Professional & Career Development
Graduate Professional Development Certificate Program
The Office of Graduate Studies is excited to announce we are relaunching a significantly enhanced Graduate Professional Development Certificate Program. Beginning Fall 2026, USF graduate students will have the opportunity to earn a FREE, non-credit certificate in professional development. Sign up starting August 24, 2026!
Purpose
The Graduate Professional Development Certificate Program is designed to help graduate students and postdoctoral scholars succeed in their academic program or postdoc training at USF and beyond. The program will provide graduate students and postdocs with a variety of professional development opportunities centered around four areas: Academic & Research Development, Career Exploration & Job Searching, Personal Wellness and Professionalism, and Individual Development Plans. The goal of the program is provide a platform for USF graduate students and postdoctoral scholars to enhance their knowledge and skills as they prepare for their future careers.
Why participate?
- Learn about and engage in opportunities to further your academic, professional and career development
- Track your involvement with professional development activities
- Customize your development path to match your professional goals.
- Reflect on your skills and experiences and connect them to potential career paths
- Enhance your resume or CV with a certificate
- Share your digital badge online with a Graduate Professional Development Badge, which can be added to LinkedIn, ePortfolios, Social Media, and Handshake
- It is a FREE, non-credit asynchronous course for USF graduate students and postdoctoral scholars!
Professional Development Areas
- Academic & Research Development
- Learning to navigate academia and graduate school
- Developing research and scholarship skills, academic writing skills, and grantsmanship
- Fostering and managing relationships with faculty and advisors
- Refining written, visual, and oral communication skills for a variety of audiences and formats
- Understanding and applying principles of teaching and mentoring
- Career Exploration and Job Search
- Understanding and exploring career options in all sectors (academia, industry, government and nonprofit)
- Building and maintaining a network, including developing your LinkedIn profile and connections with recruiters
- Developing cover letters, resumes, CVs, and other application materials
- Preparing for interviews and negotiation of job offers
- Professionalism and Personal Wellness
- Understand tools and resources to manage your time
- Understand different models for establishing and achieving your goals
- Understand how to build resilience and learn how to manage stress
- Understand basic principles of financial wellness
- Understand how to establish and promote your self-care, health, and wellness and cultivate life skills
- Understand and develop leadership and management skills; foster entrepreneurial thinking (Spring 2027)
- ACHIEVE Individual Development Plan
- Understanding your skills and interests, leveraging assessments including MBTI, DiSC, TKI, and the ACHIEVE Values Inventory
- Understand how to identify and explore career opportunities
- Understanding your habits, mindset, and values and how they inform career preferences and goal setting
- Understand how to develop and establish achievable goals to develop skills and progress in your career journey
- Understand the impact of wellness in career planning and progression
Professional Development opportunities will be offered in two formats:
- LEARN Opportunities – Workshops, trainings, and seminars
- ACT Opportunities – Experiential opportunities and extensive trainings (ex. Participate in the Graduate Student Research Symposium, Have your resume reviewed)
Award
Students that complete requirements will receive a professional development certificate (non-credit) from the Office of Graduate Studies. Students and Postdocs will also earn a digital Professional Development Badge that they can share with employers on their LinkedIn profile or ePortfolio.
Certificate Requirements
- Participate in workshops, events, and development opportunities accruing a total of
15 professional development (PD) points.
- LEARN Opportunities – Workshops, trainings, and seminars – 1 PD point
- ACT Opportunities – Experiential opportunities, extensive trainings – 2 PD points
- After each professional development opportunity (workshop or activity), complete the corresponding assignment in Canvas to receive points towards the certificate.
- Upon completing the 15 points, students will be asked to submit a final reflection assignment to complete the certificate requirements.
- Student must complete the requirements of the certificate between August 24, 2026 – August 19, 2027 to be awarded a certificate for the 2026-2027 academic year.
How to get started
- Join the Graduate Professional Development Certificate Program by completing the online form starting August 24, 2026.
- Enroll in the Canvas course to facilitate tracking of professional development activities. A link to enroll will be sent to your email.
- Explore the Graduate Professional Development Canvas Site to view list of workshops, events, and activities at are eligible to count towards the certificate. Students can select opportunities that align with their interests and are relevant to their stage of graduate study.
- Attend the workshop or event, or complete the development activity.
- Complete the assignment associated with the workshop or activity to receive PD point(s).
- After accruing 15 PD points, complete and submit final reflection assignment by August 19, 2027.
- Earn your credential badge and certificate!!
Contact
The Graduate Professional Development Certificate Program is an Office of Graduate Studies and USF Sloan University Center of Exemplary Mentoring (UCEM) joint initiative since 2020.
For questions, contact gradPD@usf.edu.