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Changes in the Graduate Student Community

Steven R. Lerman

As this issue's article by Ike Colbert highlights, MIT has recently taken major steps to support various aspects of the graduate student community. As other articles in past issues of the Faculty Newsletter have pointed out, the graduate student body has grown steadily over the last few decades. It is appropriate that we have been working to provide that growing body of students with a wide range of opportunities that support our broader educational goals.

Much of this work can be traced to the groundbreaking work done by the Task Force on Student Life and Learning. In 1998, that group laid down the foundation for MIT's efforts to view learning at the Institute as resting on the triad of education, research, and community, and to expand the attention we pay to the third element of that triad.

Up until recently, the major locus of graduate activities was the small number of graduate dorms, with the Graduate Student Council playing a cross-dorm role. These community activities left students living off campus largely on their own and those in family housing (Eastgate and Westgate) relatively isolated. The changes we have seen recently result from a confluence of several actions.

The progress we have made in developing a strong, well-supported graduate student community should be viewed as the start of a larger effort. There are at present several things we need to do to continue making progress in this area, including:

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