Dear Graduate Students,

Welcome back! And to those beginning your first semester at Purdue, welcome. I hope you have had some time to settle in and that the semester is off to a good start. For some of you, this week means getting back to research, teaching, coursework, and projects you left a few months ago. For others, everything is new. Either way, I am glad to welcome you on behalf of the Purdue Graduate Student Government to the 2026-27 academic year.

Last year, we heard a lot from you. Transportation remained a major concern, along with housing costs, stipends, childcare, mental health and well being, and access to funding. We continued to raise those issues in our conversations with university leadership and campus partners, and we will continue those conversations this year. We were also able to bring back the Childcare Grant, continue our other grant programs, and hold listening sessions and programs around issues graduate students told us mattered to them.

For the latest information on CityBus semester passes and Purdue Campus Transit, I encourage you to read the transportation update sent by the Office of Graduate Students and Postdoctoral Scholars on August 21. We know transportation continues to be an important issue for many graduate students, and we will keep working on it.

Advocacy is only part of what PGSG does. Throughout the year, graduate students can apply for travel, professional, research, student organization, transitional housing, and childcare grants. We hold programs and events, bring your concerns directly to university administrators, and have graduate students serving on university committees where many of the decisions that affect us are made.

We are adding something new this year as well: a mentorship program. Students will be able to sign up as mentors or mentees and be matched based on their fields, interests, and what they hope to get from the program. We also want to bring participants together throughout the year to meet and hear from Purdue administrators, alumni, and leaders in industry. The goal is to give graduate students another way to build relationships, learn from people with different experiences, and grow professionally. We will share sign up information soon.

Most importantly, keep talking to us. Sometimes what looks like one student having a problem turns out to be something graduate students across several departments are dealing with. An email, a conversation with your Senator, or something raised at a listening session can be where that starts.

We are also accepting interest from graduate students who would like to serve on Purdue University Senate committees. PGSG appoints graduate student representatives to these committees. If you are interested, click here and fill out the form.

If you would like to get involved with PGSG directly, our annual PGSG Callout is today, August 26. Come meet our teams and learn what they actually do. There are opportunities to work on advocacy, grants, university policy, communications, events, and other areas. If something interests you, there is definitely a place for you in PGSG.

I wish you all the best as the semester begins, and I look forward to working with you throughout the year.

Welcome back, and Boiler Up!

At your service,

Shalom Kpetsu
President,
Purdue Graduate Student Government 2026-2027