GSA 2024-2025 Priorities
59.8% of GSA representatives voted, and 63 (88%) programs/departments are represented.
Overall Priorities (Top 5):
1. Improving transparency and accountability standards for Directors of Graduate Studies.
2. Implementing CTPass for graduate students
3. Integrating student mentorship feedback into faculty evaluations
4. Creating affordable housing and tenant rights resources for students
5. Increased support for at-risk international students
Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GSAS) Priorities (Top 5):
1. Improving transparency and accountability standards for Directors of Graduate Studies.
2. Integrating student mentorship feedback into faculty evaluations
3. Exploring and creating systematic solutions for food insecure students
4. Expanding gym and library access/services for students
5. Improving transparency and representation of graduate students in grievance
procedures
University-Wide Priorities (Top 5):
1. Implementing CTPass for graduate students
2. Creating affordable housing and tenant rights resources for students
3. Increasing support for at-risk international students
4. Enhancing awareness of mental health resources and address gaps in services
5. Improving affordable childcare options
Priority Descriptions
● Improving transparency and accountability standards for Directors of Graduate Studies [contact: Anushka Potdar, anushka.potdar@yale.edu]: The GSA advocates for improved accountability of Directors of Graduate Studies (DGSs) ensuring effective support of their graduate students appropriate to the nature of their program.
○ The GSA is committed to investigating what forms of existing or desired DGS accountability would be the most effective for their respective constituencies with special attention to those addressing the needs of marginalized students. These forms would then be proposed for implementation in all programs of a similar nature.
● Implementing CTPass for graduate students [contact: Riley Wadehra, Riley Wadehra, riley.wadehra@yale.edu]: The GSA advocates for the implementation of Yale-subsidized CT Passes for graduate students, allowing for affordable public transportation through bus lines in the Greater New Haven area.
○ As the first step in this direction, the GSA supports the implementation of a pilot program for CTPass. The target demographic will be determined through survey
data of the Graduate and professional student population.
○ Continuing the years of advocacy from the GSA and the Graduate and
Professional Student Senate (GPSS), we will continue to advocate for legalization
of UPASS for Private-institutions like Yale at the state-level.
● Integrating student mentorship feedback into faculty evaluations [contact: Pranav Garg, pranav.garg@yale.edu; Nathan Suri, nathan.suri@yale.edu]: The GSA advocates for the inclusion of graduate student feedback on mentorship in faculty evaluations including tenure evaluations.
○ The GSA is committed to investigating what mode of feedback collection would be most effective, and ensuring that the collected data is used meaningfully in faculty assessments. This change would align with practices at peer institutions such as Duke University and Stanford.
○ We are interested in improving the current graduate student exit questionnaire with targeted questions to better assess faculty mentorship and program effectiveness (1).
● Creating affordable housing and tenant rights resources [contact: Charles Lomba, charles.lomba@yale.edu]: The GSA advocates for the development and distribution of resources to enhance student awareness of affordable housing and tenant rights.
○ The GSA supports the creation and publicization of resources related to affordable housing and tenant/landlord rights. The GSA will continue to follow up on work started by Dean Lynn Cooley, who is working with Yale General Counsel (OGS) to compile resources on leases, tenant rights, New Haven renters resources, etc.
○ The GSA will publicize the Dean’s emergency fund as a source of relocation support in cases where tenant rights have been violated.
● Increasing support and opportunities for at-risk international students [contact: Swathi Nachiar Manivannan, swathinachiar.manivannan@yale.edu]: The GSA advocates for dedicated fellowships and secure financial assistance for at-risk students who face restrictions due to visa regulations and citizenship requirements (2).
○ The GSA is interested in creating a designated fellowships and awards, as well as expanding on-campus work opportunities, that could support current at-risk international students, and also encourage potential applicants who live in a liminal or insecure immigration condition (3).
○ The GSA will also advocate for establishing a secure line of financial assistance for legal fees faced by at-risk individuals (4).
● Exploring and creating systematic solutions for food insecure students [contact: Anastasiya Andriyash, anastasiya.andriyash@yale.edu]: The GSA advocates for the creation of subsidized meal plans for food-insecure graduate and professional students.
○ The GSA supports a systematic (5) and inclusive solution for food-insecurity through University or GSAS-subsidized, flexible, Yale hospitality food plans.
○ The GSA is committed to finding an inclusive strategy that helps the GSAS identify food-insecure students who would benefit from subsidized meal plans.
● Expanding access and services at gym and library facilities for graduate students [contact: Thomas Zapadka, thomas.zapadka@yale.edu]: The GSA advocates for expanding access to on-campus resources for graduate students, such as the gym and library
○ The GSA has observed gaps in the services and operating hours of on-campus gym and library facilities. The GSA aims to quantify the unmet needs of graduate students and make recommendations for expanded access and services.
○ The GSA is also committed to identifying gaps in existing services which are independent of facility operating hours, and advocating for new or expanded offerings tailored to the graduate school population.
● Improving transparency and representation of graduate students in grievance procedures [contact: Nathan Suri, nathan.suri@yale.edu]: The GSA advocates for better dissemination of information concerning existing grievance procedures as well as increased graduate student engagement and representation in procedures where it involves faculty in FAS, SEAS, and the Yale school of Medicine (YSM).
○ In an effort to improve graduate student awareness about current grievance procedures, the GSA would like to work with the new Assistant Director for Student Support and Community Standards from GSAS, the SEAS Deputy Dean for Faculty Development, and the FAS Dean of Academic Affairs to create a roadmap on how grievances should be reported and how they would be addressed on a case-by-case basis.
○ The GSA advocates for the inclusion of student representation on committees that send recommendations for faculty conduct cases which do not fall under Title IX, Office of Institutional Equity & Accessibility (OIEA), Local 33, or Title VI.
● Enhancing awareness of mental health resources and addressing gaps in services [contact: Thomas Zapadka, thomas.zapadka@yale.edu, Nathan Suri, nathan.suri@yale.edu]: The GSA advocates for improving communication and awareness of existing mental health resources on campus, as well as finding and addressing gaps in current resources.
○ The GSA is committed to finding gaps in the current mental health resources available to graduate students.
○ The GSA will work to harmonize communication about resources between Yale health, GSAS, Local 33, and more to clarify existing mental health offerings.
● Improving affordable childcare options [contact: Thomas Zapadka, thomas.zapadka@yale.edu]: The GSA advocates for improved, affordable on-campus childcare options for graduate students.
○ The GSA supports developing methods to reduce childcare costs, and advocating for childcare rates for graduate students to be commensurate with stipend rate.
○ The GSA will follow up on the 2024 Graduate Parent Report with GSAS and Yale administration to identify avenues for forward growth.
1) UPenn and Stanford’s exit questionnaires may serve as references to improve upon and adapt for Yale’s future exit questionnaire.
2) Due to visa and citizenship regulations, at-risk international students (namely, DACA, undocumented, asylum-seeking, and refugee students) are limited to on-campus work. Moreover, many fellowships or grants in both the sciences and the humanities require applicants to be US citizens.
3) An existing model of this is the Columbia University Scholarship for Displaced Students
4) Currently, the Dean’s Emergency Fund can cover non-routine legal expenses, such as DACA filings. However, the fund is up to $2000 and some students have to incur in routine legal counseling. Princeton University, for instance, covers the cost of attorney consultations for DACA individuals. There is also a new Emergency fund for $40,000 as per the union contract – however, it likely excludes international students who are not covered by the union contract.
5) The GSA funds and fills a food pantry in the McDougal Graduate student center, through which we have identified food insecure populations in GSAS concentrated in Masters students and students with dependents. However, we have learned from our Ivy+ peer institutions [2023 GPSS & GSA Food insecurity report] that this is not a reliable solution for students struggling with food insecurity. Furthermore, this solution is not sustainable for the GSA budget.