Dear Students,
Since my first day as your dean, I have prioritized the student academic experience with a sustained focus on advising. Last year as part of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences Strategic Planning process, I convened a working group of faculty tasked with recommending enhancements to the admissions and graduate educational processes, known as GSAS Admissions and Graduate Education, or GAGE. The result of our efforts is a final report, which outlines for FAS graduate programs robust recommendations on advising as well as for teaching, employment outcomes, institutional finances, equity, diversity, inclusion, and belonging, and admissions. I have shared this report with faculty in the FAS, and we will begin a phased implementation plan during the fall term.
While the GAGE report was commissioned by the FAS, the recommendations, particularly around advising, are relevant to all graduate programs and, in turn, each of you. Because several of our graduate programs are offered in partnership with other Harvard Schools, I have shared the report with leadership beyond the FAS as a guide for a student-centered approach to graduate education.
More details can be found online at gsas.harvard.edu/GAGE.
Ensuring a high-quality education and setting graduate students up for success are at the heart of the GAGE process. With collaboration across the entire University and a focus on impact, I am looking forward to turning our recommendations into action.
Emma Dench
Dean of the Harvard Kenneth C. Griffin Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
McLean Professor of Ancient and Modern History and of the Classics
