As you know, our department will be hiring a new department Head before the end of the year. There are many opportunities for graduate students to be involved in this process and I think it is crucial that we make our voices heard – department Heads have a strong influence on the direction of the department and what is (or isn’t) considered a priority, which can have a direct and important impact on our experience as graduate students.
I (Hélène) will be acting as graduate student representative on the Search Committee, and as such, I want to gather feedback from as many graduate students as possible to be able to best represent our interests on this committee. It doesn’t matter if you’ve only been in the department for a few months, or are just a few months away from graduating – your opinion is extremely valuable to me, and I think everyone has something to contribute to the process. The more of us actively participate in this process, the more the voice of graduate students is likely to be taken seriously, and to be taken into account.
So please go and fill out this survey on the criteria that you think should be used, and what leadership qualities that you want to see in our next Head of Sociology. Survey answers will obviously remain anonymous.
It is likely that the GSCS will put together a statement regarding this matter as well as regarding the departmental review; if you want to be involved, I encourage you to attend our next meeting. Once the Search Committee puts together a short list of candidates, they will most likely be asked to do a job talk for the whole department, and I will try and secure some time for the candidate(s) to speak specifically to graduate students.
If you have any questions or comments about this process, you can email me at helenefd [at] gmail.com. I always welcome feedback! :)
