Recent Advocacy

The GSA has had a very fruitful and supportive relationship with the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. Below are some of our latest advocacy accomplishments and we are grateful to Dean Cooley for the chance to work with her to improve graduate student support during her new term. 

Standing with Students
Last year, GSA representatives wrote and passed resolutions on many issues regarding student expression, well being and representation, including:

Department Initiatives

  • Local work: A lot of the efforts GSA representatives accomplish are at a departmental level through conversations with DGSs and through holding department meetings.
  • Handbooks/Guidelines: An overarching effort started in 2019-2020 for GSA representatives, in collaboration with the GSAS deans, to work with their departments on handbooks and/or guidelines drafted for every program. Last year, the graduate school collected these documents for program of study sites (under Academic Information). These documents are a continuous effort and establish a more robust relationship between faculty, the department, and students! 
  • GRE Requirement: Around the same time (2019), the GSA worked with departments to remove GRE requirements due to their detrimental effects on poorer and minority applicants.

Graduate School Staff Resources

  • Ombud GSAS hire: Since at least 2019, GSA and the Faculty of Arts and Sciences Senate (FASS) have discussed the need for a confidential, neutral, informal, and independent office for our community to turn to. Yale is the only Ivy League without an Ombuds Office. Last year, Dean Cooley responded to our our most recent request (resolution here) and administration is now in the process of hiring an Assistant Director for Student Support and Community Standards. We celebrate this advancement and look forward to continuing the conversation with the Graduate School and the University around confidential third party arbitration.
  • Mental Health: In light of the University-wide discussion around mental health resources during the COVID pandemic, GSA advocated for more mental health support from the Graduate School. In 2022, Dean Cooley announced the hire of GSAS’ embedded mental health clinician, Eva Wilson. Eva’s work has been received so well that the GSAS will soon anounce a second hire for mental health at GSAS.

Conference Travel Fund
Yale’s GSA is the best funded Ivy League student organization for conference travel. After discussions with the Graduate School, last year saw an increase in budget and a standarization of processes so graduate students have clearer and equitable access to conference travel reimbursement.

Food Insecurity
Since the end of 2021, the GSA created and funded a food pantry in the McDougal center. In response to the desire for a more systematic approach to food insecurity, the GSA and Graduate and Professional Student Senate (GPSS) put together a report which led to conversations with the Office of the Vice President and Yale Hospitality. They have created a new location-flexible meal plan for graduate students which can be subsidized for food insecure students.

Unionization
In 2022, The GSA validated the right of graduate students to unionize, providing the latest effort with validation and recognition. Many of us are now unionized under Local33!

Finance
The GSA has always advocated for the financial wellbeing of our community. Although in most cases this is now under the purview of Local33, the GSA will continue to advocate and collaborate on these issues (particularly for those not covered by the union).

Prior to the ratification of Local33:

  • Stipend increases: In 2021, the GSA requested a cost of living adjustment for a “living wage. The graduate school performed a cost of living analysis and, in September 2021, the Graduate School announced a 2 year accelerated increase in stipends across divisions.
  • Relocation Award: In 2022, based on testimonials from the GSA and an effort to reduce barriers of access to graduate education for disadvantaged communities, Dean Cooley made relocation awards ($1,000) available to students with financial hardship. This award was then made available to all incoming PhD students for the incoming class of 2023
  • Dean’s Emergency Fund: The GSA has advocated for the creation of the Dean’s Emergency Fund. This fund has increased since its creation.

Professional Development
In the 2023-2024 school year, the GSA wrote and approved the draft of a proposal to further bolster and incorporate professional development in our graduate training. The Graduate School is investing in the professional development (both academic and non-academic) for its students. These investments have, to date, focused on infrastructure and hiring, including the GSAS-specific staff at the Office of Career Strategies and last year’s hire of Suzanne Young, Assistant Dean for Graduate Student Professional Development.

How do we accomplish these goals?

  • We use our representative power to pass resolutions that are sent to Yale administration to declare the stance of our representatives.
  • The GSA meets with the Dean of the Graduate School, Lynn Cooley, and her team once a month to discuss concerns that graduate students communicate to their GSA representatives.
  • During our biweekly GSA meetings, we invite speakers from various offices in Yale to exchange ideas, ask questions, and give feedback, such as the Yale President, the University Provost, the Head of Mental Health and Counseling at Yale Health, Yale security, and more.
  • Much of our work is done in committees led by our committee chairs. See our incoming executive board here!