Our Advocacy Work

The Graduate Student Society, established in 1962, has always believed in creating a clear platform for students’ well-being and growth as they progress through their degrees at UBC. The mandate of the organization has not only been one to look out for graduate students, but also to ensure that they are provided with the necessary tools supported by institutional policies which help them achieve their goals.

The GSS focuses on the policy issues that matter most to graduate students. We collect data in many ways to ensure that we are meeting these needs. These include:

Our annual, university-wide Graduate Student Satisfaction Survey

Topic-specific investigations

Feedback from student events and gatherings

Research by our Committees

Focus groups

This is then developed into concrete policy recommendations, which we communicate to the University’s faculty, administration, and other governing bodies. It also forms the basis of the Society’s external campaigns and advocacy work with the provincial and federal governments.