Graduate School Services

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The Office of Graduate Diversity and Inclusion (OGDI)

The Office of Graduate Diversity and Inclusion is dedicated to fostering a supportive University environment for graduate students from under-represented and under-served groups. OGDI provides campus leadership for identifying, recruiting, retaining, and graduating a diverse graduate student body. The Office’s programs and services aim to attract new students, to build a collaborative and cooperative community, and to promote professional development among graduate students to ensure academic success.  It’s initiatives include, but are not limited to:  conducting student recruitment activities, including campus visits, supporting summer undergraduate research programs; building a supportive community through collaboration with graduate student organizations; sponsoring programs and activities designed to foster professional development, including workshops and seminars on academic and research skills, retention initiatives, and preparing graduate students for the professoriate and other careers. The Office also assists the University’s various colleges and departments in creating an environment supportive of the academic success of historically under-represented and under-served graduate students. The Office can be reached at 2100B Lee Building, 301-405-0763, and by visiting the OGDI website.

Graduate School Writing Center 

The Graduate School Writing Center offers support for graduate students at every stage of their development as academic and professional writers who can, in turn, fulfill the university’s mission of sharing research, educational, cultural, and technological strengths with the broader community. You can read more about the center's learning outcomes here. 

We offer the following services:

And the following resources:

Professional and Career Development 

The Graduate School's Professional and Career Development services provide graduate students with opportunities to explore and prepare for a wide range of careers. Professional and career development services for graduate students are delivered through a unique partnership between The Graduate School and The University Career Center & The President’s Promise. 

Engaging in purposeful professional development and career planning are important parts the graduate experience and essential to maintaining a personally satisfying career across one's life-time. From day one, all graduate students should actively engage with their adviser, participate in departmental events, attend career workshops and pursue professional development opportunities in and outside of the university. 

Accessing Services 

Career services for Master's students are provided by:

Master's students should contact these office directly and visit the websites for more information about specific services.

Professional development and career services for PhD students and Postdoctoral Associates are coordinated by Dr. Susan Martin. For more information about resources and events, email smarti18@umd.edu, call (301) 405-8236,  or sign up for an appointment in Careers for Terps (C4T).

The Office of Postdoctoral Affairs 

The Office of Postdoctoral Affairs was established to provide the postdoctoral community with information, training, mentoring, and services in support of career development.

POSTDOCTORAL SCHOLARS

Postdoctoral associates are a critical part of the University of Maryland academic community, bringing valuable expertise, national prestige, and additional research funding into the university. UMD welcomes postdoctoral associates in all disciplines to the university and hopes that the relationships formed and research done during their tenure here will be most helpful in their professional development.

POSTDOCTORAL DEVELOPMENT

The Office of Postdoctoral Affairs offers many workshops, of varying length, to support postdocs with their professional development and career planning needs. All workshops are open to postdocs free of charge. Please see the Events section for the current workshop schedule. 
 
We welcome suggestions for workshops from postdocs and departments. Please contact Dr. Blessing Enekwe, Program Director for the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs, with questions.  
 

Ombuds Office for Graduate Students 

The Ombuds Office for Graduate Students seeks to ensure that the graduate student voice is heard and that problems receive impartial attention. The Ombuds Office is available to all graduate students with questions or concerns related to their graduate experience. The Ombuds Office provides confidential, informal, and independent assistance to resolve conflicts, and promotes fair and equitable treatment within the University. The office can be reached at 301-405-3132, or by contacting Dr. Mark A. Shayman (shayman@umd.edu). 

Graduate Legal Aid Office 

The Graduate Legal Aid Office provides free legal advice, referrals, and assistance to currently registered University of Maryland graduate students. Staff members give general legal advice on a wide variety of matters, including landlord-tenant issues, consumer problems, traffic accidents, uncontested divorces, and University-related matters. The Office provides direct legal assistance in routine matters, but cannot sue on behalf of students or represent them in court. The Office is staffed eight hours a week for student interviews; staff members see students on a walk-in basis and by appointment. Walk-in and appointment schedules are posted on the Office door. The Office cannot handle disputes between graduate students (though the Ombudsperson for Graduate Students may be consulted for assistance in these disputes) and does not provide emergency services. For more information, consult the Graduate Student Legal Aid Office website.

English Editing for International Graduate Students 

The English Editing for International Graduate Students (EEIGS) program is a unique opportunity for enrolled University of Maryland international students. Through this program, international students may submit portions of required academic writing for free editing. Editors are volunteers from the university’s Volunteer Service Corps.

This is an online service: students submit papers electronically as Word documents and editors respond using the “track changes” feature in Word. All documents submitted for review must be submitted in Word; we cannot review documents submitted in LaTeX, PDF, or PowerPoint.

EEIGS services are available only during the regular academic year (fall and spring semesters).  Because services are provided by volunteers, the number of requests that can be fulfilled and the time it takes to respond to papers may fluctuate. Please be aware of this, and make sure to plan accordingly.

To use the services of EEIGS, students must follow these requirements:

  • Students must be currently enrolled, international graduate students at the University of Maryland, College Park.
  • Students are limited to one request per week.
  • Each paper must be submitted with a student request form 
  • Students may submit no more than 50 double-spaced pages per semester. Any  papers over 10 pages long may be worked on in sections over several weeks, as services are available).
  • EEIGS does not have the capacity to review entire dissertations for editing.
  • Papers must be submitted as Word documents. No other formats will be accepted.  If your document is generated in LaTex or PDF or as a PowerPoint presentation, you must convert the text to Word in order for it to be reviewed.  Please also be sure that you have removed any previous comments from the paper before submitting it for review.
  • Students who use the services of EEIGS must inform their advisor or their program’s director of graduate studies about the aid received in this program. This is a matter of academic integrity.
  • Students are responsible for any assigned deadlines for their own work. EEIGS and the volunteer editors are not responsible for any deadlines related to the assignment. Students should plan editing turnaround time into their writing schedules.
  • Students should note that EEIGS has limited expertise with CVs or resumes; consult the University Career Center with requests to review these documents.    

Students using the services of EEIGS can expect that:

  • EEIGS volunteers will edit and proofread students’ projects through the “comments” and “track changes” in Microsoft Word.
  • EEIGS volunteers will be generalists who will not provide specific feedback about the content and development of ideas in a paper (for that service, please request a consultation with the Graduate School Writing Fellows)
  • The EEIGS coordinator will seek a volunteer editor for each request and will report the results to the student. Students may request a specific editor; however, all requests will initially go through the EEIGS coordinator.
  • Submitted requests up to 10 double-spaced pages will be returned within 5 days.

How to request editing services from EEIGS:

  • Requests (only one per week) must be submitted to the program coordinator through email (eeigs@umd.edu).
  • Each paper should be accompanied with a student request form that includes student contact information and information about the assignment.

Questions?  Please contact the EEIGS coordinator at eeigs@umd.edu.