It is vital that graduate students are healthy and well. The Graduate School launched the Graduate Student Wellness Initiative in Fall 2020. Wellness champions are in place to work with departments across the university to support students with their academic and career goals, wellness, mentoring, and access to basic needs.

Announcements

GradCat Wellness Champion Program
A $500 fellowship is available for graduate student wellness champions who will advocate and organize wellness events in their departments. This fellowship is to support the student for organizational work during the academic year. For more information and how to apply, please see the GradCat Wellness Champion Program page.

GradCat Wellness Faculty Champion Program
Many MSU faculty have built healthy environments for their graduate students. The faculty champion program is designed to acknowledge and enhance the strong work faculty are doing in this area by providing extra funds to improve graduate wellness within their research environment. Faculty can request up to $1000 to support their initiatives in at least one of the following areas, supportive, collaborative, creative, and empowered. For more information and how to apply, please see the Gradcat Wellness Faculty Champion Program page.

Support for Basic Needs

Basic needs such as food, shelter, and childcare are necessary for graduate student wellness.

Graduate Finances

Solid Finances webinar series: This series is designed to provide adults with unbiased resources for enhancing their personal finance skills.

GradSense: Council of Graduate Schools' financial and career planning page.

Healthcare Coverage Options

The Graduate School provides this list of healthcare coverage options to help you decide which is the right choice for you. View the Healthcare Coverage Options webpage.

Bounty of the Bridgers Food Pantry

The Bounty of the Bridgers Campus Food Pantry is a student-driven initiative to combat food waste and food insecurity on the MSU campus for students, faculty, and staff. Supplemental and emergency food assistance is offered to to any student, faculty, or staff in need!

Basic Needs Program

The Basic Needs Program provides resources for students to navigate public assistance and to help students access food, healthcare, communication and transportation. Services are available to MSU students enrolled in 1+ credit(s) in the current academic term.

Gallatin Valley Food Bank

The Gallatin Valley Food Bank provides food support for local families.

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)

SNAP provides a monthly supplement for purchasing nutritious food. SNAP recipients use EBT cards, like debit cards, to purchase food in authorized stores.

Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC)

WIC offers healthy food, breastfeeding support, nutrition tips, and connection to community resources for parents and caregivers.

On-Campus Housing

The University Student Housing office provides affordable housing options for graduate students (and, if applicable, their spouses and dependants) in residence halls and apartments conducive to academic and social success.

Off-Campus Housing

The Off-Campus Housing Marketplace is a free to use tool and is designed to help students find housing off-campus.

The Off-Campus Student Life office also has many resources.

Transportation

Streamline bus is FREE and travels all over the Gallatin Valley.

HRDC Bozeman

HRDC can help with a wide range of needs such as housing assistance, unemployment, utility costs, and childcare. 

Family and Childcare Resources

Physical & Mental Wellbeing

Physical & mental wellbeing are crucial to graduate students' ability to excel in their studies.

Campus Recreation 

Campus Recreation provides many ways to find your play! From club sports to climbing; group fitness to aquatics; intramural sports to outdoor recreation; gear rentals and repair; their programs and facilities are designed to help you meet your wellness goals.

Student Health Services

Student Health Services provides health services to students, regardless of insurance, if they have paid the student health fee. They can provide primary health care (including walk-in acute care, x-ray, clinical laboratory, and pharmacy services) and dental services as well as specialized services to students, including services related to nutrition, sexual health, drug/alcohol concerns.

Wellness Center Services

The Wellness Center offers a number of Student Wellness Services to promote generalized well-being by educating on topics such as sexual health, nutrition, physical activity, stress management, as well as the use of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs.

Counseling & Psychological Services

Counseling & Psychological Services (CPS) provides free and confidential counseling services to students who may be struggling with a range of concerns, from those who are in distress and struggling to those who wish to gain support and prevent concerns from developing into more serious problems.

Qualifying for CPS Services

If you are a graduate student taking 7 or more credits:

  • You automatically pay the health fee
  • You have access to Student Wellness programming including mental health counseling at CPS (individual, couples, and group counseling) and Medical Services

If you are a graduate student taking LESS than 7 credits

  • You do not automatically pay the health fee
  • You can CHOOSE to pay the health fee to have access to CPS and Medical Services

*Please note: CPS remains available to all graduate students, regardless of number of credits, for intake appointments, crisis intervention, emergency services, and/or assistance accessing off-campus mental health resources, regardless of eligibility status.

Human Development Clinic

The Human Development Clinic is staffed by faculty and graduate students of the counseling program within the Department of Health and Human Development at Montana State University. Low cost, sliding scale counseling available. The clinic offers the following services:

  • Individual counseling
  • Couple, child, and family counseling
  • Career counseling
  • Parenting Through Divorce workshops
  • Consultation and referrals

1501 S. 3rd Ave.
Bozeman, MT 59715
406.994.4113

Campus Civil Rights

Campus Civil Rights respond to concerns regarding all types of discrimination, harassment, retaliation, stalking, dating violence, domestic violence, and sexual assault.

Online Mental Health Screening Tool

Take an anonymous mental health screening today and receive suggestions on next possible steps.

WellTrack App

Register for WellTrack App interactive self-help therapy.

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline

To reach the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, call 24/7 at 1-800-273-8255.

Community & Mentoring

Information on academic, career, and psychosocial support to encourage faculty, staff and students to build communities and mentoring networks within departments and across MSU.

CatsConnect

The organizations tab on CatsConnect includes a list of all registered student organizations at MSU.

While some of these are specific to undergraduate students, you can filter by “Graduate Student Organizations” to find those that are exclusive to graduate students, or use the search bar to search “graduate” to find a larger list of clubs that include undergraduates and graduates.

Each club listing includes contact information that you can use to ask if you are unsure if it includes graduate students.

You can also filter by type of club, for example "Multicultural and Diversity" to find cultural communities on campus.

Office of Student Engagement

The Office of Student Engagement (OSE) provides student engagement activities, programs, services, and events.

Optimizing the Practice of Mentoring 102: For Research Mentors of Undergraduate Students is a series of online, self-paced modules designed to help graduate students become effective research mentors of undergraduates.

The relationship you have with your advisor (graduate committee chair) is an important part of graduate education. Please visit our Mentorship page for resources to help you develop this relationship. 

The Graduate School and the Center for Faculty Excellence has partnered with the Center for the Improvement of Mentored Experiences in Research (CIMER) to help improve and support research mentoring relationships at MSU. Please see The Mindfulness Based Graduate Mentorship Program.

Career Fulfillment

Grad Cat 360 Career DevelopmentGradCat 360's Career Development & Exploration section has Events, Resources, and Partners to help you push your career and professional development further and find fulfillment in what you do.