Date: March 13, 2013 To: ASI Board of Directors From: Katie Cardenas/ Director of Graduate Studies and

Erica Brown/ Director of Arts and Letters Subject: Graduate Student Professional Development Sponsorship I. PURPOSE/HISTORY

At the ASI Mid-Year Retreat, the Board of Directors reevaluated Strategic Priority 4.1, To support student transitions into careers through increasing collaboration with the Career Center to improve professional development for graduate students. There was discussion around working to fulfill this priority by sponsoring a table of graduate students at the Career Center Etiquette Dinner, which takes place on April 4, 2013 from 5-8 P.M. This was one of the suggestions from Graduate Dean Newsome at the beginning of the fall semester because she said graduate students have attended and received value from this event in the past. Currently the Career Center is supportive of this proposal and they have the availability for ASI to sponsor a table of nine graduate students. II. RECOMMENDATION

We recommend that the Board of Directors approve to sponsor nine graduate students to attend the Career Center Etiquette Dinner to help fulfill Strategic Priority 4.1 and allocate $108 from the ASI Annual Strategic Planning Fund to cover the cost of attendance for the nine students. III. IMPACT OF LEGISLATION If this legislation passes, we will move forward with reaching out to students and creating awareness about the ASI sponsorship, specifically on social media. In addition, the Graduate Director will reach out to faculty who sit on the Graduate Studies Policies Committee and the Graduate Council to ask them to inform students about this opportunity with the goal of increasing the diversity of attendees. Moreover, we will help the students who are interested register until all the seats are taken. Students will be selected on a first come first serve basis. IV. FINANCIAL IMPACT We have requested $108 from the ASI Annual Strategic Planning Fund to be spent on covering the cost of attendance for nine graduate students so they can go to the Career Center Etiquette Dinner. Entry is $12 per student. V. DISCUSSION/SUPPORT

This sponsorship advances Strategic Priority 4.1 by increasing collaboration with the Career Center to improve professional development for graduate students. This project was suggested by Dean Newsome and is supported by the Career Center.