Graduate Professional Student Appreciation Week

Date

Event Description

Overview

In 1993, NAGPS established Graduate-Professional Student Appreciation Week (GPSAW) as a mechanism to support and appreciate graduate and professional students. Specifically, Graduate-Professional Student Appreciation Week seeks to emphasize the contributions, impact and value of graduate and professional students on campuses throughout the United States.

This year, Graduate-Professional Student Appreciation Week will be held April 2-6, 2012. Since we realize that some of you may not be aware of GPSA Week, here is a brief list of possible events that your graduate-professional student organization can help organize or host in order to celebrate the week:

• Provide giveaways and prizes throughout the week
• Host a talent show
• Have a coffee break or donut hour just for graduate and professional students
• Ask local businesses to provide discounts and specials during the week
• Provide a quiet study space or free printing
• Host an online wine and cheese social for distance students
• Bring in special guest speakers on a variety of topics

Most importantly, have fun in celebrating the important role that graduate and professional students play on campus! If you have any questions about Graduate-Professional Student Appreciation Week, please contact us. Also, when you decide what your organization will do to celebrate graduate and professional students, please let us know! We’re planning on compiling a listing of all GPSA Week activities in a future newsletter.

For more information on planning your Graduate-Professional Student Appreciation Week, please consult our GPSAW Guide as well as an article about GPSAW in our Spring 2010 Newsletter.

Proclaim It! Request a Proclamation from your Governor, Legislature or City Council

As a part of Graduate-Professional Student Appreciation Week, NAGPS encourages graduate-professional student organizations throughout the country to request a proclamation in support of graduate and professional students from their governor, state legislature or city council. These proclamations serve as an important way to increase visibility and awareness of the graduate- professional student population and can serve as an excellent item to present to your general body, Dean, Provost or President at a special event during GPSA Week.

Generally, obtaining proclamations is a fairly straight-forward process. First, draft a proclamation discussing the importance of graduate-professional students to your state, region or city. Below are sample proclamations that can be used to request your GPSAW proclamation:

Sample Proclamation

Template Proclamation

Once the proclamation is drafted, visit the web site of your governor, state legislator or city council member and search for proclamation request. Sometimes it is helpful to call the office directly to ask for a proclamation request if such information is not available on the web. Typically the office will ask you for the drafted proclamation and will use the draft as a guide for the official proclamation. Once you receive your proclamation, take a picture of your GPSO’s officers and other campus officials with the proclamation and send NAGPS a copy at president@nagps.org. We’d like to post a collection of all of the proclamations received this year.

2011 Proclamations

Arizona - Governor Jan Brewer

Texas - Governor Rick Perry

Selected Previous Proclamations

City of Pittsburgh

State of Florida

State of Pennsylvania

Participating GPSAW Schools

Below is just a sampling of the schools that are hosted a Graduate-Professional Student Appreciation Week, in 2011 with a link to their GPSAW web site (if available):

• Arizona State University
• Auburn University
• Bentley University
• Carnegie Mellon University
• Case Western Reserve Univeristy
• Duke University
• Florida International University
• Georgia Southern University
• Immaculata University
• Jackson State University
• Johns Hopkins University
• Lehigh University
• Madonna University
• Massachussetts Institute of Technology
• North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University
• Princeton University
• Purdue University
• Rice University
• St. Cloud State University
• Texas A&M University
• Texas Tech University
• Tufts University
• University of Arizona
• University of Central Florida
• University of Cincinnati
• University of Colorado - Boulder
• University of Georgia
• University of Iowa
• University of Maryland - Baltimore County
• University of Maryland - College Park
• University of Massachusetts - Boston
• University of Minnesota
• University of Nebraska - Lincoln
• University of New Hampshire
• University of North Texas
• University of Oklahoma
• University of Southern California
• University of South Florida
• University of Texas - Austin
• University of Texas - San Antonio
• University of Tulsa
   

Is your institution holding a GPSAW?  Let us know, and we'll add them to the listing!