Office for Graduate Student Development & Diversity (OGSDD)

If you are:

• interested in applying to the Graduate School, but need more information because you aren't sure that Yale is a good fit for you
• a current student seeking advice and support

We can help. We are committed to maintaining a supportive and inclusive academic community at the Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, where students from diverse backgrounds and experiences can thrive and achieve their personal and professional goals. We look forward to meeting with you.

The Office for Graduate Student Development and Diversity (OGSDD) supports a nurturing and caring community of scholars that will welcome you, no matter who you are.

Our Mission 

The Office for Graduate Student Development and Diversity (OGSDD) is committed to building and maintaining a nurturing and caring community of scholars where students from diverse backgrounds and experiences are supported in their professional and intellectual goals and pursuits.

Staff & Fellows

Two Graduate School deans and several graduate student fellows are here for you. We are available to listen sympathetically to your concerns, give practical advice, and advocate for you as you transition through the various stages of your degree program. Fellows can meet with you in a safe, comfortable space in the Humanities Quadrangle (Room C20), on the Medical School campus, or at the School of Public Health. Prospective students can schedule a telephone conversation with one of our fellows to discuss what graduate student life is really like here.

Our deans work with departments and programs, faculty, staff, current students, and prospective students to answer questions and provide support and programming.

Our History

Yale has long thrived on diversity. Yale was not only the first university in North America to award PhD degrees (in 1861), but also the first in North America to award a PhD to a self-identified African American, Edward Alexander Bouchet, in the field of Physics in 1876. Women were admitted as candidates for the doctorate in 1892, the year when Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences was formally established. In 1894, the first cohort of seven women earned the PhD at Yale.

The Office for Graduate Student Development and Diversity (OGSDD), formerly known as the Office for Diversity and Equal Opportunity, was established in September 2000. We work collaboratively and proactively with departments and programs to recruit and support the needs of diverse students as they pursue graduate study at Yale. OGSDD also works collaboratively with the McDougal Center offices.

Our Programming 

The following programs and activities fall under the purview of the OGSDD:

• informal advising of prospective and current graduate students
• the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Program
• the Post-Baccalaureate Research Education Programs
• Diversity Recruitment Days
• Diversity Orientation Day
• Transitions: First Year Experience
• the Annual Yale Bouchet Conference on Diversity and Graduate Education
• virtual recruitment fairs and webinars
• social justice discussion seminars
• mentoring programs
• workshops and lectures presented by diverse scholars
• social and professional development events