Graduate Student Life

 

Now that you are a graduate student and you know all about your academic requirements and who can support you as you progress, here are some:

 

OTHER THINGS YOU MAY CARE ABOUT:

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We will cover...

  • Graduate Assistantships, including

    • Appointments, waivers, and stipends

    • Annual evaluations

    • Graduate Assistants United

    • GatorGradCare

  • Student Organizations

  • OPS jobs

  • Campus Life

 

Hitchcock Field & Fork Pantry

The Hitchcock Field & Fork Pantry is a free resource to support UF undergraduate and graduate students, faculty, and staff experiencing any level of food insecurity. Experiencing food insecurity may mean you have faced challenges to meeting your needs in quantity and nutritional quality of food. For example, food insecurity may look like eating ramen because you can't afford foods you consider healthy, nutritious, or appropriate for yourself, to outright skipping meals or eating smaller meals.

 

If you're not sure about whether you fit the criteria, come anyway! You only need to bring your UFID; you do not need to prove that you are in need. The Pantry does not discriminate based on income, class, race, ethnicity, gender, out-of-state or international student status, housing status, or ability.

 

The Pantry doesn't just offer canned food. The Pantry offers fresh, seasonal produce, frozen meat, milk , vegan options, menstrual products, and select toiletries. They are happy to accommodate requests as they can, if you can't find what you need your first time.

 

The Pantry assures guests, potential and current, that accessing emergency services like the Pantry is not a reflector of one's self worth, nor are they taking resources from someone "more deserving" or "more in need" than themselves.

You can visit the Pantry website (pantry.fieldandfork.ufl.edu) for more information including current hours. The Pantry is located between Marston Science Library and McCarty Hall, behind the HUB, on the University of Florida Gainesville campus.

 

Volunteers are also needed each semester. If you are looking for a way to give back, or find community at UF considering volunteering - pantry.fieldandfork.ufl.edu. Additional Campus Assistance & Resources for Empowerment (CARE) resources offered through the Dean of Students Office can be found at care.dso.ufl.edu

 

Graduate Assistant Information

  • When you are first hired, you have to complete the UF hire packet, called GatorStart. Do this as soon as you receive it!

  • Your employment with UF is established through an annual Graduate Assistant (GA) Letter of Appointment (LOA) signed by you, your advisor, and some fiscal and/or academic staff members. The LOA outlines your salary, employment period, hours per week, duties, registration requirements, and other details.

  • As long as you register correctly each term, your tuition (but not fees) will be waived thanks to your GA, and you'll get a paycheck direct deposited to your bank account every other Friday.

  • You are required to be evaluated on your job performance once per year, so you can expect to sit with your advisor for this in Spring semesters, usually.

  • There are deadlines for turning in the hire paperwork, the LOAs, the evaluations, and--as you already know--for registration. It is not always possible to provide back-pay if you miss a deadline!

  • Bridget Koger  (sfrc-hr-asst@ifas.ufl.edu) can help if you need information or paperwork for your assistantship.

More:

  • If you are receiving CALS funding for part of your assistantship, you are expected to help with teaching SFFGS/CALS courses. Your letter of appointment/letter of employment will list teaching as part of your job duties if that is the case.  We provide a working list of graduate assistants that are expected to TA as well as classes that typically needs TAs.  You can access the excel list by going here Links to an external site..  Instructions are provided on the excel to explain how faculty/graduate assistants get “booked” for courses.

  • As a GA, you may want to join Graduate Assistants United Links to an external site. (GAU), the union.

  • You also have healthcare through Gator Grad Care Links to an external site..

 

Student Organizations

  • SFFGS has two graduate student organizations: 

    • Forestry Graduate Student Organization (FGSO)

    • Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences Graduate Student Organization (FAS-GSO)

    • They are both quite active and can be a great source of support for you in addition to providing networking and collaborative research opportunities.

  • UF has a wide variety of interest groups, clubs, intramural sports, and other organizations - find them at the department of Student Activities and Involvement Links to an external site..

 

Professional Development @ UF Grad School Links to an external site.

The Graduate School has created a Google calendar Links to an external site. to highlight professional development events and workshops provided by a variety of on-campus organizations to enhance your research and teaching skills, interpersonal communication and career development, among other personal and professional goals. The Graduate School will update this calendar as appropriate, to include events for the upcoming semester. 

 

 

Gainesville and Campus Happenings

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