graduate onboarding program<\/a> was developed by the FGSPA engagement team in collaboration with graduate ambassadors and the Graduate Students\u2019 Association.<\/p>\n\u201cOverall, the program has had a significant impact on student engagement, retention and success,\u201d says Suzanne Curtin, Vice-Provost and Dean of Faculty of Graduate Studies and Postdoctoral Affairs. \u201cIt has strengthened partnerships across departments and transformed the way we welcome and support graduate students at Brock.\u201d<\/p>\n
With the goal of ensuring students feel represented, Curtin says the program hired a team of student ambassadors who have helped to shape the program based on their own onboarding experiences.<\/p>\n
The program\u2019s success also stems from its comprehensive communications strategy, which prioritizes centralized online resources and continuous feedback opportunities.<\/p>\n
Graduate ambassadors maintain a dedicated Brightspace site for the program \u2014 where incoming students can navigate resources at their own pace before classes begin \u2014 and host drop-in sessions and other events in response to information most requested by new students.<\/p>\n
Applied Health Sciences PhD candidate Katrina Carbonara (BSc \u201919) says serving as a graduate ambassador from 2022 to 2024 was \u201can incredible experience.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cUsing my own experience and insights from others around me, I helped develop a resource that prepares incoming students and eases their transition,\u201d she says. \u201cHearing how the program has supported students and made their transition smoother has been incredibly rewarding.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Brock\u2019s Faculty of Graduate Studies and Postdoctoral Affairs (FGSPA) recently received the 2023-24 Award for Excellence in Enhancing the Graduate Student Experience (GSE) for its new student onboarding program.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":71,"featured_media":98459,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[188,55,1],"tags":[12849,3335,147,3330,12399,8712],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98458"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/71"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=98458"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98458\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":98473,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98458\/revisions\/98473"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/98459"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=98458"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=98458"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=98458"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}