While you are getting oriented to Tufts, this list of resources and campus partners of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences will be helpful as you get adjusted to campus life.
Campus and Community Resources
The Tufts University Medford campus is located in both Medford and Somerville; the two town lines run somewhere close to the middle of the campus. The campus is located just five miles outside of Boston. Additionally, graduate students in the MFA program attend classes on the SMFA campus in Boston.
Getting acquainted with the campus and surrounding area:
Athletics and Fitness
At Tufts, we strive to make good health and fitness available to all community members. Welcoming, state-of-the-art facilities like the Steve Tisch Sports and Fitness Center and Hamilton Pool are designed to enrich your life at Tufts.
Bookstore
Purchase textbooks, apparel, and Tufts gifts and accessories.
Career Center
The Career Center offers advising, workshops and resources to help you set career goals and develop strategies and skills to achieve them. Information is available online for upcoming programs, highlighted resources and information to help you in the job search, whether your destination is academia or the private, public or nonprofit sectors.
Center for Awareness Resources and Education (CARE)
Center for Awareness, Resources and Education (CARE) is here as a resource for all things to do with your sex and social health as a student. Students may contact CARE in person, by phone or email, but the best way to connect is to make an appointment via their website.
Center for Awareness, Resources and Education (CARE) Website
Center for Engineering Education and Outreach
The Center for Engineering Education and Outreach is dedicated toward improving engineering education in the classroom; from Kindergarten to college. The Center houses faculty, staff, and graduate students from engineering disciplines and the Education department.
Childcare and Work/Life Balance
Resources for students, faculty, and staff with regards to work/life support. The Graduate Student Council also runs a permission-based group on Facebook for students with children that is not accessible by either Tufts faculty or staff, with resources and peer support communities.
Consortium for Graduate Studies in Gender, Culture, Women, and Sexuality (GCWS)
Tufts is a member of the Consortium for Graduate Studies in Gender, Culture, Women, and Sexuality (GCWS) at MIT. The consortium brings together scholars and teachers at nine degree-granting institutions in the Boston area who are devoted to interdisciplinary graduate teaching, research, and scholarship in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies.
GCWS Website
Counseling and Mental Health Service
Counseling and Mental Health Service is a diverse team of clinicians deeply committed to helping students navigate challenges related to mental health and well-being. They offer a range of free and confidential services to graduate students who have paid the Health Fee.
Dining Services
Tufts Dining has nine convenient locations across the Medford/Somerville campus, including full-service dining centers, cafés, a marketplace, and a glatt kosher deli.
- Local Grocery Stores include Whole Foods, Stop and Shop, Wegmans, and Trader Joe’s
- Restaurants in Davis Square
Diversity and Inclusion – Office of the Vice Provost for Institutional Inclusive Excellence
Diversity and inclusion are at the very foundation of the transformational experience at Tufts. It’s not just about making opportunities available to all; we believe by doing so, we enrich the lives of all.
Office of the Vice Provost for Institutional Inclusive Excellence Website Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Justice at GSAS
Financial Services
Financial Services is responsible for providing accurate bills, billing information, processing bill payments and the approval and processing of refunds.
The Tufts Student Loan Office offers resources to help you manage your student loans. They can help you with questions regarding loan repayment, loan benefits and debt management.
Graduate Student Council
The Graduate Student Council (GSC) provides a forum for graduate students across disciplines in Arts, Sciences and Engineering and works on a diverse array of student life and learning issues including healthcare, housing, and travel and research funding. The two GSC lounges are located in West Hall and Curtis Hall.
Health Service
Graduate Students are required to have medical coverage under an accident/sickness insurance plan, and are automatically enrolled in and billed for a comprehensive plan offered through Tufts University. The plan is available for students, and if necessary their dependents. For more information, visit the student health insurance website. The cost of the individual student plan is $4,350 in the 2024-2025 academic year.
Student Health Insurance Website
About the Health Service
An on campus primary health care site that offers walk in hours and appointments, depending on your health care needs and busy schedule. Office visits are covered for graduate students who have paid a Health Fee. They assist with health concerns including routine care, same-day concerns, and immunizations, as well as sexual and reproductive health. Visit their site for resources for new students.
Identity-Based Centers
The Tufts Identity-Based Centers are a collective of leaders, educators, and most importantly, people looking to serve as a resource for all undergraduate and graduate students interested in thinking about social identities and the ways they impact our lives and our world. They offer students opportunities for events, discussion, and leadership on issues of identity, diversity, and social justice. Most importantly, they provide all students a place to go and a place to be heard. For more information, please visit their websites or stop by any of the Centers on campus:
International Center
The International Center (I-Center) works to raise intercultural awareness, to increase the knowledge of immigration laws affecting the Tufts international community, and to advocate for a campus climate that respects cultural differences. Please call or email to make appointments.
Mail Services
Tufts Post Office (at Curtis Hall) is open for your convenience in purchasing stamps or sending packages. It is operated by the United States Postal Service and open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. (subject to change by the USPS).
StAAR (Student Accessibility & Academic Resource) Center
The StAAR Center values the diverse educational and cultural experiences of every student and promotes access to an inclusive and collaborative learning environment. As a team and as individuals, we foster students’ educational growth and awareness, self-advocacy and resiliency as it relates to their Tufts academic experience and beyond. Our initiatives engage students, faculty and staff to proactively support the learning needs of the Tufts community.
Office of Student Affairs
From housing to health and wellness, to leadership development and community building, Student Affairs is a central resource for all undergraduate and graduate students. Our staff and campus partners work together to support an inclusive and safe community, and to provide the programming, resources, and support every Tufts student needs to thrive.
Office of Sustainability
The Office of Sustainability serves as a resource, a catalyst, and an advocate for environmental sustainability at Tufts, often serving as the bridge between ideas for campus sustainability and their practical implementation. If you have an idea that you would like to see happen on campus, we can help facilitate it or connect you with different people across campus. We assist with strategic sustainability planning at Tufts and we report on Tufts’ sustainability efforts in a progress report each year. We have internship positions with our office and we also encourage students to work on campus sustainability issues in their class projects. We are happy to assist, and also run the Sustainability Student Project Database.
Sign up to receive the Sustainability monthly newsletter.
Parking at Tufts
Purchase student parking passes and learn more about parking on Tufts' campuses.
Public and Environmental Safety, Tufts Police Department (TUPD)
Student Employment
Many graduate students work part-time work study or non-work study jobs during their time at Tufts. These positions can help students refine their career interests, develop essential job skills, and earn some additional funds for books and personal expenses. A job listing for on-campus work study, on-campus non-work study, and off-campus part-time positions can be found on Handshake, our Career Center’s recruiting platform.
Student Support
The Student Support team helps students navigating personal, health, academic, and life issues and challenges. They empower students to understand options for support and connect with campus resources. Additionally, they work with students who return to campus after emergency hospitalizations and oversee medical leaves of absence. If you’re concerned about another Tufts student, you can also speak with their team and/or fill out the student concern form.
Tisch College
The Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life is a national leader in civic education and engagement that sets the standard for higher education’s role in advancing the greater good. Tisch College is charged with a broad and vital mission: to prepare students for a lifetime of engagement in civic and democratic life, to study civic life and its intersections with public and private institutions, and to promote practices that strengthen civic life in the United States and around the world. Visit their table at the resource fair and/or their website for more information on the Honos Civicus Society, the Tisch Fund for Civic Engagement, and resources available.
Tisch Library
Tisch Library and its branches, the Lilly Music Library and the W. Van Alan Clark, Jr. Library at SMFA at Tufts, are intellectual laboratories for scholars and students. Our libraries are adaptive spaces, seeking to accommodate and anticipate new learning modes while supporting core and traditional research and study.
Other Libraries at Tufts
Tufts Institute of the Environment
The Tufts Institute of the Environment (TIE) is an interdisciplinary, university-wide institute that initiates, facilitates, and promotes environmental education, service, and research. In addition to supporting the Office of Sustainability in their efforts to improve campus sustainability, TIE follows and promotes practices that limit environmental impact at all our events and functions and within our programs. These practices include following sustainable travel guidelines, plant-based, meatless catering, and resource conservation relating to food waste, water, promotional items, and office supplies. In accordance with our mission, TIE works in pursuit of a more justly sustainable future.
Tufts Technology Services (TTS)
TTS Walk-Up Desks are available for in-person tech support to students, faculty, and staff on all campuses. Available services include:
- Network connectivity troubleshooting, including room calls
- Over-the-phone troubleshooting for basic computer questions or problems
- Walk-in service available for laptops
- Virus checks and removals
- Data backup
- Setup for the wireless network at Tufts
University Chaplaincy
The chaplaincy is a dynamic hub supporting religious, spiritual, ethical, and cultural life for the Tufts community on all of our campuses. The chaplaincy provides pastoral care, supports religious and philosophical communities, educates about spiritual and ethical issues, and promotes multifaith engagement within Tufts' tradition of progressive thought in education.
Other Useful Information
- Somerville Theatre
- Discounts with your Tufts Photo I.D. card
- Tufts Bikes - bicycle rentals
- Zipcar
- Copy Centers – Tisch Library, GSC Lounges, Gnomon Copy
- Tufts Music Events Calendar