By Dan Volchok, with John Gardner

🔗 linkedin.com/in/danvolchok

Research Focus: Education

Type: Published Research — Article in the NASPA 2026 Knowledge Communities Publication, pgs. 7–9

What challenge does this work address?

For decades, support services for graduate and professional students have been siloed across various academic units, programs, and schools on campus. In recent years, there has been a push to build more centralized, consistent, and collaborative support services for these students across the institution.

What inspired this project?

The NASPA Administrators in Graduate and Professional Student Services (AGAPSS) Knowledge Community has created a space for professionals who work with graduate and professional students to connect and share practice. At this year’s preconference in New Orleans, Volchok had the opportunity to hear from — and collaborate with — John N. Gardner, Executive Chair and co-founder of the John N. Gardner Institute for Excellence in Higher Education. For the past 45 years, Gardner has led what became known as the “first-year experience” (FYE) reform movement, which has improved first-year students’ learning, success, satisfaction, and graduation rates nationwide.

What is the outcome and impact?

AGAPSS is now partnering with the Gardner Institute to build a parallel “Graduate Student Experience” initiative. Volchok and Gardner are helping shape a Graduate Student Experience track at the Gardner Institute’s Symposium in October 2025 and at its Graduate Student Experience conference in spring 2026, alongside facilitating related research, papers, and presentations.

Read the article in the NASPA 2026 Knowledge Communities Publication.