Our founder, Eloïse Fairbank, spearheaded the MAPS Committee as an effort to help bridge the gap between undergraduate and graduate students in psychology at Concordia. Although some mentorship and professional development activities take place on campus via other organizations, these events are limited throughout the year and are only available to a select number of undergraduate students each term. By making resources free and more accessible, the MAPS Committee can help a more representative group of psychology students at Concordia. Further, this initiative benefits both undergraduates who may be more decisive about following a path towards graduate studies and those who may be unsure about their interests or potential. In any case, the MAPS Committee is not focused on simply giving information regarding graduate school, but rather assisting students with a number of concerns. Lastly, since graduate students run the MAPS initiatives, the AGSP is the perfect host, so graduate students can be involved in the long-term!
Overall, formalizing existing relations between undergraduate and graduate psychology students allow for more structured activities for sponsorship from Concordia. Undergraduate students are getting the answers to their questions and graduate students involved in the initiative benefit from mentorship experience, especially those who already have an interest in sharing thoughts and experiences about education in psychology. This also helps promote cohesion among Concordia’s psychology department!
Overall, formalizing existing relations between undergraduate and graduate psychology students allow for more structured activities for sponsorship from Concordia. Undergraduate students are getting the answers to their questions and graduate students involved in the initiative benefit from mentorship experience, especially those who already have an interest in sharing thoughts and experiences about education in psychology. This also helps promote cohesion among Concordia’s psychology department!