Eastern’s graduate education future will be reviewed today during the graduate leaders’ spring seminar conference from 8 a.m. – 2 p.m. in the 1895 Room of the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union.

The conference will feature presentations and workshops led by several department chairs and graduate program coordinators and will build on a report known as “The Path Forward” given by Council of Graduate Schools.

Mona Davenport, Minority Affairs director, is a member of the CGS Enrollment and Diversity Board.

“We will talk about what we want to accomplish to make Eastern the premier school for graduate studies,” Davenport said.

Some of the topics discussed during the conference will be money for scholarships, internship options, the enrollment quality and diversity of the graduate school, as well as different recruitment strategies for the school.

Lori Henderson discussed some of those recruitment strategies, “We want to make sure our pool of graduate students is as diverse as it should be.”

Davenport agreed with Henderson saying that, “(The Graduate School) should not only be the best academically, but as diverse as possible so our students leave with a global experience.”

Henderson, the event coordinator and a member of the Graduate School’s Deans Office, said that the Graduate School is looking to start a new academic group known as the Hamand Society Scholars as well as a new award called the Rane’s Faculty Mentor Award, which would award a faculty member with funding for research projects.

Henderson explained that while the event is mostly for faculty, it is open to the public and anyone interested in graduate studies is allowed to come.

She also explained that while the event is a formal meeting, some in attendance will be in and out during the proceedings.

“We understand that people can’t sit down for a full meeting all day,” Henderson said.

The event will begin with a networking breakfast with the actual presentations starting at 9 a.m.

Seth Schroeder can be reached at scschroeder2@eiu.edu.