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Welcome Back Graduate Students

February 13, 2023

Dear Students,

We would like to extend a warm welcome to all of our new and returning GradTerps! Graduate students at the University of Maryland are a key part of our vibrant community of scholars and researchers. You are talented teachers and skilled collaborators, insightful learners and inquisitive scholars. Your knowledge and achievements are vital to the university’s success, and we value all that you do and the many roles that you play. Your research, scholarship, creative work, teaching, and participation in our community have been integral in our pursuit of excellence and impact for the public good. 

Working collaboratively with graduate student leaders, we have made strides in improving the graduate student experience at UMD, and we continue to invest in graduate education and graduate student life at the University of Maryland.  Some examples of this work are:

  • We have increased the minimum stipends for graduate assistants by 32% last year, and by 58% over the last five years.  
  • We increased our investment in fellowships. 
    • The number of Flagship Fellowships increased from 40 to 70 per year and the fellowship amount was increased from $50,000 to $60,000.
    • The number of Wylie and Summer Research Fellowships each increased from 50 to 70 per year. 
    • The President’s Fellowship was created last year as part of our efforts to increase the diversity of our PhD student population.  
  • We created the Faculty-Student Research Award to support joint faculty-student research projects.  
  • We provided over $4 million in fellowship assistance to students whose dissertation research was delayed by COVID.  
  • To help graduate students with the high cost of housing, the University has begun planning for a new complex that will provide housing for at least 800 graduate students at below-market rates.

These investments in graduate student education and life have been developed in collaboration with the leadership of the Graduate Student Government (GSG) and the Graduate Assistant Advisory Committee (GAAC). Recognizing the value of shared governance, we are committed to working with graduate students to develop policies, structures and processes that lead to improvements and shared successes.  In consultation with GSG and GAAC we seek to understand and address the range of opportunities and challenges that our students face every semester. As one example, the Graduate School added a permanent staff member as our Academic Counselor, Simone Warrick-Bell, who ensures that students are matched with mental health services, conducts group wellness sessions, and monitors leaves of absence. 

Don’t forget about the many resources and opportunities we have available on campus, which include the Graduate School Writing Center, Graduate Student Life, Teaching and Learning Transformation Center resources for teaching assistants, Proposal Development Services for external fellowships, Career Center, University Health Center, Counseling Center, fitness and club sports with RecWell, other Clubs and Organizations, free ticket program at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center, and free student tickets with Athletics.  

The Graduate School is here to serve and support the entire graduate community through every milestone, from application to life beyond graduation. We wish you the best for an outstanding spring semester. Go Terps!

Sincerely,

Jennifer King Rice

Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost

Steve Fetter

Associate Provost and Dean, The Graduate School