Graduate College hosts orientation, networking event
The College of Graduate Studies and Research hosted an orientation and networking event for all Radford University graduate students on Sept. 6.
The first Luau event was held inside Heth Hall and consisted of tips, tricks, games and networking amongst the graduate students.
“One of our priorities is to provide students with opportunities to get to know each other, to develop professional networks and to socialize across disciplines so they can learn about each other’s research and scholarship,” said Laura Jacobsen, interim dean of the College of Graduate Studies and Research. “This event was designed to increase those interdisciplinary collaborations since they are so important in academia.”
One of the graduate students that attended the event, Sherry Mahboubian, from Iran, is pursuing her Master of Fine Arts with a concentration in painting.
“This event was very good for me,” Mahboubian said. “I’m really new to everything here. I’m going to join the graduate student club so I can get to know other graduate students at Radford.”
Mahboubian hopes to use her Radford education become a professor in the future.
“I can make a good connection with each professor, which means I can make better progress in my program,” she said. “They can spend a lot of time working with and speaking with me. If I went to a different school with a lot of students, that wouldn’t happen.”
Increasing connections among fellow graduate students was the driving force behind starting the event.
“We know that, in the past, our graduate students primarily only knew people within their discipline,” Jacobsen said. “We want to change that and give students the opportunity to interact both personally and professionally with one another.”
This is a great event to get to know one another, said John Brummette, acting associate dean of College of Graduate Studies and Research.
“I know you are stuck in your own silos, but you should make sure to break those barriers down,” Brummette said. “We’re all here because we love education and we love this university.”