Who we are

The Council of International Graduate Students (CIGS) is an organization formed by international graduate students at the beginning of 2014. It is also a place for international graduate students to advocate our voices about our academia and professional development results and requests.  This group is the only group that represents the interests of international graduate students across disciplines and schools. In order to create a sense of community among the sizable international grad student population, it is necessary that we come together. Currently the resources are mainly focused towards the undergraduate population, and the graduate students have felt a lack of support and resources that would help them as they pursue their academic goals. 

CIGS provides a place for international graduate and professional students to advocate their voices about their academic, professional, and social development. We organize events tailored specifically to benefit the international student community at the University, while allowing international students to form ties with domestic students. In addition to organizing events and bringing international students together, we aim to serve as a liaison between international students and various other groups within and beyond the University. We collaborate closely with University administration and services to ensure that students' needs are met, and their voices heard. We believe that most of the issues are common across cultures, and it is vital that we know each other, and learn from each other's experiences, and most importantly, share our experience with others. As international students, we have more to offer to the graduate student community and university. By this initiative, we are looking at providing a forum for all international graduate students to come together as a community. We are also looking at having former students as our members as this would help us learn from their experiences, in terms of job search and networking. 

CIGS aims to accelerate both academic and social communication between international and domestic students/alumni. CIGS organizes academic and social events for international graduate students each Fall and Spring Semesters, including International Graduate Research Showcase, Bowling Nights, and several professional development workshops. CIGS shall be a social and advocacy organization for current and former International graduate students at the University of Minnesota. CIGS shall represent the views of such students to the University of Minnesota administration and other relevant organizations.