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Guide to Graduate Policy

The Guide to Graduate Policy is a guide to acquaint Graduate Advisers with their role and to explain the policies and procedures that govern graduate work at Berkeley. Graduate Student Affairs Officers and graduate students will also find it useful.

Be sure to check Chapter N: Updates for the latest revisions to this guide and to update your office copy.

Graduate policy updates are also available on the Memos page.

Please use this guide in conjunction with the General Catalog. If you need further information about graduate study at Berkeley, please contact the appropriate unit of the Graduate Division.

Download the Guide to Graduate Policy:

Follow the links below to download the Guide to Graduate Policy, Appendices, and Updates. For Windows Internet Explorer browser users, "Right Click" with your mouse and choose "Save Target As" to save the Guide to your desktop or other easily accessible location.

Be sure to check Chapter N: Updates (below) for the latest revisions to this guide and to update your office copy.

• Download: Guide to Graduate Policy (1.1MB)
  
• Download: Chapter L: Appendices (660K)
  
• Download: Chapter N: Updates (23K)

Note: Chapter M: Selected Appendices, Graduate Adviser's Handbook has been combined with Chapter L above.

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Note: Please use this guide in conjunction with the General Catalog and with the Appendix to the Graduate Adviser's Handbook, which contains detailed policy statements issued by the Graduate Council and the Graduate Division. Please see your departmental Graduate Student Affairs Officer (GSAO) if you would like to consult the Appendix to the Graduate Adviser's Handbook.

Please contact the appropriate unit of the Graduate Division if you need further information about graduate study at Berkeley.

Graduate Council

The Graduate Council is a committee of the Academic Senate and consists of 12 faculty, plus three graduate students nominated by the Graduate Assembly. The Graduate Council oversees and assures the excellence of graduate education at Berkeley. The Dean of the Graduate Division is an ex officio voting member of the council and chairs its Administrative Committee.

The Graduate Council sets the policies and standards for graduate admission, fellowships, and degrees. The council reviews established degree programs and proposals for new fields of study or degrees; establishes qualifications for Graduate Student Instructors and Graduate Student Researchers; and responds to issues referred to it by the Dean, the Chancellor's Office, and by the Coordinating Committee on Graduate Affairs.

For more information on the Graduate Council and Academic Senate, visit the Academic Senate website.

The Graduate Division

As the administrative arm of the Graduate Council, the Graduate Division monitors the progress of almost 9,800 students enrolled in over 100 different graduate degree programs, from the time they are admitted to Berkeley until they complete their degrees.

Andrew Szeri, Dean of the Graduate Division, serves as an advocate for graduate education, teaching, and research at Berkeley. The Dean oversees all of the units in the Graduate Division. They include:

Graduate Admissions
Graduate Communications & Events
Graduate Deans Office
Graduate Degrees & Appointments
Graduate Fellowships
Graduate Financial Management
Graduate Human Resources & Business Support
Graduate Diversity Program
Graduate Student Instructor (GSI) Teaching & Resource Center
Graduate Systems &Technology

The Dean works closely with the Graduate Council in developing new policies and procedures related to graduate education and also with several other academic committees, departments, and administrative units to ensure equity and fairness across the different disciplines. Three associate deans assist the Dean.

For more information on the Graduate Division, click here.

Graduate Advisers

Graduate Advisers are faculty members who are responsible for the academic advising of graduate students. They are nominated by department chairs but appointed by the Dean of the Graduate Division, who acts on behalf of the Graduate Council.

Graduate Advisers are responsible for assisting students in selecting programs of study, acting on petitions for changing study lists, and maintaining records of their advisees. In addition, the Graduate Division recommends that Graduate Advisers and other faculty review the records of all graduate students in the department once a year and inform the Graduate Division, in writing, if a student is not making adequate progress toward a degree.

Graduate Advisers are official deputies of the Dean of the Graduate Division in matters affecting graduate students in their department. The signature of a Graduate Adviser is recognized as official on various Graduate Division forms and student petitions. Consequently, the relationship with the Graduate Division is a close one, involving a high degree of cooperation on both sides. The objectives of both are the same: to ensure the best possible selection of entering students and to guide continuing students in an orderly fashion through the various steps necessary for them to earn their degrees or certificates.

For more information on the role and duties of the Graduate Adviser, click here (PDF).

Graduate Student Affairs Officers (GSAOs)

Graduate Student Affairs Officers are departmental staff members who are responsible for the administrative advising of graduate students. For example, Graduate Student Affairs Officers remind students about registration and fellowship deadlines, stay abreast of requirements from the Graduate Division and University, and manage requisite administrative paperwork on behalf of the department and its graduate students.