Benefits for Graduate Students

In addition to supporting undergraduates, Compass also does a lot of good stuff for the graduate students involved in the program.

UC Berkeley is an excellent place to develop solid research skills, but there are other skills necessary for success in academia, industry, or wherever else someone with a PhD in physics might go. The typical graduate school program barely addresses these other skills, which include conveying information through teaching or giving talks, managing a large group of people towards achieving a common goal, fundraising and grant writing, and mentoring and supporting other people (just to name a few!). Because Compass is almost entirely student-run, all of these aspects of professional development are part of the Compass grad student experience. The Compass Summer Program in particular is a great place for grad students interested in teaching to develop a curriculum from scratch, test out new instructional methods, and discuss physics education with other interested and knowledgable people.

Compass serves some other important functions for grad students. As a mostly volunteer organization, Compass allows students who have a desire to serve their community and address issues of inequity within the physical sciences to do so in a very tangible, worthwhile way. Compass grad students have also formed a strong community of people who look out for each other and help one another get through the rough patches of grad school.