New Students

Campus leadership will welcome graduate students to the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

• Dean of the Graduate School William J. Karpus
• Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs John Karl Scholz
• Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Lori Reesor
• Deputy Vice Chancellor and Chief Diversity Officer LaVar Charleston

The Welcome Remarks will be followed by a “Meet and Greet” Reception. Refreshments will be served.

Learn about the campus and community services that are available to help graduate students succeed at UW–Madison.

Note: Both 35-minute sessions have the same content, so plan to attend either at 11:45 or at 12:30.

Hear directly from staff about the ways their offices can help you find and apply for funding, use databases and other tools to gather information related to your research, write better and smarter, and develop your professional and career-related plans and skills. Presenters include:

• Office of Professional Development, Graduate School
• Writing Center
• Libraries and Grants Information Collection
• Division of Information Technology (DoIT) and Software Training for Students (STS)
• Dean of Students Office

A panel of seasoned graduate students will answer the large and small questions you have about everything from what can make your graduate student life easier and less stressful to establishing and maintaining relationships with faculty and staff in your program.

95% of alumni report that the ability to communicate effectively is amongst their most valuable skills not only in graduate school but beyond as they progress through their professional careers. Whether you’re just starting your graduate program or continuing it, this talk by Dr. Shalini Nag will give you practical tips you can begin to apply from Day 1. We will discuss the 5 types of professional relationships you need for grad school success and share in-person and virtual communication tips that will enable you to initiate, nurture, and manage those relationships effectively.

What are graduate certificates, and how can they add value to your graduate degree? In this virtual session, faculty and staff representing several graduate certificate programs (and their equivalent doctoral minors) discuss the multiple benefits that these programs provide to graduate students across campus—including fulfilling breadth requirements, expanding interdisciplinary knowledge, mastering new skills, creating community and networking opportunities, and building cultural competence. Attendees will also have the opportunity to speak with each certificate representative in smaller groups.

• Watch the recording of Enhancing your Graduate Degree with a Certificate
• View presentation slides from Enhancing your Graduate Degree with a Certificate

Want to make graduate school a time to thrive and not just survive? This workshop will focus on promotion of psychological well-being in graduate school. Topics covered will arm graduate students with strategies to thrive through the challenges of graduate school, including managing the transition/adjustment process, coping with stress, promoting work/life balance, and establishing habits to maintain or improve mental health.

In this interactive workshop, you will learn tips and techniques for staying on track and managing your time. We’ll cover goal-setting, minimizing distractions and staying focused, and overcoming some of the most common challenges to staying on task. Participants will leave with strategies that they can apply immediately. The strategies we’ll cover are appropriate for students in any discipline.

As we strive to foster a welcoming and inclusive campus, it is critically important for graduate students and professionals across all disciplines to understand how implicit or unconscious bias can influence our interactions with a diverse array of people. More importantly, it is essential that we develop and consciously practice evidence-based strategies for reducing the application of these biases as we cultivate relationships with people from different backgrounds, experiences, and cultures. This interactive talk introduces graduate students to the underlying concepts and language used in the psychological and social psychological literature to describe implicit or unconscious biases, describes how these processes function as habits of mind, and focuses on how they influence our interactions and can lead to microaggressions. Students will learn effective strategies for minimizing the application of implicit bias and for addressing microaggressions when they commit, witness, or experience them.

Prepare to maximize your time and energy this semester by taking advantage of software available to UW–Madison graduate students that can help streamline your workflow. This virtual workshop, presented by Pete Valeo from Software Training for Students (STS), will introduce you to both basic and advanced software tools, including cloud storage services, notetaking apps, mobile scanners, research tools, tasks managers, password managers, lifestyle apps, and more.

This session will include information on the financial aid application process and available funding sources for graduate students. Co-sponsored by the Office of Student Financial Aid.

Explore strategies to prepare to learn remotely, engage in your courses, and maximize your time. This module, from the Graduate School, is for grad students taking their first online course or those looking for some new resources on online learning. Enroll in the Successful Online Learning Canvas course at any time.