This post is not meant to just brag about the graduate student services that Michigan State University (MSU) offers and make students and former students at other universities feel like they missed out. However, the focus of this article in the Chronicle of Higher Education is about MSU's Graduate School's programs that attempt to reach graduate students throughout their time in grad school (and not just when they are about to graduate) with various resources to help them make the most of their research and careers. I have noticed over my five years at MSU that the Graduate School has constantly been increasing their resources available to grad students, and I have taken advantage of them as much as I could.
MSU has held quite a few discussion panels and workshops on looking for jobs outside of academia, which is something that many professors either do not support or do not have the experience and knowledge to inform their graduate students about. There are workshops on how to stay productive and manage your time well, and recently I attended others on sleep (not just the importance of sleep but misconceptions and techniques to help get better sleep) and emotional resiliency. I have been very happy with the free graduate student fitness classes that have been offered the past couple years, which include cardioboxing, zumba, yoga and cycling, because I didn't exercise often enough before they were offered and did not feel as healthy. (Being a cheap graduate student, I didn't want to pay to use the gym or take normal fitness classes.)
I do hope, for graduate student health and wellness everywhere, that many more universities follow MSU's example and fully support their graduate students throughout their time in graduate school.
http://m.chronicle.com/article/More-Than-One-Possible-Future/145317/
MSU has held quite a few discussion panels and workshops on looking for jobs outside of academia, which is something that many professors either do not support or do not have the experience and knowledge to inform their graduate students about. There are workshops on how to stay productive and manage your time well, and recently I attended others on sleep (not just the importance of sleep but misconceptions and techniques to help get better sleep) and emotional resiliency. I have been very happy with the free graduate student fitness classes that have been offered the past couple years, which include cardioboxing, zumba, yoga and cycling, because I didn't exercise often enough before they were offered and did not feel as healthy. (Being a cheap graduate student, I didn't want to pay to use the gym or take normal fitness classes.)
I do hope, for graduate student health and wellness everywhere, that many more universities follow MSU's example and fully support their graduate students throughout their time in graduate school.
http://m.chronicle.com/article/More-Than-One-Possible-Future/145317/