The Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences annually appoints seven FAS faculty members to serve on the university-wide Faculty Advisory Council. They include three professors from the humanities, two from the social sciences, and two from the natural sciences and are charged with representing the interests of the FAS in relation to the libraries. The seven FAS faculty members who sit on the Council, joined by two annually appointed undergraduates and two annually appointed graduate students, also meet regularly as the Standing Committee on the Library to provide advice in overseeing the many libraries that had evolved to become parts of the entity traditionally known as the Harvard College Library. The chair of the committee will be appointed annually by the Dean of the FAS from among the seven faculty members of the committee. The primary duties of the Standing Committee on the Library will be to gather information about the affairs of those libraries, to discuss their problems and possibilities, and to advise the dean as to the most effective policies for their administration.

Lee Kennedy-Shaffer, Biostatistics, lee_kennedyshaffer@g.harvard.edu 

The FAS Commission of Inquiry is a panel of three members of the Faculty and two students that serves as a clearing house for inquiries, suggestions, or complaints brought to it by members of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences or of its student bodies concerning matters of fact and policy within the purview of the Faculty.  The Commission is not charged with the responsibility of resolving substantive issues, but is responsible for expediting the resolution of problems submitted to it, by assuring that they are brought to the attention of, and in due course dealt with by, the appropriate agencies of the University.  The Commission may stimulate the creation by the Faculty or Faculty Council of ad hoc arrangements for dealing with questions that fall outside the mandate of existing mechanisms, and seek through the Faculty Council appropriate means of addressing problems which fall outside the purview of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences.

 

Faculty legislation dictates that the Faculty Council selects the Commission's student members from among the student members of the Committees on Undergraduate Education, Graduate Education, and Student Life. 

Blakely O'Connor, SEAS - Engineering Sciences (Bioengineering) blakely@seas.harvard.edu

The Committee on Graduate Education is responsible for considering all matters concerning graduate education that might come before the Faculty Council or the full Faculty of Arts and Sciences and for advising the Dean of the Faculty and the Deans of the Graduate School on matters pertaining to graduate education.

Matheus Fernandes, SEAS, fernandes@g.harvard.edu

Tara Nicola, Harvard Graduate School of Education, tara_nicola@g.harvard.edu

Henry Shackleton, Physics, hshackleton@g.harvard.edu

Paul Tylkin, SEAS - Computer Science, ptylkin@g.harvard.edu

Blakely O'Connor, GSC President Ex Officio, SEAS - Bioengineering, gscpresident@fas.harvard.edu

Chaired by the GSC Parliamentarian.

Jason Anesini, Chemistry and Chemical Biology, jaa353@g.harvard.edu

Kristen Hunter, Statistics, khunter@g.harvard.edu

GSC internal committee that determines the funding allocation (amount and who gets funded) for registered Graduate Student Groups and Departmental Graduate Student Organizations. Chaired by the Treasurer (gsctreasurer@fas.harvard.edu) with a minimum of five student members. 

Kevin Hong, Human Evolutionary Biology, ze_hong@g.harvard.edu

Julie Edelstein, South Asian Studies, jaedelstein@g.harvard.edu

Jack Kosmicki, Bioinformatics and Integrative Genomics, jkosmicki@fas.harvard.edu

Anne Ratnoff, Romance Languages, aratnoff@g.harvard.edu

Gaurav Luthria, Biomedical Informatics, gluthria@g.harvard.edu

Student Leadership Banquet Subcommittee:

Austin Manny (Co-Chair) austinmanny@g.harvard.edu

Linda Mueller (Co-Chair) lindamariemueller@g.harvard.edu

**Seeking 8 additional subcommittee members

HGC is the official student government for the twelve graduate and professional schools of Harvard University. The organization’s primary goals are to:

• Develop a strong graduate community by creating opportunities for students to interact
• Address issues and concerns by working with administration, faculty, and organizations
• Improve quality of life of Harvard Graduate students.

Interested? Contact the President (PresidentHarvardGSC@gmail.com)

Harvard College Safety Committee: GSAS Chair is Jackie Yun. The Harvard College Safety Committee was formed in response to a need for a venue in which students and staff could discuss issues related to safety at Harvard. The Committee includes undergraduate students, residential life staff, deans and administrators, as well as Harvard community representatives, including among others, University Police, the Office of Sexual Assault Prevention and Response, Women’s Center, Residential and Building Operations, Transportation Services, Community and Public Affairs, and representatives from the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and the Graduate Student Council. The Committee works to identify ways to improve safety on the Cambridge and Allston campuses. By identifying current student practices and responding to students’ requests, the Committee makes recommendations for policy changes and infrastructure modifications, including pathways, lighting, transportation, and communication devices. The Committee conducts safety campaigns throughout the year to educate students on the steps they can take to ensure their personal safety as well as the communities in which they live. Working with the City of Cambridge and Harvard’s physical resources departments, the Committee identifies areas on campus and within the City that could be improved.

Vinh Nguyen, Education, Education Policy & Program Evaluation, vinh_nguyen@fas.harvard.edu

Hans Pech, Germanic Languages and Literatures, hanspech@fas.harvard.edu

The Student Health Planning Committee (SHPC) was established by former Provost Steven Hyman in 2003 to review the structure of and benefits provided through the Harvard University Student Health Insurance Program (HUSHP). Nancy Turnbull from the School of Public Health has served as Chair of the Committee since that time; other members include deans of students, students, HUHS staff and a representative of Student Financial Services. On an annual basis, the committee reviews any issues the members have identified with respect to the plan, as well as plan performance (utilization and cost data), and regulatory changes impacting HUHS and student health plans. With this information in mind, the committee develops recommendations on changes to benefits, cost sharing, eligibility, plan policies, pricing and administrative functions. The overarching goal is that the plan offer an appropriate scope of benefits for students, at an acceptable level of cost and within a plan design that helps to moderate future cost increases. 

HUSHP information: hushp.harvard.edu

HUHS information: huhs.harvard.edu

Membership and role of Members: The deans of students represent their own schools and students as well as the CODOS overall, soliciting input and bringing back information as appropriate to those groups.The students represent the student councils they have been selected from and also agree to solicit input and bring back information to those councils. Typically a student with relevant work experience is also chosen to serve; they do not represent a group of students but provide valuable input, based on their experience.

The GSC President sits on the SHPC ex officio. Additional student members are welcome and should email gscpresident@fas.harvard.edu for more information.

The Student IT Advisory Board is made up of GSAS and College students, IT staff and administrators with the goal of providing student input into decisions impacting their technical environment and facilitating student technical contributions. This committee meets twice per semester and includes 2-3 student representatives from GSAS.  The schedule is such that we meet the first Friday after Study Card day and the first Friday before reading period at noon with lunch provided. Members are expected to attend meetings and also be someone we can reach out to with questions related to GSAS student use of IT services.   They also help us coordinate a student outreach event (to discuss IT issues of concern to students) in Dudley house once or twice per year. There are no requirements for technical skill. In fact, it is good to have a student without special technical skills, as they will be representing the typical GSAS IT user.

Kadeem Gilbert, Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, kgilbert@g.harvard.edu

University Committee on Rights and Responsibilities -- In June 1970, while recognizing that responsibility for student discipline should remain with the Faculties, the University Committee on Governance recommended to the Governing Boards the creation of a University Committee on Rights and Responsibilities to serve as an advisory body and a forum for the consideration of University-wide (or cross-Faculty) policy problems related to discipline and, in certain situations, to coordinate disciplinary actions.  Membership on the Committee includes members and students from all Faculties, drawn, wherever possible, from the Administrative Boards or such other faculty committees dealing with cases involving rights and responsibilities.

Zachary Hayworth, Germanic Languages and Literatures, zhayworth@g.harvard.edu