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New Deans Institute

The New Deans Institute (NDI) will begin at 8:15 am and end at 5:00 pm on Saturday, July 13. The day will conclude with Dine Arounds at 7:00 pm. The Institute is tailored to those who have been in their graduate dean role for two years or less. Other members of the graduate education community can also attend. What if you attended previously and want to participate again? Return attendees are welcome. The Institute format may be familiar, but in addition to incorporating past discussions, we aim to provide all participants with a fulfilling experience.

 

 

Summer Workshop

The main program of the Summer Workshop will begin on Sunday, July 14 at 1:00 pm and run through 1:30 pm on Tuesday followed by three technical workshops offered through 11:00 am on Wednesday. Our Summer Workshop program includes informative plenary sessions and many opportunities for networking and interactive discussions on the issues most pressing to the graduate education community.

Plenary Sessions

The Summer Workshop plenary sessions address the most pressing topics in graduate education.

This year’s plenaries are:

  • Graduate Education and the Promises of AI
  • With Sustainability in Mind: The Partnership for Atlantic Cooperation
  • Understanding DEI in Federal and State Legal Contexts

Dean's Toolbox

CGS’s “toolbox” sessions are one-hour workshops designed to give you specific information and/or resources that you can use immediately. Led by deans with expertise on the topic, they will focus on at least three key concepts, lessons, or skills. Four different “toolbox” sessions will run concurrently.

This year’s topics are:

  • What’s in Your Hand?: Leveraging Graduate Students to Address Pressing Graduate Student Needs
  • Mentor Training: Not Just for Students Anymore
  • Optimizing Your Graduate Portfolio
  • Achieving Graduate Success through Market-Driven Program Benchmarking

Dean's Dialogues

Dean Dialogues are unique opportunities for meeting participants to learn more about graduate education issues in a distinctive, interactive format. These 90-minute sessions begin with a 20-minute presentation, followed by an opportunity for participants to break into small groups for more in-depth discussions about the topic, and conclude with presentations from the small groups summarizing their discussions. Dean Dialogues will occur on Sunday and Monday afternoons with two different Dialogues running concurrently.

This year’s topics are:

  • New Models of International Collaboration
  • Preparing Confident, Career-Ready Humanists
  • Promoting Graduate Student Success: Mentor Recognition and Accountability Practices
  • Making the Case for Support: Fundraising in Graduate Education

Hot Topics

These sessions are designed to provide a small, interactive setting for members of the graduate education community to discuss pressing issues. “Hot Topics” facilitators are CGS board members, staff, and others knowledgeable in these topic areas. This year’s topics include:

  • Right-Sizing Graduate Student Support
  • Creating Policy to Recognize Prior Learning
  • Career Transparency for Graduate Students
  • Reimagining the Dissertation and Thesis
  • Graduate Student Mental Health
  • Preparing for Election Outcomes

Technical Workshops

Workshops are designed to provide attendees with “nuts and bolts” strategies for dealing with pertinent issues facing the graduate education community.

Tuesday 2:00 – 4:00 pm

Re-thinking the Graduate Experience: Supporting First-Generation Students
This session will unpack the complex and intersecting identities of first-generation college students who are in graduate school with a focus on strategies to help them negotiate and thrive in graduate school contexts. Presenters will share recommendations to make implicit norms, values and expectations more explicit by addressing the “hidden curriculum”, developing anti-deficit resources, and cultivating community. Participants will identify steps to support first-generation graduate students at their own institutions.

Principles and Practices of Law-Attentive DEI: Support for Graduate Programs
Drawing from a new CGS resource developed with support from the Sloan Foundation, this workshop will outline principles for supporting inclusive excellence in graduate programs in the wake of the recent SCOTUS decision on race and admissions. Case studies and examples will cover topics such as program mission statements, elements of legally sound holistic admissions that place value on diversity and inclusion, inclusive mentoring practices, and more.

Wednesday 9:00 – 11:00 am

Vitamin PhD:  A Professional Development Podcast for Doctoral Students
144 million Americans now listen to podcasts. They represent a source of information as well as a spark for new dialogues. The Graduate Affairs team at Boston University has created the Vitamin PhD podcast as a flexible tool to bring professional and skill development to busy PhD students. Join our hosts and invited graduate leader panelists for a live podcast recording focused on advancing mentoring practices in higher education. The show will be followed by Q&A for the panelists, a description of the development of Vitamin PhD, and tips on creating student-led podcasts.