The Graduate College and the Graduate Student Senate will be celebrating National Graduate and Professional Student Appreciation Week during the week of April 5-9, 2021. National Graduate and Professional Student Appreciation Week was started in 1993 by three students who “wanted to find a way to physically manifest support and appreciation of the contributions, impact and value of graduate students.”
This is our opportunity to say THANK YOU to all of our amazing graduate students and recognize their contributions to teaching, research and service at UVM. To celebrate, we are planning a series of virtual contests and events which focus on health and wellbeing and professional development. Best of all – we will be giving away gift certificates to 20 lucky students every day of the week!
Check out UVM’s official Instagram for a Graduate Student Takeover on Saturday, April 10th
Graduate & Professional Student Appreciation Week Schedule
Daily Giveaways: Monday, April 5 – Friday, April 9
The Graduate College will give away 20 $25 gift electronic gift certificates to students every day of the week! Names will be randomly drawn by the Graduate College staff and students will be notified by UVM email if their name is drawn. No enrollment is required as all graduate and professional students will be automatically entered.
Students can choose an e-gift card from one of the following businesses:
Al's French Fries
Ben & Jerry’s
Bliss Bee
Burlington Paint and Sip Studio
City Market
Crow Bookshop
Domino’s
Dunkin Donuts
Farmhouse Group
Folino’s Pizza
Hannaford
L.L. Bean
Lake Champlain Chocolates
Myers's Bagels
Outdoor Gear Exchange
Skinny Pancake
Speeder and Earl's Coffee
Starbucks
Target
Vermont Flannel Company
Professional Development Webinars
Thesis and Dissertation Workshop: Monday, April 5 from 2:30 – 3:30pm; Click HERE to join!
Are you writing a thesis and dissertation? Do you have questions about dates, deadlines, and formatting? Then this workshop is for you! Bethany Sheldon from the Graduate College will go over defense paperwork, dates, and deadlines for upcoming graduation cycles; give an overview of basic formatting guidelines for theses and dissertations; and highlight areas that typically give students trouble. This is a great opportunity to get some information and start planning ahead as you move towards your defense!
Imposter Syndrome - Faculty Panel: This webinar has been postponed. A new date and time TBA
We’ve all been there! Join UVM faculty as they discuss how they too struggled with Imposter Syndrome during their careers and how they worked through it.
How to Prepare for a Career in Industry: Tuesday, April 6 at 4pm; Click HERE to join!
Join UVM alumni, Dr. Shashank Jain, Mass Spectrometry Product Specialist at Agilent, for a talk about pursuing a career in industry after completing a completing a PhD program.
Virtual Gratitude Wall: Monday, April 5 – Friday, April 9 at 1:00pm; Click HERE to add a submission!
You don’t need to be reminded that it has been a crazy and stressful year. However, there are many things to still be grateful for – even in the middle of a pandemic. Let’s take a break from doomscrolling on our phones and remember the things that have brought us joy, or at least kept us sane, over the past year.
Please take a minute to share something you are grateful for right now. It could be an advisor, family or friends, a furry friend, having a cozy study space, or even that certain flavor of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream that gets you through the all-nighters.
Submissions will be posted to the Graduate College’s Twitter and Facebook accounts throughout Graduate Student Appreciation Week.
Contests
Custom Teams Background Contests:
Have you been using Teams in creative ways this year? Have you created virtual backgrounds of your favorite places, funny situations, or something different? If so, we’d love to see your creativity. Join the Graduate College for a Virtual Teams Background competition!
During Graduate and Professional Student Appreciation week, the Graduate College will be accepting submissions for our Virtual Teams Background competition. Winners will be judged on creativity, humor, and UVM spirit. For more information about how to create your perfect background, please see this PDF.
All members of the Graduate Student Community are eligible to enter and prizes will be awarded!
Submissions can be sent to Todd Cooley todd.cooley@uvm.edu by April 7.
Vote for your favorite entry HERE! Voting closes at 3pm on April 9.
Prizes:
1st place – $75 e-gift certificate (Please see above for a list of choices)
2nd place – $50 e-gift certificate (Please see above for a list of choices)
3rd place – $25 e-gift certificate (Please see above for a list of choices)
Trivia Night: Wednesday, April 7 at 7pm; Click HERE to join!
Join the Graduate Student Senate for a Disney-themed trivia night via Zoom.
Prizes:
1st place – $75 e-gift certificate (Please see above for a list of choices)
2nd place – $50 e-gift certificate (Please see above for a list of choices)
3rd place – $25 e-gift certificate (Please see above for a list of choices)
Health and Wellbeing
Did you know that Living Well offers free health and wellbeing programs for students on a daily basis?! Graduate and Professional Appreciation Week would be a great opportunity to set aside some time for yourself and take advantage of one of their events going on this week:
BIPOC Meditation and Healing Group: Monday, April 5 from 7:00 – 8:00pm; Click HERE to join!
Living Well’s drop-in sessions are a dedicated space for BIPOC to begin or deepen their mindfulness practice and engage in mindful dialogue. Balancing traditional meditative practices within the context of our contemporary culture, meditation cultivates our natural wisdom and compassion.
10 Minute Drop-In Meditation Sessions: Tuesday, April 6 – Thursday, April 8, 5:00pm – 5:20pm; Click HERE to join!
Having a daily meditation practice can be super helpful in challenging times. Even 10 minutes a day can be transformative for your heart, mind, and spirit. But…it’s really hard to do it on your own. Join Living Well for a 10 minute guided practice and a short check-in.
CAPS Grad Student Drop In: Tuesday, April 6, 2:30 – 4pm; Click HERE to join!
Hey graduate students, Pandemic life getting you down? Feeling stressed? Overwhelmed? Lonely? Swing by the Grad Student Drop-In for a general support and connection space with CAPS counselor, Sarah Weinstein, and your peers. Any and all graduate students welcome!
Gentle Yoga with Parker: Wednesday, April 7, 12:10 – 1:00pm; Click HERE to join!
Join Parker Holloway, RYT, for this movement and meditation practice every Wednesday. This is will a slow paced gentle class with a focus on moving with breath. Practice will start and end with meditation and offer space to stretch, move, and flow in community. No mindfulness, meditation, or yoga experience required – beginners encouraged!