Individual Development Plan
An Individual Development Plan (IDP) is a professional development (PD) tool that helps you to identify strengths, determine areas for growth and set attainable goals. This plan is a PD requirement for all graduate students.
Your IDP makes up one part of your PD requirement. Completion of your IDP does not count toward your eight hours of PD activities. Instead, your IDP is meant to complement and guide your PD and prepare you for work in academic and non-academic careers.
To help you take advantage of internships and other great professional opportunities available on campus, all graduate students are required to submit an IDP to their department, as well as their program of study, for review and approval.
Download the IDP Workbooks
Students can choose from two workbooks - the comprehensive IDP that support students who have been on a continuous post-secondary path or the IDP Pro for students who are returning from a professional experience or are in a professional program.
Comprehensive IDP Workbook IDP Pro Workbook
After your program begins, your IDP must be submitted within the following timeline:
Master's Students
- Full-time: 12 months
- Part-time: 24 months
Doctoral Students
- Full-time: 18 months
- Part-time: 36 months
What is an IDP?
An Individual Development Plan (IDP) is a professional development tool used to help an individual identify strengths and areas for growth, and set attainable goals. IDPs are standard practice in the workplace and have long been used as a career planning tool in industry, government, and education.
When IDPs moved into the academic arena, postdoctoral fellows, and graduate students found they were more productive, more satisfied with their experience, and had fewer supervisory conflicts. Creating an IDP will help you prepare for work in academic and non-academic careers.
While completion of your IDP cannot be counted as part of the eight-hour professional development activities for graduate students, it is designed to complement other professional development activities.
Additional Guidance
If you would like guidance, please attend our Professional Development Requirement sessions and/or complete our Part 2 Online Workshop: Getting Your IDP Started--Exploring Career Values and Success (also eligible for PD credit).