Goals

The primary goal of your departmental programming is to provide your incoming graduate students with a clear understanding of what their professional and academic lives will be like as graduate students in your department.

The departmental program is an opportunity to:

• introduce new students, including part-time and non-funded, to members of the faculty, continuing graduate students, and support staff;
• familiarize students with departmental procedures and facilities;
• provide students on assistantships with information regarding their assistantship responsibilities;
• provide students with information about their teaching assignments, the professors they will be working with, and to acquaint them with research responsibilities; and
• share information concerning academic requirements and registration information.

 Deadlines

April 16, 2^nd DL Meeting
Submit a draft Departmental Programming and your first correspondence to your students to your GradSTEP coordinator. The draft must be initialed by your Graduate Coordinator or appropriate department contact. The draft must indicate the time and location of your first departmental meeting with incoming students (see bullets below for room reservation assistance). Unless your department requires your new students to arrive on campus earlier in the summer, the first meeting should be held on Monday, August 17^th at 10:30am.

• to schedule the use of a classroom or meeting room within your department you will make these arrangements with your graduate secretary.
• If you need to request a room that is not within your department you will need to contact Event Planning at 372-9000.
  
  Please note that any charges for rooms or equipment in the Union must be charged to your department, not GradSTEP, so be sure to clear these with your department secretary first.

May 14, 3^rd DL Meeting
Submit 2 copies of your final Departmental Programming and draft of your second correspondence. The final schedule must be signed by your Department Chair or Graduate Coordinator!

June 11, 4^th DL meeting
At the June meeting we will be assembling packets of information to be distributed to your incoming students, Graduate Coordinator, Graduate Secretary, and Department Chair. Each packet will include the GradSTEP Sessions Guide and pre-registration instructions, a copy of your departmental programming schedule, and the second letter to your students. These materials will also be available online.

Final Departmental Programming Schedule Must Include...

• The time and location of your first meeting on Monday, August 17th;
• The date, time, and location of each departmental activity for the week.
• List key participants in each activity (i.e., faculty, staff, continuing graduate students). A reference list is provided for you later in this section.

NOTE: Any changes you make in your final Departmental Programming plan after it has been submitted MUST be approved by the Department Chair and Graduate Coordinator and submitted to Barbara Peck as soon as possible. All changes must be submitted prior to August 3rd.

A template for your departmental program schedule is available for downloading from the GradSTEP webpage.

DO NOT FORGET! Give a copy of these packets to your Graduate Secretary, Graduate Coordinator, Department Chair, and any faculty or guests that you have scheduled.

 Where to start?

1. Download the template from the web or use a format of your own choosing.

2. Review your 2008 departmental program schedule for activities to include, add, or revise

3. Meet with Your Graduate Coordinator as soon as possible to:

• Discuss departmental programming goals.
• Find out specific training/testing activities required by your department.
• Find out when your new students arrive on campus (some departments start their students as early as June).
• Determine how and when your students should register for their fall semester classes.
• Discuss assistantship assignments so students know which GradSTEP track to schedule.
• Determine how departmental activities will vary for students carrying different assistantship assignments (teaching, research, administration).
• Schedule activities for non-funded and part-time students.

4. Obtain Feedback

If possible, contact last year's Development Leader and gather feedback about previous programming. Some departments have end of the week evaluations, review them if available.

5. Solicit Ideas

Solicit ideas from Development Leaders in other departments, from graduate students in your department, and department faculty. Think about what types of departmental activities were especially helpful to you when you went through GradSTEP; also think about what would have been beneficial but was not included in your departmental programming. Try to incorporate these ideas into your Departmental Programming schedule.

6. Review the on-line Departmental Programming Activities Guide

A helpful Departmental Programming Guide is available online. The guide is organized with each day titled according to its suggested programming theme. The topics are not intended to represent steadfast solutions but are suggested topics to meet the needs and special interests of each department and their students. The aim of this guide is to enhance department-level programming by synthesizing information from past GradSTEP participant evaluations, graduate assistant experiences, and instructional supervisor interviews.

7. Here are some ideas that other DLs have used in the past...

Monday (10:30-3:30)
Please do not schedule the Monday meeting before 10:30.  You will be needed at Check-in and Registration to assist with students completing registration and to help with collection of materials.

• Be sure to include your part-time and non-funded students. They may be next in line for an assistantship and are still a part of your department so keep them involved.
• Conduct an informal "ice-breaker" session to give students a chance to get to know you and the other students and faculty in your department.
• Personnel introductions
• Give an overview of the week's events
• Discuss any special testing requirements and when students should register for classes.
• Inform students about how to: obtain parking permits, where are the good parking locations, obtain office keys, access MyBGSU to view their pay checks, locate computer labs, access the Student Recreation Center, get tickets for sporting events, locate Stampers for Post Office and duplication services.
• Arrange for tours of department offices and your building, campus, downtown BG.

NEW THIS YEAR!! :
Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday from 8:00 - 9:00 AM
This time has been set aside for DLs to meet with their students to prepare for the day, provide students with programming updates, and give students a chance to ask questions about what will be taking place in the afternoon departmental programming.  For your convenience, the Director of GradSTEP will make room assignments for these meetings.

Tuesday (1:30 - 5:00) 

11:30 - 3:00 - GradSTEP Campus and Community Fair, 101 Olscamp Hall 
Because of changes required in the programming of GradSTEP over 60 sessions have been removed from the schedule. These presenters and organizations have been invited to the Fair in order to share their information and services with our students.  The Fair may overlap with departmental activities.  We will have several campus and community representatives in attendance that our students will find very helpful.  If time allows in your departmental program schedule, please give students extra time to get the full benefit of the Fair.

 Things to pay attention to when putting the schedule together

1. Pay attention to the times available to the departmental programming

It is important to our participants that you schedule departmental activities during GradSTEP week only during those times that do not conflict with the GradSTEP morning sessions. This is to ensure that participants will not run into any difficulties in completing their University requirements of 12 session hours.  Departments will have approximately 17 hours to schedule departmental activities and training.

On Friday, August 21st, 9:00 - 10:30 AM, all DLs are to attend a debriefing meeting in 207 of the Union to go over the events of the week, to verify attendance for students in your department, and to discuss any concerns or comments regarding the DL training meetings.

If you run into any problems with scheduling around University sessions please contact Kyle Holody at 372-8566 or Barbara Peck at 372-7714.

Some departments meet with their students prior to GradSTEP week. These activities may be included on your departmental program schedule. However, on the dates of August 18, 19, and 20, please do not schedule departmental activities during the designated GradSTEP session times.