Gradcommx was designed to address broadly transferable skills rather than discipline-specific training. As outlined in the TFPRO report (Final Report of the Task Force on Graduate Student Professional Development), the onus of Gradcommx will hold that ”simplicity is a virtue” in regards to the design of the curriculum (2013, p. 4). This sentiment is outlined further in the TFPRO report:

“We considered whether to include the discipline-specific training, knowledge, and skill development that lie at the heart of every MIT graduate program. Should the skillset include a section for technical skills and domain knowledge? We decided to exclude that category, as in many ways it is already the core of what we do in an MIT education, and its specifics would vary greatly across programs.” (2013, p4)

Gradcommx was designed to be a primer, or potential jumping-off point for further in-depth inquiry into discipline-specific training in any of MIT’s five schools. This baseline of communications professional development for graduate students was designed to be built upon and modified by each of the schools at their discretion.

The graduate student body at MIT is diverse and communication norms vary widely by discipline. The resources available on gradx.mit.edu are not designed to address those varying norms, but to serve as a professional development primer for non-specific external audiences.