GT6000, Georgia Tech’s small-group, peer-led, extended orientation program designed specifically for first-year graduate students, has received the 2025 Promising Practices in Graduate and Professional Student Services Award from the NASPA Administrators in Graduate and Professional Student Services (AGAPPS) Knowledge Community. This award recognizes impactful, innovative programs that support and enhance the graduate student experience.

NASPA, Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education, is a U.S.-based student affairs professional development and advocacy organization with over 13,000 members at 1,400 campuses in 25 countries. The AGAPPS Knowledge Community provides a supportive forum for administrators who work across many different educational settings and manage diverse elements of a holistic academic and student services portfolio in support of graduate and professional student success. Its programs and services are dedicated to empowering professionals to foster student success.

Jackie Yun, Executive Director of the Kenneth C. Griffin Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at Harvard University and Co-Chair of the AGAPPS Knowledge Community, says, “We at AGAPSS are proud to see institutions like Georgia Tech championing innovative support for graduate and professional students. This initiative exemplifies the kind of collaborative, student-centered work that strengthens our field and is a model for how we can create meaningful change through intentional programming."

GT6000’s initial launch as a “Grad Groups” pilot in 2014 has since grown to become a one-credit hour pass/fail graduate-level, institute-wide, extended-orientation course, exemplifying the Office of Graduate Education’s commitment to finding innovative ways to support the transition of new graduate students. 

GT6000 was founded by James Black, Ph.D., a Georgia Tech alumnus who earned his doctorate in mechanical engineering and previously served as president of the Graduate Student Government Association. Now Director of Student and Academic Affairs and Senior Academic Professional in the Office of Graduate Education, Black developed GT6000 in response to a simple question: 'What would have been helpful to me as a graduate student at Georgia Tech?' The optional, peer-led extended orientation program gives new graduate students an early introduction to campus resources. 

Since its pilot launch with just 40 students in Fall 2014, GT6000 has grown significantly, serving over 500 participants in Fall 2024, nearly 20% of all new graduate students on the Atlanta campus. In response to both this growth and a broader commitment to enhancing graduate student support, the Office of Graduate Education welcomed Marc Ebelhar, Ed.D., in March 2022. Ebelhar now serves as a Graduate Student Success Specialist and Academic Professional, as well as the Instructor of Record for GT6000. 

GT6000 provides a foundation of resilience and knowledge to handle stress, promotes academic and professional success, and facilitates navigating the “hidden curriculum” of graduate education. The program is peer-led by experienced graduate students. Each group or course section is composed of a trained Group Leader and roughly 14 new graduate students. These student-only spaces provide opportunities that encourage open and candid dialogue and foster connection. 

The program has been presented at national gatherings such as the Gardner Institute’s conference on the Graduate Student Experience, a meeting of the AAU Graduate Deans, the NASPA Annual Conference, and NAGAP’s Annual Graduate Enrollment Management Summit. Institutions including Clemson University, the University of Virginia, Notre Dame, and the University of South Carolina have all reached out to learn more about GT6000; some aiming to create similar programs at their institutions. One colleague described Georgia Tech as the “standard bearer” for graduate student support, specifically pointing to GT6000. Black and Ebelhar are currently writing a book chapter on GT6000 in collaboration with the Gardner Institute on the Graduate Student Experience, to be published by Johns Hopkins University Press in late 2025.