WHEREAS, The University of Pennsylvania recently restructured its tuition system and put a cap of 10 years on graduate degrees before readmittance is required; and

WHEREAS, the School of Arts and Sciences is invested in minimizing the time-to-degree; and

WHEREAS, the Provost’s Office states “feedback [on Candidacy Examinations] will be provided to the student within one month;” and

WHEREAS, the Dean’s Task Force on Faculty Responsibility established “that it is unreasonable … for graduate students to wait longer than six weeks for the return of chapters and dissertations;” and

WHEREAS, students should know the expectations of their programs in order to complete their degrees in a timely fashion; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, That students should know at least 30 days in advance the day and time of their exams; and

RESOLVED, That students receive feedback on all work within 6 weeks; and

RESOLVED, That programs offer required courses often enough for students to take them during their years of coursework; and be it further

RESOLVED, That program requirements should be published clearly in a handbook or on the program’s website.

Passed unanimously by the SASgov General Body on May 4, 2010.

Due to the return of Phi Gamma Delta to 3619 Locust Walk, SASgov has now moved operations to the graduate student suite in Houston Hall.  Happy hours will also be held in Houston Hall from now on.  Check the events calendar for details about specific events.

Please visit the Events Calendar for information on General Body Meetings, Happy Hours and other events.  Be sure to check back often for new events and changes.

The new executive board has been elected for 2009-10:

-Deirdre Loughridge, President
-Bryan Chen, VP Finance
-Suzanne Bratt, VP Communications
-Arthur Jones, VP Administration and Policy
-Raleigh Martin, VP Public Affairs

The position of VP for Social remains open.  Please contact sasgov-paffairs@sas.upenn.edu to run for this position!

WHEREAS, the twelve graduate student governments of the University of Pennsylvania have traditionally enjoyed freedom from budgetary oversight, and

WHEREAS, SASgov, the graduate student government of the School of Arts and Sciences, values such freedom, and

WHEREAS, it is unprecedented for school governments to report to GAPSA, and

WHEREAS, the proposed GAPSA constitutional amendment states in Article VIII, A:

4.  GAPSA shall provide an appropriation to each school’s student government(s) for the purpose of funding school-wide government activity, school-based student groups, and academic and social programming.

a. Each school will be required to submit annual budget information and updates to GAPSA at the request of the Vice Chair for Finance.

Therefore, be it

RESOLVED, that SASgov is opposed to the aforementioned constitutional amendment and urges GAPSA to reject it or any amendment of a similar spirit.

Passed unanimously by the SASgov General Body on March 24, 2009