History

The GSC came into being in the early 1980s. During its early years, the Council worked steadily to gain recognition among students and administrators. In 1986 the GSC was involved in drafting the legislation which led to the creation of the Student-Faculty Judicial Board.

After several years of low attendance and lower profile, the GSC elected three officers in the spring of 1989: Joshua Saul, President; Azer Bestavros, Vice President/Facilities; and Emily Haddad, Secretary.

In an effort to make the GSC more representative and increase attendance, these three geniuses conceived of travel grants to be granted only to students whose departments had been represented at GSC meetings. To foolish skeptics it seemed that the GSC would be taxing all graduate students in order to benefit just a few. GSC officers maintained that the grants would be only one way of the GSC's many ways of spending its money and increasing participation, but that if the need were great enough, this kind of program would ultimately generate even more funds from outside sources and may even run itself someday. The annual GSC fee was also raised, after much discussion, from $10 to $15.

The following academic year, 1989-90, saw a dramatic increase in GSC participation. Major projects included the Computer Room, travel grants, group funding, and a GSAS phone book. With increased participation, the topic of a graduate student center came under serious discussion. During the next two years, the emphasis of Dudley House shifted from undergraduates to graduates, and in the spring of 1991, Dudley House, the Graduate Student Center, became a reality. This came about due to a joint effort by GSC, GSAS deans, Dudley House Masters Paul Hanson and Cynthia Rosenberger Hanson, the Graduate Dormitory Council, and various GSAS support staff.

From 1991-1994, the GSC expanded its computer facilities, moving the Computer Room to its present location in the basement of Dudley House. The GSC's free laser printing facilities were relocated the Dudley House Library. Departmental participation increased to approximately 90%.

Under the leadership of Kathryn Welter, GSC President 1991-93, the GSC focused on working with GSAS administration to improve student services. In response to issues of safety, and with the support of Central Administration, the GSC in 1992 convinced the GSAS Deans to establish Home Run Shuttle, a service which provided transport to Somerville through 1999.

The Welter years also saw an increase in Travel and Research Grant funding to over $10,000 per year. During its annual meetings with President Rudenstine, the GSC advocated for the inclusion of travel, research, and dissertation completion grants in the University Capital Campaign. The GSC became an active member of the National Association of Graduate-Professional Students. By presenting the results of the 1992 GSC Childcare survey, it urged the GSAS administration to examine its services to GSAS student-parents.

From 1993-96, under the leadership of Carlos Lopez, teaching-in particular, how graduate students secure teaching fellow positions-took top priority in the GSC. As a result of several discussions at the Committee on Graduate Education, the Teaching Fellow Hiring Guidelines were adopted. In addition, the Teaching Fellow Referral Office was established.

Under Lopez the GSC continued its work on behalf of student parents. In cooperation with Dudley House, the Student Parent Brunches were begun, allowing parents to meet each other and discuss common issues at least once per term. Library privileges at Widener for G-4 students and above were expanded. The borrowing period was increased from one month to one term, the same borrowing privilege as for faculty.

Under Adam Fagen, president from 1996-98, the GSC expanded its efforts in the area of graduate student advising. After several discussions in the Council, 1997 saw the birth of the document on Graduate Student Life and Education. This document continued to be a priority for the Council in 1998-99 and was sent to the Committee on Graduate Education in the fall of 1998. The MBTA Semester Pass program, which provided a significant discount on subway and bus passes to students, was added to a growing list of graduate student services. The Council was also responsible for the 1997 adoption of a new policy allowing graduate students to register for language courses on a credit/no credit basis.

Carlos Lopez returned as president in 1998-99, and was succeeded by vice-president Ian Richmond for the 1999-2000 year. In 1999, the Council decided to diminish the social function of the GSC (now served by Dudley House) in order to allow the organization to better focus on graduate students administrative and academic concerns. A programming highlight during this period was the establishment of the GSC Excellence in Mentoring Award. This award is presented annually to outstanding faculty members across the University based on their nominations by graduate students. This initiative was singled out for special recognition in programming by the National Association of Graduate-Professional Students (NAGPS) in 1999. In 2000, the Council worked actively to promote the NAGPS National Doctoral Program Survey. This web-based survey will provide valuable information on student opinion of thousands of graduate departments across the country. Although the results are not available at press time, the number of Harvard students responding to the program appears to have been high.