Panel Title: “Graduate Students Need Help Too!” Best Practices for Providing Support Services to Students in Graduate and Professional Programs

Organizer/Moderator: Julia Braun
Associate Director of Student Services
Academic Advisor for full-time MBA program
University at Buffalo

Panel Participants: The panel will include 3 professional staff members from the University at Buffalo who provide support services to graduate students in the area of academic advisement and programming.
Abstract: With limited literature regarding support services for students pursing post baccalaureate study, many institutions of higher education are restructuring to incorporate success initiatives into graduate programs. This session will discuss examples of best practices and/or processes for services designed to meet the needs of graduate level students. Through conversation, the panelists will offer their experiences specific to students in graduate and professional studies with examples of impact on student success.
The presentation structured is as follows:
Introduction of speakers and background information
Overview and discussion of themes: general support services and programming, best practices and strategies for success with at-risk graduate students, and collecting data as evidence to identify the impact of support services through the graduate student experience.
Q&A/discussion with attendees group dialogue centered on common experiences