Planning · Lesson 2
GRADvantage – Guide for Graduate Student Success
Discover how to use the GRADvantage framework to support your students’ success, professional growth, and engagement throughout their graduate journey.
Brock-specific lesson
This lesson describes Brock University’s GRADvantage framework and is reproduced as-is for review. TRU does not currently have an equivalent. Graduate Studies will decide whether to remove this lesson for launch or replace it with a TRU version when one is available.
Module Objectives
By the end of this module, you will be able to:
- Explore the GRADvantage framework to guide student success
- Learn how to use the framework to help support students through their graduate journey
- Share opportunities available on ExperienceBU
- Encourage participation in the GRADvantage pathway
- Support students in setting goals for professional development
Principles of Supervision
Principles of Graduate Supervision included in this module
This space is reserved for TRU’s Foundations of Graduate Supervision / Principles of Supervision. They will be added here once approved by the Graduate Senate Committee.
GRADvantage
GRADvantage is a professional development framework designed to help support your graduate students during their studies and into careers. It is organized into five areas of development to help guide student success by providing opportunities to engage in skill development experiences and reflection.
GRADvantage can help you:
- Connect your students with campus partners to help support your development and success
- Share key services and resources with your student
- Keep your students informed about workshops/events that will help enrich their graduate experience
- Provide opportunities for your students to develop their skills and reflect on their experiences
- Help your students define themselves within their academic studies and future careers
GRADvantage Five Areas of Development
We encourage you to explore the different areas of development to help guide your graduate student to decide their path based on their unique interests and future goals. Each area includes specific skill development opportunities and experiences to help graduate students succeed in their program and at Brock.
1. Communicator
COMMUNICATORS will master communication skills (using multiple modalities) to communicate complex ideas and translate knowledge to diverse audiences in various contexts.
2. Innovator
INNOVATORS will implement and foster a social, cultural, and commercial mindset across various research and innovation contexts.
3. Leader
LEADERS will inspire, support, and foster growth, success, and well-being in themselves and others through academic pursuits and personal and practical contexts.
4. Researcher
RESEARCHERS will engage in opportunities to generate original, meaningful, and collaborative research to create, advance, and apply information locally, nationally, and globally.
5. Community Builder
COMMUNITY BUILDERS will authentically embody the qualities and competencies that create connections through meaningful, academic, and experiential engagement.
Communicator
Building communication skills is an important part of a graduate students experience and can include writing and presenting course assignments, journaling, responding to email requests, building grant applications, research proposals and CV’s
Researcher
Graduate students are more than just consumers of knowledge; they are also producers of knowledge (via research and inquiry). During their studies, graduate students will learn how to collect, create, analyze, and share knowledge. Actively working to build their skills in this focus area will enable them to contribute to advancing knowledge and research within their chosen discipline at Brock and beyond.
Leader
Graduate students leadership skills will be elevated as they inspire and motivate themselves and others to achieve their goals, while also supporting well-being and personal growth. Leaders should strive to create a positive and supportive environment that encourages collaboration, innovation, and the pursuit of excellence, by fostering growth, success, and well-being in themselves and others.
Innovator
Graduate students will discover new and creative ways of approaching research and making an impact in their field. Innovators implement and foster a social, cultural, and commercial mindset, and are driven to make a positive difference in the world through their work.
Community Builder
As community builders, graduate students will have a deep understanding of the communities they serve, including their unique needs, challenges, and strengths. By combining academic and experiential engagement, community builders can create a rich and rewarding environment that fosters connection and growth.
How to use GRADvantage
Reflect
Encourage your student to reflect on experiences through regular meetings and discussions.
- What have they learned?
- What have they enjoyed?
- How does it connect to future goals?
Engage
Encourage your student to engage with the GRADvantage framework as a centralized hub of academic and professional development resources.
- Share the website https://brocku.ca/graduate-studies/student-development/gradvantage/
- Encourage exploration of the GRADvantage pathway through ExperienceBU
Explore
Encourage your student to explore the development areas and find workshops, events, or experiences that complement their graduate journey.
- Discuss development goals
- Help plan out opportunities and experiences around goals.
Enhance
Help your student enhance their graduate student experience by participating in GRADvantage opportunities and connecting with Brock supports.
- Encourage discussions around participation and progress.
- Share further opportunities based on interests.
How to Engage
GRADvantage is linked to our university-wide co-curricular program and is designed to engage graduate students in opportunities and experiences that complement their academic education.
Through the completion of workshops, signature events, and other experiences within the five different domains, students can enhance their graduate studies. Each domain requires the completion of a set of experiences, as well as a reflection to further enhance learning and skill development.
How to get your student started
How to encourage your student to participate
All graduate students will have the opportunity to participate in various workshops, events and experiences to develop key skill areas to enhance their graduate studies.
All graduate students are added to the GRADvantage ExperienceBU pathway upon acceptance to their program. To see what is available, use the following steps to help your student:
- Sign in to ExperienceBU using the student portal login
- Click on their initial on the top right
- Choose path
- Choose GRADvantage from the drop-down
- Click “make default”
- Explore the different experiences in each domain to start the pathway
- Don’t forget to document goals through the pre-reflection.
ExperienceBU FAQ https://brocku.ca/experiencebu/#1539268913676-87d9f30e-97a3
Why your student should participate
By participating in activities related to all domains, we believe your student will have a richer, more meaningful Brock experience and will be better positioned to pursue a career or further education when they graduate. The domains represent skills that employers increasingly expect from graduate students and offer opportunities to enhance their personal growth.
For every completed domain, students will earn a badge on their GRADvantage Certificate of Engagement. Students who complete the entire GRADvantage will be recognized with a certificate at Convocation.