Graduate Council

What is the Graduate Council?

The Graduate Council is a governing body that supervises all graduate studies at Southeast. Under the leadership of the Provost, the council has primary responsibility for initiating, reviewing, and coordinating policies which affect graduate education. This council is composed of both faculty and student representatives. While the council has a primary leadership function, the responsibility for the design and modification of graduate programs rests with the departments.

Council Membership

As representatives of the graduate faculty, members are expected to have sufficient knowledge of graduate studies to enable them to protect the autonomy of department offerings and provide responsible self-government within University-wide policies and procedures in graduate studies. Members must be regular appointees to the graduate faculty and be elected by the graduate faculty in their respective college/school to serve terms of three years.

Membership on the council is composed as follows:

Designated Liaison Officers
The Provost and the chairperson of the Academic Affairs Committee of the Faculty Senate.
Graduate Student Representatives
Graduate students are eligible to serve as representatives within the Graduate Council and must be invited to serve from nominations by members of the Graduate Council.
Faculty Representatives
Two faculty members from each college/school are elected by the graduate faculties of the respective colleges for three-year terms within the council.
Additionally, any college/school accounting for more than twenty-five percent of the total graduate credit hours produced during the preceding calendar year will be entitled to elect two additional representatives to the Graduate Council.
The Graduate Council will be chaired by the Provost and will elect a vice chairperson annually.