Graduate Student Senate gears up for changes in office
The number of graduate students working on master’s and doctorate degrees is on the climb, and the administrators are looking for new ways to facilitate the special needs of these students.
The growth is indicative of efforts being made at Utah State University, said Dan McCay, vice president of the Graduate Student Senate.
“It’s going to be an exciting year for graduate students,” McCay said.
This year there are representatives from every department on campus on the Graduate Student Senate, McCay said.
“This is ground breaking to have full participation,” McCay said.
Right now, the senate is working alongside the Graduate Studies Office to implement their goals.
“This year we’ll be able to make some substantial progress to improve graduate education at this university. This includes strengthening programs and the life of our graduate students,” said Thomas Kent, the dean for the School of Graduate Studies.
These goals include creating a tuition remission program, giving more graduate students the opportunity for fellowships, having higher stipends and wages for assistantships and improving the faculty-to-student ratio.
USU ranks low compared to the benchmark schools set by President Kermit L. Hall in stipends, wages and the ratio, McCay said.
These peer institutions include Washington State, Oregon State, Colorado State, Penn State and Iowa State, Kent said.
Recruitment efforts, especially for doctorate students are being actively pursued, Kent said. The graduate office has reallocated funding to help the individual departments and a campus-wide recruiting plan is being made for better coordination.
“We also want to work on the area of diversity on master’s and doctorate levels. We are trying to be more active in recruiting the best students in underrepresented areas including race and gender. We’re trying to earmark more support of these underrepresented students,” Kent said.
Retention is a concern, he said.
“We want to, as far as we can, help students once they are enrolled, to give support they need,” Kent said.
A new doctoral fellowship for students working on dissertations, along with recruitment funding grants are brand new this year. They’re offering more tuition waiver scholarships for master’s students, he said.
Also, options are being looked into to give graduates health insurance opportunities and to provide low-cost child care, Kent said.
“Honestly, we feel like USU is at a crossroads,” McCay said. “We’re making decisions that will effect USU for years to come.”
President Hall and Kent are providing the leadership “we’ve needed for a long time,” McCay said.
The main focus this year is increasing awareness with graduate students, helping students graduate and helping their experiences to be better in general, said Erica Thomas, president of the Graduate Student Senate.