Organizational Structure

Organizational Structure

Cornell was one of the first institutions of higher education in the United States to offer advanced degrees, which were part of the Cornell curriculum since the University's founding in 1865. Today, the Graduate School administers and awards all graduate degrees except the JD, LLM, DVM, and MD. 

Governance

Our governing body is called the General Committee, and our "by laws" are described in the Code of Legislation.  The General Committee is the administrative, legislative, and judicial board of the Graduate School and includes two graduate students and twelve faculty members representing the four disciplines:  arts & humanities, engineering & physical sciences, life sciences, and social sciences.  It approves revisions to the Code of Legislation, approves appointments to the graduate faculty, and makes recommendations to establish new advanced degrees.

The Cornell system of graduate education is organized around two key elements:  graduate fields and the Special Committee system for guiding graduate study.

Both of these foundational elements of graduate education at Cornell represent a belief and tradition grounded in academic freedom that continues to attract outstanding graduate students to Cornell.  And, both encourage students to work across disciplines – a real strength of a Cornell graduate education, given the need for multidisciplinary expertise to address current and emerging societal challenges.

Graduate and Professional Student Assembly (GPSA)

Beyond the Graduate School, Cornell University has developed a system of campus governance that involves all members of the campus community in making decisions that impact life at the University.  Graduate and professional students are represented by the Graduate and Professional Student Assembly (GPSA).

The GPSA brings together Cornell’s nearly 6000 graduate and professional students to address non-academic issues of common concern and to work with the University administration.  The Graduate School Dean and Assistant Dean for Student Life meet regularly with the GPSA leadership to address areas of concern and improvement.

The Field System

The field system shapes graduate education at Cornell and distinguishes the Graduate School's from many other universities' models of graduate education. Graduate fields are voluntary groupings of members of the graduate faculty who have academic interests in common and who wish to exercise shared responsibility for an area of inquiry and for the admission, education, and, as appropriate, financial support of graduate students.  By design, fields of study are truly cross-disciplinary and integrative as faculty from different departments, colleges, disciplines, and campuses can come together to form a field.

Director of Graduate Studies(DGS) and Graduate Field Assistants (GFAs)

Each field has a faculty member who serves as the director of graduate studies, and a staff member who serves as a graduate field assistant.  These people are important resources for both faculty and students.

The maintenance of academic quality resides primarily with graduate field faculty and directors of graduate study, working through the Special Committee—the group of faculty providing primary advisement and academic oversight for each graduate student.

Special Committee System

Students pick faculty members from among the many graduate fields to form a "Special Committee."  Members of the Special Committee decide what is required for a student to attain a Cornell graduate degree.  The choice of multiple disciplines, and the focus of the course work and research is really tailored to the needs and interest of each student. 

The Special Committee is responsible for helping the student develop his or her research and academic program.  The Special Committee ensures the student makes appropriate progress and serves as final arbiter on most elements of a student's graduate education, including setting requirements for graduation. 

Some fields have identified field-wide expectations, such as requiring certain courses, requiring public presentations of the research results, gaining teaching experience, or passing a qualifying exam – but for the most part, the design of each student's graduate program is heavily influenced by the guidance given by the Special Committee and the decisions it makes.

Special Committee members play an important mentoring role for students, paying attention to the student's academic, professional, and personal success.  Studies show that students with solid mentoring relationships are more productive, more involved in their fields, more satisfied with their programs, and have greater success landing the jobs they want than students who lack these relationships. 

This is a very individualized approach to graduate education – and provides a great deal of freedom, but also implies responsibility on the part of the student and on the part of the faculty.