Today's Update: Wednesday, April 3, 2024

April 3, 2024

Dear Student Life team, 

I always appreciate our Graduate and Professional students, and this is the week to say it very publicly. 

It’s Graduate and Professional Student Appreciation Week, which started just over 30 years ago as a way to honor their contributions and impact on college campuses across the nation. We are celebrating this week at Ohio State with a series of events put on by the Council of Graduate Students, Inter-Professional Council and Ohio Union Activities Board’s Grad/Prof Committee.  You can see a list online at go.osu.edu/gradprofappreciation.  

This week is also a good time to highlight our long-standing partnership with the Higher Education and Student Affairs (HESA) program. HESA and the Student Personnel Assistantship (SPA) Program are celebrating their 75th anniversary this year, so congratulations to them for many years of preparing student affairs scholars and practitioners for the field. 

I especially want to thank our Student Life Graduate Teaching Associates (GTAs). We have 65 of them in our unit, and their experience is a blend of theory and practice. It’s no exaggeration to say they are each integral to our operation. 

Our GTAs combine the exceptional lessons they learn in the classroom with the crucial skills they obtain working in a real-world environment, setting them, and us, up for success for years to come. GTAs work toward getting their degree while working on the front lines of student affairs.  

Their work is largely student facing. Many serve on important committees across Student Life and are critical to the programs and services we offer. GTAs are a great asset to our unit, and I am grateful that they are mentored along the way by our team members.   

Want to express your own appreciation to a graduate student you know? Go to https://kind.osu.edu/ to send kudos.  

We learn from our GTAs as much as they learn from us. I am proud of them, and Scarlet and Grateful for the many ways they contribute to Ohio State students’ ability to engage, learn and thrive! 

 

Melissa S. Shivers, PhD     
Senior Vice President for Student Life      
The Ohio State University