Students in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences recently voted to approve the creation of an Assembly of Graduate Students. The final vote tally was 422 in favor of the Assembly and 405 against. Ballots had been mailed to 2,380 registered graduate students.
The counting of ballots was supervised by referendum organizer Lisa Brandes, the director of the Graduate School's McDougal Center, with the assistance of graduate students and under the guidance of the University's chaplains.
The referendum put before the students was to establish an Assembly "to assure that graduate students can be represented and can participate more effectively in Graduate School policy making about matters that are relevant to their education and their lives as students." The Assembly approved by the students is to be constituted by the election of representatives from the Graduate School's departments or degree-granting programs, with departments with the most students having the most representatives. The Assembly charter calls for annual election of representatives.
A steering committee chosen from among the Assembly's representatives will meet regularly with the Dean of the Graduate School and will work closely with the Dean in the formation of policy concerning the Teaching Fellow program, with the goal of achieving consensus. The Assembly's charter states that significant policy changes concerning the Teaching Fellow program will not be implemented without affording the Assembly an opportunity to discuss and comment upon them.
Plans for the election of the first Assembly have not been completed.