Our learning framework incorporates graduate students’ experiences throughout the entire graduate student lifecycle from recruitment to retention, completion, and beyond. This involves knowledge of prospective students’ motivations for applying to graduate school, their unique and evolving interests, and the range of support available to help them thrive. It also involves consideration of the elements that will help them succeed in their post-graduate careers and investment to enhance graduate alum affinity across their lifetime. 

With these considerations in mind, we designed a learning framework to support early and sustained engagement that offers interconnecting and intersecting entry points and opportunities. The framework scaffolds and supports discipline-specific professional development efforts in the departments while providing:

• A broad spectrum of skills training
• Social capital-building
• Bespoke experiential opportunities
• Interdisciplinary exploration programs

As programs are designed, we endeavor to weave together each section of the framework wheel, so graduate students are learning/honing skills, building connections, gaining experience, and exploring their interests every step of the way.