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!