To Our Graduate and Professional School Students:
It’s not easy being you.
Unlike our undergraduates, you lack a university-wide academic infrastructure dedicated to meeting your cohort’s unique needs. They have numbers in the thousands, nearly endless extracurricular options and, largely, a shared goal: the bachelor’s degree.
Your “class” can range in size from one to three to well over 200. Your academic homes typically reside in a single school. And your time to degree can range from a year to… much longer.
And while spending time within a distinctive and smaller academic setting can create a greater sense of connection, the transition to remote operations may make for a more fragmented experience.
Such feelings are more than understandable—in fact, they are mirrored by employees around the country—but are also somewhat inevitable. You are in separate programs, and you are past the phase of life where the university often serves in loco parentis.
But Case Western Reserve is not a corporation. We are a community. And each of you is an important part of it.
We will work at the university level to find additional ways to engage you during this time, and encourage schools and other units to do more as well. We also want to remind you of programs open to you—University Health and Counseling Services (UHCS), Flora Stone Mather Center for Women, LGBT Center, Office of Multicultural Affairs, Center for International Affairs, Graduate Student Life and more.
Two final points:
- If you face an urgent financial need, apply to the Student Emergency Fund. It exists to help all of you—undergraduate, graduate and professional students alike.
- If you ever feel overwhelmed or anxious—during or after this pandemic—you can reach a counselor 24/7 at 216.368.5872. Never forget, you are not alone.
Thank you for being a part of the Case Western Reserve community.
Barbara R. Snyder
President