Finding new ways to connect: Virtual Meet & Greet for Prospective Graduate Students

The Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry held the first ever “Virtual Meet & Greet” for Prospective Graduate Students on April 4th. The virtual event began with a general welcome by Jorg Woehl (Graduate Admissions Subcommittee Chair) and Joe Aldstadt (Department Chair) before moving to individual breakout rooms.  The breakout rooms provided a virtual space for the prospective graduate students to meet with current faculty from each division, our new faculty starting in Fall 2022 (Drs. Arjun Saha & Jon-Marc Rodriquez), our Graduate Student Council (Alex Drena, Victoria Mandella, Michelle Meyer , Sepideh Rezvanian, and Nurul Setu), and representatives from the Graduate School and the Center for International Education (CIE).

Ms. Elise Nicks, our Graduate Coordinator, commented: “The event was very well organized, I enjoyed it. Several students commented how it was nice for them to “put a face to the name” and I enjoyed that as well. The breakout rooms were very active with students moving from room to room to speak with the different representatives. I look forward to participating in future events like this as it allowed the students another way to connect and to help them with their career decision of making UWM their home.”

Andrea Joseph from the Center for International Education, stated: “It’s always nice to be able to meet our international students before they arrive.”

Molly Wierzbicki, Program Service Representative from the Graduate School, noted: “It was fun. I enjoy speaking with our new students.”

The event had 30 participants from nine countries: Bangladesh, Ghana, India, Iran, Nigeria, Republic of Korea, Sri Lanka, and Zimbabwe, as well as domestic students. The Graduate Subcommittee is already planning for the next Virtual Meet & Greet.