Dear Graduate Students and Postdoctoral Fellows,

Wow, what a year! As I hope you have heard by now, on July 1 the School of Graduate and Advanced Studies went live! The School, known as GRAD, is the result of many years of hard work and advocacy by the faculty, students, and staff at Dartmouth who care about graduate and postdoctoral education. On January 27, 2016, with the enthusiastic support of President Hanlon, Provost Dever, and the faculty, the Board of Trustees vote to establish the School of Graduate and Advanced Studies at Dartmouth, creating the College’s first new school in more than 100 years. Their vote marked the final step in the approval process of an idea that faculty members have been suggesting for many years, and demonstrates Dartmouth’s commitment to research and the important role it plays in the education of all its students.

The mission of our school is “to foster postgraduate academic programs of the highest quality, catalyze intellectual discovery, and prepare a diverse community of scholars for global leadership.”

GRAD is a school for a world defined by rapid change, and we launched it at a moment when the world’s most pressing challenges transcend individual disciplines. It gives you the opportunity to work with leading faculty researchers and utilize state of the art resources to investigate our world in both traditional and new areas of inquiry. Dartmouth’s close-knit community and culture of collaboration make it easier for us to be nimble in an age that demands it, and GRAD is the tangible embodiment of Dartmouth’s scholar-teacher ideal: a unique fusion of a liberal arts college and a research university, creating knowledge and impact, not only in traditional fields of study, but especially where fields intersect.

As scholars, we want you to look at problems from multiple perspectives and I would encourage you to work across fields of study whenever possible. I expect you to be trained deeply in your area of research focus, but also broadly to be effective writers and communicators. When you leave Hanover, I hope you will be thoughtful leaders, able move the world forward by taking on challenges for which no solutions currently exist, perhaps in fields of inquiry that not yet been invented.

I am excited and honored to have been asked to continue in my role of Dean, and look forward to seeing what you will accomplish in the years to come.

As you set your goals for 2017, I once again urge you to take some time to decompress, get outside, and enjoy what New England has to offer. Try something new and, perhaps, a little outside of your comfort zone. And remember to occasionally get out into the fresh air, clear your mind, and put things into proper perspective.

Please continue to take advantage of the numerous Professional Development workshops offered by GRAD and DCAL. We have many planned for winter term, and I encourage you to participate in these as you develop skills for the career of your choice.

Finally, as I stress every year, I would encourage each of you to take some over the next few weeks to reflect back on your accomplishments over the past year, and set out some realistic goals for the coming year. Too often we get so immersed in the day-to-day routine of research that we fail to take a step back and see how far we have come. For some of you, you may find that you have accomplished all you set out to do. For others, you might find you have achieved surprisingly more than you thought. And for some (hopefully not many) you might find yourself frustrated by a lack of progress. Once you have looked back, my advice would be to sit down and sketch out a plan for the year to come. Be deliberate. Set realistic goals, and make sure that some are ambitious and some are achievable.

As always, we in the GRAD Office are here for you, to advise, help, and support. Please feel encouraged to stop by or email if you have any questions or concerns.

I wish all of you the best for 2017!

F. Jon Kull
Dean of the School of Graduate and Advanced Studies