By the Office of the Vice President Students
This blog post was adapted from the Graduate Student Listening Session report originally developed in October 2024.
On September 26, Dr. Ainsley Carry, Vice President Students and Dr. Michael Hunt, Dean pro tem, Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies, co-hosted a listening session for graduate students at UBC Vancouver.
Students shared their perspectives on the following five guiding questions:
- What is working well?
- What is not working well?
- What should we keep doing?
- What should we stop doing?
- What questions are we not asking?
Participants
Approximately 80 graduate students participated, representing a diverse group of international and domestic graduate students, at both the masters and doctoral level.
Planning and Institutional Research (PAIR) analysts attended both sessions, took notes, and analyzed the data. This report provides a summary of the aggregate data from the Listening Sessions.
Results
The following key themes emerged from our consultation with students:
- Accessibility
- Health and wellbeing
- Graduate student funding
- Time to milestones and completion
- Post PhD career pathways
- Housing and childcare
- Onboarding processes and requirements
- Equity, diversity, and inclusion
Please see the full report (PDF) for a detailed summary of the major themes and the actions we’re taking to address them.
Moving Forward
Multiple initiatives are either in development or already being executed to address some of the concerns raised by students.
These initiatives come from the implementation of existing institutional plans and actions such as:
- Student Affordability Task Force
- Student Strategic Plan
- Anti-Racism and Inclusive Excellence Task Force Recommendations
- Inclusion Action Plan
- Indigenous Strategic Plan
As we move forward in the weeks and months ahead, our commitment is to continuously work with graduate students and the respective units to address the issues and concerns raised.
We look forward to engaging with graduate students at future listening sessions, where we will share how we are continuing to address concerns raised and to hear from you on how we can continue to work together to create an accessible student experience for all. Based on what we heard at the September listening session, one of our first tasks will be to host a listening session for students in family housing to better understand the unique challenges faced by graduate students with families, and how we can best support them.
A message to students
We would like to extend our sincere gratitude to every graduate student who participated in the September 2024 listening session. We recognize that graduate students face unique challenges, and we appreciate the time you took to share your thoughts, experiences, and concerns with us. In the months ahead, our commitment is to continue to engage with graduate students.
The insights and feedback you shared, and continue to share, will inform priorities and initiatives across the VPS Portfolio, the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies, and the university. We will also continue to collaborate with student leaders and our campus partners to address these concerns. We are dedicated to fostering an environment where all graduate students’ voices are heard and supported, and we look forward to your ongoing involvement as we continue to work together to identify issues and find effective solutions.
We welcome your comments and feedback on this report. We look forward to hearing more at upcoming listening sessions, student events, and through informal conversations.