Dear Graduate Student Community, We are now in week 7 and I am still fueled by the smiling faces I saw at Grad-stravaganza in August. These opportunities to connect with you and see you in community with one another remind me why I do this work. One of my passions as Vice Provost for Graduate Studies is ensuring that graduate students feel supported during your time at Cal, and doing everything we can to remove any barriers to your success. In the Graduate Division we continue to work hard to strengthen diversity within our graduate community and ensure that students from all backgrounds and abilities feel seen, heard, and supported in their programs. Which brings me to our most recent endeavor. This month, in partnership with the Vice Chancellor for Equity and Inclusion, Dania Matos, we are launching a Neurodiversity in Graduate Education Task Force. We are inviting graduate students, staff and faculty members to join me on this task force. We believe that we cannot build an inclusive learning environment if it is not sensitive and responsive to the needs of our neurodivergent graduate students. The Neurodiversity Task Force is our first step in that effort. Building on presentations from national experts at the cutting edge of neurodiversity research and educational practice, in addition to listening sessions with current neurodivergent graduate students to hear their stories and their needs and draw on their expertise, the Task Force is charged with proposing what changes they believe would need to happen in order for graduate education at Berkeley to serve our neurodivergent prospective and current students’ needs. We invite you to learn more about the Neurodiversity Task Force and the various ways disability accommodations are provided to Berkeley graduate students. Be well and fiat lux! Lisa García Bedolla Vice Provost for Graduate Studies and Dean of the Graduate Division
Dear Graduate Student Community, We are now in week 7 and I am still fueled by the smiling faces I saw at Grad-stravaganza in August. These opportunities to connect with you and see you in community with one another remind me why I do this work. One of my passions as Vice Provost for Graduate Studies is ensuring that graduate students feel supported during your time at Cal, and doing everything we can to remove any barriers to your success. In the Graduate Division we continue to work hard to strengthen diversity within our graduate community and ensure that students from all backgrounds and abilities feel seen, heard, and supported in their programs. Which brings me to our most recent endeavor. This month, in partnership with the Vice Chancellor for Equity and Inclusion, Dania Matos, we are launching a Neurodiversity in Graduate Education Task Force. We are inviting graduate students, staff and faculty members to join me on this task force. We believe that we cannot build an inclusive learning environment if it is not sensitive and responsive to the needs of our neurodivergent graduate students. The Neurodiversity Task Force is our first step in that effort. Building on presentations from national experts at the cutting edge of neurodiversity research and educational practice, in addition to listening sessions with current neurodivergent graduate students to hear their stories and their needs and draw on their expertise, the Task Force is charged with proposing what changes they believe would need to happen in order for graduate education at Berkeley to serve our neurodivergent prospective and current students’ needs. We invite you to learn more about the Neurodiversity Task Force and the various ways disability accommodations are provided to Berkeley graduate students. Be well and fiat lux! Lisa García Bedolla Vice Provost for Graduate Studies and Dean of the Graduate Division