N. Graduate Representative Council

GRC Mission

The Graduate Student Representative Council (hereafter 鈥淕RC鈥) was established in the spring semester of the 2001-2002 school year through agreement between the faculty and the graduate students in the Department of Psychology at 花季传媒. The GRC was thus created to subsume the graduate student representative roles on faculty committees and to focus on improving communication links between the administration, faculty, and students. The GRC is made up of graduate students elected (hereafter 鈥渕embers鈥) by the existing graduate students (hereafter 鈥渟tudents鈥) within the department of psychology. Beyond responsibilities to serve as a voice of the students and act as a conduit between the faculty and the students, the GRC serves to help resolve issues raised among students and advocate on behalf of the students to ensure the student experience is marked by equal treatment, respect, and dignity.

GRC Membership Designations

In addition to the general duties of representing the students, each member will be elected to serve in a specific position. Each member position, brief requirements of the position (i.e., 鈥渆xperimental鈥 indicates the member must be within the experimental section of the department, and 鈥渃linical鈥 indicates the member must be within the clinical section of the department), the description of the general role and obligations are stated below. All members should contact the faculty member in charge of their committee before the beginning of the fall semester to be included in meetings.

  1. President (1): Facilitate GRC meeting discussions; facilitate the occasional Town Hall meeting for current students; organize annual GRC election; additional duties outlined within the by-laws.

    The president will reassign graduate student offices and assign offices for new graduate students by August 1st. A preference survey should be sent at least 1 month prior, and students in the department longer should be given higher priority.

  2. Vice President (1: Prepare minutes of GRC meetings; support the president; serve president's duties in their absence.

    The Vice President will send the election results to the Department Chair and the Section Directors (Experimental and Clinical) as soon as the election results are finalized.

  3. Department Faculty Meeting Representatives (1 Clinical and 1 Experimental):

    A single clinical and experimental student will each attend department faculty meetings to carry out the following duties:

    The faculty representatives should expect to attend every faculty meeting. At the meeting, faculty representatives take notes regarding every topic discussed in the meeting. The faculty representatives should communicate to the GRC what was discussed at any faculty meeting that has occurred since the most recent GRC meeting. The Vice President of GRC will take notes on what the faculty representatives report. The President or Vice President of GRC may ask the faculty representative for a copy of their notes for informational purposes. The faculty representatives will also communicate with all clinical and/or experimental graduate students about issues discussed at faculty meetings that are relevant to students. Each section鈥檚 faculty representative is also responsible for coordinating student mentors for first-year students in their respective sections.

    Additionally, the faculty representatives should be prepared to provide feedback to the faculty when needed. A role of the faculty representatives is to provide the graduate student perspective in faculty meetings. Therefore, the representatives should speak up about any topic relevant to graduate student interests. Last, the faculty representatives should bring up important informational topics relevant to graduate students to the department chair when necessary. The department chair will then put the faculty representatives on the faculty meeting agenda, and the faculty representatives should be prepared to present during the meeting. Examples of informational items faculty representatives may place on the agenda: presenting a new online methodology technique to faculty or presenting a recent project relevant to graduate students, such as a new file documenting graduate student course progress. If another student would like to present an informational item to the faculty, the student can ask one or both faculty representatives to work with the department chair to add the presentation item to the faculty meeting agenda.

  4. Section Committee Meeting Representatives (1 Clinical and 1 Experimental):

    A single clinical and experimental student will each serve on the respective faculty section committee to carry out the following duties:

    Attend clinical/experimental faculty section meetings during the academic year to provide a student perspective when necessary, gather and present student concerns and input, vote on graduate student-related policies on behalf of the clinical/experimental student body, and provide summaries of relevant topics of discussion to the clinical/experimental graduate students after each meeting. The representatives will also provide updates from the clinical/experimental sections in GRC meetings and represent clinical/experimental graduate students in GRC affairs.

    The experimental representative will also solicit feedback from those who take comprehensive exams within the given academic year in an effort to communicate any concerns and information to relevant faculty.

  5. Policy, Planning and Administration Representatives (1 Clinical and 1 Experimental): Attend meetings headed by department chair in which potential new policies are discussed. These meetings are typically held twice per month. The member is expected to represent student opinions/concerns at the meeting, ask the PPA committee for a chance to elicit student opinions, report findings back to the committee, and report on content of PPA meetings to the GRC.
  6. Diversity, Inclusion, and Social Justice Committee (1 Clinical and 1 Experimental): This committee functions to advance a diverse faculty and student body; provide faculty and students with training regarding diversity, inclusion, and social justice issues; promote research and teaching related to diversity, inclusion, and social justice; and promote a psychologically safe and inclusive organizational climate. One representative from each section will serve on this committee. Representatives will attend committee meetings and report back to the GRC.
  7. Curriculum, Scholarship, and Awards Committee Representative (1): Attend meetings to determine undergraduate scholarships/awards and future changes to undergraduate curriculum.
  8. Clinical Advisory and Internship Committee (1 Clinical): Attend periodic confidential meetings in which the clinic director seeks feedback regarding clinic-related issues/policies. Further, this representative will oversee placement of students in internships; thus, the student role includes helping to review internship materials (i.e., CV, APPIC form, sample cover letters or letters, statement of progress, a list of prospective internship sites, personal essays) and provide advice about the accuracy and appropriateness of the materials. Last, this representative will solicit feedback from those that take comprehensive exams within the given academic year to relay any concerns and information to relevant faculty.
  9. Graduate Student Senate Representative (1): Attend meetings of the Senate to discuss/pass resolutions on issues affecting all graduate students; provide voice for department concerns and perspectives; serve on advisory committees as appointed by the Senate and University President. The GRC member of GSS is the Psychology Department Representative. GSS members may also be expected to serve on other GSS committees.
  10. Grants Committee (1 Clinical and 1 Experimental): Review Graduate Student Senate Original Work Grant submissions. Apply to be a grant reviewer when the email comes from GSS. Attend all grant committee meetings and review grants as instructed by GSS. Attend a grants subcommittee and a full committee meeting each semester.
  11. Ohio Psychological Association & American Psychological Association (1 Clinical): Attend meetings and promote OPA/APA and encourage student involvement in OPA/APA. This may include distributing information about grants, conferences, and other opportunities distributed through OPAGS/APAGS and encouraging student involvement in the regional and national conferences.

  12. Advising Center Liaison (non-elected member; appointed by the Advising Center Staff): Serve as the representative to inform the GRC on activities relevant to graduate students and elicit feedback.

    If the advising center is unwilling to have a grad student come to meetings or no grad student is able to attend, the Advising Center will be asked to write a list of any changes and updates each month, sent to the Pres and VP of GRC before the GRC monthly meeting.

  13. Faculty Search Committee Liaison (non-elected member; appointed by the Search Committee Chair): Serve as the representative to inform the GRC on activities regarding current faculty searches and elicit feedback.
  14. Ad Hoc Committees (non-elected member; appointed by the Faculty Committee): Serve as the representative(s) on any faculty committee as necessary to inform the GRC on activities and elicit feedback as they pertain to the duties of the committee in question.
  15. Mentoring Representative: manage graduate student mentoring, help out the Advising center with the undergraduate student mentoring program.
  16. Media Representative: Communicates the highlights of the meeting (each member will need to send the top 3 notes from their committee). After approval from the GRC VP, the Media Rep will send via email a flier with the top highlights of the meeting to the whole graduate student body.
  17. Treasurer: Look into making GRC an official 花季传媒 Student Org, and subsequently obtain and manage funding.