Graduate Education Governance

The decision to exit the dual-campus (with CU Anschutz) Graduate School in 2022 was intended to help CU Denver be more self-reliant, resource-efficient, and compliant with practices, policies, and laws that warrant cross-campus consistency. This change also better houses key functional experts within CU Denver service units with complementary fields of expertise, and positions the university for smart growth and stronger support for graduate education. CU Denver’s evolved approach for graduate education administration is consistent with that of many U.S. universities.

Leadership at CU Denver and CU Anschutz were consulted prior to the decision to change the CU Denver model. The decision was communicated to the full campus community in February 2022, though in retrospect additional community outreach and dialogue about the change at that time may have preempted some questions that have persisted since the transition.

The Graduate Council is composed of a representative body of graduate faculty that advises the provost on matters related to the development, coordination and evaluation of graduate programs, policies, and procedures. Additionally, the Graduate Council discusses issues related to graduate student life, student support, and other noncurricular matters pertaining to the life and welfare of graduate students. One such recent example is the creation of a Graduate Awards ceremony, which will elevate and celebrate the work graduate students and faculty are doing.

Its role, like that of similar bodies composed predominantly of faculty (such as the University Curriculum Committee), is advisory to the provost, rather than one of final-decision-making. The Graduate Council’s current and future scope is the same as that which prevailed when CU Denver was embedded in the Graduate School (before 2022).

The Graduate Council currently operates under premises aligned with those described in the Graduate Policies and Procedures manual, with practical adaptations based on the structural changes initiated in 2022. A general description of the Graduate Council can be found in Article I, Section 3a of the current manual version.

We are keenly aware that we need to update documentation and communication related to our Graduate Council and other elements of our graduate education structure, and that work is ongoing as a priority. Significantly, the Graduate Policies and Procedures manual that governs many graduate education operations is being updated in 2024 by the Graduate Council, based on existing precedents and on appropriate reflection of changes required by the evolved structure of graduate education. The Council’s review will incorporate faculty perspectives as it revises it in the coming months and submits a new version for Provost approval in late 2024.

The Graduate Council does not have any standing subcommittees. However, ad hoc, time-bound committees may be designated as appropriate on selected topics to support the Council’s work. One such subcommittee was recently formed to craft a chart/document delineating centralized graduate administration responsibilities from those managed at the program, school, or college levels.

The selection process for Graduate Council members is in accordance with policies of each school and college. In some units, deans appoint members; in others, an election process determines representation. However, membership on the Graduate Council is reserved for the subset of faculty members who are identified within each primary unit as having the requisite academic and research qualifications to teach at the graduate level and mentor graduate students.

All Graduate Council voting members are faculty members who have met graduate faculty eligibility criteria and have been elected or appointed to serve on the Graduate Council. The chair is currently Professor Michael Kocet, who provides administrative service to the Council. In addition to his role as assistant vice chancellor of graduate education, he is also a professor of counseling in the School of Education & Human Development. Voting status on the Graduate Council requires that one be a graduate faculty member; the registrar currently serves on the council in an ex officio role to provide subject-specific guidance and context. IRC faculty who qualify as graduate faculty in their respective primary units may be eligible for service on the Council, if selected or elected in the relevant academic unit.

Members include:

• Michael Kocet (chair, non-voting, ex-officio), assistant vice chancellor for graduate education
• Laura Argys, Professor and associate dean, CLAS
• Franci Crepeau-Hobson, training director and professor, SEHD
• Deserai Crow, director PhD program, SPA
• Mary Dodge, professor, SPA
• Guoying Dong, assistant professor, engineering, CEDC
• Courtney Donovan, clinical associate professor, SEHD
• Todd Ely, associate professor and program director, SPA
• Katherine Gunny, professor, Business School
• Connie Fulmer, professor, SEHD
• Emily Gibson, associate professor, CEDC
• Catalin Grigoras, associate professor, CAM; director of the National Center for Media Forensics
• Bassem Hassan, associate professor, CLAS
• Jeffrey Jacot, associate professor, CEDC
• Arunprakash Karunanithi, associate professor, CEDC
• Jeffrey Knight, professor and associate chair, CLAS
• Joern Langhorst, associate professor, CAP
• Tim Lei, associate professor, CEDC
• Lara Medley, (non-voting, ex-officio) assistant vice chancellor and university registrar
• Gillian Silverman, associate professor and graduate director, CLAS
• Keith Teeter, associate director for research, learning, and user services, Auraria Library

Graduate Council members serve three-year terms.

As noted above, the Graduate Council’s voting membership is comprised entirely of graduate faculty, who constitute the subset of individuals who may bring forward proposals for new graduate or certificate programs to the Council. Proposals for new graduate or certificate programs must first receive the appropriate dean's signature before the Graduate Council can review them and make recommendations to the provost, who is designated by the chancellor as the chief academic official responsible for graduate education decision-making.

Representatives of each college/school (including deans and/or faculty, depending on that unit’s bylaws) are responsible for identifying graduate faculty and for electing or appointing Graduate Council members from among the identified cohort of graduate faculty. Each Council member shall be presumed to reflect the interests of their school, college, or primary unit.

Graduate programming is proposed, developed, and implemented by graduate faculty within academic primary units. The Graduate Council’s role is to hear school and college proposals for new graduate programs and certificates, provide a campus-level review to ensure programs and credentials meet faculty-developed standards, and address considerations such as program distinctiveness, accreditation, campus strategy, and cross-disciplinary collaboration. These determinations are simply advisory to the provost, whereas primary decisions related to programming reside with deans, who collaborate with chairs and faculty to understand, vet, put forward, and advocate for graduate programs that are seeking Board of Regents approval.

While as previously noted the Graduate Policies and Procedures manual will soon be revised, prevailing guidance on policies and processes is reflected in Article II of the manual. The manual revision process will incorporate faculty Graduate Council member perspectives as they prepare an updated version for Provost approval, ideally by early fall semester.