Current Students

As you work toward your graduate degree, the Graduate School, together with partners across campus, will support you so that you can take full ownership of your graduate education and follow the career trajectory that you imagine. UW–Madison graduate students thrive in a vibrant community that embraces diversity and values a distinctive mix of lively city life and natural beauty.

Academic and Professional Development

grad students in seminar class

Academics

The Graduate School offers support from admission through degree completion. Below are several key resources to support your success.

Graduate Guide >>

Academic Policies and Procedures >>

Graduate Student Tracking System >>

Completing Your Master’s Degree >>

Preparing Your Dissertation >>

Bouchet booklet

Diversity

We are committed not only to providing a robust education in a world-class research enterprise, but also to building a diverse community of scholars.

Inclusion and Engagement >>

Diversity Training Resources >>

Bouchet Honor Society >>

Graduate Research Scholars Communities >>

Additional Diversity Programs >>

Networking workshop

Professional development

When you participate in professional development, you build skills needed to succeed academically and thrive in your career.

Log in to DiscoverPD >>

Individual Development Plan >>

Professional Development Events >>

Delta Program in Research, Teaching and Learning >>

Additional PD programs >>

A Graduate Student Guide to Working with Faculty Advisors

Through this interactive, self-paced micro-course, graduate students learn about the characteristics of functional and dysfunctional relationships with faculty advisors, strategies for communicating effectively and aligning expectations, as well as program grievance processes and Hostile and Intimidating Behavior resources. Completion of the micro-course takes about 20 minutes and is optional but encouraged for all graduate students.

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Sexual harassment, sexual assault, dating & domestic violence, and stalking

The Graduate School works with campus partners to ensure that students, faculty, and staff have a safe environment to thrive. Here are some resources for graduate students on sexual assault.

Sexual Misconduct Resource and Response Program

Reporting and other resources

Confidential support services

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Reporting incidents of bias or hate

The University of Wisconsin–Madison is committed to responding to incidents of hate and bias on campus. Visit the links below for more information.

Reporting incidents of bias or hate

Response process

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Discrimination, harassment, and retaliation

Discrimination and discriminatory harassment are not tolerated at UW–Madison. The Office of Compliance offers details regarding the definition and reporting of these prohibited behaviors, visit the link below.

Office of Compliance Civil Rights Investigations

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Research misconduct

If you have observed or you suspect research misconduct, please report directly to the Research Integrity Office (RIO) at RIO@research.wisc.edu.

Misconduct in scholarly research policy

Procedures for dealing with misconduct in scholarly research

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Hostile and intimidating behavior

The University of Wisconsin–Madison is committed to preventing hostile and intimidating behavior (HIB) and will take prompt and appropriate corrective action whenever it learns that it has occurred.

HIB Resources

HIB Policy and Process Training

Hostile and Intimidating Behavior contact: Kipp Cox, ervin.cox@wisc.edu

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Dean of Students Office

Students are encouraged to contact the Dean of Students Office with additional questions or concerns. You can request to meet with the Graduate Student Assistant Specialist for support specific to the unique needs of graduate students.

Dean of Students Office

Accessibility@UW–Madison

UW–Madison values all individuals and commits to a shared responsibility towards designing inclusively and accessibly for people with disabilities. Visit Accessibility@UW–Madison to learn about disability rights, ableism, accessibility resources, and information faculty, students, and staff need to do their part in creating accessible events and content.

Policies

Graduate School Academic Policies and Procedures

The Graduate School Academic Policies and Procedures glossary gathers academic and administrative policies and procedures relevant to graduate students.

Graduate Assistant Policies and Procedures

Graduate Assistant Policies and Procedures (GAPP) outline employment-related practices for graduate student teaching assistants, research assistants, and project assistants.

Program-Specific Policies and Procedures

The Graduate Guide is our university’s program catalog and a great resource for official academic matters. Learn more about your program’s academic grievance/appeals policy and procedures under the “Policies” tab on your program’s degree/major page.

Health and Wellness

The Graduate School cares about your overall well-being. Success in graduate school involves learning to effectively balance your physical, mental, and social needs with your academic life. There is a wealth of resources to assist graduate students in taking care of their health and wellness.

University Health Services

University Health Services (UHS) offers high-quality medical and mental health care on campus to all UW–Madison students. These services are funded by student segregated fees, so most UHS services are available at no additional charge. UHS also offers wellness services and prevention programs.

UHS medical services include:

  • primary care
  • immunizations
  • behavioral health
  • women’s health
  • sexual health
  • trans and gender diverse health
  • travel clinic

UHS mental health services include:

  • A 24/7 mental health crisis support line
  • Individual, group, and couple/partner counseling
  • Let’s Talk drop-ins across campus
  • Care management
  • Help with substance use disorders and eating disorders
  • Survivor mental health services
  • Psychiatry services

Inclusion and support

We encourage graduate students to take advantage of the many resources offered in order to cultivate a healthy lifestyle and community.

LGBT center

The Dean of Students Office

Dean of Students Office staff, including a dedicated Graduate and Professional Student Assistance Specialist, help students who are navigating personal, academic, or health issues by connecting them to supportive campus and community resources.

Dean of Students Christina Olstad makes a W sign with her hands. She is standing next to a statue of Bucky Badger and smiling.

Graduate students with children

The UW–Madison Office of Child Care and Family Resources offers an array of services and information to support graduate students with families.

Eagles Wing children

Recreation & Wellbeing

Rec Well has a variety of facilities, programs, and services for you to play hard, get fit, and live well on campus. Membership is included in your tuition.

A group of students play soccer on a grassy field.

Getting involved

You'll find myriad opportunities to engage in campus and community life. Doing so can improve your research and scholarship, through networking and cross-collaborative interactions.

ASM meeting

Finances and basic needs

From information on student finances and attendance costs, to resources to support basic needs while you are a student, there is assistance available to graduate students on campus.

Three people unload food from the back of a vehicle. There are bags, cans, and packages of shelf-stable food filling the trunk.

Life in Madison

UW offers awesome opportunities for graduate students to escape from their unending duties: workshops, lectures on relevant topics, mini-courses . . . and let’s not forget the activities waiting to be lived in Madison, from salsa dancing to windsurfing on Lake Mendota, from fresh sushi on Library Mall (as fresh as it can get in the Midwest), to organic beef and frozen custard.
If you dare, come and experience Madison!

Eulàlia Puig Abril, Life Sciences Communication

New Graduate Students

The Graduate School offers support and resources to help you transition to life as a graduate student, including:

  • New Graduate Student Welcome, the orientation day for all new graduate students;
  • Welcome Week programming ranging from productivity tips, to networking opportunities, to national speakers;
  • checklists of important tasks to complete before and when you arrive on campus; and
  • onboarding messages and publications to help you get settled in to your new role as a UW–Madison graduate student.

Visit our New Students page for details.

Tips for Grads

Each issue of the graduate student newsletter, GradConnections Weekly, includes a column written by graduate students, for graduate students, covering topics such as graduate student life, professional development, and academic success. Catch up on previous “Tips for Grads” columns in the archive.

Graduate students who want to share their advice with fellow students can be a Tips for Grads guest writer.