Administration & Governance

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The Conservation Sciences Graduate Program (CS) is administered by the Department of Fisheries, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology (FWCB) in the College of Food, Agricultural, and Natural Resource Sciences (CFANS). The College provides funds for graduate student fellowship support, a small salary supplement to the Director of Graduate Studies (DGS), and a part-time Graduate Program Coordinator who lends support to faculty as well as current and prospective students. Additional administrative support is provided by staff in FWCB.

Graduate Faculty

New graduate faculty may be added to the program by nomination from any CS faculty member. Nominees must be approved by the existing graduate faculty of the CS Program and the CFANS Associate Dean for Research and Education. New faculty are expected to contribute to the program by: teaching in CS courses, advising CS students, serving on graduate student examining and student advisory committees, or serving in the governance of the program. Each faculty member is expected to contribute to at least two of these categories during each five-year period to remain active. To ensure an involved, active faculty, graduate faculty will be asked to provide a self-assessment of their interests and involvement in the program once every five years. Based on this assessment and the recommendation of the DGS, the Advisory Committee will vote on the assessment and recommendation to retain members who so desire for an additional five years.

The graduate faculty has primary responsibility for the administration of the program through meetings held at least once a semester called by the DGS. Decisions are made by majority vote of those voting. Votes for DGS, Advisory Committee Members, and major program changes will be done by email or online. Faculty will be given at least one week to cast their vote.

Director of Graduate Studies (DGS)

The DGS serves for three years. An individual may serve at most two consecutive terms as DGS. Any program faculty member can nominate a candidate for DGS, but the Advisory Committee will be responsible for ensuring that a suitable candidate is nominated. The full Conservation Sciences faculty will vote to elect the DGS, who is then appointed by the CFANS Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Education. In the event that the DGS must step down because of illness, sabbatical leave, or other unforeseen circumstances, the Advisory Committee may appoint an interim DGS who may serve for up to one year.

The DGS shall be responsible for calling faculty meetings at least once a semester. Meetings will be called with at least two weeks notice. The DGS is responsible for communicating all program issues to the tracks. In addition, the DGS is responsible for promoting the entire CS Program and the Tracks. The DGS shall chair the Advisory Committee and will be responsible for the daily administration of the CS program. The DGS reports to the CFANS Associate Dean for Research and is expected to attend the meetings of the CFANS Graduate and Research Policy and Review Committee.

Advisory Committee

The Advisory Committee shall be comprised of three members of the CS Graduate Faculty. The DGS will chair the Advisory Committee and will be an ex-officio member (with voting rights). The Duties of the Advisory Committee are to represent the needs of the Tracks within the CS program, provide oversight on the content of the core curriculum, form ad hoc committees as needed, make recommendations for fellowships, bring significant issues to the faculty-at-large for action, make policy decisions between faculty meetings, participate in other governance issues including grievances, and advise the DGS when requested.

Advisory Committee members are elected to two-year terms. Nominations for Advisory Committee members may come from track faculty, individual faculty members, and the Advisory Committee; the Advisory Committee will be responsible for ensuring that a suitable candidate is nominated. Elections to fill vacancies in the committee will be held at the end of Spring semester. In the event that a member of the Advisory Committee must step down because of illness, sabbatical leave, or other unforeseen circumstances, the Advisory Committee may appoint an interim member who may serve until the end of that academic year.