Orientation & Information for New Graduate Students

Your 2024 Virtual Orientation Binder

  1. Important Links for New Graduate Students (bookmark it!)
  2. Your Department's Grad Resources Page (bookmark it!) including:
    1. Degree Checklists
    2. Degree Requirements
    3. Program Handbook
    4. Description of Duties forms
    5. Eligibility Checklist (required each quarter, except summer, for employment or fellowship)
    6. and more...
  3. Professional Development program, including a calendar of workshops: GradPathways
  4. Becoming a California Resident - Domestic nonresidents are expected to become California residents before the start of their second year - Make sure to start collecting evidence now. (International Students may not become residents for tuition purposes)
  5. UC Davis Campus Map - Find out how to get to orientation and your classes
  6. When in doubt, ask the LangLit Staff

Orientations Schedule 2024

*Please note that any references to “New” TAs/AIs means new to teaching at UC Davis (even if you’ve had previous teaching experience elsewhere)

Graduate Studies will host an in-person Graduate Student Resource Fair on September 18, to welcome all new incoming students and current graduate students to campus and to the Graduate Center at Walker Hall.  The event will include campus vendors on the North Lawn of Walker Hall.

For New Students- Anytime before Monday, September 23, 2024

Aggie 201

Aggie 201 is an online orientation platform that provides a resource and services overview for new graduate students. https://grad.ucdavis.edu/graduate-student-orientation

International Graduate Student Orientation

https://siss.ucdavis.edu/orientation-graduate-and-professional-students

International Graduate Student Orientation (IGSO) hosted by SISS will be virtual and will be accessed in iGlobal. Information on how to complete your orientation requirement will be sent to your UC Davis email address. International students studying at UC Davis with a F-1 or J-1 visa are required to complete the IGSO, which explains important immigration regulations.

Holistic U

Holistic U is an orientation experience which focuses on the unique issues facing newly admitted graduate students from historically marginalized communities. It is designed to prepare participating students for issues they may experience in their first year of graduate school through interactive workshops, panels, and networking activities with their peers, faculty, and staff. It is open to all students who are committed to fostering an equitable and inclusive academic environment.

Holistic U focuses on a holistic approach to:

  • your graduate experience (You),
  • your community (Us), and the
  • University environment applied to equity, inclusion and diversity.
     

For new Students on September 23, 2024

Center for Educational Effectiveness- TA orientation (required)-https://cee.ucdavis.edu/tao

All TAs who have not yet attended the UC Davis TA Orientation are required to do so by the University of California Office of the President and UC Davis Graduate Studies, even if they have taught previously. This orientation is different and in addition to your department orientation. The goal of this requirement is to help graduate students develop as instructors and effectively teach our undergraduates. 

TA Orientation is designed to help graduate students succeed in their role as TAs at UC Davis by introducing them to the principles and practices of effective teaching. In-person sessions emphasize practical teaching skills and strategies, and include topics such as establishing a positive classroom atmosphere on the first day, leading effective discussions, presenting information clearly, and grading efficiently. In order to fulfill the TA Orientation requirement, you must attend all in-person workshops you are assigned to. You must also complete self-paced modules on UC Davis’s learning management system, Canvas, before attending your assigned session. The modules will take approximately 1.5 hours to complete and must be done before attending your assigned in-person session. You will receive instructions for accessing the modules in early September.

Check in will begin 30 minutes before the start of the orientation in the Teaching and Learning Complex lobby (view on map). We encourage you to arrive early to allow sufficient time to check in before the first session begin.

Registration is now open! Register Here
Registration will close on September 13th at 5:00 PM.
Be sure to complete registration prior to the deadline.

Department of French & Italian Orientation: Friday, September 20th, 2024 and Tuesday, September 24th, 2024 - Detailed Schedule TBD

Sexual Violence Prevention training- (included in Graduate Studies General Program)-(required)
UC Davis requires that all incoming graduate and professional students complete mandatory sexual violence intervention and prevention (SVPT) training within the first six weeks of their beginning classes at UC Davis.

See http://sexualviolence.ucdavis.edu/education_training.html to register.   The deadline to complete the requirement is late October 2021.  Students who do not complete the SVPT requirement by the deadline will have a hold placed on their student account, preventing them from being able to register for 2022 Winter Quarter classes.

Test of Oral English Proficiency (TOEP) Test
For international graduate students / TAs.  See https://iae.ucdavis.edu/graduate/qualify
for information on who must take it and how to sign up.

September 25, Wednesday - Classes begin!