resources and network with other new graduate students, along with representatives of KSU's faculty, staff, and administration. GSO will feature a series of presentations from different support areas, a resource fair, campus tours, and breakout sessions facilitated by the GSO teaching fellows related to topics on teaching, research, and graduate student life. 

Graduate Professional and Academic Development Workshops (GPAD)

The Division of Graduate Studies offers professional development workshops for KSU graduate students of all academic programs. The free, one-hour Graduate Professional and Academic Development (GPAD) workshops are offered during a one-week block in the Fall and Spring semesters. Several of the GPAD workshops are also included in Graduate Student Orientation (GSO). The GPAD workshops are a collaborative initiative between the Division of Graduate Studies and other campus units including University Libraries, Research and Sponsored Programs, LaunchNET Kent State, and Career Exploration and Development. Facilitated by university faculty, administrators, and teaching fellows, the GPAD workshops include topics such as technology tools, searching for grant funding, writing a literature review, and networking. Students who attend at least three GPAD workshops during the semester will receive a "GPAD Certificate of Participation" that can be added to a CV or resume. Light refreshments will be provided at each of the GPAD workshops and pre-registration is preferred. 

Three Minute Thesis (3MT®) 

The Division of Graduate Studies hosted KSU's first Three Minute Thesis (3MT®) competition in 2015. 3MT was developed at the University of Queensland and is now offered at over 170 universities.  This graduate-level competition develops academic, presentation, and research communication skills and supports the development of graduate students' capacity to effectively explain their research in three minutes or less in language appropriate for an intelligent, but non-specialist audience. Graduate students are able to present research they are conducting for a thesis, dissertation, terminal project, or any other research project in which they are engaged in.  All currently enrolled graduate students are eligible to participate and compete for cash prizes. Students are given just three minutes and one PowerPoint slide that they can use to share their research in an engaging and concise manner.

Dissertation Bootcamp

The Division of Graduate Studies hosts Dissertation Boot Camps (DBC) to provide graduate students with distraction-free weekends so they can remain committed to meeting their dissertation or thesis goals. Specifically, the program was created to provide students, at various stages of the dissertation process, with a working space conducive to starting, continuing and/or completing projects. DBC offers a supportive environment to network with other colleagues that are working on their dissertations or other research projects. Students in master's programs or those working on projects that are not dissertations are welcome to register. The cost of the boot camp is $40 and meals are provided at no additional cost.

 

Graduate student appreciation week

The Division of Graduate Studies sponsors Graduate Student Appreciation Week (GSAW) during the month of April. GSAW is a week-long series of events to show the support and appreciation that Kent State has for graduate and professional students. Such events may include food, games, entertainment, de-stressing activities, and preparing for graduation.

Get involved!

Graduate Student Senate (GSS)

The Graduate Student Senate (GSS) is comprised of senators from all departments and programs on campus that have graduate programs on the master and doctoral level. Through regular meetings, the senate seeks to improve graduate student life and research on campus through student initiatives and research grant funding.

To find out how you can become involved in the Graduate Student Senate, please contact your Senator or the GSS Executive Board at gss@kent.edu

GradFest

GradFest, sponsored by the Graduate Student Senate provides a place for graduate students from all different departments to get together and meet one another.  The locations and dates for GradFest can be found on the GSS Facebook page!

Graduate student research symposium

Looking for a way to share graduate-level research with Kent State students, faculty, and staff? GSS hosts the Graduate Research Symposium annually in April. The Symposium is the university's largest celebration of graduate student research and features oral and poster presentations by graduate students from a wide variety of disciplines. Presenters have the opportunity to not only share their research, but also compete for awards. 

Center for Student Involvement

The Center for Student Involvement (CSI) offers opportunities for leadership and participation in student-initiated projects and student organizations. These organizations are a good way to get involved with student-initiated projects and organizations!

Other Resources for Graduate School

 

Center for Teaching and Learning

The Center for Teaching and Learning has a primary mission to provide opportunities, leadership, and support for all faculty to grow in their scholarly and professional endeavors. The long term aim is to support community members in the process of creating, transforming, and/or maintaining Kent State University’s environments for learning as spaces where all students can succeed.

Forms Library

The forms library contains a collection of paperwork and application forms for faculty, staff, and students (prospective and current). From application to registration to thesis and dissertation documents. If the form you need is not listed in the forms library, it may only be available at the department or college-level.

GUIDE TO GRADUATE EDUCATION

The Guide to Graduate Education contains the policies and procedures applicable to the University's graduate education community. The guide is intended to make graduate policies and procedures easily accessible to students, faculty, staff, and administrators.  The guide covers topics from applying to a graduate program all the way to graduation.  

Research and Sponsored Programs

Research and Sponsored Programs provides the resources, facilities, and services needed for Kent State University faculty, staff and students to conduct groundbreaking, globally relevant research and scholarship.