Graduate Student Senate has been working on several items that have been brought up by the graduate student population, as well as items to improve the graduate program itself.

One concern that is currently being presented to the graduate committees is the notion of graduate credit hours. Graduate students are required to take 12 credit hours with their work schedules and other activities and meetings that they partake in.

Shelley Clagg, GSS president, has been giving reports to different committees regarding the issue of credit hours and it is still under progress. The concern is up in the air, however Clagg said that if the idea were to go through the university funding would be dropped by roughly $2 million.

Another item that is in progress in GSS is the introduction of a graduate student handbook.

Deidre Rogers, GSS vice president, said that it will be like the undergraduate student handbook in the respect that it will explain the rights and responsibilities of graduate students.

“The graduate student handbook will have to incorporate much more however, due to the extra responsibilities that graduate students have to take on,” Rogers said.

Rogers explained the need for concerns to be addressed to the GSS senators since there are additional requirements. GSS has been working on issues concerning the graduate population, however, they worry that some problems may not be voiced.

Clagg said that one of her main concerns is that there are not enough graduate students who voice concerns to their senators. Most of the issues she explained come from the same pool of students that they interact with on a regular basis.

“We need more graduate students to voice their concerns. That is what we are here for,” Clagg said. “Most graduate students need to understand that we do listen to their concerns and that we take them into consideration when we go to our meetings.”

Rogers, also expressed this as a major concern.

“In order to support GSS and the work that we do we must have the feedback of graduate students and hear what their concerns are,” Rogers said.

There are many topics that need to be discussed and many concerns that need to be taken care of, but in order for these issues to come into play, graduate students need to speak up and let them know what their concerns are.

GSS has kept the ball rolling on the items that are on the table right now, however they are in need of the ideas and opinions of a much larger population of graduate students.

“Each department has their own graduate senator,” Rogers said. “So it is easy to get concerns brought up by just talking to your senator.”