UCIrvine Graduate Division

Graduate school can be tough and we know it’s difficult to find balance amidst the day to day grind, so we provide support along the way.  Many of the services we offer are designed to facilitate work/life balance for busy students.  Featured here is information about ongoing workshops, campus recreation, student health, and much more.  At UC Irvine we believe that healthy Anteaters are productive Anteaters, so keep scrolling to learn more about how our graduate students stay healthy, focused and energized.

Health Insurance – For Graduate Students

UCIrvine’s Student Health Insurance Plan (SHIP) is a comprehensive healthcare package that offers valuable benefits and services to graduate, medical and law students. UCI is committed to providing access to a strategically structured program that meets the needs of its graduate students and has been offering this unique benefit package for more than 19 years. Students enrolled in the SHIP program have the option of enrolling their dependents in a separate UCI Dependent Health Insurance Plan, which offers both a PPO medical plan and an HMO dental plan.

Health Insurance – For Postdoctural Scholars

The UCI Postdoctoral Scholar Benefits Plan (PSBP) is a comprehensive program that offers medical, dental, vision, life and AD&D insurance, short-term disability insurance and voluntary long-term disability insurance.

Anteater Recreation Center (ARC)

The ARC is a 110,000-square-foot indoor facility and 25-acre outdoor complex that supports intramural and club sports, fitness classes, wellness programs and a host of services open to the UC Irvine community. Students can take advantage of group exercise programs, cooking classes, a two-story rock climbing wall, an indoor track, and any number of amenities to help meet various health and exercise goals.

Student Health Center

Maintaining the best possible physical and mental health condition is critical to staying on top of the academic demands of a graduate program. UC Irvine’s Student Health Center is a comprehensive outpatient clinic that also provides mental health and counseling services, as well as services through an eye clinic, dental clinic and specialty doctors – all in a confidential and nurturing environment.

Counseling Center

The Counseling Center is UCI’s primary counseling and mental health agency on campus. The center provides an array of services – including short-term counseling sessions, urgent care and psychological testing, and workshops – to help graduate students and postdoctoral scholars cope with professional and/or personal challenges.

GRC Programs

The Graduate Resource Center [link to services/grc] promotes health and wellness through prevention programming. Check out the GRC’s work-life balance workshop series [link to flyer, if available; if not, link to news/calendar] for help with issues such as coping with stress or time management tips for student parents. The GRC also hosts the Graduate Division social work intern, who is available for individual and drop-in meetings to help students and postdocs in need of additional support.

Health Education Center

The UCI Health Education Center works to improve student health and well-being by reducing risk for injury and illness, and to equip the UCI community with necessary knowledge and skills to support a productive and safe learning environment. Services range from workshops on substance abuse prevention, to managing the lactation station and related facilities around campus. 

Campus Safety

Ranked by Money magazine as one of the Top 25 cities to live in the United States, Irvine also has been repeatedly named the nation’s safest large city. The UCI Police Department is tasked with providing services that enhance campus safety through community-oriented policing and problem-solving. UCIPD also operates a popular – and free – Safety Escort Program that provides a safe alternative to walking alone at night.

Support Groups

The Counseling Center offers several Support Groups for students to learn from one another and work on personal problems in a helpful group setting.  The Dissertation Support Group, LGBTQ Discussion Group, Graduate Women’s Therapy Group and others address some of the most pressing issues for students.

Emergency Services

UC Irvine’s comprehensive emergency preparedness resources include an Emergency Management Plan and an emergency information line. In the event of a major disaster affecting the campus, the number 866-IRV-NEWS will be activated; members of the UCI community can call for a recorded message advising on closure, interruption of classes, works schedules, etc. Students also are strongly encouraged to sign up for zotALERT, an emergency alert system that uses text messages to quickly notify the UCI community of a natural disaster, crisis response or need to secure the campus. And, UC Irvine features the blue light system – phones that instantly put the user in contact with the police dispatcher for an officer response rate of 2.5 to 3.5 minutes to ensure personal safety.