One of the MTSU College of Graduate Studies‘ current recruiting strategies includes finding potential students on the home front.

With that in mind, the college is conducting one-hour information sessions with each of the university’s undergraduate colleges over the next several months.

Graduate Studies Dean David Butler and his staff met with College of Media and Entertainment students March 13-15 to discuss graduate school possibilities. Sessions with other colleges on campus are set later this spring.

Dr. David Butler

“We are hosting these graduate school information sessions to make juniors and seniors at MTSU aware that graduate school is a pathway option after graduation,” Butler said.

“As many of our students are first-generation (college attendees), they may not be aware that graduate school is a potentially successful pathway after completing their undergraduate degree at MTSU.”

Butler said attendees at the sessions can learn why graduate school is a good option, along with information on the cost of attending, how to fund graduate school, and the application process.

“That takes 10 minutes,” he said of the gatherings. “The following 50 minutes is the graduate program directors talking about their programs and existing graduate students and alumni talking about the advantages and expectations of graduate school.”

The Jones College of Business is up next, and informational sessions are scheduled April 2-4. Times, dates and locations include:

• Noon to 1 p.m., Monday, April 2, Business and Aerospace Building, Room S326, SunTrust Room.
• Noon to 1 p.m., Tuesday, April 3, BAS SunTrust Room.
• 4:30 to 5:30 p.m., Tuesday, April 3, BAS SunTrust Room.
• 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 4, BAS SunTrust Room.

Butler said the College of Graduate Studies is testing these informational sessions with students in media and entertainment, business and the College of Liberal Arts this spring.

College of Liberal Arts times and dates have recently been announced and include:

• 4:30 to 5:30 p.m., Tuesday, April 17.
• Noon to 1 p.m., Wednesday, April 18.
• 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 18.

The locations for the liberal arts sessions will be announced soon.

“In the fall, we hope to have these (sessions) with most colleges at MTSU, and if they are effective, then they will become a staple each semester,” the dean added.

To learn more about MTSU’s College of Graduate Studies, visit www.mtsu.edu/graduate or call 615-898-2840. The college’s offices are located on the first floor of the Sam H. Ingram Building, 2269 Middle Tennessee Blvd.

— Randy Weiler (Randy.Weiler@mtsu.edu)

Newly minted doctoral degree holder Kelli Roberts Seymour, center, stands as MTSU College of Education professor Terry Goodin carefully places the hood signifying completion of her Doctor of Education in Assessment, Learning and School Improvement around her neck at the May 2017 College of Graduate Studies commencement ceremony in Murphy Center. Looking on at left is MTSU President Sidney A. McPhee. Seymour is principal of Theodore Roosevelt Elementary School in Kingsport, Tenn., and completed her dissertation on “Shared Leadership, Professional Learning Communities, and Teacher Self-Efficacy: How One Impacts the Other.” The College of Graduate Studies is (MTSU file photo by Andy Heidt)