What do you love about NU's grad programs? How could we improve?

I'm serving on the re-accreditation committee focusing on graduate education. Part of our charge is to evaluate what we are doing well and where we can improve these programs, so I wanted to ask you, the graduate and professional students who are in the midst of these programs, what you think. You can reply to this thread on the blog, or directly to me. Tell me what you think: What are we doing well in the graduate programs at Northeastern?How do we know that we are do it well?What is distinctive about graduate education at Northeastern?What could we do better? How?Thanks for your help!Tammy Hartke, VP for Academic Affairs

Give us your feedback on print quota

The GPSA has been hearing a lot of complaints about the new print quota, that 400 pages is not enough for graduate students. Now we need your input as to what you think would be an appropriate level.
The quota was put in place to cut down on unnecessary printing and conserve resources -- has the print quota caused you to read more journal articles on the screen rather than in hard copy, or to print two pages per sheet? Are you printing the same amount as before, but doing it somewhere else? Will professors accept electronic drafts of papers and reports, or do you still have to print everything out for all of your classes? Have you brought the issue up to paper-hungry professors and asked for electronic-only revisions? What has been their reaction? Do you print for research and labwork, or mainly for course work? How do qualifying/comprehensive exams affect your printing needs? How much of what you print is necessary and how much is it is just convenient or easier?

Please email your comments -- and the NUMBER of pages you think would be appropriate for the graduate/professional students print quota to me (hartke.t@neu.edu). Please separate printing you do for teaching or for other things within your department from the rest of your printing. I'll post the results in this space one week from now.

Need volunteers to help the first Graduate Open House Event

The first Graduate Open House of the year will be on Saturday October 13. We have been asked to set up a table, answer questions, and help give tours to prospective grad students from 1-4pm. We still need several volunteers to help with this event. It is not necessary to be a Senator to sign up!
If you can help, please email Tammy (hartke.t@neu.edu). She will be sending names and contact information to the Provost's office on Wednesday. Thank you!

Where do you drop of the Senator nomination Form?

After you have had the form attested by your graduate school and certified by the registrar's office, it should be dropped off in the GPSA mailbox in the Student Activities Office. They are located on the second floor of the Curry Student Center, but are in the process of moving to the fourth floor. If the mailboxes are not available when you go there, then the form can be placed in the folder on our office door, 104 Ell Hall, around the corner from the Student Affairs Office. Thank you for your interest in the GPSA Senate. We're looking forward to working with you this year!

Are graduate students in the School of Professional and Continuing Studies eligible for membership and represented by the GPSA?

All students who pay the Graduate Activity fee are considered members of the Graduate and Professional Student Association (see Article IIIA of the GPSA constitution) and are represented by the GPSA in matters of university policy and campus life.

I think this person’s question may also be directed toward the idea of Senate representation. GPSA allots Senate seats to recognized Colleges based on enrollment the previous fall. In the most recent (2003) revision of the Constitution, GPSA recognized the following Colleges: Graduate Schools of Arts & Sciences, Bouve College of Health Sciences (including the School of Nursing), College of Business Administration (including the School of Professional Accounting), College of Computer Science, College of Criminal Justice, College of Engineering and the School of Law.

The University College was not recognized by the GPSA and was at that time transitioning to become the School of Professional and Continuing Studies (SPCS). Today 20% of students taking classes through SPCS are categorized by the registrar’s office as “graduate” and another 17% as “continuing education”. Most students are in part-time or evening programs. Many of the degrees and certificates are in conjunction with programs of other colleges, while a few have their home only in SPCS.

Similarly, the School of Technological Entrepreneurship did not exist in 2003, and there is no provision in the constitution for recognizing and allotting Senate seats to new Colleges. The current Executive Board identified this issue earlier this summer when assigning 2007-2008 Senate seats to the recognized Colleges. We have discussed the possibility of a constitutional amendment, and are gathering information about the situation. In both cases, there is significant overlap with programs in other Colleges and we encourage SPCS and School of Technological Entrepreneurship students to interact with Senators of those Colleges. The Executive Board also welcomes feedback directly from students of all programs. The Vice Presidents are Senators as well, representing particular administrative aspects of the University and the Association rather than individual Colleges.
Tammy Hartke, GPSA VP for Academic Affairs
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GPSA is the voice of Northeastern University’s graduate and professional students. Please, tell us what you think!

How are senators selected?

The GPSA approves senator nomination forms on a first come, first serve basis.

Requirements to become a senator

Senators need to be approved by their college and must be in good academic standing. They must properly complete the senator nomination form, have a GPA of at least 3.00 or higher. They must be willing to serve on one committee or fulfill GPSA office hours. They must attend senate meetings (the schedule of meeting can be found at www.gpsa.neu.edu

How do I apply to be a senator?

The regular term for a senator is September 1 - April 30. Any student can become a senator by filling out a nomination form which can be found at http://www.gpsa.neu.edu/senate.php and returning it to the Student Activities Office in 228 Curry Student Center. Senators need to be approved by their college and must be in good academic standing. Please be sure to get the signatures of your college dean and the registrar as well as the stamp/watermark of the registrar. Incomplete forms will not be accepted.

Graduate Stipends

Question: I’ve heard that there are changes to the graduate stipend programs, and am afraid that funding will no longer be available to students in my department or in Master’s Degree programs. What changes are being made, and how will they affect me? M.S., College of Engineering

GPSA Blog

Open to all Graduate Students!

Please use this blog to post your ideas on how to improve the graduate community or comments to improve the GPSA Organization. To post comments, simply click on the comments link and you will get a new page to post the comments.

If you have any questions on how to use this blog, please email me directly at jain.as@neu.edu


Thank you,
GPSA