The Graduate Studies Committee (GSC)

The GSC is composed of at least four members of the graduate faculty.  The Department Chair solicits self-nominations in the Spring semester for terms beginning the Fall.  The Chair may also nominate members, keeping in mind issues including, but not limited to, representativeness and equity.  Faculty membership is confirmed at the first Fall Faculty Meeting.  The committee also includes one graduate student representative plus an alternate recommended by the Graduate Coordinator to the Chair and appointed by the Chair.  The student representative may participate in the meetings of the GSC without the right to vote.

The GSC assists the Graduate Coordinator, who serves as the GSC chair, with the oversight and development of the Department’s MA/PhD program.  The GSC reviews proposals for new graduate courses, changes in course content and related curricular matters, and conducts periodic reviews of the Department’s MA/PhD program as a whole.  The GSC is responsible for recruiting, evaluating applications for admission, evaluating and recommending candidates for graduate appointments, monitoring the progress and academic performance of graduate students in the Department, separation of graduate students, placement, and such other duties as may be assigned to it by the Department Chair. 

Recommendations on significant matters of curriculum and policy are to be forwarded from GSC to FAC or the Faculty Meeting.

The GSC will oversee the Teaching Assistant and Fellowship programs and cooperate with the Teaching Fellow Coordinator to insure quality teaching and enhance the professional development of teaching fellows.

The graduate student representative shall not participate in decisions relative to faculty and the admission of present Kent State University graduate students to a new degree program (i.e., M.A. to Ph.D.) and separation of graduate students, financial aid for graduate students, or other questions relating to the programs or progress of individual graduate students.