From Rebecca Lemon, Chair, Graduate Academic Programs Caucus

The Graduate Caucus meets with the Vice Dean for Academic Programs to present faculty suggestions and feedback on issues with graduate programs. This year we are focusing on issues of funding, block grants, admission, recruitment, retention, and graduate life on campus. We invite all faculty to suggest any other areas of concern. The Graduate Caucus meets with the Vice Dean for Academic Programs to present faculty suggestions and feedback on issues with graduate programs. This year we are focusing on issues of funding, block grants, admission, recruitment, retention, and graduate life on campus. We invite all faculty to suggest any other areas of concern.

Message from Dean Lamy to Faculty Council on the role of his office in regards to issues concerning the FC's Graduate Caucus, January 23, 2012:

The major role we play in the deans' office is to help departments recruit the best graduate students, fund them properly, provide and support a broad range of professional development activities and make certain students graduate in a timely manner. We worked for a few years to establish the block funding system and that seems to be working well. Next year departments will submit new funding proposals if the new administration continues the block grant funding model. 

Our newest accomplishment-supported unanimously by the Directors of Graduate Studies( DGS) is the new teaching seminar. We are replacing what we found to be an inadequate TA training program with this new 2 unit seminar that each graduate student must take while or before being a TA. We modeled this program after similar courses at Stanford and several other institutions.

We are currently working with the provost office on three very important issues: English language competency and the role of ALI courses; summer teaching assistant pay rates; and, student participation on admission committees. We are also working to make our graduate awards process more efficient and transparent. The Dornsife faculty council has always sent a rep to our DGS meetings and we welcome their insights and participation.