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 students in your department.

The departmental program is an opportunity to:

• introduce new students, including part-time and fee-paying, 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 assistantship assignments, the professors they will be working with, and to acquaint them with research responsibilities; and
• share information concerning program academic requirements and registration information.

April 21, 2^nd DL Meeting 
Submit a draft Departmental Programming and your first correspondence to your students to your GSO 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 15^h no earlier than 10:00am.

• 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 (Option 1).
  
  Please note that any charges for rooms or equipment in the Union must be charged to your department, not GSO, so be sure to clear these with your department secretary first.

May 19, 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 9, 4^th DL meeting 
At the June meeting we will be assembling packets of information to be made available to any late incoming students, your Graduate Coordinator, Graduate Secretary, and Department Chair. Each packet will include the GSO 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 15th ;
• 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. Changes may be submitted up to August 1st.

A template for your departmental program schedule is available for downloading from the GSO web page.

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.

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

2. Review your 2010 departmental program schedule for activities to include, add, or revise - RESOURCE ONLY - WATCH FOR SCHEDULE CHANGES

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

• Discuss departmental programming goals.
• Find out specific training or testing 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 GSO 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 to get feedback about their programming and experiences. 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 GSO; also think about what would have been beneficial but was not included in your departmental programming. Suggest that these be incorporated into your Departmental Programming schedule if time permits.

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 GSO participant evaluations, graduate assistant experiences, and instructional supervisor interviews.

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

Monday

10:00 AM - 1:00 PM
Please do not schedule the Monday meeting before 10:00.  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.

1:30 - 3:00 PM
All DLs and students are to attend the GSO Opening Session in the Grand Ballroom of the Union.  We ask your assistance in getting your students over to the Union and seated as quickly as possible so that our program can begin on time.  

3:15 - 5:30 PM
Students will attend GSO sessions
 

Tuesday

7:45 - 8:45 AM
Coffee will be served in the 2nd floor lounge of Olscamp Hall.  DLs may opt to use this as their "coffee hour" to meet with their students prior to the start of 9:00 AM sessions.

9:00 AM - 4:15 PM    GSO Campus and Community Fair and University Sessions 
We will have several campus and community representatives in attendance at our Campus and Community Fair that our students will find very helpful.  This will be held concurrent with two other mandatory sessions and students will rotate from each session at 9:00, 10:15, and 11:30.  Beginning at 2:00 there will be two blocks of one-hour sessions that students will be able to self-select based on their area of interest  or skill development needs.

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

It is important to our participants that you schedule departmental activities during GSO week only during those times that do not conflict with the GSO sessions. Departments will have at least 20 hours available to schedule departmental activities and training.

Sunday     (8/14):

Monday (8/15):

Tuesday (8/16):

Wednesday (8/17)

Thursday (8/18)

Friday (8/19)

2:00 - 4:00 PM

Check-In
& Onsite Registration
101 Olscamp Hall

8:00 - 9:30 AM

Check-In
Pre-Registered Students
101 Olscamp Hall

  10:00 – 1:00 
Departmental
Programming  

2:30 – 3:00 PM
Opening Session
BTSU Ballroom

3:15 - 5:30 PM
GSO Sessions  

8:00 – 9:00 AM 
“Coffee Hour” in the Lobby

9:00 AM – 4:15 PM 
Campus & 
Community Fair 
And 
GSO Sessions

8:00 – 9:00 AM
“Coffee Hour” w/DL

9:00 – 11:30 AM 
Departmental 
Programming

11:30 – 1:00 PM 
GSS Grad Bash Lunch

1:15 – 5:00 PM 
Departmental 
Programming 

 8:00 – 9:00 AM 
“Coffee Hour” w/DL

  9:00 AM – 5:00 PM 
Departmental 
Programming

9:00 -10:30 AM*

DL Meeting 
& Attendance Check

11:00 AM - ? 
 Departmental 
Programming

*On Friday, August 19th, 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 Lisa Chavers at 372-0343 or Barbara Peck at 372-7714.

Some departments meet with their students prior to GSO week. These activities may be included on your departmental program schedule. If you will not be conducting any afternoon departmental programming during GSO week please indicate that on the form and make sure your students are informed.  However, please plan to meet with your students from 8:00 – 9:00 AM on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.