When Emily Nocito was working toward her master’s degree from the University of Maine, she focused solely on the task ahead. She didn’t engage much with campus professional activities, nor did she attend workshops on how to increase her productivity and satisfaction as a graduate student.
“I got my master’s at another university, but I did absolutely nothing but work on my master’s,” said Nocito, who is originally from New Jersey and moved to Colorado from Maine in 2018. “I didn’t engage with any of the professional development there. When I came to CU, I didn’t want to make the same mistake here,” she said, “so I started right away engaging with the Graduate School as a participant. I discovered there’s a treasure trove of available opportunities and support.”
Graduate liaison program
The graduate liaison program was created three years ago when students reported being unaware of the programs the Graduate School offered. This year, six graduate liaisons serve as the primary contacts for communicating with other graduate students in their representative areas of arts, engineering, humanities, communication sciences, natural sciences and social sciences. They share information about events and initiatives with their peers, support cross-disciplinary connections, brainstorm ideas for program initiatives and gather ideas about services students say would be helpful. They also create and host professional development activities, such as webinars, podcasts or workshops.
Nocito said she wanted to be a liaison to show students the breadth of opportunities for professional development housed within the Graduate School and to keep people from making the same mistakes she made.
“This year, especially, I’ve found it more important to engage with people,” Nocito said. “Attending the online events is a good opportunity to see other faces. That has been so important for my own well-being. These events give me a different perspective to focus on. It’s really important, especially with everything being online.”
Going virtual
Graduate School programs are recorded on Zoom and posted on YouTube (@CUBoulderGraduate), said Sarah Tynen, graduate program manager, making workshops and seminars more accessible for all graduate students.
“We’ve seen a lot of really successful Zoom presentations,” Tynen said. “Since the presentations have moved online, we’ve had a huge increase in student participation, which has opened new avenues for creative solutions to engage with students. It’s been very rewarding to see the level of engagement from our students, and the liaisons have been a huge part of that success.”
Graduate liaisons are available to hear comments from students. To learn more about the liaison program and the Graduate School professional development activities, enroll in their email listerv. To view upcoming professional development workshops, check out the spring 2021 workshop calendar.
