The College’s Board of Trustees approved a motion to establish a School of Graduate and Advanced Studies at a meeting in New York City today. The motion was approved by faculty in a November vote after being raised in a town hall event in October.The new school will streamline administrative oversight of the over 800 Ph.D., M.S. and M.A. students at the College, in addition to about 200 postdoctoral students. There is no plan to increase the number of graduate students, nor is any large reallocation of resources planned, Dean of Graduate Studies Jon Kull said.Kull described the decision to create a new graduate school as a bold signal, adding that the formation of a graduate school demonstrated the College’s commitment to supporting the research conducted by faculty.“Graduate students are already part of the Dartmouth community and they have been for a long time,” Kull said.Kull said that the new graduate school will provide institutional support for post-doctoral students, in addition to being ideally situated to support programs that traverse departments and schools.The new school will strengthen the College as a whole without compromising the College’s undergraduate focus, Kull said.“If you look at our peer groups, we’re compared to universities,” he said. “By acting like a university in this way, it will help us look like a stronger competitive institution among our peers.”
This story will be updated as more information becomes available.