Six key lessons to help graduate students thrive in their first year

Advice on how to thrive in grad school for both master's and doctoral students from the Chronicle of Higher Education.

New online professional development training modules for grad students

A news release from the Council of Ontario Universities provides details on the mygradskills.ca online modules for grad students.  The University of Guelph was one of the contributors to the site.

GSLI Work-Study position available

Work-Study Position – Graduate Student Learning Initiative Assistant

5 hours per week

This position provides assistance to the Graduate Student Learning Initiative (GSLI), an umbrella group of services that support the development of academic and professional skills for graduate students.  

Please note that a graduate student is preferred for this position and that this is a 5-hour per week position that pays minimum wage.  This position is available year round – fall, winter and summer semesters.

Primary responsibilities involve provide logistical support to the Chair and research support to professional staff providing GSLI programming.  Specific training will be provided. 

Responsibilities will include a wide array of tasks including: 

·         preparing a bi-weekly email announcement for students about upcoming workshops

·         attending monthly GSLI meetings and taking minutes

·         creating and maintaining the GSLI blog

·         updating and maintaining the GSLI website

·         organizing and storing GSLI documents

·         updating, creating, photocopying, and distributing posters, flyers, and other promotional materials

·         some clerical tasks such as filing and data entry

·         other tasks as assigned. 

The ideal candidate would have the following qualities:

·         excellent communication skills in English, including advanced writing, grammar, spelling and proofreading

·         advanced skills in Word

·         dependable and reliable; able to work independently with minimal supervision

·         excellent organization and time management skills and attention to detail

·         interest in and familiarity with support services for graduate students

In return, we offer:

·         flexible hours

·         opportunity to learn new skills

·         friendly, student-centred work environment, conveniently located in the Library.

Please note the following:

• Apply only after you have received approval from the work-study program, and forward your approval email with your application package
• A resume is required with your application package
• Incomplete application packages will not be considered
•  Email your application package to Maryann Kope at mkope@uoguelph.ca as soon as possible.

New system for GSLI workshop registration this fall

Many of the units that provide GSLI workshops have switched to a new online system for workshop registration.  The system is called Event Link and most GSLI workshops can be accessed at www.uoguelph.ca/eventlink/library.  You can also access GSLI workshops through the GSLI website at www.gsli.uoguelph.ca/workshops.

Career Services and Teaching Development programs have separate registration systems.

Returning grad students will notice several differences between the old and new registration systems:

• you will need to re-enter your personal information - data from the old system was not transferred to the new system
• related workshops and multiple sessions of the same workshop are now grouped together.  You can identify these by the red "MORE" button 
• the search function searches only workshop titles, not descriptions
• Event Link uses a "shopping cart" style system, but don't worry - GSLI workshops are all still FREE!