While completing your graduate degree is your ultimate goal, connecting and networking with peers in and outside of your discipline and academic units can enhance your graduate experience in many ways. Building a strong social support network as a graduate student can have a positive impact on your academic performance, wellness, and future career goals and plans. Below are some additional networking opportunities offered to Memorial University graduate students:

• Ten Thousand Coffees is a service that connects students with professional alumni around the world. Through this free online community, graduate students are able to find, connect with, and start up conversations online about shared interests and career opportunities. You’ll be able to get a better understanding about what career options might be open to you, develop communication skills through real-world practice, and build your professional network among Memorial’s 100,000 alumni. Once you sign up, you’ll receive a monthly introduction to other students or alumni based on your interests and goals. Visit this link to sign up today.
  
  
• The School of Graduate Studies’ Enhanced Development of the Graduate Experience (EDGE) offers free online workshops and programs for graduate students that are intended to be interactive and help build community around specific interests. In addition to over 100 workshops offered each academic year on a variety of topics, we offer specific programs on English language skills, teaching skills, as well as sessions on equity, diversity and inclusion. EDGE workshops and programs are facilitated by Memorial faculty and staff experts, as well as business and community leaders.
  
  
• Memorial Student Life offers a number of events throughout the academic year that allow graduate students to socialize and network with each other while being physically distant, including coffee and community chats, trivia nights, and other topic-based sessions that can help you develop academic skills to be successful in your program. For a detailed list, please visit the Student Life Events Calendar.
  
  
• Memorial’s Graduate Students’ Union (GSU) offers a number of opportunities for graduate students to get involved and network with members of the University community, including participation in committees, involvement in GSU events, and joining a GSU-ratified club or society (including access to the Graduate Student Development Fund for the clubs and societies).
  
  
• Memorial’s Indigenous Student Resource Centre provides a welcoming community and offers academic and social supports for all Indigenous students at Memorial. Indigenous graduate students can connect with and participate in regular events by following the Indigenous Student Resource Centre Facebook Group.
  
  
• The Professional Skills Development Program (PSDP) is offered by Memorial’s Internationalization Office and is designed to help international students, including international graduate students, prepare for professional employment in Canada. Over a six-week period, participants work together with the PSDP facilitator to improve skills and competencies in resume and cover letter, job search and networking, and interview skills. For more information and to register for the next offering, please visit the IO website.
  
  
• Memorial’s Family Program offers learning and social opportunities for spouses and children of international graduate students at Memorial, including English Café and Playgroup, ESL opportunities, and community programs and resources. All programming is managed by Memorial’s Family Advisor, who is dedicated to providing space and support for international graduate students and their families.
  
  
• Coffee club and discussion group are offered through the Internationalization Office and provides opportunities for international graduate students to meet and socialize with other students online. The discussion group addresses different topics each week on study habits, loneliness, healthy eating and living, and other matters of interest to international graduate students.
  
  
• The MUN Mentors program is a peer mentoring program through which new international students are matched with, and mentored by, current Memorial students. Mentors introduce new international students to student life at Memorial and help them develop effective study habits, introduce them to support services available to them, and offer a friendly contact in the University.
  
  
• Memorial’s Student Volunteer Bureau (SVB) offers a number of ways for graduate students to get involved and engage with the community at large. Among the opportunities available through the SVB are the Volunteer Incentive Program (VIP), which helps students find volunteer opportunities in the community, and the Skillshare Event Series, which allows students to teach their peers in a professional setting.
  
  
• Academic units often have student groups and communities specific to their discipline. For more information and to find out how to get connected, please be sure you ask your .