Graduate School Newsletter

October 2025

Important Announcements

Wellness Week is Coming!

October 6-10th is Wellness Week at the Graduate School! This fall’s theme is Finding Your Fulfillment. We invite graduate students to explore what fulfillment means in their personal, academic, and professional lives. Whether it’s finding purpose in your research, building deeper relationships, making time for creativity, or reconnecting with values that ground you — this week is about reflecting on what makes you feel whole. Please join us at our FREE events and look out for emails throughout the week!

GradCat Cookie Break - Tues Oct 7th from 4-5:30pm in SUB 233 - Drop-in for cookie decorating and reflection on your personal fulfillment goals. Or just use the time as a sweet study break!
GradCat Community Dinner - Thurs Oct 9th from 5-7pm, FREE dinner for graduate students at Rendezvous Dining Pavilion - Continued by popular demand!

Leadership Institute 2025 Fall Summit

Tickets are now available for the 2025 Leadership Institute Fall summit, a 3-day, 2-night off-campus leadership retreat in Big Sky, MT, October 17-19!

The retreat will focus on developing leadership skills and confidence through small group trainings and hands-on activities. This weekend will also be a space for participants to meet a community of likeminded friends and engage in a variety of activities, including hiking, yoga, and cooking meals for each other. The cost is $50/person including food, transportation, and all facilitation, and scholarships are available!

Link to sign up: https://www.montana.edu/leadership/programs_activities.html

Mentoring Workshop

Oct 28^th, 9:30-10:30am in SUB 168

Graduate students, join The Graduate School for “Getting the Most out of Your Mentoring Relationship.” The relationship you have with your advisor (graduate committee chair) is an important part of graduate education. In this workshop, you’ll learn how to get the most out of your relationship with your mentor and tools to ensure you're both on the same page with important topics like degree timeline, travel, time away, communication preferences, and more.

Please RSVP so we can tailor our information to your needs.

Upcoming Dates & Deadlines

Full List of Grad School Dates & Deadlines

October 2: MyMSU launches (no access to committee or program of study tool for a few weeks); email gradsuccess@montana.edu with questions.
October 21: Priority Registration opens for Spring Semester; email registrar@montana.edu with questions/issues registering in MyMSU.
November 11: Veteran's Day (no classes; offices closed)
November 12: Last day to drop classes with a "W" grade.
November 24-28: Fall Break (no classes; offices closed 11/27-11/28)

MyMSU Note: the committee and program of study tools will not be available for a few weeks while MyMSU is launched. If you submitted a committee or program of study but it is not fully approved, your request will be re-set to “draft” status, data will be retained in MyMSU, and once our tools are launched, you will be able to hit submit. You will receive an email notification when the tools are available in MyMSU.

Funding & Fellowships

Identify Scholarships and Research Funding for Your Graduate Education!

The University of Illinois has an excellent Fellowship Finder featuring awards that are open to grad students from any university. It features several filters to aid your search.

The National Research Council postdoctoral program is used by federal agencies across the country to support postdoc searches. This is a great place to look when you are close to finishing your PhD and the salaries are quite good. Quarterly application deadlines.

For more funding opportunities, visit MSU’s Research Funding Opportunities and the MSU Graduate School's Funding and Fellowships webpage.

Workshops & Events

ETD Workshop and Drop-In Hours

In case you missed out on the 1^st ETD Workshop session, or you just want a refresher on the information, another session will be held October 29^th 2pm-3pm in Wilson Hall room 1-116. You can also get help from the Formatting Advisor during weekly Drop-In sessions in the MSU Library. For more session information, please see the ETD website.

Graduate Wellness Champions

The Graduate School is accepting applications for the 2025-2026 academic year. To support the well-being of graduate students, department-level initiatives are key – both in running local well-being events, but also to help change culture and practices. A $500 fellowship ($250 per semester) is available for graduate student wellness champions who will advocate and organize well-being events in their departments. This fellowship is to support the student for organizational work during the academic year. For more information, please visit the GradCat Wellness Champion Program website.

Mindfulness Based Graduate Mentorship Program

Applications for the Mindfulness Based Graduate Mentorship Program (MBGMP) are currently open. Applications are due September 5th. For questions or for more information, contact Jen Brown at jennifer.brown@montana.edu.

MSU Writing Center

Our graduate writing groups meet weekly and offer participants accountability, support, and feedback. The Writing Center provides the facilitator and the space. To join a Fall 2025 writing group, sign up here:

https://www.montana.edu/writingcenter/graduate-students/graduate-writer-support.html

Professional Development: GradCat 360

GradCat 360 is a comprehensive professional development program for graduate students at Montana State University. It is a series of programs and events designed by the Graduate School and departments across campus that center around nine focus areas. These areas are tailored to help students cultivate a unified set of skills and knowledge for educational success and professional preparation.

Check out our GradCat 360 Event Calendar, specifically curated for Graduate Students. We are constantly updating the GradCat 360 calendar with workshops and events that are uniquely useful for Graduate Students.