COGS Updates Email List
COGS sends regular email updates of news & events during Fall and Spring to the departments and colleges for sharing out to graduate & professional students. If you would like to receive these emails directly to your inbox, please fill out this form. https://bit.ly/COGS-EVENTS
COGS Full Council Meetings
COGS Full Council Meetings:
We look forward to an exciting year ahead for 2024-25! The public is always welcome to attend COGS full council meetings. If you need a zoom link please email us at office@cogs.msu.edu. Minutes and future meeting dates can be found here: https://cogs.msu.edu/governance/
Grad Student Social At Hooked
Stop by and say hello to COGS at the Hooked Grad Student Social! Representatives from COGS will be there with some giveaways (while they last).
When: April 11th from 5PM to 10PM
Hooked Lansing: 3142 E. Michigan Ave.
COGS Coffee & Connection
We hope to see you at our next Coffee & Connection!
Details: Tuesday, April 22 – from 9:00 AM to 10:00 AM
Location: MSU STEM Teaching & Learning Facility
Network with your peers across disciplines! Come hang out with COGS and enjoy some morning treats!
We look forward to connecting with you!
Forest Bathing: Spring Guided Walk Series
A Series of Forest Bathing Walks with Guide, Ly Duong:
A Practice in Slowing Down, Nourishing Calm, and Reconnection
Meeting Point: Beal Botanical Garden – Pergola – entrance near W. Circle Dr.
Forest bathing is a nature connection experience inspired by the Japanese practice of Shinrin-Yoku. Simply by slowing down and spending time in nature, we offer ourselves the chance to stop, feel, and reconnect with our bodies, senses, and surroundings. We become calmer, and our minds become clearer.
Offered through a series of guided invitations for 1.5 hours, forest bathing invites us not so much with our thinking brains but with our bodies and hearts to tune into our senses and to notice what’s around us and inside us with curiosity, wonder, and compassion. Doing this practice intentionally supports long-term healing, wellness, and resilient engagement for both humans and the Earth, especially in this period of dramatic change. Research has proven that forest bathing boosts immune strength, improves cognitive functioning, and reduces stress, anger, anxiety, and depression.
Our series continues this SPRING with two more walks. Thursday mornings from 9:30AM to 11:00AM.
Join us as we dive into a different them and also open to wherever the experience takes us:
- March 27th
- April 17th
On every walk, you will:
- Experience the restorative and healing power of slowing down and spending time in the natural world.
- Learn practices to reconnect to the natural world to help cultivate peace and calm.
- Wander among spectacular plants and flowers and notice the magic and mystery all around you.
We will send details on what to bring/wear after you Register Here.
· Offered rain or shine with a minimum sign-up of 3 people. Enrollment is limited to 15 people.
About the Guide: Ly Duong (she/her) is the founder of Tune in the Meadows, a PhD student from CITE program at MSU, and a certified guide with The Association for Nature and Forest Therapy. Ly has been practicing, supporting, and co-creating spaces with other living beings, including humans and non-humans. In these spaces, all beings could listen to each other’s stories, then connect more deeply to themselves, their community, and the surrounding communities. She believes that the more we practice slowing down, the more we can see and feel the gifts, beauties, and connections within ourselves and with the natural world
Optional Reading: “Your Guide to Forest Bathing” by M. Amos Clifford
Learn more about: “What is forest bathing?”
Contact for more info and/or Q&A: duongly@msu.edu
COGS Craft & Connection: Pressed Flowers @ MSU Herbarium!
Join us for a special craft session where we will decorate cards/bookmarks with pressed flowers. At the MSU Herbarium! Relax and enjoy the creative process while chatting with fellow graduate & professional students. We provide all the supplies as well as some snacks to keep you going (while they last). This session also includes a staff-led tour of the amazing MSU Herbarium!
When: Friday, April 25 – from 12:00 to 2:00 PM
Where: MSU Herbarium – Plant Biology Labs, 612 Wilson Road, Room 40
NOTE: The MSU Herbarium can be difficult to find if you have never visited. Feel free to stop and ask for an escort or directions at the office of the Department of Plant Biology, located in room 166 close to the main entrance (off Wilson Road) of the Plant Biology Laboratories Building. Visit: How to find the Herbarium
COGS Graduate Resource Series
The COGS Graduate Resource Series, a virtual workshop series presented by the Graduate Welfare Committee, connects graduate & professional students with vital campus resources through informal, expert discussions, providing insights, Q&A opportunities, and practical guidance for student success and well-being. Sessions took place on Tuesdays, during February and March. Recordings of the sessions can be viewed below. Need more information? Please feel free to reach out to the COGS office any time!
MEET THE RESOURCE:
- Feb 4th (2-3PM EST): INVOLVE@STATE Features Lance Sharp, Associate Director, Office of Spartan Experiences
- RECORDED SESSION
Lance Sharp discusses all things student organizations and Involve@State. The INVOLVE platform is your one-stop resource at MSU for all Registered Student Organizations on campus. If you belong to a GSO/student group on campus or in your dept. or are interested in forming/joining one, this is for you!
- Feb. 11th (2-3PM EST): OFFICE OF FINANCIAL AID Features John Garcia, Graduate Student Aid Coordinator from The Office of Financial Aid
- RECORDED SESSION
John Garcia works with departments, including the Graduate School, on fellowships, presentations, and individual student concerns and issues related to loans, cost of attendance requests and financial planning. John is an expert in graduate/professional student financial aid and an invaluable resource here at MSU! Don’t miss this one!
- Feb. 18th (2-3PM EST): OMBUDSPERSON Features Dr. Shannon Lynn Burton, University Ombudsperson.
- RECORDED SESSION
Dr. Burton discusses the role of the office of the Ombudsperson, which is a confidential, safe space to discuss both academic and nonacademic concerns. She’ll explain how you can utilize their services and answer your questions.
- Feb. 25th (2-3PM): MSU HR Features Taylor Unrath, lead HR from MSU Human Resources for student and graduate assistant health insurance plans.
- RECORDED SESSION
Get help navigating the often-confusing world of health insurance and learn where you can go to find answers when you have questions.
- March 11th (2-3PM): STUDENT-PARENT RESOURCE CENTER Features Kim Steed-Page, Director of the MSU Student Parent Resource Center and her team
- RECORDED SESSION
If you are a student who is also a parent, this one is for you!
- March 25th (2-3PM): GRADUATE EMPLOYEES UNION Mary Ellen Rutemeyer, GEU Chief Information Officer and Lamont Stephens, GEU Staff Organizer join us for the event.
- RECORDED SESSION
In this session, you can learn about the Graduate Employees Union!
We hope you find this series informative! If you have questions, please contact us via email at office@cogs.msu.edu. Be sure to keep up to date on these and all COGS events on our website here: cogs.msu.edu/upcoming-events/
