Graduate School of Arts & Sciences

History

Although Thomas Jefferson’s original plan for the University contemplated graduate instruction, the first such department in the modern sense was not instituted until 1859-60 by Professor Basil Gildersleeve in the School of Greek. Shortly after the Civil War, a similar department was announced for the School of Latin. The degree of Doctor of Philosophy was offered initially by the University as early as 1880 and was first awarded in 1885. No formal departmental organization for graduate study existed, however, until 1904. In that year, the Graduate School was established under regulations corresponding to the requirements of the Association of American Universities, in which the University of Virginia was the first southern university to hold membership. There are currently 967 members of the graduate faculty and 29 programs in the arts and sciences granting graduate degrees.

Administration

The administrative offices of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences are located on the fifth floor of New Cabell Hall. Students who have a question regarding the following degree requirements and policies should consult their directors of graduate study. Should clarification or an exception be required, the director of graduate study will raise the issue with the assistant dean for graduate programs. For serious matters that cannot be resolved in this fashion, students have recourse to a formal appeal and grievance procedure outlined below.

Faculty

The faculty of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences consists of tenured and tenure-track faculty in departments in the College of Arts and Sciences that offer programs leading to master’s and doctoral degrees; tenured and tenure-track faculty who hold primary or secondary appointments in participating departments of the biomedical sciences or biomedical engineering graduate programs; faculty in the graduate program in public health as determined by the chair of the Department of Public Health Sciences and the associate dean for graduate programs; or tenured or tenure-track faculty in other schools at the University who hold a Ph.D. and who have been extended secondary appointments by departments in the Arts and Sciences. Faculty who do not meet these criteria must be nominated to the assistant dean for graduate programs by the chair of a department in the Arts and Sciences in order to undertake the duties of a graduate faculty member.

Members of the faculty of the Graduate School are eligible to offer graduate-numbered courses in the College of Arts and Sciences, advise doctoral dissertation projects, serve on dissertation committees, and participate generally in the faculty governance of the Graduate School.

http://gsas.virginia.edu/