Community Support Spaces | The Graduate School

Dissertation Support Groups

The Dissertation Support Group is a 6-week group for doctoral students who would like some extra support maintaining motivation and/or making effective progress in the writing of their dissertation.

This group is open only to Ph.D. students who have defended their proposals and are actively working on and writing their dissertation full-time.

The group utilizes a short-term, solution-focused model to help manage the anxiety and stress that often prohibit effective writing. Please note that this group does not focus on the technical aspects of writing, and there will be no review of written work in this group. Rather, the group is intended to help students stay on track to meet an expected draft, defense or graduation date.

The group provides participants with a supportive, structured environment that helps to mitigate the sense of isolation and frustration that often accompany the dissertation writing process and to promote the accountability, risk-taking and creativity necessary to complete a terminal degree.

A weekly discussion topic will also provide group members with an opportunity to discuss some of the most common barriers to effective writing such as procrastination, time management, stress/burnout, and writer’s block.

Spring Semester 2026 Dates

Registration Deadline: Monday, February 9, 2026.

Support group meeting dates and times will be determined based on participant availability. You can provide your availability in the registration form using the button below. You will receive confirmation of your group’s meeting time by Wednesday, February 11.

Groups will begin meeting the week of Feb 16. We will not meet over Spring Break, and our final meeting will be the week of March 30.

International Student Support Space

Are you an international graduate student? Did you just start here at MSU?

Have you encountered things on campus, in the classroom, in East Lansing that seem strange to you, and you don’t know what they mean or how you should act?

We all grow up in different cultural settings and getting to know another one can be confusing and challenging, but also really funny at times. If you want to reflect on some of the differences you’ve observed, ask others about what things mean or how to respond to them, or anything in relation to being an international graduate student finding your way in MSU’s culture, this is for you.

Join The Graduate School’s Office for Wellbeing for one or several Brown Bag Lunches* to share, commiserate, and laugh about the beautiful differences of our cultures.

*A Brown Bag Lunch is when everybody brings their own lunch, but we eat together and talk. No food will be provided. A microwave is available though. No RSVP Required.

Climate Café

Do you feel overwhelmed by the environmental crises? Worry about biodiversity loss? Feel anger towards the slow pace of climate action? Or maybe you are awe-inspired by technological advances and local action that make a difference?

The Graduate School’s Office of Wellbeing is hosting a series of Climate Cafés - safe spaces to express and process emotions around climate change and environmental crises more broadly. Trained facilitators will guide a small group conversation, allowing all reactions that come up to be expressed in a safe space.

The primary purpose of these spaces is emotional expression and processing, not solutions/ actions to take because sometimes, in order to know how best to move forward, we need to process how we feel. For those interested in learning about actions that can be taken, we will also be offering a follow-up session on climate action in February. Details will be shared at a later date with participants of the Climate Cafés.

Space is limited, so please register if you want to attend. There will be hot cocoa and tea at the in-person sessions.
These sessions are limited to 10 attendees each.

Get Stuff Done with GROW

Are you having a hard time getting things off your to do list? Would you benefit from a dedicated space and being around others to find motivation and productivity? If so, please join us in a structured community space for supporting goal achievement.

We will start at 9:30 with a brief time of connecting and sharing goals. We will then have two sessions of about 60 minutes where everyone will work on their individual goals with a 10-minute break in between. You can come for one or both sessions or just stop in at any point. We will offer a hybrid option upon request.

Whether it’s your dissertation, classwork, emails, a crafting project, or brushing up your CV, let’s help each other help each other Get Stuff Done! No RSVP needed. 

View Upcoming Sessions