History of the GSL Position

When we think of student services or the student voice on campus, we often equate "student" with "undergraduate". As a result, the different needs of the graduate student community can be overlooked. To help address this problem, the Coordinator of Graduate Student Life (formerly Graduate Student Involvement) was created here at Maryland through a collaboration between the Division of Student Affairs and the Graduate School to provide programming and advocacy for graduate student needs on campus.

Graduate student services have been in existence at graduate professional programs such as law, business and medicine for many years.  However, the position at Maryland was created to work with all graduate students and thus promote interdisciplinary interaction and campus community.

The Coordinator is one of two new staff positions created in 2001 to meet needs expressed to the administration by the Graduate Student Government. The other position, the Program Director for Graduate Student Services, was created to further help the Career Center meet graduate students' career needs. While the Career Center position is no longer present, two graduate assistant positions were established in Graduate Student Life in 2006, following recommendations from the Vice President of Student Affairs Task Force on Graduate Student Life.

Purpose of the Office

The purpose of the Office of Graduate Student Life is to:

• Provide programs that help create a tangible graduate student campus community.
• Foster graduate student conversation and collaboration across disciplines. 
• Encourage, recognize and celebrate the uniqueness of graduate students.
• Promote existing campus services and encourage service areas to be more inclusive of graduate student needs.
• Grow and maintain a graduate student presence in institutional decisions that affect the quality of life for graduate students.
• Help departments share ideas about programs and support structures for graduate students.
• Conduct regular assessments of graduate student quality of life on campus.
• Advocate for graduate student needs across campus.

FROM THE GSL OFFICE:

Graduate Student Life Fall 2007 Newsletter

Graduate Student Appreciation Week

Office Initiatives Update April 2004
(pdf format)

Office Statistics Nov.2003-Nov 2004 (pdf format)

Article: "Addressing the Social Needs of Graduate Students"
Dec. 17 2004

UMD Graduate Student
Services Network