UMassGives 2024

The Graduate School is committed to graduate education that offers students the opportunity to excel in their chosen field of study, cross-disciplinary boundaries to explore new areas of research and creativity, and gain the knowledge and skills needed to thrive in graduate school and beyond.  We provide critical support in the form of direct fellowships, grants, mentoring, and professional development that many departments are unable to provide. Inspired by their training graduate students go on to become the knowledge leaders and innovators we need in order to face many pressing challenges–economic, social, technical, and climate-related– that loom ahead. Help us help students succeed at UMass Amherst!

Your gift will help fund:

Expand and Enhance Diversity & Inclusion Fellowships

At UMass Amherst, we understand that enhancing our diversity is both a step towards social justice and a source of richness that positions us to be more creative and resilient. The Graduate School created the Office of Inclusion and Engagement in 2016 and launched two-forward thinking fellowships– The Spaulding-Smith and The REAL– for recruiting outstanding disenfranchised students into our nationally acclaimed graduate programs. For students, an increased stipend allows them to spend their time running lab experiments, creating, or publishing research with the idea that they can achieve financial security to solely focus on their educational objectives. 

● The Spaulding-Smith Fellowship is awarded to outstanding doctoral students from historically underrepresented groups in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). For students, an increased stipend allows them to spend their time running lab experiments, creating, or publishing research with the idea that they can solely focus on their educational objectives. 

● The Research Enhancement and Leadership (REAL) Fellowship is awarded to outstanding doctoral and MFA students from historically underrepresented groups in the humanities and arts, social sciences, education, nursing, and business.

Ensuring Graduate Student Success: Professional Development

● The Office of Professional Development (OPD) offers more than 400 workshops per year. Our extensive programming prepares participants to thrive in academia, industry, government, and the non-profit sector. In addition to professional preparation, OPD workshops equip students in four key competencies: writing grants, communicating effectively, acquiring teaching skills, and becoming leaders for change. 

○ One of the most successful programs developed through OPD is the Three Minute Thesis (3MT). 3MT challenges graduate students to communicate the significance of their research to a general audience in three minutes or less. This opportunity develops presentation and communication skills while celebrating their research. 

Ensuring Graduate Student Success: Wellness Fund 

● National Studies reflect that since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a sharp increase in rates of depression and stress that disproportionately affects underrepresented students. By supporting a much-needed Wellness Fund students can get the mental health support they need to thrive.