9.6.3 Graduate School

The Graduate School consists of a dean, school deans/department chairs, department graduate coordinators or graduate program committees, a large faculty, and students in 19 master's programs and 14 doctoral programs. Organizations which serve these elements of the School are the Graduate School Office, the Graduate Council, and the Graduate Student Council.

The Graduate School Office (GSO) is staffed to facilitate and monitor the student's progress from the inquiry stage through commencement listing and participation. The academic/administrative mission and operation is directed by the Vice Provost for Research and Dean of the Graduate School; staff responsibilities cover the application, monitoring of academic and research progress, financial support, and certification processes and coordination of these processes with the departments' graduate programs coordinators/committees and graduate secretary/aides. This office also handles commencement communications and arrangements in collaboration with the Special Events Office.

The Graduate Faculty is a large subset of the University faculty. Nominations for graduate faculty status are initiated in the departments and forwarded to the GSO through the college/school deans. Departments are expected to review periodically their faculty's participation and contributions to the graduate program and add or subtract faculty as appropriate, again through their college/school deans and the GSO.

The dean is advised by the Graduate Council. This advisory group is comprised of a department-elected graduate faculty representative from each department offering a graduate degree, the president of the Graduate Student Council, a University Senate liaison, and the dean. Any faculty member questioning or suggesting a graduate school policy is advised to consult with his/her department's representative who will decide whether or not to bring the matter to the full council. Meeting minutes are distributed to council members for their approval and to aid them in their communication with their constituents.

Graduate Student Council is a professional group that is student-led, with membership proportional to a department's graduate enrollment and with functions ranging from academic to social.