The Graduate Center at Walker Hall will open its doors to the graduate student and postdoctoral community on September 20, 2021. The building’s much-awaited opening comes as students, staff, and faculty return to campus for fall quarter, with an anticipated grand opening event in April 2022.  

New Spaces and Services for Grad Students and Postdocs

The first of its kind in the University of California, the new Graduate Center serves as graduate students’ first stop for support at UC Davis. It houses resources for mentorship and professional development, advising and financial services, mental health, and much more.

The 35,805-square-foot building holds many services to support the academic, professional, and personal well-being of more than 7,000 graduate and professional students and 1,000 postdoctoral scholars at UC Davis. 

Some of the notable organizations that find their home in the new Graduate Center include the GradPathways Institute for Professional Development, the Postdoctoral Scholars Association, and the Graduate Student Association (GSA), which houses the graduate student pantry. Graduate Studies also moved into their new home at the Graduate Center and will open to the public on September 20.

The Walker Hall renovations also created three additional general use classrooms, separate from the Graduate Center, which are open to the public for special event reservations. For a full list of spaces available at the Graduate Center visit  the facility reservation page.

Partial Opening Details

As part of the partial-opening, all public informal spaces, like the graduate commons, quiet writing room, and student parent study lounge are available for graduate students and postdoctoral scholars to use between the hours of 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. 

Registered graduate student organizations and postdocs may reserve meeting rooms within the Graduate Center for activities and events that support graduate education or graduate student life at no cost.

More details about the soft opening can be viewed on the Graduate Center website.  

A Long-Awaited Home for the UC Davis Graduate Community

Inspired by conversations with graduate students and campus leaders, plans for a Graduate Center started developing in the early 2000s. Former Graduate Studies Vice Provost and Dean (and current Interim Dean of the College of Engineering) Jeff Gibeling envisioned a physical space in unifying the graduate student community. Since then, Graduate Studies leadership has worked closely with graduate student and postdoctoral scholar leaders to turn the dream into a reality. 

The Graduate Center’s design fosters collaboration among graduate students and postdocs. The Graduate Center was intentionally designed to feature spaces that serve the graduate community, such as the Graduate Commons, a student parent study lounge, and a variety of casual and formal meeting spaces for graduate student and postdoctoral students to access, such as the Jeffery and Marsha Gibeling Conference Room.

“The Graduate Center would not have been possible without the efforts and passion of graduate students, postdoctoral scholars, leadership, staff, donors and friends of graduate education at UC Davis,” said Vice Provost and Dean of Graduate Studies Jean-Pierre Delplanque. "It truly meets the needs of graduate students, postdoctoral scholars, and the whole graduate education community at UC Davis.”

Graduate Studies is excited to bring the long-awaited Graduate Center at Historic Walker Hall to the UC Davis campus.