Alumni tune in for A Conversation with the Deans
Hundreds of Graduate School alumni from around the world participated in a live “Conversation with the Deans” via Zoom on September 30. Lynn Cooley, dean of the Graduate School, and Michelle Nearon, senior associate dean of the Graduate School and the director of the Office of Graduate Student Development and Diversity, updated alumni on the Graduate School’s goals, initiatives, and pandemic response, including: Dean Cooley’s top three goals for the future of the school; Dean Nearon’s initiatives to build a more diverse and inclusive student body; and COVID-19 pandemic response supporting graduate students near and far.
Some key points on the pandemic response: There is a mix of remote and in-person attendance. Of some 630 new students, 135 are listed as learning remotely; new international students were allowed to arrive as late as September 30 for the fall term, to allow for delays in visa processing; thanks to the efforts of the GSAS financial aid office, PhD students enrolled remotely can receive their stipends wherever they reside; science labs have created shifts to allow for reduced occupancy, and all students have received PPE.
On creating a more inclusive and diverse community of students: GSAS has a post-bac program called ESI PREP, from which 90 percent of participants have gone on to graduate programs, with 81 percent of those in PhD programs; applications from underrepresented minorities have increased by 61 percent, with the number of offers up 30 percent.
Regarding placement challenges, especially for students in the humanities: GSAS is expanding curricula to include application preparation, job talks, and mock interviews; the GSAS dean’s office, in conjunction with Yale’s FAS dean’s office, created a new Alumni Fellowship in response to short-term hiring freezes as a result of COVID-19 that impacted many of our graduating PhD students in May 2020; the GSAS dean’s office worked with departments to give one-year extensions with funding for humanities and social science students, and to help bridge grants for science students.
The hour-long session can be viewed online.
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