In an attempt to get Graduate Students out and seeing what their fellow students  are doing, Georgia Southern will be holding Graduate Student Appreciation week.

Graduate Student Appreciation Week will be Tuesday, March 31 through Friday, April 3.

Sponsored by the Jack N. Averitt College of Graduate Studies and the Graduate Student Organization, the week will have a variety of activities and events for the over 2,300 graduate students, including a Graduate Research Symposium on Tuesday from 9a.m. to 6 p.m. in the College of Information Technology’s atrium.

“[The symposium] will show all the different kinds of things that people are doing. It’s a great opportunity for undergraduates who are thinking about graduate schools, because they can go and see what different college and departments are doing,” said Dean Timothy Mack of the Averitt College of Graduate Studies.

“We support the Graduate Student Organization, and we’re working hand in hand to make sure this is a great event,” said Mack.

There will be over ninety-eight different presentations, and students and faculty are encouraged to speak with graduate students about their research within the different departments at Georgia Southern.

“I think it will be a great opportunity to network and meet other graduate students,” said Elena Bencini, a graduate student in Business Administration. “Especially since sometimes it can be difficult to get to know other grad students when there are so many online classes, I think that it’s good that the Graduate Student Organization is organizing this week.”

On Wednesday, April 1, there will be games in the Russell Union Rotunda from 2pm until 5p.m.   

Thursday, April 2’s activities will be a graduate student social at Jaman Caribbean Café from 6p.until 10pm.

A mini golf tournament from 2p.m. until 5p.m. at Hacker’s Golf Park will be held Friday to close the week’s events.

Undergraduate students are encouraged to be a part of the events by volunteering.

“You’ll be able to spend time talking with the graduate students, and if you’re someone who’s interested in thinking about graduate school, this is a wonderful opportunity,” Mack said.

The Graduate Student Organization will also provide prizes for the first and second place scholarly works with amounts of $250 and $100 respectively.

Prizes will be distributed to individuals within each college.