This summer, the College of Humanities and Social Sciences hosted four peer advisors, funded by the Provost’s Office of Graduate Education. Nominated as outstanding students by their programs, peer advisors Mika Endo (history), Jordan Nichols (criminology, law and society), Emily Richard (psychology), and Blake Vullo (sociology)--all doctoral students--helped develop orientation materials for programs, created virtual and in-person campus tours, revised information for CHSS bachelor’s/accelerated master’s programs, and updated graduate student handbooks for incoming students. Each peer advisor contributed ideas for helping incoming students consider their career pathways, map out a course for their studies, and get a feel for the Mason campus. Graduate students thrive when they have multiple mentors in graduate school providing for their psychosocial, research, and networking competencies, and the CHSS peer advisors exemplified the positive power of near-peer mentorship.
Our peer advisors also strengthened student outreach directly, helping to staff the CHSS welcome table at Gradstravaganza on Saturday, August 21, and answering questions from incoming students in person. CHSS faculty and staff are invited to let us know if you’d like to put an incoming student in touch with a peer advisor to answer general questions about life as a CHSS graduate student; you can reach our team at chssgrad@gmu.edu. A strong orientation to campus and academic life is key to graduate student success, and we are grateful to Mika, Jordan, Emily, and Blake for their contributions to help incoming CHSS graduate students make a great start!
August 24, 2021
