About

In addition to addressing physical health, cultivating one’s mental and social wellness is critical to living a balanced and fulfilling life. Social fitness refers to the combined resources available in one’s social world (e.g., social support) that can be used to effectively manage and overcome stressors. Graduate students are at risk for experiencing mental health problems due to the rigorous demands and often socially isolating experience of graduate study. The 2021 UC Davis Graduate Student Experience Survey revealed that 36% of graduate and professional students met the threshold for clinically significant depressive symptoms, and 32% disagreed that there is a strong sense of community among graduate students at our university. Thus, the Graduate Peer Support (GPS) program seeks to increase access to social support by hosting weekly and quarterly events and facilitating a peer-to-peer mentorship program, encouraging cross-disciplinary interactions within UC Davis’s diverse graduate student community.