WCU Graduate School

Meet Dr. Luke Gillespie (who just graduated!) from the Family Nurse Practitioner D.N.P. program (based in our Asheville instructional site). Luke was one of the students who traveled with the Graduate School to Raleigh last month to participate in Graduate Education Day hosted by the North Carolina Council of Graduate Schools (NCCGS). Luke met with a number of representatives throughout the day to discuss his research "Confidence for Screening for Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) in Men,” which he also presented at RASC earlier in the Spring. Luke works full-time in healthcare in Western North Carolina, and is now a two-time alum from WCU!

Looking to spend part of your summer prepping for Graduate School applications? Or just curious about where to begin? Join our Admissions Team virtually next week on Tuesday, June 9 at Noon (12 p.m. EDT) on Zoom to learn more about the application process and boost your confidence in checking all those required materials boxes. Both of our admissions specialists, Ella and Julie, have been through their own graduate school admittance processes, and can answer questions from the perspective of an applicant as well as an Admissions Team member.

To wrap up our post-commencement celebrations we want to recognize our amazing graduate student leaders who graduated this Spring! They were presented with a special honor cord to wear that is Royal Blue (signifying service and leadership) and Silver (signifying community engagement). Congrats to:

• Berkley (Graduate Ambassador, Social Work M.S.W.)
• Harley (Graduate Student Association Officer, Higher Education Student Affairs M.Ed.)
• James (Graduate Ambassador, Biology M.S.)
• Katie (Graduate Ambassador, English M.A. - pictured with brother Edward, WCU undergraduate Engineering major)
• Reece (Graduate Ambassador, Fine Arts M.F.A.)

Not Pictured
• Benjamin (Graduate Ambassador, Nurse Leadership M.S.N.)
• Britan (Graduate Student Association Officer, History M.A.)
• Mallory (Graduate Student Association Officer, Higher Education Student Affairs M.Ed.)

Last week the English program held a special reception where graduates shared readings from either their thesis or comprehensive exams. Because the English program offers three distinct concentrations (Creative Writing, Literature, Professional Writing), the readings covered everything from technical writing for rural healthcare (Nick), to creative short story fiction (Ash), to creative mixed genre memoir (Nyoka), to non-fiction essays (Jake), to vampiric media critique (Katie). Congrats to these students and many thanks to the professors, friends, and family members who attended to celebrate these graduates' accomplishments!