New Graduate Student Orientation

On August 23 the Graduate Division and the Graduate Assembly (led by Tierra Bills, the Graduate Support Services Project Coordinator, and President Bahar Navab) combined efforts to host the New Graduate Student Orientation, providing new graduate and professional students essential information to help them make a smooth transition to their life at Cal.

After welcoming remarks by Graduate Assembly President Bahar Navab and Graduate Division Dean Andrew Szeri, students were treated to an entertaining keynote lecture by Rosemary Joyce, a professor of Archaeology at UC Berkeley.

Sessions throughout the day covered a variety of topics to help students orient themselves to campus life and university resources. Topics included:

• Student Health Services
• Establishing Residency for Tuition Purposes
• What’s in the Library for You?
• Surviving and Thriving at Berkeley
• Academic Services
• Career Center Resources
• Need-based Funding and Fellowships
• Resources for International Students
• Gender Equity Resource Center
• Graduate Student Organizing
• Campus Resources: The Disabled Students’ Program Services & Resources, the Ombuds Office, the Cal Bookstore, and Cal Dining
• Childcare Resources

An important change this year is the addition of the “Empower U” program. This is a new mandatory program for all incoming graduate students designed to curb sexual harassment and other threats to a safe, comfortable campus environment. Students attending the orientation were able to attend an “Empower U” session, or they could attend a session another day elsewhere on campus.

On behalf of everyone who helped make this event possible, thank you for attending, and have an excellent first year at Berkeley.