Nearly 20 graduate students rallied at Tuesday’s Faculty Senate meeting, hoping to make a statement without saying a word.

“We’re slowly getting fed up with the way we’re being treated and the lack of transparency here,” said graduate student Sudipto Sanyal. “The feeling we get is no one from the administration is on our side.”

The students displayed signs reading “Got transparency?” and “Save your degree, protect your program,” silently staring as Senate members and University administrators addressed concerns for more than two hours.

The group of students meets biweekly, with a goal of creating awareness and preventing apathy among graduate students, Sanyal said.

“It’s standing up for what you believe in,” he said. “It’s an expression of solidarity with the newly unionized faculty and those who are against the graduate program cuts.”

More than half of the Senate meeting was dedicated to discussing the future of graduate education at the University. On April 14, various college deans recommended 14 graduate programs to be closed, suspended or reoriented starting fall 2012.

The change was partially in response to a $9 million reduction in the graduate scholarship budget for the next two years, said Graduate College Dean Tim Messer-Kruse. Academic quality, program sustainability and focus of mission were primary criteria considered when making selections, he said.

Several Senate members voiced concerns about the transparency of the decision-making process and the need for shared governance as it continues.

“There is a systemic problem … a very high level of mistrust is present, and this isn’t a new problem,” said senate member Jim Evans. “Respect for the process is lacking right now, and that’s coming from the administration, no matter how they try to cover their tracks.”

When the deans announced the recommendations, “graduate students in general were overwhelmed,” said David Sleasman, Graduate Student Senate president elect.

GSS approved a resolution requesting clarity from the administration and better communication between graduate students and the administration. Sleasman presented it Tuesday to the Senate.

“We want to have a voice,” he said. “We’re glad a process is unfolding … but we wonder if a conversation could not have occurred sooner, in a more open fashion, with the data in front of us.”

Provost Ken Borland said graduate program review has been taking place since as early as 2007, but became more focused this academic year, using criteria “developed in coordination with the Faculty Senate Executive Committee in 2009.”

“We didn’t intend to keep anything secret and tried to be communicative,” he said. “This is nothing malicious. It’s an honest recommendation coming from the deans, who are people of great integrity.”

Shared governance is “key” in moving forward in this process, which “everyone is entitled to engage in,” Borland said.

“Shortly after my arrival in 2009, there was an ongoing conversation about reconfiguring graduate programs,” he said. “When a conversation takes this long, it was time for a recommendation to come forward … I wanted to be sure I put it where it belonged, according to our charter, and that is in the hands of Graduate Council.”

The graduate program recommendations cannot be made final until reviewed by Graduate Council, the Faculty Senate Committee on Academic Affairs and the Ohio Board of Regents. Discussions will begin in the fall, according to an April 22 statement released by the administration.

As discussions begin, Sanyal said he hopes the mission of higher education will become a focal point.

“A lot of things like this are happening like this all over the country,” he said. “A university should be a place for fostering critical minds … but now that’s getting lost by the wayside. Everything is a profit-oriented endeavor, and it’s as if our administration is selling us to the highest bidder.”

For more information, visit the Graduate College website at www.bgsu.edu/gradcoll.

CUE implementation delayed to fall 2013

The University will implement its proposed undergraduate curriculum changes fall 2013, Borland announced Tuesday to the Senate.

Connecting the Undergraduate Experience was initially slated to begin fall 2011. After Undergraduate Council voted against the proposal, its changes were delayed until fall 2012, Borland previously announced March 1.

“Many voices have delivered invaluable perspectives in the refining process of the developing proposal, which is still in the works,” he said Tuesday. “Staff and faculty development and funding matters will be discussed at great length, and a great deal of important feedback will be woven into that conversation as it moves forward.”

The Office of the Provost sent an email to University faculty and staff Tuesday with details concerning the decision and future process.