Shelby Speer

Did you know that we have more than 30 graduate and professional programs at the Universities at Shady Grove (USG)? My name is Shelby Speer, and I have the pleasure of being the Graduate Student Services Coordinator in the Center for Student Engagement and Financial Resources. A significant part of my role is to ensure that graduate and professional students at USG have the resources that they need to be successful. As chair of the USG Graduate Student Association, we work hard to make sure that grad students have a voice on campus as well as unique opportunities for engagement!

The first week of April, we held our annual Graduate and Professional Student Appreciation Week, which featured many fun activities and free stuff! New this year, we will be co-hosting USG Celebrates Earth Day April 22-24, which features lots of earth-friendly events and a stainless steel straw giveaway. If you need a finals de-streser, check out our “Make Your Own Trail Mix” station on May 13 as part of USG De-Stress Lounge week!

The largest event of the year for graduate students is the Graduation Gala, which is a celebratory party for all graduating graduate and professional students at USG. The keynote speaker will be Dr. Annica Wayman, the Associate Dean of Shady Grove Affairs for CNMS. Other event features include: the awarding of the Academic and Community Excellence Awards, presentation of the Graduate Student Association class gift, free food and drinks, and photo booths.

Will you be a graduate student at USG next year? Do you want to get involved in planning events and initiatives, as well as gathering feedback from your peers? Applications for next year’s Graduate Student Association are currently open! The early deadline is April 30: apply today!

Grad students are strongly encourage to get involved in life at USG: we hope to see you at some of the spring events and maybe on next year’s GSA executive board!