If you are a member of a Graduate Group you are in a unique program. Initially formed to combine the talents and skills of faculty and students from a variety of broad areas in order to offer specialties in an interdepartmental subject, graduate groups have grown in size and importance. Approximately 40 majors are governed by graduate groups. While a department has a physically permanent home, a group usually operates from the department in which the current chair is housed and as such its actual location may move around. The following information may help you find your way in graduate groups, and give you some hints on how to take advantage of this unique organization.

The chair of a graduate group is responsible for overseeing the operation of the group and is your contact when your adviser or the staff are unable to help you. Support staff serve as invaluable sources of information regarding your files, course work, progress and the services available to you, and for contacting the chair and adviser. Staff are often housed in a department not necessarily the same as that of the chair so it may take some searching to find the right person to help you. To find out who is the graduate support staff person for your group, look in the Program Directory and select the name of your group. The chair, advisers, and staff are listed.

As a graduate group member you are eligible for departmental sources of funding, including TA-ships and RA-ships. You can be appointed to one of these positions by a department or program within your group for which you have the appropriate skill and training. Sometimes these opportunities are not well advertised. Your best solution to this problem is to be diligent in learning about student support. For information, ask the staff person in your group, the adviser or the chair. Then go to the department in which you are interested in seeking an appointment. Teaching Assistant announcements are now centrally posted. Graduate Studies maintains a binder with these announcements in its reception area and the Graduate Student Association has a bulletin board by its offices in 253 South Silo Building where these announcements are posted.