gradLEAF is part of the Enhancing Graduate Education project, funded by the Vanderbilt University Graduate School, which pools together professional development resources for graduate students at Vanderbilt University. The project is run out of the Peabody Office of Professional and Graduate Education (POPGE) and led by Dr. Craig Anne Heflinger, Associate Dean for Graduate Students.

A professional development focus needs to start as students enter their Ph.D. programs so that they are active planners of their graduate careers and life-long learning plans. This focus includes not only coursework and research but developing teaching skills and philosophies (for those who plan to become future faculty), disciplinary involvement, and a broad spectrum of professional practices in planning, career engagement, professionalism, and personal wellness that span the disciplines for students who foresee either academic or non-academic futures.

The gradLEAF grid is divided into three time periods: early (for graduate students just starting their PhD programs), mid (for graduate students in mid-years as they are finishing coursework and qualifying for candidacy), and late (for graduate students who are working on their dissertations). Some categories are categorized as “throughout” because these were identified as practices that should be honed throughout the entire PhD process.

The gradLEAF grid is divided into four categories:

1. LEARN professional practices includes honing research skills, learning the “tools of the trade” for future job settings (such as teaching and training, grant writing, professional writing) among others.

2. ENGAGE in career and professional networking includes thinking about and preparing for the job search. Supports could focus on building a CV and personalizing for different job opportunities, finding, attending, and presenting at relevant professional conferences, and taking opportunities to engage in professional service with an emphasis on building a professional network.

3. ACTIVATE your graduate research and program milestones are the focus of the PhD programs themselves, with research skills and development of a program of research addressed through formal coursework, mentoring, and hands-on work in research teams/labs. Centralized supports could include project management, finding resources to fund student research, supporting the writing of a dissertation, etc.

4. FOSTER personal well-being requires a continued focus on staying healthy throughout the graduate school career and enhancing or developing wellness activities in the six dimensions: physical, social, intellectual, spiritual, emotional, and occupational. Included in this domain, for instance, would be: time, stress, and conflict management; balancing acts (e.g., finishing degree while finding job; balancing home and graduate study).

*We would like to make a special mention of the work being done by Michigan State University’s Graduate School. Their PREP Matrix was presented at the 2011 Council of Graduate Schools and served as an inspiration for the Vanderbilt gradLEAF.