Professional development

Success beyond K-State

While your graduate program provides you with the discipline-specific knowledge and training to earn a degree and pursue a career in your chosen field, your professional success is also impacted by transferable skills like leadership, organization and communication that are beneficial in all disciplines and professions. Through partnerships with the Graduate Student Council, student service units, and external organizations, the Graduate School is committed to helping the whole student thrive – academically, professionally, and personally. The resources below will help you develop your transferable skills and enhance your career.

Graduate Student Council Professional Development Seminar Series

The Graduate Student Council (GSC) coordinates a series of professional development seminars each semester that aim to enrich graduate students' education beyond their own disciplines. Seminar topics include networking skills, grant writing, salary and benefits negotiation, pursuing non-academic career paths, and presentation/communication skills. K-State graduate students who attend at least five professional development events hosted by GSC during the academic year will be eligible to receive a GSC Professional Development Certificate.

View the series

Leadership Development

Graduate Student Leadership Development Program

The Graduate Student Leadership Development Program (GSLDP) provides K-State graduate students an opportunity to develop leadership skills to make positive change in your work, studies, and student organizations. In this semester-long experience, you will work with Leadership Studies faculty and your peers to dive into challenges that are most important to you.

Leadership Shadow Program

Career Center

K-State's Career Center is available to assist graduate students with their career readiness needs. The Career Center offers extensive career advising which focuses on resume/CV/cover letter development, interview prep, job search training, and networking. Students have the opportunity to connect with potential employers at several career fairs hosted each year. The Career Center also offers free professional clothing to K-State students from its Career Closet.

Visit the Career Center website

Teaching and Learning Center (TLC)

Kansas Science Communication Initiative (KSCI)

The Kansas Science Communication Initiative (KSCI) seeks to engage communities in understanding, enthusiastically promoting, and actively participating in science and research. KSCI activities include workshops and other activities that assist graduate students in developing their science communication skills and provide them opportunities to engage with the public.

Visit the KSCI website

Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching, and Learning (CIRTL)

The Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching, and Learning (CIRTL) is an NSF Center for Learning and Teaching in higher education. CIRTL uses graduate education as the leverage point to develop a national STEM faculty committed to implementing and advancing effective teaching practices for diverse student audiences as part of successful professional careers. The goal of CIRTL is to improve the STEM learning of all students at every college and university, and thereby to increase the diversity in STEM fields and the STEM literacy of the nation.

Every year, CIRTL offers several event series to give grad students and post-docs the opportunity to engage with experts across the CIRTL Network, without the more intensive time commitment of a course. All of the CIRTL series run on a drop-in basis, with no obligation to commit to multiple sessions.

Visit CIRTL's event series page for a full schedule of sessions and instructions on how to attend a session.

Visit the CIRTL website