On June 6, 2025, the Faculty of Graduate & Postdoctoral Studies (GPS) celebrated the launch of the 2025-28 GPS Action + Partnership Plan. I am so thrilled to be sharing this plan with our community.
The first of its kind from GPS, this plan is the result of extensive engagement and co-creation activities with graduate students, postdoctoral scholars and faculty, staff and leadership at the ¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥. It outlines how we will partner with our community to shape the graduate student and postdoctoral scholar experience at the U of A and where GPS will focus its efforts and resources for the next three years.
With more than 8,400 graduate students and more than 600 postdoctoral scholars at the U of A, GPS has the unique mandate of shaping and administering graduate education within the institution. We cannot do this work without partnership, which is why we chose to centre partnership in our action plan. It is our partnership across campuses that enables us to position graduate and postdoctoral studies at the U of A as a compelling choice for learning, research, teaching and personal development, and I am excited to continue to work with our partners as we implement the priorities in this plan:
- Priority 1: Position graduate and postdoctoral studies at the U of A as a vibrant environment and community to pursue research, education and personal growth
- Priority 2: Facilitate consistently exceptional experiences that enrich the lives and careers of students and scholars, both on campus and beyond
- Priority 3: Evolve graduate and postdoctoral studies to confront the complexities of a changing world
- Priority 4: Partner, mobilize synergies and streamline processes across campus
To understand where GPS needs to focus its efforts and with a goal to put our values into action by listening, collaborating and aligning across the institution, we led a series of engagements from Spring 2024 to Spring 2025, giving us valuable insights into the challenges we face and the opportunities we can build on together.
As I reflect on the past year spent building this plan, I have so much gratitude for our community at the U of A. Sharing this plan with you is the first step in co-creating the environment for graduate students and postdoctoral scholars to gain the skills, wisdom and connections to become the change makers for tomorrow. With curiosity to explore, courage to lead and collaboration at our core, we have the power to shape what comes next.
Now, I invite you to join us in bringing this plan to life.
Tracy Raivio
Vice-Provost and Dean, Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies