Office of the Assemblies

Dear President Pollack,

Dear President Pollack,

I would like to convey to you the Graduate and Professional Student Assembly's Resolution 14: Consensual Relationships Policy Revisited.

This resolution was the final one passed by the GPSA this year, but not because it was the last topic introduced. The nature of a graduate or professional student's relationship with their supervisors is arguably the single most important factor in determining student success and is something that we think about often. Last year, we published a summary of "Best Practices" to help students and faculty start a conservation around evaluating their advising. Additionally, each year, we recognize outstanding faculty who go "above and beyond in their commitment to furthering their student's personal and professional agenda." A particularly complex issue surrounding graduate and professional students' relationships with the faculty is consensual sexual relationships. A policy exists in the faculty handbook, and although we generally agree with its spirit, we find that the policy is hard to implement in practice. This resolution represents further work of the GPSA to develop both more awareness of the problems surrounding these relationships as well as some possible solutions. 

Sincerely,

Nate Rogers, GPSA President