As we enter the home stretch of the spring semester, I am delighted to share news of several exciting initiatives, which will be launched in fall 2023 by the Graduate School and the Office of Academic Affairs (OAA).
These initiatives aim to accelerate student success and strengthen the talent, culture, and inclusive excellence of our graduate student body. They demonstrate early progress in support of The Ohio State University’s Academic Plan.
As graduate and professional students, you are vital drivers of Ohio State’s mission. You generate new knowledge, scholarship and creative work; support undergraduate student learning; and develop society’s next generation of professionals and leaders.
The following initiatives were developed based on recommendations received from you and your peers, faculty, and staff from across the university, as well as the Council of Graduate Students, participants of a fall 2022 Listening Session and Town Hall on the Graduate Experience, and a doctoral student funding task force.
- Health Insurance Subsidy: The university will increase the health insurance subsidy provided to our graduate and professional students with fellowships, traineeships, or graduate associate appointments at the 0.5 FTE level from 85% to 100% effective in fall 2023. In addition, the health insurance subsidy will increase from 0% to 50% for students with appointments between 25% and 49% FTE in the above positions.
- Graduate Student Experience Survey: The Graduate School has launched a Graduate Student Experience Survey to assess the experiences of graduate students in their academic programs, scholarly training, professionalization, and more. Data collected from the survey will inform academic leaders in their development of actionable goals to improve the graduate student experience at Ohio State.
- Enhanced Emergency Fund: The Graduate School will extend its support of the Student Emergency Fund for an additional five years.
- Dissertation Completion Support: The Graduate School will expand support of doctoral students in their dissertation phase with additional resources, including dissertation writing grants, fellowships, and writing facilitation programs, beginning in fall 2023.
In fall 2023, the Graduate School and OAA will partner with colleges to launch several new programs for graduate and professional students. These programs will foster community building and belonging, expand opportunities for professional and career development, and improve access to quality mentoring. I look forward to sharing details of these programs in the coming months.
Finally, I’d like to reaffirm our commitment to our shared governance processes and partnership with the Council of Graduate Students (CGS), Inter-Professional Council (IPC), and the Graduate Compensation and Benefits Committee (GCBC). These representative bodies make recommendations and advocate to improve the experiences of all graduate students and the compensation for graduate fellows, trainees, and associates. I look forward to working with CGS, IPC, and GCBC as the university continuously improves its support of graduate and professional students.
I hope you are as excited about these initiatives as I am. They demonstrate our ongoing efforts to recruit and retain talented scholars and provide them with a graduate experience that enables them to thrive professionally and personally.
Sincerely,
Mary Stromberger, PhD
Dean of the Graduate School and
Vice Provost for Graduate Education