A Brief History of The Advising Graduate Students (AGS) Conference
The Advising Graduate Students (AGS) Conference was founded in 2018 at UC Davis as a grassroots initiative driven by Graduate Program Coordinators who recognized the need for enhanced professional development in social justice. The conference shifted to a virtual format in 2020 and 2021, which allowed for broader participation and collaboration with other UC campuses. In 2023, UC Davis hosted the first AGS conference with registered participants from all 10 UC campuses. In 2024, the conference officially became a system-wide annual event, with UC Santa Cruz as the host, and we are excited to see AGS move south to Riverside in 2026.
In past years, the conference has been generously sponsored by the UC Davis Schools and Colleges and UC Davis Graduate Studies, enabling staff to attend without registration fees. Today, all ten UC campuses sponsor the AGS conference, with the goal of rotating the event among campuses and increasing access to professional development opportunities for the staff and faculty who support graduate students.
