George Mason University

9:00-9:50am

Opening Session and Welcome (plenary session)

Welcome Remarks

• Dr. Julie Choe Kim, Director of Graduate Student Life
• Dr. Laurence Bray, Associate Provost for Graduate Education
• Lili Deveneau, President of the Graduate and Professional Student Association and master’s student in Sociology

Keynote Address by Dr. Fatimah Williams: “How to Stay on Track, Meet Your Deadlines & Have a Life While in Graduate School”
Make this a winning semester! Set goals and create a semester plan so you can achieve success in graduate school and beyond. In this session, you will learn:

• To prioritize work, school, and home responsibilities so that productivity is not sacrificed.
• The 7 Domains of Professional Development — that all students must balance for holistic success.
• To make time to enjoy yourself while working toward your goals.

Ten attendees of the Opening Session will be randomly selected to receive a copy of Dr. Williams’ Professional Pathways Planner!

Fatimah Williams, Ph.D. is the CEO & Founder of Beyond the Tenure Track, a professional development and career-planning firm that prepares graduate students, faculty, and PhDs for leadership roles and high-quality careers. Her professional development guidance has been featured in The Chronicle of Higher Education, Inside Higher Education, Scientific American, and University Affairs. She has been an invited speaker at leading national conferences such as the Conference of Southern Graduate Schools and the 69th Annual Meeting of the AAU’s Association of Graduation Schools. Fatimah is the host of GradSchooled podcast and author of two books: Professional Pathways Planner and Be Bold: Launch Your Job Search or Career Change with Confidence.

10:00am-12:15pm

Mini-Workshops for Graduate Student Success (concurrent sessions)

Please register for each session of interest in order to receive the Zoom links.

12:15-12:30pm

Break

12:30-1:00pm

Lunch Connections

Join fellow graduate and professional students for an informal bring-your-own lunch to form connections and start building your Mason community.

1:00-1:15pm

Break

1:15-2:15pm

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at Mason: Through the Eyes of Graduate Students (plenary session)

Mason rightfully takes pride in claiming its status as Virginia’s largest and most diverse public university. However, what does that look like in terms of the graduate student experience? We invite all members of the Mason graduate student community to join us for this conversation about diversity, equity, and inclusion at Mason through the unique perspective of our graduate students. Moderated by Dr. Van Bailey, Assistant Dean and Director of Diversity, Inclusion, and Multicultural Education, a panel of Mason graduate students from a range of backgrounds and identities will address navigating graduate school, finding community, mentoring, self-care, the current climate for racial justice, and more.

2:15-2:30pm

Break

2:30-4:00pm

Sessions for Graduate Research Assistants (GRAs), Graduate Teaching Assistants (GTAs), and Graduate Professional Assistants (GPAs) (concurrent sessions)

These sessions are intended for Mason graduate students who currently hold Graduate Research, Teaching, or Professional Assistant positions. These sessions will not address how to apply for or get a GRA, GTA, or GPA position.