The Graduate Quality of University Experience (G-QUE), a joint project of the Council of Graduate Students and the Graduate School, kicked off Thursday in the Oval by University Hall. The purpose of G-QUE is to allow the Ohio State community to “know better the state of graduate students on campus and to improve their situation,” said J.B. Lawton, chair of the legislative affairs committee of the council. “We would like to make [the graduate student’s] experience [on campus] more hospitable,” said Susan Huntington, dean of the graduate school.The idea of G-QUE was conceived a little over a year ago when the Committee on the Undergraduate Experience (CUE) presented its report on the state of services available to the undergraduate student body at OSU, said Kathleen Carberry, president of the council. “We thought the same evaluation of the graduate experience was needed after we saw the success of the CUE report,” Carberry said. This is the first time such a project is being carried out for the graduate student community across the country, Huntington said.CUE was initiated by former President E. Gordon Gee. Recommendations to improve undergraduate student life on campus were put forth based on the report, Carberry said.G-QUE is similar in its aim to enhance the life of graduate students at OSU, Huntington said. Within the graduate student community, G-QUE will also address issues specific to the different groups of graduate students such as international students, minorities and married students, Huntington said.One part of the project is the G-QUE census, Huntington said. Every full-time graduate student enrolled winter quarter has been sent a questionnaire addressing concerns such as:

  • graduate associate stipends
  • quality of academic programs
  • university services
  • professional development and employment opportunities
  • participation and access to governance

Prizes are being offered to encourage completion of the surveys, Huntington said.A report based on the data from the G-QUE census could be ready by July, Carberry said. Recommendations will then be made by each of three subcommittees of professional development, governance, and student affairs to various units within OSU. This will help set “new minimum standards” for services used by the graduate student body campus-wide, she said.The G-QUE launch is in conjunction with the voter registration and volunteer recruitment program of the council, Lawton said. The launch will essentially work to answer student questions.G-QUE will be “one of the things to truly make OSU one of the top-ten public universities in the country,” Lawton said.