To: The University Community
From: The Student Senators Council (SSC)
Re: Working Group on Enhancing the Role of Graduate Students in Governance
The Student Senators Council (SSC) has been asked by Vice Provosts Sharon L. Weinberg and E. Frances White to take a leadership role in developing a process and a set of procedures that will give graduate students a more significant voice in University life. They are asking the Student Senators Council, made up of student representatives elected from all the Schools, to assemble a working group of graduate students who would develop a rights and responsibilities social compact for all graduate students, as well as a set of GA/TA grievance policies and procedures.
The SSC is putting together a working group that will represent NYU’s many graduate student constituencies to do this work. The working group should include:
1. one graduate student member from each School, appointed by that School’s Graduate Student Council;
2. two graduate student members from the SSC, chosen by the student senators themselves; and
3. five at-large graduate student members, appointed by a subcommittee of the SSC from nominations submitted to the SSC by the University community in general (e.g., graduate student groups, deans, faculty members, and self-nominations).
In my capacity as Vice-Chair of the SSC, I am writing to request that you, as a member of the University community, nominate one or more graduate students who you believe have the necessary level of interest, expertise, and experience to be active and contributing members of this working group.
In order to make significant progress during the coming academic year and give the working group ample time for a full and careful deliberation of the issues, we need to begin this process early. Please submit your nomination(s) to ucsl@nyu.edu, no later than September 15, 2005. These nominations will be reviewed in order to select a diverse, motivated group. I know that this deadline is quickly approaching, but it important that we get to work as soon as possible in this new endeavor. We hope that as this committee develops, with student input and comment, it can serve as a strong voice for graduate students across campus.