Graduate Student Orientation: Applying Cas Standards to National Practices

New graduate students often face many of the same issues and concerns as undergraduates, including anxiety about a new environment and the need to feel welcomed by their institutions (Boyle and Boice 1998; Roscnblatt and Christensen 1993). They are challenged further by having to fit into the culture of their disciplines (Golde 1998; Tinto 1993; Weidman, Twalc, and Stein 2001). Attention to their needs has grown in the past few years with recent studies focused on ethnic diversity (Isaac, Pruitt-Logan, and Upcraft 1995), attrition (Golde 2000), retention (Washburn 2002), student services (Vlisides and Eddy 1993), and on another vital component, graduate student orientation.

Researchers have analyzed the orientation activities offered by academic departments (Miller, Miles, and Dyer 2001; Taub and Komives 1998) or those provided campus-wide (Barker et al. 1997). In 2002, Poock examined orientations offered by the academic d...

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