Dear Richard:

I have received Graduate and Professional Student Assembly resolution 6, addressing Support for Advanced Graduate Students. Your attention to this topic is timely as we have launched several initiatives to address this specific concern. Cornell is an active leader in the national dialog on impact of extended degree times in certain disciplines, the challenges of funding long PhD programs, and the difficult job market that some graduates encounter.

The University’s aspiration is for all PhD students to be fully supported for the duration of their degree, dependent on appropriate academic progress towards the requirements of their degree program, through a combination of internal and external funding sources. While I’m encouraged by recent progress the university has made in this area, it’s also important to acknowledge that solving this problem must include reducing the excessively long time that some students remain in PhD programs.

As you note, beginning in the fall of 2014 the Graduate School implemented a new reduced tuition policy for students who are in their 6th or 7th years. I support your request for the Graduate School to collect data on use of this new option. I’ve asked Dean Knuth to add these data to the reports currently available to fields and student leaders and to offer a more detailed response to the other specific points raised in GPSA Resolution 6.

Thank you again for your efforts on behalf of Cornell graduate students.

Sincerely,

David Skorton