Graduate and Professional Student Appreciation Week

April 4-8, 2022

This week we recognize the many contributions graduate and professional students make to research, teaching, and service at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Get Involved!

We encourage all faculty, staff and students to come up with your own ideas and events focused on celebrating the contributions of graduate and professional students. These could be: a morning or afternoon coffee break, a lunch celebration, fun giveaways, photo opportunities, a social media campaign — feel free to think outside the box!

Let us know about your efforts, and please promote the hashtag #UNCGradStudents on social media with a photo featuring Carolina graduate students.

Vital contributions

Graduate and professional students are a combined 37% of UNC-Chapel Hill's total student enrollment.

Our graduate and professional students contribute so much to Carolina. Graduate and Professional Student Appreciation Week, celebrated nationwide, is dedicated to marking those vital contributions.

GPSAW Events

  • Surviving and Thriving Summit— Narratives from graduate students of color, 11:00 am - 2:00 pm
    The Graduate School’s Diversity and Student Success program invites the UNC-Chapel Hill campus community to the inaugural Surviving and Thriving Summit. We will explore stories from graduate students of color through interactive story boards and a performance piece, culminating in a facilitated discussion. We invite you to join us in this gathering space as we learn from one another and build our community together.
  • Effective Mentoring, 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm
    Mentoring principles are universal and apply to a variety of professional settings in and out of academia. This mentoring workshop series (CIMER: Entering Mentoring) will provide graduate students training in competencies and skills with effective mentoring (being mentors themselves). Graduate students in all disciplines are welcome to participate. Students who will soon be or are currently mentoring undergraduate students are particularly encouraged to participate.
  • GPSG mental health chat, 1:00-3:00 pm
    Genetics and molecular biology (GMB) lawn, located across the street from Marsico Hall.
  • Imposter Syndrome and Resiliency, 3:00 pm - 4:30 pm
    This workshop will unmask approaches and tools that graduate students can implement immediately to help overcome the unique challenges they face, throughout their graduate education. Participants will learn evidence-based strategies to develop a growth mindset, reduce ANTs, minimize imposter fears, increase optimism, and ways to use feedback constructively. The workshop will actively engage participants in opportunities for self-reflection, sharing, and creating plans for self-improvement to increase success holistically.
  • GPSG-Sponsored Battle Park Hike, 4:00 pm
    Battle Park Parking Lot - 620 Park Pl, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
    To celebrate all of the work graduate and professional students do on campus, Graduate and Professional Student Government (GPSG) is hosting a hike! Please stop by to enjoy the beautiful spring weather and explore Battle Park, right off of the UNC-Chapel Hill campus. We will meet in the parking lot next to Battle Park. Free snacks and water will be provided at this event (starting at 4:00 p.m. up until 4:30 p.m.) Please RSVP so we know how much snacks and water to get!
  • Snack and relax, 1:00-3:00 p.m.
    Quad between Manning Hall, Carolina Hall and Murphey Hall
    Come grab a snack and relax with your fellow graduate and professional students! We'll have yard games, cookies, and hopefully great weather. Sponsored by The Graduate School and Graduate and Professional Student Government.
    Carolina Dining Services is providing 250 meal vouchers for graduate students who attend. One voucher per student. Valid at Chase Dining Hall or Top of Lenoir.
  • Carolina Pride Week
    This year's Pride Week theme is "Imagine Liberation." Join the LGBTQ Center at UNC-Chapel Hill for a host of hybrid activities, ranging from writing letters to envisioning what liberation looks like on campus.
  • Ph.D. and Master's Virtual Careers Week
    Join University Career Services for a virtual careers week, featuring more than a dozen employers.