Professional Development Resources
The GSAS Dean's Office aims to offer opportunities for students’ professional development as well as provide space to engage with peers and faculty outside of their discipline and cohort.
What is Professional Development at GSAS?
Professional development at Tufts GSAS provides strategic guidance and programming that prepare graduate students to thrive as scholars and emerging professionals. We support research excellence, leadership growth, professional identity formation, and strategic career planning and development. Our goal is to help students translate their graduate training into meaningful, long-term impact across sectors.
Looking for guidance on your next professional step?
Meet with the GSAS Professional Development team for strategic support on career planning, managing graduate workload and work–life balance, summer experiences, alumni connections, and long-term professional growth.
Schedule an appointment with Benny Belvin or Nate Ward.
Nate Ward
Faculty Director for Professional Development
Associate Professor, Psychology
Benny Belvin
Director, Professional Development and Alumni Engagement
Upcoming Workshops
Responding to Student Writing as a TA or Instructor (Pedagogy Series)
Monday, February 23, 2026, 12:00 - 1:00 PM | In-Person | Register
Presented by the Tufts StAAR Center
Do your instructional responsibilities include responding to undergraduate student writing in the form of essays and papers, lab reports, discussion boards, co-authored papers, theses, or other formal or informal writing projects? This workshop will provide a pedagogical basis and introduce concrete strategies for responding meaningfully to undergraduate student writing.
Creating an Inclusive Classroom Through Universal Design for Learning (Pedagogy Series)
Monday, March 2, 2026, 12:00 – 1:00 PM | In-person | Register
Presented by the Tufts StAAR Center
This workshop is designed for current TAs, graduate instructors, and graduate students intending to pursue instruction as a career. Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is an approach to course design and teaching that aims to remove barriers to learning. In this workshop, you will learn how to add UDL Plus One strategies to current course pinch points. We will discuss how Tufts students learn and share applicable strategies on how to ensure that everyone has equal access to the course material and can accurately demonstrate their learning. If applicable, please bring the syllabus for the course which you are an instructor or teaching assistant.
Leading Discussions and Encouraging Participation in the Classroom and Recitations (Pedagogy Series)
Monday, March 9, 2026, 12:00 – 1:00 PM | In-person | Register
Presented by the Tufts StAAR Center
This workshop is designed for TAs, graduate instructors, and graduate students intending to pursue instruction as a career. Class discussions are a great way for students to process information, demonstrate their understanding, and learn from each other. Yet great discussions rarely happen organically. In this workshop, we will try out concrete strategies for classroom discussions, including identifying your goals for discussions, encouraging engagement, and managing different levels of verbal participation.
Processing Your Advisor’s Feedback on Your Writing
Wednesday, March 11, 2026, 12:00 – 1:00 PM | In-person | Register
Presented by the Tufts StAAR Center
As a graduate student, you will likely receive more feedback on your writing than ever before, and the feedback is usually more extensive, especially when you get to the thesis, dissertation, or publication phase. This workshop will focus on strategies for making sense of and addressing the feedback you receive from advisors and journal editors so that you can grow as a writer while also developing and preserving your own voice and ideas.
Visit the Graduate Student Events calendar for a listing of additional workshops! Questions? Email gsas@tufts.edu.
Graduate Workshop Series
The GSAS Dean’s Office works closely with our campus partners to offer a broad range of professional development workshops to support you. These workshops are designed to help students acquire transferable skills which focus within six domains including inclusive excellence; scholarly expertise, leadership & collaboration; communications skills; career preparation; and personal development.
Some of the workshops planned include cultivating your mentorship network, resume and cover letter and networking skills, creating your professional website, time management, presentation skills, reading and note-taking skills, and so many more.
GSAS Programs
Graduate Institute for Teaching (GIFT)
The Graduate Institute for Teaching (GIFT) prepares Tufts doctoral students for an academic career in teaching at the university level.
Graduate Research Excellence at Tufts (GREAT)
The Graduate Research Excellence at Tufts (GREAT) program is a summer program that spans two and a half weeks and aims to cultivate outstanding graduate researchers at Tufts.
AS&E Resources
Career Center
AS&E and SMFA graduate students have access to career development opportunities and resources that will help establish career readiness and prepare students for career success.
Research Competition
The Graduate Student Research Competition (GSRC) supports the research of graduate students by providing funding for certain expenses.
TA and RA Resources
Teaching Assistantships
Teaching assistants (TAs) are doctoral students who are paid a stipend to teach part-time at the university as part of their training. Some master's programs have similar hourly positions for students called graduate assistantships.
Research Assistantships
Serving as a research assistant (RA) is an important part of the professional development and training that Tufts offers graduate students. Doctoral student RAs receive a stipend as part of their training. Master’s students are eligible for similar research roles, called graduate assistantships, and are paid hourly.