Eager students filed into the Black and Gold room of the Favrot Student Union Tuesday to meet with representatives of the prestigious Commission on Institutional Cooperation (CIC).The CIC recruited students for possible graduate school programs and summer internship programs.
“I think it’s a great reflection on the school that the schools even come to Grambling to recruit graduate students. Grambling must be doing something right,” said senior Heather Smith.
“We seek to increase the underrepresented number of minorities in graduate studies,” said one representative from the University of Chicago.
Other schools participating in this year’s recruitment caravan included Purdue University, Louisiana State University, Kansas State University, and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Members of the US census bureau looked for students to hire during this year’s graduate school caravan.
“I mentored a Grambling graduate. I am impressed with the background offered by this institution and am impressed with the quality of the graduates from Grambling,” said Carol Shaklin, the dean of the Graduate school at Kansas State University.
Representatives of the schools encouraged students not to worry about one particular attribute of the application package, because graduate programs considered every aspect of the application.
However, they stressed the importance of maintaining a strong G.P.A. and/or Graduate Record Exam score.
The CIC encouraged students to fill out information cards and to go online and fill out an application. The application is free for students with a 3.0 GPA.
Students asked about different aspects of the universities including research assistantships, housing specifics and specific programs of interest.
Some students wanted to know how the student life compared to Grambling State’s experience and summer internships.
All questions were answered as students streamed into the Black and Gold Room constantly.
“This is an ongoing effort to get more Grambling students involved and exposed to graduate schools,” said Dr. J. Russell Willis, professor of sociology and a key organizer of the event.