Spring 2023 General Committee Call for Nominations

The Graduate School is currently seeking nominations to fill five upcoming vacancies on the General Committee, the administrative, legislative, and judicial board of the Graduate School. Vacancies include seats for faculty representing disciplines in the social sciences, life sciences, and physical sciences plus two ad-hoc members from any discipline.

The General Committee approves revisions to the Code of Legislation, approves appointments to the graduate faculty, and makes recommendations for new advanced degrees. Members of the General Committee represent the four disciplines (social sciences, life sciences, physical sciences, and arts and humanities), the leadership of the Graduate School, and the graduate student body. Faculty members serve for a four-year term and are elected by their peers every two years.

Please nominate yourself or send names of colleagues you think would be a good fit for this role to dean_gradschool@cornell.edu by Friday, March 3. Associate and full professors are preferred.  The time commitment is one two-hour meeting monthly during the academic year, plus review of materials in preparation for the meeting, with occasional ad-hoc or subcommittee work. The reward is making a difference in the policies that affect our graduate students and faculty.   

General Committee of the Graduate School 2022-23

• Dean Kathryn Boor, The Graduate School, 350 Caldwell Hall
• Associate Dean Jason Kahabka, The Graduate School, 372 Caldwell Hall
• Associate Dean Sara Xayarath Hernández, The Graduate School, 384 Caldwell Hall
• Associate Dean Colleen McLinn, The Graduate School, 150 Caldwell Hall

Graduate Student Members

• Georgia Smits, Statistics (2024)
• Nikola Danev, Genetics, Genomics, and Development (2023)

Members-at-Large

• Professor Joseph Yavitt, Natural Resources and the Environment (2023)
• Associate Professor Dave Lin, Biomedical Sciences (2023)
• Professor Jed Sparks, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology (2025)
• Professor R. Bruce van Dover, Materials Science and Engineering (2023)

Humanities

• Professor Eric Rebillard, Classics (2023)
• Professor Molly Diesing, Linguistics (2023)

Social Sciences

• Professor Ben Cornwell, Sociology (2023)
• Professor Sue Fussell, Communication and Information Science (2025) 

Life Sciences

• Professor Pat Johnson, Animal Science (2023)
• Professor Siu Sylvia Lee, Molecular Biology and Genetics (2025)

Physical Sciences

• Professor Jan Lammerding, Biomedical Engineering (2025)
• Professor David Shmoys, Operations Research and Information Engineering (2023)

General Committee Proposal Deadlines

Proposals for consideration of the General Committee are due by the 10th of each month. Within three business days, the Graduate School will determine on which month’s agenda the proposal can tentatively be reviewed by the General Committee and will communicate that to the proposer. Proposals will be reviewed by the Graduate School leadership and they will communicate any needed revisions.

Once proposals and all support materials are received in their final form, the proposal will be placed on the next available General Committee agenda. Placement on the agenda is dependent upon a number of factors, including complexity and the time needed to discuss and the number of other items already on the agenda. The completeness and quality of the proposal are important.

The General Committee is a body of representative faculty from all disciplines, Graduate School deans, and graduate students. Proposals undergo a rigorous review examining the quality of the program, competitiveness, attraction to students, and administrative oversight.

Proposal writers meet with the General Committee to provide an overview and answer questions about the proposal. Incomplete or poorly developed proposals may be returned to the proposer for further development. The General Committee meets monthly during the academic year.

Proposals should be submitted to dean_gradschool@cornell.edu with a copy to Kelly Tillotson at klt8@cornell.edu.