Social Networking Hours

GPSO Social Hours build community within the graduate student community and are frequently departmentally sponsored.

See our Calendar of Activities for upcoming Social Networking Hours.

How to Sponsor a Social Hour

The Graduate and Professional Student Organization represents over 8,000 students at IUB and focuses on advocacy and mediation for graduate student policy issues and provision of professional development and community building services. In this endeavor, we try to work together with existing graduate student organizations and facilitate networking among departments.

Social events, such as the monthly GPSO Social Hours are focused on strengthening the graduate student community in Bloomington and increasing awareness of resources available across campus. Sponsorships from various departments help advertising each department and its programs through graduate students acting as informal promoters.

It has been our experience that a department sponsoring an event increases the attendance from that particular department, and that these students keep attending future events as well. Even though these events are social in nature, discussions revolve mostly around academics, so we find them as great arenas for inter-departmental networking.

Sponsorships typically range from $50 to $250 and we use the funds only for food items. There is a wide range in attendance numbers, depending on the type of event and the time it takes place. The sponsoring departments or organizations can choose a location. We often try to reserve a designated area for the event within each venue.

If you are interested in sponsoring a social hour, please contact our Operations Coordinator at gpsopr@indiana.edu.