The Graduate Student Senate (GSS) serves as the official voice for graduate and professional students at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

The GSS is a student-run organization which serves as a liaison between graduate students and the administration. Each department may have at least one representative in the Senate. We help to ensure that policies at the university are created and maintained to best serve our graduate student population.
The Graduate Student Senate, or GSS, represents the interests of all graduate and professional students at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. As the official voice of graduate and professional students, the GSS provides the opinion of the graduate student body to administrators and works towards the betterment of the graduate and professional student experience on campus. In addition, the GSS has partnerships with various organizations and departments on campus to provide valuable programming for graduate and professional students, including Graduate and Professional Student Appreciation Week (GPSAW), GSS Travel Awards, providing funds to graduate and professional students traveling to conferences to present original work, and a GSS Awards Ceremony and Breakfast, recognizing outstanding graduate and professional students and the faculty and staff that support them.

The GSS participates in the establishment of policies and regulations relating to the graduate program, in consultation with and subject to the final approval of the Dean of the Graduate School and university officials. Furthermore, the GSS also makes recommendations to appropriate decision-making officers in matters concerning graduate and professional students.

Each academic department offering a graduate or professional degree elects their representation to serve in the senate; the GSS president and vice president are elected in annual elections. The voting membership of the GSS consists of the president and vice president plus representatives from each academic graduate program, the College of Law, and the College of Veterinary Medicine. In addition to internal strategic planning and legislative committees, GSS senators serve as representatives on various university-wide committees, including the Graduate Council.

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Best regards,
David Willis & Sue Choi