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Current Students

Student Life

Columbus, Ohio

Ohio's capital is a thriving metropolitian area of 1.6 million people (the 15th largest city in the U.S.) in the heart of Ohio. The central Ohio area is home to one of the finest universities in the nation, a rich visual and performing arts scene, a renowned zoo, exciting sports, fine restaurants, and enough specialty shops, outlets, and malls to satisfy even the most avid of browsers and buyers. With so much going on here, you'll never lack things to do in Columbus.

As a graduate student at Ohio State, you are eligable to receive various student discount offers through Explore Columbus, a discount ticket program funded by the student activity fee to provide undergraduate, graduate and professional students at OSU access to cultural and sporting events at discounted rates.

Neighborhoods

Three urban districts provide unique opportunities to shop, dine, and explore. Just south of downtown is German Village, the nation’s largest privately restored historic neighborhood. The adjacent Brewery District is a spirited entertainment area. And at downtown’s northern edge is the Short North arts district, often referred to as Columbus’s version of SoHo. Just north of campus is the neighborhood known as Clintonville where many of our students live. The Columbus suburbs of Worthington, Westerville, Grove City, Reynoldsburg, Dublin, and New Albany also welcome visitors with a variety of attractions and events.

Get Involved!

The Sociology Graduate Student Association (SGSA)'s goal is to promote communication among graduate students and between the students and faculty of the department. SGSA aims to support the development of the intellectual and social interests shared by the graduate students. SGSA serves as a student advocate group to facilitate an exceptional learning environment for both students and faculty in Sociology.

The Council of Graduate Students (CGS) is the representative body for all students enrolled in graduate programs at The Ohio State University. CGS promotes and provides academic, administrative, and social programs for the university community and for graduate students. CGS also provides a forum in which the graduate student body may present, discuss, and set upon issues related to its roles in the academic and non-academic aspects of the university community.

The Graduate Employees and Students Organization (GESO) is a group of students who are concerned about the working conditions of Graduate Associates (GA) at OSU. GAs are not just students, but are also employees. As employees, we should have the right to fair working conditions, and GESO feels this can best be achieved through forming a union.

Grad Student Life

It is good to be a graduate student in Sociology at Ohio State! We have an incredible group of distinguished faculty who are extremely productive and work closely with our students on a variety of projects. The Department offers full financial support for all graduate students admitted into our program for up to six years, with summer support typically available to those who want or need it. Students do not need to compete for scarce resources here, which allows a strong and supportive community of graduate students to form.

Every year we invite, at our expense, every prospective student who has been admitted into our program to come and visit with us before a final decission is made. You will have the oppertunity to meet the future members of your cohort, talk one-on-one with our faculty, meet our staff and socialize with current graduate students during this time. Don't be shy, we hope to answer each and every question you may have.

First year students enroll in many of the same core courses together and share office space together, allowing them to get to know each other and find support in numbers. Each cohort begins their graduate careers in our first-year seminar where they learn more about our program, the department, faculty research and professional norms to ensure your academic success. Our weekly seminar series provide opportunities to learn and discuss with renowned scholars both inside and outside the department.

Facilities and Departmental Support

The Department of Sociology at Ohio State enjoys excellent facilities and provides generous support to all graduate students. We have four full-time computing staff members who support our equipment and provide technical support to all members of the department. We have hardware available to students for long or short-term loan such as laptops, projection kits, digital voice recorders and much more. We offer private email accounts to help you manage your busy life and can even provide you space (and support!) for creating your own web presence. In addition to the generous financial support we offer to all of our students, we provide annual travel stipends to help offset the cost of attending conferences, free printing and copying, and a variety of office supplies.

Our research facilities are top-notch. Our main computing lab is the Sociology Research Lab (SRL), which is where graduate students seeking to be close to faculty and staff can work and collaborate on projects together. For a quiet, and more private, shared work space, we offer a second lab for graduate students near graduate offices. Graduate students share an office that house 2 to 4 students per room and one computer. Every student is provided a secure space to store their personal belongings if they need it.

In addition to departmental facilities and resources, Ohio State offers a wide range of services to ensure your success. The Office of Information Technology (OIT) is available for general technical assistance. Carmen, Ohio State's online course management system, can help you enhance your teaching with various online e-learning tools. Ohio State has an excellent library system that encompasses twenty-one libraries located throughout the main campus. The main library, Thompson, is currently being renovated and is scheduled to be available by Autumn quarter, 2009. Our library system is huge, but don't worry, you can always have your materials delivered right to your campus mailbox, free of charge. Need some software? Ohio State offers a variety of software packages available for free or at minimal cost to students.

Before you know it, you will have become fully entrenched in our program. By then you will have worked closely with several faculty members, presented at a number of professional conferences, authored or co-authored a few peer-reviewed journal articles and gained an incredible skill-set through your teaching and research positions over the years. It will be time for you to enter the academic job market and we want to see you succeed. This is why the department has established the Graduate Placement Committee which is comprised of two faculty members and a graduate student represenative. They will help you with all facets of finding a great job. The department is truely committeed to seeing each of our students accomplish their goals from day one through graduation and beyond.