M-RET Bridge Course: Academic Excellence, Belonging, and Graduate Navigation – Spring 2027

The M-RET Bridge Course is a non-credit pilot for UMass Boston graduate students, sponsored by the College of Liberal Arts and the McCormack Racial Equity Task Force (M-RET). Over ten weekly sessions, the course helps students understand how graduate study at UMass Boston actually works, connecting them early to the people, offices, and skills that support their success, rather than after they run into difficulty.

Students build confidence in graduate-level writing and research, learn to navigate cultural and institutional expectations, and practice professional communication with faculty, advisors, and peers. The course also addresses belonging, self-advocacy, and the personal side of graduate life, including workload, wellness, and accessibility, and closes with a personal Graduate Success Plan that students can return to throughout their program.

Sessions combine live and hybrid discussion with brief asynchronous modules, and feature guest contributors from offices across campus, including the Writing Center, Healey Library, International Student and Scholar Services, and the Academic and Career Engagement and Success Center, so students leave each week knowing exactly who can help them and how.

This course is open to incoming and continuing graduate students across every UMass Boston school and program, with particular attention to students who often arrive without a built-in support system, including international students, first-generation students, students of color, working students, and caregivers.

The pilot runs weekly on Thursdays during the Spring 2027 semester and is capped at approximately twenty to twenty-five students, with priority given to first-year graduate students. Students who complete the course requirements earn a badge recognizing their participation. To enroll, contact the course instructor directly.