The Graduate Student Senate (GSS) is not nine people in an office on the 9th floor of the Campus Center. The GSS is a democratically elected council that directs those employees in a manner that the Senate feels will well serve the needs of graduate students. Those staff are to be of direct service to graduate students and, arguably more important, are to make it possible and encourage graduate students to take an active role in their university community.

Unlike a business, a research university should not be run from the President’s office. As an academic community the administration, the faculty, the undergraduate students and the graduate students all have roles to play in determining the direction and priorities of this institution. In recent years the level of student involvement in the direction of UMass has dropped and individuals in the administration have, bolstered by the President’s assertion that ‘this university will not be run by those who pass through’ have stepped forward to more than fill those absences.

If we, as graduate students, wish to study in an institution that serves our need we must exert the authority conferred on the Graduate Student Senate to assume responsibility for “for services and activities which are designed primarily to serve students”, to find ways to help each other, to advocate directly for our needs and to represent our interests in those places where it is possible for our voice to be heard.

Recently the administration of School of Education argued that graduate students’ failure to participate in school governance was reason to formally exclude us. So, at this time it would seem that if we don’t use the diminishing opportunities we have to shape our educational experience, we will lose even those. For all of those interests that extend beyond the role some of us have as GEO eligible employees, participation in the Graduate Senate is the vehicle by which we can ensure that our interests are reflected in decisions made at this university.

In addition to preparing a list of committees that have seats reserved for graduate student participation on this page we have chosen to list a few issue areas that are of concern to us and which we approach both through committee work and through direct advocacy and/or support. If you are interested in any of these areas please contact us at gss-exec@resgs.umass.edu.

The paid staff of the Graduate Student Senate will never be able to do everything that is needed to well represent the interests of graduate students, so we would invite your interest both, perhaps, as a contributor to and as a beneficiary of our work.

Advisor Relationships

As a student at a research university there is probably no relationship" more important than that we have with our advisor. We all depend on them for our academic programs and some of us also rely on our advisors for our visas, waivers and employment. Conversely, many of our advisors depend on our work and innovation to execute their grants and support their publishing. While these relationships are most often mutually respectful, there are, occasionally some very sticky problems. The GSS advocates directly and through a number of university committees ". The GSS directly, and sometimes very discretely, helps graduate students with these relationships and we advocate directly and through a number of university committees to ensure that all graduate students have fair and productive relationships with their advisors.

Diversity and Access

While it is possible to argue that it is easier and less expensive to educate a homogenous student population, GSS has historically and continues to believe that diversity, in all possible dimensions, both enriches the learning community and provides opportunities for individuals who would be excluded for reasons unrelated to their academic capacity. GSS advocates both directly and through membership on a number of university bodies for increased diversity on campus.

Housing

It is hard and getting harder to find affordable housing and for many years UMass has done nothing new to address the housing needs of graduate students both on and off campus. For example, when the University closed University Apartments it failed to offer a replacement and with the higher than expected enrolment of undergraduate students this year Housing failed to consult with graduate students prior to its decision to displace a number of graduate students living in Prince/Crampton. GSS advocates both directly and through membership on a number of university bodies for more attention to graduate housing.

Child Care

Child care has been and remains a major concern of the Graduate Student Senate. At this point we allocate $30,000 of our own resources to subsidize the child care costs of UMass graduate students and administer an additional $30,000 allocated by the Chancellor for this purpose. With probable declining state revenue over the next few years it would appear that child care will, once again, become a hotly contested issue. GSS advocates both directly and through membership on a number of university bodies for student parents.

School Governance

Over the last few years both the Board of Trustees and the President’s office have centralized authority. This tendency has gradually excluded the contributions of graduate students to the direction of this institution and is incompatible with the nationally and internationally accepted standards for the governance of research universities. The Graduate Student Senate is advocating directly and through membership on a number of university bodies for an increasingly democratic system of university governance.

If you would like to see a full list of the committees sorted by these categories click here.