Mission

The GSRC works to understand graduate and professional student needs, to connect graduate and professional students to resources and services, and to advocate for their well-being and success.

Vision

The UCLA Graduate Student Resource Center envisions itself as the nexus of graduate student services on campus, serving as a data-informed advocate for graduate student needs.

The Graduate Student Wellness Programming Committee performs essential functions to program development in order to operationalize our mission and vision through student-led programming. The Committee develops events, resources, and programs intended to serve the holistic needs of graduate and professional students on the UCLA campus.

Values

COLLABORATION – the GSRC strives to develop and achieve shared goals with key stakeholders in meeting the needs of graduate students and works to promote collaboration and cross-disciplinary engagement among students and student groups

HOLISTIC APPROACH – the GSRC is concerned with the development and well-being of the whole student

DIVERSITY – the GSRC works to create an inclusive campus climate while supporting specific student populations and different academic fields

EQUITY – the GSRC recognizes that there are disparities in the availability of resources and opportunities for students and seeks to address these concerns

ENGAGEMENT – the GSRC should facilitate student engagement with each other and with the campus community upon admission to the university and throughout their time at UCLA

SUPPORT - the GSRC must make sure that student voices are heard and that the collective knowledge of the student and professional staff, and the many volunteers is shared with other students, staff, and faculty.

ADVOCACY – the GSRC must advocate for the needs of graduate students collectively and individually

FLEXIBILITY – the GSRC must maintain its ability to adapt and change while staying within its mission and scope

History

History of the Graduate Student Resource Center

The Graduate Student Resource Center (GSRC) was created by the Graduate Students Association (GSA) in 2003 by a vote of the GSA Forum. Space in the Student Activities Center for the GSRC came through the SPARC referendum, which funded the redevelopment of the Men’s Gym into a student services oriented building. In 2004, the Graduate Students Association asked the Division of Student Affairs to take over management of the GSRC. The GSRC opened its doors with a full-time professional staff Director on January 3, 2005. The GSA continues a strong partnership with the center via the graduate student-majority GSRC Advisory Committee and provides the center with financial support for graduate student printing, the Graduate Student Orientation, and other programmatic activities. The GSRC is primarily funded by Student Services Fees.

In 2007 the GSRC grew to include the Graduate Writing Center (GWC), a Graduate Students Association referendum fee-funded service that offers year-round writing consultation, workshops, and programs to assist graduate students with their academic writing and presentation needs. The GSA fee funds approximately 20-25 graduate student Writing Consultants, a graduate student assistant, and a professional staff person who serves as Director. As of 2014, the GWC also began receiving Student Services Fee funds to support some of the professional development functions of the GWC.

The staff of the GSRC grew in 2011 to include a full-time Assistant Director. The GSRC also has undergraduate front desk staff, and a Program Committee made up of graduate student staff responsible for creating workshops and programs that address community building, health & wellness, social justice, campus climate, and leadership development.

The GSRC as a whole works to form partnerships and other collaborative relationships on campus to connect students with resources and services, to develop programs and workshops to address unmet needs that help graduate students reach their academic and professional goals and, when possible, to bring existing services to a central location (usually, the Student Activities Center). The GSRC also provides advising to individual students who are seeking assistance in navigating the university’s resources and bureaucracy and to those who are experiencing challenges with any aspect of their graduate and professional education.

A primary role of the GSRC is to advocate for the needs of graduate students to be met. The GSRC has been the impetus for the creation of the Graduate Writing Center, the Graduate Student Orientation, and the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Graduate Welcome events. Through the GSRC-led Graduate and Professional Student Welfare Committee, the GSRC spearheaded a successful effort for enhanced graduate student career services at UCLA. The GSRC was involved in the development of the Kinross Recreation Center (KREC), as well as the efforts to provide residential life staff and to create a residents’ association at Weyburn Terrace. The GSRC led the effort to create the first comprehensive UCLA graduate student survey that addresses the concerns of graduate and professional students. The GSRC also took a lead role in developing the Financial Wellness Coordinator position in 2014. The GSRC participates on the Economic Crisis Response team on an ongoing basis, handling cases of graduate students in financial crisis; the GSRC also has a standing position on the Board of the Association of Graduate Counselors and Advisors, and actively serves on several committees throughout the university representing graduate and professional student needs.

Advisory

GSRC Advisory and GWC Oversight Committees

The Graduate Student Resource Center has an advisory committee made up of six graduate student representatives, two representatives from Student Affairs, one representative from Graduate Division, a faculty representative, and the GSRC Coordinator. The committee meets regularly to facilitate the success of the strategic plan and to ensure that we are consistently receiving feedback in order to meet graduate student needs in a timely manner.

The Graduate Writing Center has an oversight committee made up of voting representatives (graduate students) from each of the academic areas represented on the Graduate Students Association Forum, as well as non-voting representatives from across campus community.