Grand Valley State University’s school of graduate studies is taking strides – well, PACES, that is. PACES, which stands for professionalism, advancement, communication, engagement and success, is designed as a co-curricular program that aims at helping graduate students stay successful throughout and beyond their graduate program. The program is in its first ever year of operation and features both online resources and face-to-face workshops and seminars on the topics that are comprised of its namesake. “PACES benefits students by providing them information and advice specific to graduate student issues and needs from a variety of resources (faculty, professionals, offices) at GVSU and beyond,” said Dr. John Stevenson, associate dean of graduate studies. The process and outcomes of a graduate education, Stevenson said, are notably different from that of an undergraduate education. PACES helps students learn more about the unique challenges that face graduate students, like preparing for entry-level careers. Stevenson said that PACES offers graduate students topics and resources that are not always available or provided for a specific degree program such as presentation and communication skills, selecting the right thesis topic and fulfilling the principles of responsible conduct of research. “The PACES program is an opportunity for students to enhance their graduate education experience with value added interactions with other graduate students, faculty and staff at Grand Valley State University,” said Jeffery Potteiger, dean of graduate studies.

Like any budding organization, PACES has taken the training wheels off, Stevenson said. Evaluation responses that PACES officials handed out to students and staff who attended the first workshops and panel discussion have all come back with positive remarks.

“Responses thus far have been very favorable with presenters, getting high marks for their knowledge and expertise while attendees feel they have gained new knowledge and understanding of the topic,” Stevenson said.

Stevensen also added that PACES will “evaluate each offering with an eye toward adding topics, improving those deemed valuable and eliminating those that are not [deemed valuable] by those in attendance.”

Stevenson and the rest of the PACES team hopes to grow the audience for future sessions and improve the effects of the highly interactive aspect of the panels. The greater the audience size, he said, the better the session.

“As with any new program there is need for fine tuning and improvement so we depend on good feed back from both of our presenters, panels and audience of students and faculty,” he said.

Graduate students who want to get involved with PACES can do so by viewing the online resources and schedule of sessions for the academic year online at www.gvsu.edu/gs and clicking in the PACES bar on the left side of the menu selections. To register for a seminar, panel or workshop, contact Jennifer Palm at 616-331-6658.

[email protected]