Many of our graduate students take part in a variety of service roles – which are roles that fall outside of regular graduate student research, teaching, and mentoring responsibilities. Examples include (but are not limited to): committee work; helping with prospective student visiting day activities; making contributions to diversity, equity, inclusion, & climate; hosting/organizing presenters; leading professional development activities for undergraduate or graduate students; and assisting students with their research and coursework (outside what would be expected as a TA). Below are the various regular service roles within the department (thank you to the recent DEI subcommittee – Demis Glasford, Kat Swerbenski, Morgan Jerald, Molly Moen, and Benjamin Douglas – who aggregated all this information!).
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee
About the committee and graduate student role(s): The global charge of the DEI committee is to develop, execute, and oversee activities for enhancing diversity, increasing inclusion, and ensuring equity of access to opportunities and distribution of resources within the department (including for faculty, students, and staff). Graduate student members of the DEI Committee also help administer and report on the Graduate Student Climate & Wellbeing Survey.
Time Commitment: This committee as a whole meets once per month. Subgroups that address specific topics may have an additional meeting each month. Work on the climate survey typically occurs in Spring Semester.
Graduate student representative on the Board of Visitors
About the committee and graduate student role(s): The Board of Visitors is a group of alumni and friends who assist the UW-Madison Psychology Department in: (1) increasing awareness among alumni, students, friends, peers, and the general public of the Department’s achievements in education, research, and service, (2) fundraising, in conjunction with the UW Foundation, for needs that are not met by general purpose revenue and (3) advising, mentoring, and supporting students concerning career paths and opportunities. One consistent question the members of the Board of Visitors ask is, “What graduate student needs are currently not being met?” since those unmet needs can be a clear focus for possible fundraising. The graduate student representative’s role is thus to advocate for the needs of the department and more specifically the graduate students within the department.
Time Commitment: The Board of Visitors meets once in the Fall and once in the Spring (one full day each). The Board also has working groups for specific projects and needs (i.e., alumni awards, student internships, events), with members contributing to the groups as their time and interests permit.
Colloquium committee
About the committee and graduate student role(s): The colloquium committee plans and organizes the department colloquium each semester. This committee is largely led and/or organized primarily by graduate students. The graduate students’ primary responsibilities include inviting speakers for the colloquium series and assisting in making arrangements for visiting speakers (e.g., travel to/from hotel; taking speaker to lunch, etc.). Thus, students are expected to participate in a range of informal activities to identify and recruit speakers, but also support visiting speakers during their time on the UW–Madison campus.
Time Commitment: The colloquium series typically involves inviting 3-4 speakers to UW Madison, per semester. Planning and invitations typically occur the semester prior to speakers’ visit to campus. During visits, graduate students may have increased time commitment on the days of visits related to activities to support visiting speakers (e.g., lunch with speaker).
Social Events Committee
About the committee and graduate student role(s): The social events committee plans and organizes social events to build community among graduate students. The graduate students’ primary responsibilities include planning and organizing social events, as well as (if necessary) cleaning up upon completion of social activities. This committee is led by graduate students.
Time Commitment: The social events committee typically tries to plan 1-2 social events per semester. Graduate students typically are tasked with planning (e.g., sending emails) and organizing (e.g., selecting activity; place) the event.
Faculty meeting representative
About the committee and graduate student role(s): Graduate student representatives are elected by other graduate students to serve on this committee. The graduate student representative summarizes and reports on faculty meeting events, but also serves the function of being a voice for graduate students within the faculty meeting.
Time Commitment: Faculty meetings typically occur once a week, with exceptions for job talks and other breaks (e.g., spring break). Graduate student faculty meeting representatives are expected to attend for about an hour each faculty meeting.
Diversity panel for student recruitment weekend
About the graduate student role(s): Each year, around four graduate students from underrepresented and/or marginalized backgrounds serve on the recruitment weekend diversity panel. In this hour-long, students-only event organized by the DEI committee, panelists answer questions from prospective graduate students regarding their experiences in the department, university, and wider community. Panelists are asked to 1) provide brief biographical info ahead of the panel; 2) attend the panel; and 3) be available for follow-up questions from prospective students, if willing.
Time Commitment: 1-2 hours
Recruitment weekend Activities
About the graduate student role(s): There are limited true roles, but grad students do have dinner with prospective students the night the prospective students arrive. One grad student acts as a contact for the graduate student dinner delivery, and sometimes grad students walk prospective students back to their hotels after dinner.
Time Commitment: 3.5 hours (includes dinner)