2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

After undergraduate research programming was thoroughly disrupted due to the Covid-19 pandemic, it became evident that incoming graduate students may not have had the opportunity to fully prepare for the changes experienced in the first semester of graduate school. To ease this transition, the Center for Nanoscale Science, a National Science Foundation Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (NSF-MRSEC) at Penn State University, developed the Graduate Research Experience and Transitioning to Grad School (GREaT GradS) program initially for the summer of 2021 as a 6-week, graduate school summer foundational program for incoming students in disciplines spanning engineering, materials science, chemistry, and physics. After a successful pilot in 2021, the program was conducted with a larger group of students in the summer of 2022. Thus far, our results indicate that this program will be beneficial to students well after regular programming resumes at full capacity. GREaT GradS was designed to serve groups of graduate students who are typically marginalized within science with an eye toward retention through support and mentorship. The overall goals were to provide (1) Resource Recognition by introducing students to the various academic and personal resources available on campus, (2) Personal Preparation through programming on subjects such as personal finance and mental health, (3) Career Preparation through writing workshops and curriculum vitae editing, and (4) Network Building by connecting students with current graduate students. Students were also matched with faculty to conduct summer research in their field of interest. Here, we describe the program content in greater detail as well as the quantitative outcomes of the program. This program of a dedicated transition period can serve as a model for other researchers, educators, and coordinators to develop new and similar programs.