Sessions For: Rackham Graduate School

Rackham program staff and faculty are invited to attend the Rackham Merit Fellowship (RMF) Information Session with the PACE team. During this virtual meeting we will discuss the goals of the RMF program, how to assess eligibility and evaluate for the RMF criteria, review the award process including the new application for RMF allocations, and answer any questions you have about the administration of the fellowship. Whether or not you attend the information session, we encourage you to visit our website or contact the PACE team (rackham-pace@umich.edu, or 734-615-5670) with any questions. Zoom meeting details will be provided after registration.

Rackham program staff and faculty are invited to attend the following sessions with the Partnerships for Access, Community, and Excellence (PACE) team covering the RMF program. Details for each session can be found below. We encourage you to visit our website or contact the PACE team (rackham-pace@umich.edu, or 734-615-5670) with any questions. Zoom meeting details will be provided after registration.

Those Faculty Allies interested in applying for the Faculty Allies Grant are welcome to attend this grant writing workshop for the 2026–27 cycle. This session provides an opportunity to vet ideas for grant activities or to get ideas from the group.

Bring your questions about internships! During this session, Rackham and University Career Center staff will answer your questions about doing an internship as a doctoral student, and provide an overview of the guidelines and application process for Rackham's Doctoral Intern Fellowship Program.

Topics we will cover include:

How to talk to your advisor about making an internship a part of your graduate trainingAnswering questions about Rackham’s Doctoral Intern Fellowship ProgramStrategies for looking for internshipsThe benefits of doing an internship as a doctoral studentHow to make the most of an internshipTips for writing cover letters and resumes for internshipsOther questions you have about doctoral internships


The second half of the session will include a panel of past Rackham doctoral intern fellows, who will talk about their experiences with internships and how they integrated them with their graduate studies.

How do you keep your research projects moving forward without missing important details? Do you wish you had an easier way to tackle large projects step by step? This Rackham Graduate School workshop gives you clear strategies and practical skills for organizing and managing your academic projects. Learn tools for tracking progress, identifying risks, and setting clear goals. Try out technology that helps you deliver results on time and within budget. Build a project charter to guide your work and map out your team, timelines, and challenges.


This workshop is open to all master’s students, doctoral students, and postdocs at the University of Michigan.

If you have any questions, please reach out to rackhampdeworkshops@umich.edu.

Join us in the Assembly Hall at Rackham Graduate School for an evening of powerful storytelling. Rackham graduate students will take the stage and tell stories that weave together their lived experience, scholarly work, and reflections on this year’s MLK Symposium theme.
2026 MLK Symposium Theme:
“Unbowed and Unbroken: The Enduring Struggle for Justice”
This year’s symposium explores the enduring pursuit of justice through the lens of perseverance, courage, and collective resolve. Drawing inspiration from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s theological roots and his reflections on the Civil Rights Movement, the theme echoes his 1967 address, “Where Do We Go From Here?”, in which he reminded us that the journey toward justice is marked by both profound challenges and unwavering hope.
To be unbowed and unbroken is to honor the sacrifices of those who came before us while refusing to yield to injustice today. It is a commitment to move forward with defiant hope—confronting discrimination not with resignation, but with determination and belief in the possibility of meaningful change.
Through storytelling, reflection, and community, this event invites attendees to engage deeply with these ideas and consider how justice, resilience, and hope continue to shape our collective path forward.
Event Agenda
5:30 p.m. – Doors Open & Reception
6:00 p.m. – Program Begins
We hope you’ll join us for this meaningful evening of stories, dialogue, and connection.

Are you an international graduate student interested in pursuing an internship? We’re here to help! This informal information session will feature international graduate students who’ve gone through the Rackham Doctoral Intern Fellowship Program, as well as staff from the International Center, University Career Center, and Rackham.
We’ll cover general information for applying for internships as a graduate student and advice for obtaining curricular practical training (CPT)/optional practical training (OPT) to conduct an internship. While primarily geared toward Ph.D. students, master's students will also benefit from attending.

Transferable skills are highly sought after by employers. These are skills that can be readily adapted to and applied in many different types of careers. Effectively communicating your transferable skills can help you stand out in the job market. The problem is, sometimes it's difficult to recognize those skills in yourself.
During this interactive workshop, you will:

Identify transferable skills developed through research, coursework, and collaboration.Practice articulating these skills in conversations with peers.Learn to decode job postings to identify which skills employers are really looking for.

The graduate school offers a series of meetings designed to orient faculty members who have recently taken on the role of chairing a department/program or directing the graduate program in their department/program. These sessions, hosted by Rackham associate deans, focus on various aspects of your role. We provide opportunities to discuss and learn how you can partner with Rackham and what Rackham resources you can rely on while carrying out the work of your role.

Developed by the MORE Committee, this workshop helps enhance the mentoring relationship between the student and faculty mentor by facilitating the development of shared expectations. Mentors and mentees work independently in separate sessions to identify their own objectives and styles, and consider strategies for dealing with possible challenges. Then, student-faculty pairs work together to develop a written mentoring plan as a means of codifying some of the most important elements (needs, goals, mutual expectations) of a two-way mentoring relationship. Among Rackham doctoral students who have written mentoring plans, 83 percent find those plans useful.
Registration and attendance at the same workshop are required of both the faculty and the student. Separate registration for faculty is available at: https://myumi.ch/2r6kn.

Developed by the MORE Committee, this workshop helps enhance the mentoring relationship between the student and faculty mentor by facilitating the development of shared expectations. Mentors and mentees work independently in separate sessions to identify their own objectives and styles, and consider strategies for dealing with possible challenges. Then, student-faculty pairs work together to develop a written mentoring plan as a means of codifying some of the most important elements (needs, goals, mutual expectations) of a two-way mentoring relationship. Among Rackham doctoral students who have written mentoring plans, 83 percent find those plans useful.
Registration and attendance at the same workshop are required of both the faculty and the student. Separate registration for students is available at: https://myumi.ch/6167J.

This focus group is intended for graduate faculty to share their experiences serving as faculty advisors for Rackham Interdisciplinary Workshops.


Graduate faculty are encouraged to attend one of the two scheduled sessions. If you have already registered for one session but are unable to attend and would like to participate in the other session, please contact rackhampdeworkshops@umich.edu for assistance.

This workshop is designed for students who are looking to learn more about how being a first-generation wealth builder may impact their lives. Through exploring how our relationship with money develops, financial anxiety, and our money mindsets, we will discuss how this impacts our financial behaviors. Personal finance has often left the nuances of emotion and culture out of the conversation when highlighting the necessary money moves to build wealth. This conversation seeks to highlight where our beliefs about money originate, how building and creating wealth impact emotional well-being, and strategies to cope with the shift while remaining true to one's values.
Objectives:
Define and identify money narratives and foundational beliefs about moneyLabel feelings around money and the potential change of socioeconomic status or classLearn how to navigate the emotions brought up due to being a first-generation wealth builderSpeaker Bio:
Aja Evans is a licensed mental health counselor, speaker, and author specializing in financial therapy. With over a decade of experience, Aja is determined to help more people break the taboo of keeping money and emotions secret. In addition to her practice, Aja serves on the board of the Financial Therapy Association, consults to fintech companies, and released her book Feel Good Finance.
Aja has been featured in a variety of major news outlets including the New York Times, Business Insider, NerdWallet, and CNBC. Aja is on a mission to get more people engaged in living their best lives while attuning to their thoughts, feelings, and behaviors around money. Outside of work, you can find Aja chasing after her two young children as they hunt down the next delicious place to eat.

Conference posters are for more than just communicating your research. While a good poster will help you tell a succinct story about your project, a great poster will serve as a platform for engaging in meaningful discussion with your audience and building your network.
This session will cover:

Best practices for organizing a conference posterDesign aesthetics to improve poster accessibilityHow to engage an audience during a poster presentation

This focus group is for graduate students to share their experiences about working with faculty through the Rackham Interdisciplinary Workshops program.

As part of our Financial Education Series, this virtual event is designed to help demystify tax filing for graduate students—an area that isn’t always as straightforward as we might hope.

Ed Jennings, tax director at the University of Michigan, will walk participants through how to prepare for the upcoming tax season. This session is geared toward domestic students.

Attendees will have the opportunity to ask questions throughout the presentation.


Those who register will receive a copy of the slides and access to the recording.
Please note that the recording may take a few weeks to process.