grad student development – Page 3

Guest post: Collaging as Creative Exploration and Academic Production

cut outs of fruit pictures from the grocery mail insert - lime, orange, grapefruit. Cut outs of words from magazines: I had kimchi dreams, becoming, almost everything, something, a little, fortified, torn torn, don't, break, sleek metal, neat strips, No it won't be too much, leftover husks and small pebbles, light infusion, light sweetness, Let US Take You

Maggie: “I think a big part of why learning to view myself as creative was so difficult was that it required so much unlearning…I had to unlearn what I thought it meant to be good at creating and to be more intuitive and fun with my work. Creative work, just like scholarship, is iterative, collaborative, reflective, and never really finished. ”

Learning Communities: The Golden Ticket to Teaching Centers for Graduate Students

a beach with large boulders in the foreground, a yellow sun rising in the distance. There are light clouds in the sky.

For most people, orientations are likely their first and last interaction with the teaching center. A subset of people take advantage of a consultation or three to talk through a specific teaching challenge, draft a new approach, reflect, and revise. I contend that the learning community is the Golden Ticket™ to your teaching center. If your CTL has one for graduate students specifically, it’s where the really great CTL stuff is.

What I learned from Blown Away about my own learning communities

three people stand around a glass installation. there are two men next to each other on the right and a very tall woman on the left. There are glass bell jars over glass objects on the table

Graduate students have heartaches that need care and witnessing as well as successes and dreams. What can Blown Away teach about facilitation of graduate student learning communities?

Follow the Bubbles

A photo from underwater. At the bottom, the water is dark and at the very top center is brightest. There are bubbles in the center.

What if, instead of drowning in everyday life of productivity and competition, we did what lights our spirits, brings us meaning and purpose, and puts our gifts in service to others?

So many (grad development) books!

hundreds of pinpoints of light, each a galaxy. They are dots and streaks of many colors - yellow, blue, red. There is a starburst one in the center.

In the work of graduate student development, there are student affairs people and academic affairs people. We need communicative bridges between these communities.

Beyond one-size-fits-all teaching tips

The title of the book is at the top in white font with an orange-yellow banner. The image of the book cover is an overhead shot of a table with five students seated at it. They have laptops and papers around them.

“We think graduate students have a story to tell about their teaching. How have you come to think about teaching as you do? What are the most meaningful teaching activities, accomplishments, barriers, and outcomes for you?”

Journey back to integrity: Therapeutic relationships

A black and yellow striped butterfly with long tails, perched on a long green stem. There's leaf litter and green woods in the background

My current role in a graduate school doesn’t automatically have direct, community-building work in it (which opens up lots of questions for me). As I went on my leave of absence in April, I knew that when I came back I would need to deliberately engage in work that is in integrity with my heart and spirit: community-building with graduate students.

What does educational development even mean?

I hope colleagues in educational development take some time to think about what “development” means to them and the work they do. I hope they will think about how the term “educational developer” fits or doesn’t, especially as many of my colleagues’ roles have expanded into mentoring and diverse career exploration. Maybe I’ve provided some insight into the work I do to make it legible to others.

Scholarship AS creative activity: Meeting your inner artist

Five glass tiles of different colors and designs on a black background.

I am currently reading The Artist’s Way, and it’s leading me to think about the ways I can guide graduate students as they explore their research, writing, and teaching AS creative activities and learn how to protect and nurture their creative spark.

Making Meaning (Part 2): Why focus on grad students?

It is possible for graduate students to check the boxes and to zombie-walk through the initiations and benchmarks of graduate school. Graduate students need and deserve mentoring that is intentional and cognizant of their meaning making process.