University President Drew G. Faust and Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Dean Allan M. Brandt fielded student questions and concerns at a town hall-style meeting in the Dudley House common room yesterday. 

During the meeting sponsored by the Graduate Student Council, the administrators spoke about the past, present, and future of graduate education.

“This is a critical time for the graduate school, the University, how we think about education, and the role it plays in our society and the larger global economy and world,” Brandt said.

Faust acknowledged, however, that the expected 30 percent decrease in the University’s endowment would be difficult to accommodate and that administrators have not established a time frame for working toward fulfilling certain commitments, such as financial assistance for parents.

“We’re just trying to figure out how to sustain the core parts of our programs,” Faust said. “I’m delighted that we were able to increase stipends for graduate students, but we’re going to have to monitor very closely the changes we have to make.”

In addition, Faust touched upon the University’s year-old Common Space Initiative, which aims to increase the number of venues where both formal and informal gatherings can take place.

She noted that the group had been meeting regularly and had come up with “many very exciting ideas,” such as revamping the Holyoke Center, which she said is “very underused.”

She also assured the GSAS student audience that Dudley House could only be positively affected by the initiative.

Brandt also spoke about the need to improve the culture of mentoring within GSAS.

“We really need to talk as a community of students about how to get what you need,” Brandt said, adding that students who come to Harvard to pursue graduate studies should not feel obligated to work towards a Ph.D.
GSAS students said they were glad to have the chance to hear from Faust directly and are optimistic about GSAS’s relationship with University-level administrators.

“I think it was a very good opportunity and is the beginning of a bigger conversation between GSAS and President Faust,” said Zsuzsanna B. Magyar, a second-year regional studies in East Asia student.
 
Faust briefly touched upon the presence of international students at GSAS, emphasizing that the “value of international students at GSAS to GSAS and the University is enormous.”

—Staff writer Marianna N. Tishchenko can be reached mtishch@fas.harvard.edu.