Professional Development

Forging a path to success requires attention to academic mastery and a lifelong commitment to ongoing professional development in many areas such as communication skills, professional writing, navigating mentor-mentee relationships, personal development, and more. Use the resources below to elevate your professional success as you pursue your scholarship.

The Graduate Student Showcase

This one-day conference in November celebrates research, entrepreneurship and creativity and is open to graduate students in all disciplines. Present your work, connect with other graduate students and faculty, learn about other disciplines, and gain conference experience. ALL graduate students involved in research, entrepreneurship, or creativity are encouraged to participate.

Visit the Gradshow Website

LinkedIn Learning — an on-demand video library and online educational tool — is now a free resource available to all Colorado State University graduate students. Students and employees now have access to the learning service containing more than 18,000 instructional and educational videos. Instructions for account activation — which is necessary for users with and without preexisting Learning accounts — are available on the Provost Office website. As an educational technology company, LinkedIn Learning offers courses in four key categories: business, creative, technology and certifications. Use this link for instructions for account activation.

National Center for Faculty Development and Diversity

All current CSU graduate students, postdoctoral scholars, and faculty have access to the National Center for Faculty Development and Diversity (NCFDD) through CSU’s institutional membership. NCFDD strives to help the academic community “achieve extraordinary writing and research productivity while maintaining a full and healthy life off campus.”

More About the NCFDD

Additional Resources

Graduate Center for Inclusive Mentoring

A formalized program that highlights resources on campus, offers professional development activities, and provides access to faculty mentors while also supporting additional socialization activities to encourage professional networks.

Graduate School and the Institute of Learning and Teaching (TILT)

Co-sponsored events include professional development conferences, Graduate Teaching Assistant (GTA) Training, additional graduate student resources, and training programs.

The Office for Scholarship and Fellowship Advising

A tremendous resource for graduate students is The Office for Scholarship and Fellowship Advising. OSFA assists current students interested in applying for an external award including the US Fulbright Program. Please visit the OSFA webpage for information about external awards promoted by the office including details about promoted awards that require a University nomination.

CSU Resources

Mental Health Support Resources for Students

The CSU Student Health Network provides a full range of medical, counseling, and health education and prevention services to all enrolled CSU students including skill-building group workshops.

RMAIS

Research Mentoring to Advance Inclusivity in STEM (RMAIS) is a project of the Graduate Degree Program in Ecology (GDPE) and was funded by The Women & Gender Collaborative at CSU. This initiative is designed to provide enhanced experiences and improve gender inclusivity for graduate students, undergraduates, and faculty engaged in STEM research. While focused on gender and STEM, much of this work also incorporates identity and intersectional identity more broadly.

CSU Venture Ambassadors

CSUV Ambassadors are graduate students, typically at the PhD candidate level, who express interest in learning more about innovation and commercialization as it relates to university research. Students can apply and learn more about this program at the CSU Ventures website.

Toastmasters International

Be a hit at parties. Persuade with power in meetings. Knock them out in interviews. Whatever the occasion, you can benefit from improving your communication skills. CSU Toastmasters is a friendly and welcoming group; open to everyone in the community!