The Graduate School had a busy 2023 school year! Highlights include:
- Welcome Back and End of the Year Ice Cream Socials for all graduate students celebrating new and returning students and those who graduated.
- 30 students completed the Professional Development Program (PDP) which enhances both personal and professional skills.
- The PDP received an overhaul during the summer and was rebranded the Graduate Professionalism Academy
- Completed three fundraising initiatives raising a total of $6,961 to provide funding for graduate student awards, scholarships and travel awards to be used during the next academic year.
- One Day for State
- Giving Tuesday
- 30-day Spring fundraising campaign
- Due to the generous donations we received, we were able to offer:
- A new graduate student award, the Distinguished Innovation and Creative Work award, to showcase the outstanding contributions of a graduate student not completing a thesis or dissertation.
- Two Graduate Student Access Scholarships for those who do not have other sources of funding (assistantships, fellowships, etc.).
- Supported seven student travel awards to defray the cost of conference or event travel and participation.
- Hosted six hybrid “What’s the Tea” events to provide students more information and access to the Graduate School staff.
- Held the 7th annual Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition. Our winner, Maryam Wahab, Ph.D. candidate in biological sciences – food science, later represented SDSU at the regional Midwestern Association of Graduate Schools (MAGS) competition.
- Shelby Meeker (Duncan), M.S. agriculture and biosystems engineering graduate and winner of our local Distinguished Master's Thesis Award was nominated and won the Regional Distinguished Master's Thesis Award.
- Organized, in collaboration with the SDSU graduate programs, a virtual graduate fair and 6 graduate student forums providing key information to prospective graduate students.
- Celebrated our deserving students during Graduate Student Appreciation Week (April 3-7).
- Hosted the inaugural Graduate Research, Scholarship and Creative Activity Day (GRSCAD), boasting 34 poster presenters.
2023 Accolades
3 Minute Thesis Winners
- Maryam Wahab, Ph.D. biological sciences - food sciences - 1st Place
- Kritika Gaba, M.S. biological sciences - dairy science - 2nd Place
- Bhaswati Chowdhury, M.S. biological sciences - dairy science - 3rd Place
Distinguished Master's Thesis Award
- Shelby Meeker (Duncan), M.S. agricultural and biosystems engineering
- Won the Midwestern Association of Graduate Schools Distinguished Master's Thesis Award
Distinguished Dissertation Award
- Deepak Joshi, Ph.D. plant science
Joseph F. Nelson Graduate Scholarship (2)
- Maral Afshinpour, Ph.D. biochemistry
- Manisha Guha, Ph.D. biological sciences - microbiology
Excellence in Graduate Student Teaching Award
- Joscelyne Larson, M.S. mechanical engineering
Distinguished Innovation and Creative Work Award
- Bree Oatman, M.S. chemistry - chemistry education
Graduate Access Scholarships
- Alexis Cushman, M.S. counseling and human resource development - clinical mental health counseling
- Rezanoor Rahman, M.Eng. engineering
Graduate Student Travel Awards
- Naeem Malik, Ph.D. geospatial sciences and engineering - remote sensing
- Shahid Khan, Ph.D. geospatial sciences and engineering - remote sensing
- Rishabh Bahl, Ph.D. pharmaceutical sciences
- James Van Westen, M.Arch. architecture
- Astha Neupane, Ph.D. biological sciences - microbiology
- Zeel Modi, M.S. biological sciences - dairy science
- Jeffrey Tillery, M.S. wildlife and fisheries sciences - wildlife science
- 34 poster participants
- Honorable mention – Caitlyn Sullivan – M.S. animal science
- 1st Place – Bree Oatman – M.S. chemistry – chemical education
- Ph.D. - 38
- D.N.P. - 12
- Master's - 335
- Certificates - 20
Total - 405
