As a Princeton graduate student, your voice and ideas create new possibilities Graduate student voices matter at Princeton! There are many ways for graduate students to be involved in University governance and to contribute ideas and advocate for issues that are important to the graduate student community. Through their participation in the organizations and structures listed below, graduate students have made improvements in areas such as stipend levels, graduate student life, housing, and health care. Graduate Student Government (GSG) The GSG plays an important role in the lives of graduate students. It is the main entity responsible for representing their interests and for considering matters related to the experience of being a graduate student at Princeton. The GSG seeks to enhance the quality of life for graduate students, participates in the formulation of University policies, and provides input to the University administration on graduate student opinions and issues. Each department has a representative on the GSG. Get Involved GSG monthly meetings are open to the public. Graduate students interested in specific issues or in getting involved are encouraged to attend. Learn more about the GSG. Election procedures for representatives to the Assembly and delegates are set within each group. Officers of the Executive Committee are elected annually per the GSG constitution, typically around March. Information about running for office can be obtained via email: [email protected]. Council of the Princeton University Community (CPUC) CPUC acts as a permanent conference of the representatives of all major University groups. It has the authority to consider and investigate any question of policy, any aspect of University governance, and any general issue related to the welfare of the University; and to make recommendations regarding any such matters to the appropriate decision-making bodies of the University or to the appropriate officers. Meetings are open to all in the University community, and usually occur six times a year. Contact the Council's secretary, Christine Gage, if you would like to receive meeting notices. Council membership includes faculty, undergraduates, graduate students, staff, and alumni representatives. Graduate students frequently participate actively in Council meetings. CPUC Committees The CPUC has six standing committees, as outlined below. There is also currently a Special Committee on Naming which has a graduate student representative. Executive Committee: Sets the order of business of the Council and appoints members of standing committees. Priorities Committee: Reviews and makes recommendations on the budget of the University. Among other things, the Priorities Committee proposes increases to graduate student stipend levels. This committee publishes annual reports on its budget allocation decisions. Governance Committee: Considers and investigates questions relating to the governing of the University, and its members serve on the Board of Trustees committee that recommends recipients of honorary degrees at each year’s Commencement. Judicial Committee: Hears and decides cases that involve alleged violations of rules that apply to all resident members of the University community and whose violation constitutes an especially serious or substantial threat to the rights of University community members, to the University’s mission, or to essential operations of the University. Resources Committee: Considers questions of general policy concerning the procurement and management of the University’s financial resources, and advises the trustees on matters related to divestment. Rights and Rules Committee: Considers and investigates the adequacy of all rules regarding the conduct of resident members of the University community, as well as the adequacy of the procedures for making and applying such rules. Get Involved Contact the GSG, which coordinates nominations for graduate student members. The University Student Life Committee This committee helps foster positive academic, residential, and social experiences for undergraduates and graduate students. In conjunction with the Council of College Heads, which oversees such matters in the undergraduate residential colleges, the committee reviews policies affecting residential and extracurricular life for all undergraduate and graduate students. The committee may advise the dean of undergraduate students, the dean of the Graduate School, the dean of the college, the vice president for campus life, and the University president. It may also report and make recommendations to the faculty. Normally, the committee includes in its deliberations, and in the work of any subcommittees which it may develop, student members of the University Student Life Committee of the Undergraduate and Graduate Student Governments. Get Involved Contact the GSG, which elects graduate student members. Graduate Housing Advisory Board (GHAB) GHAB considers issues regarding graduate student housing and makes recommendations on housing policy to the Graduate School and University Services (including the department of Housing and Real Estate Services). GHAB consists of representatives from each graduate residential community (Lawrence, Lakeside, and the Graduate College), the GSG, and other communities within the graduate student body. GHAB meets monthly along with staff from the Office of the Dean of the Graduate School and Housing and Real Estate Services. Get Involved Contact the residential committee, GSG, or Dean Secora. Student Health Plan Advisory Council (SHPAC) The purpose of SHPAC is to ensure cross-campus representation and engagement in the benefits selection, vendor selection, monitoring, and evaluation of the Student Health Plan and the Student Group Vision and Dental Plans (based on American College Health Association guidelines for student benefit plans). The SHPAC also aims to improve communication about Student Health Plan benefits and issues and serve as a resource to the community with respect to the Student Health Plan. Get Involved Contact Janet Finnie at University Health Services. Graduate Student Departmental Committees Each academic department establishes a departmental committee of graduate students to act as a liaison between the faculty and the graduate student body. Each committee should normally meet with the committee of the departmental faculty concerned with graduate studies if one exists. The committee of graduate students should have the right to initiate discussion of any proposals relating to the departmental graduate program and can encourage students to participate in departmental affairs of special interest and relevance to them. Get Involved Contact your department's Graduate Program Administrator for more information. The Graduate Student Committee on the Graduate School Princeton’s Graduate Student Committee on the Graduate School is comprised of eight graduate students, two students representing each of the four academic divisions of the University. Each graduate student who serves on the committee also serves as a voting member on one of the four subcommittees of the Faculty Committee on the Graduate School. Students are selected for one-year terms annually, with four of the eight students selected by the Graduate School and four selected by the Graduate Student Government (GSG). The Graduate Student Committee on the Graduate School will meet together with staff from the Office of the Dean of the Graduate School, generally four times per academic year. The Deputy Dean of the Graduate School chairs these meetings.