The UNC Greensboro Graduate School is piloting a new initiative, “Neutral Grounds,” to help build community among graduate students and faculty.
Neutral Grounds provides Tate Street Coffee House gift cards to students and faculty so they can meet outside of a lab or office, on “neutral ground.” The Graduate School will provide 100 $8 gift cards over the course of the spring semester.
“Good things happen when our students and faculty meet,” said Dr. Greg Bell, associate dean of the Graduate School and associate professor of mathematics. “We want to help facilitate more of these interactions, and this initiative takes the pressure away.”
Katherine Cotter, a doctoral student in the Department of Psychology, was one of the first students to take advantage of the initiative. She recently met with one of her doctoral committee members, Dr. Michael Kane.
“Being at Tate Street Coffee House made our meeting feel more informal and relaxed,” she said. “I could not have anticipated how useful my conversation was with Dr. Kane – I’m glad Neutral Grounds gave me the excuse to ask for this meeting.”
Gift cards can be requested by both students and faculty by emailing Bell at gcbell@uncg.edu or by stopping by the Graduate School. Participants are encouraged to share about the experience on social media by tagging the Graduate School and using the hashtag #UNCGNeutralGrounds.
To learn more about the Graduate School, visit grs.uncg.edu.
Story by Alyssa Bedrosian, University Communications
Photography by Martin W. Kane, University Communications
