Assembly Resolution

November 7, 2008

GRADUATE AND PROFESSIONAL STUDENT ORGANIZATION (GPSO)

RESOLUTION ON THE ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE GOVERNING GRADUATE EDUCATION TO THE ADMINISTRATION OF INDIANA UNIVERSITY-BLOOMINGTON

WHEREAS, the administration of Indiana University is considering a change to the organizational infrastructure governing research and graduate education, merging the Office for Research Affairs and the University Graduate School, and

WHEREAS, the University Graduate School performs several, vital functions to improve the academic, professional and social experiences of graduate and professional students at Indiana University-Bloomington, and

WHEREAS, the University Graduate School administers several programs focused on improving the teaching skills of graduate students, and

WHEREAS, the University Graduate School administers several programs designed to prepare graduate students to be university faculty members, and

WHEREAS, the University Graduate School administers several programs, such as AGEP and the Graduate Emissaries, to increase the number and improve the experience of minority students in the graduate student community, and

WHEREAS, the University Graduate School acts as an advocate on behalf of the Graduate and Professional Student Organization (GPSO) and the graduate student community, and

WHEREAS, many graduate students seek the advice and help of the University Graduate School in addressing problems and overcoming obstacles to completing their graduate education, and

WHEREAS, the aforementioned re-organization would diminish the ability of the University Graduate School to serve these many functions by allowing the unique concerns governing research administration to subsume the academic, professional and social functions of the University Graduate Schools, and

WHEREAS, the recent re-organization of the Dean of Faculties into the Vice Provost for Faculty and Academic Affairs and Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education creates offices to serve the unique interests of the faculty and undergraduate communities, and

WHEREAS, the proposed merger would move graduate education in the opposite direction, removing the office that serves the unique interest of the graduate community,

BE IT RESOLVED, that the GPSO Assembly advices that the administration maintain the current organizational structure governing research and graduate education at Indiana University, keeping separate the Office for Research Affairs and the University Graduate School and ensuring that the University Graduate School may continue to fulfill these vital functions, and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the GPSO Assembly advices the administration to include graduate education in the re-organization of the Dean of Faculties, recognizing the University Graduate School as both a body for graduate education across the IU system and as the Office for Graduate Education at Indiana University-Bloomington and recognizing the Dean of the University Graduate School as both a leader for graduate education across the IU system and the Vice Provost for Graduate Education at Indiana University-Bloomington.

PASSED AND ADOPTED by the GPSO Assembly this 7th day of November 2008.

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GPSO President