The Graduate Student Senate is the official voice of graduate and professional students across a wide range of disciplines at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. We serve over 8000 students that have chosen to continue their education for the purpose of extending the boundaries of human knowledge and improving the lives of people in the state of Tennessee, the nation, and the world. This body consists of student representatives from each academic department of the University that offers graduate or advanced professional degrees or graduate certificates.
The senator’s duties are to voice concerns and propose ideas to improve the graduate student experience. Our role in GSS is to advocate for all graduate/professional students and convey their views/priorities to the UT administration.
Serving in the Graduate Student Senate is both an amazing opportunity and a serious responsibility. We are obligated to represent our fellow constituents. It is our duty to serve as a liaison between the UT administration and the graduate student body. We hope to strategize with our fellow graduate student senators to identify common goals and implement plans to make our shared goals a reality.
GSS Events 2024-2025
GSS is collaborating with the Center for Student Engagement and MGSO to host events this spring semester! Visit the the events page for more info!
GSS Awards
Please take a moment to nominate grad students for these awards, which recognize their outstanding achievements along with faculty and staff support, and outstanding grad student orgs. Nominees will receive a certificate during GSS’s Appreciation Brunch on Monday, April 7 – the first day of Graduate and Professional Student Appreciation Week (GPSAW) which runs from April 7-11. Please visit our awards webpage for more information on the nomination process.
GSS Election
Information on how to apply for the President and Vice President roles are available on our election webpage now through March 27
Annual Report 2023-2024
The student leaders have compiled an annual report recording GSS accomplishments from this year and over the past few years. The report also looks at investments made by the university into graduate and professional students over the past few years.