Graduate Council Changes Spring 2026

• Only GPDs are eligible to serve as regular faculty members of the Council.
• Allotment of these members is based on the number of graduate programs and students in each academic College/School that houses graduate programs (see end of document).
• GPD members are selected by the College/School (with nominee’s consent). The members should represent the diversity of programs housed in that unit. If an insufficient number of GPDs consent to serve, the College/School Dean can select a member of the graduate faculty as a Graduate Council representative.
• Additional members are ex officio (non-voting) as specified below.
• The membership will initially be determined by the number needed to populate the committees.
  • A total of 26 regular members of the Graduate Council
  • In cases where a curriculum committee includes members who are not GPDs (see below), they should be members of the graduate faculty; deviations from this criterion must be approved by the Dean of the Graduate School.
    • These Graduate Council members are “at large” and ex officio (non-voting). These at large members do, however, participate in curriculum committee votes.
  • The Dean of Libraries can nominate one faculty member to serve at large.
  • Committees
    • (4) Curriculum Committees – Professional Programs, Social Science, Humanities, STEM
      • Each with one Grad School AD, ex officio, one to three GC members with one serving as committee chair, one to three graduate faculty as needed to meet workload.
    • Student and Faculty Success
      • Grad School AD for Professional Development, ex officio, four GC members with one serving as chair
    • Student and Faculty Awards
      • Grad School AD for Professional Development, ex officio, four GC members with one serving as chair and additional graduate faculty as needed to meet workload
    • Policy and Procedures
      • Grad School AD for Enrollment Management, ex officio, four GC members with one serving as chair, Grad School Academic Operations representative and GSA secretary, ex officio
    • Program Assessment
      • Grad School AD for Academic Innovation, ex officio, four GC members with one serving as chair
• Committees will meet at regular monthly times
  • The Grad School Associate Dean representative will organize the day/time of their committee(s) so that they can attend.
  • The Chair can cancel meetings if there is insufficient need to meet, and can call emergency meetings, if necessary.
  • The activity of some committees (e.g., Curriculum) may be best addressed asynchronously via email or Teams.
• If a GPD accepts nomination, they indicate a willingness to serve on any committee to which they are assigned.
  • We may switch assignments based on availability to meet, changing committee workload, or fit.
• Each committee has a chair to coordinate meetings with the Grad School representative.
• Terms are 3 years in length, and members can serve no more than two consecutive terms.
  • If a member does not continue as a GPD, their replacement can serve out their term without consent of the Graduate School. If that is not desired, a new nominee can be chosen by the College/School
• The GSA president or vice-president (one of them), and the secretary will serve as ex officio members of the Graduate Council.
  • The GSA secretary will serve ex officio on the Policy and Procedures committee
• Quorum rules for votes – to be established.

We determined the initial allocation of representatives from the Colleges and Schools using an equal weighting of the number of graduate programs and graduate enrollment. The distribution was subjected to minor adjustments to ensure representation of small units.

The allocation of Graduate Council representatives to units will be re-evaluated every five years. If dramatic changes occur within that five-year time frame, re-evaluation can occur before the five years elapse at the discretion of the Dean of the Graduate School.