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发信人: sunxt (天天＃天天上网天天等奖的天天), 信区: AdvancedEdu
标  题: some comments on the resolution
发信站: BBS 水木清华站 (Mon Mar 30 19:46:41 1998)

The Council of Graduate Schools has published a
statement entitled, "Resolution Regarding
Graduate Scholars, Fellows, Trainees and
Assistants," since the mid-1960s. The Resolution is
concerned with the conditions surrounding the
acceptance of offers of certain kinds of graduate
student financial assistance, namely, scholarships,
fellowships, traineeships, and assistantships. The
general spirit of the Resolution is that students
should have an opportunity to consider more than one
offer and should have until April 15 to do so, that
institutions and students should be able to view
acceptances in force after April 15 as binding,
that everyone should know what the rules are, and
that an offer by the institution and its acceptance
by the student constitute an agreement which both
expect to honor. The Resolution goes on to acknowledge
that students, after having accepted an
offer, may change their minds and withdraw that
acceptance. The intent of the Resolution is to
provide a uniform and widely acceptable framework
for so doing, one that provides protection for
both student and institution.



There are several issues to be considered:



   1.Students may be waiting for offers from several
institutions, so that they can compare and
     make a decision. One of the complaints we
hear is that some departments make offers quite
     early and insist that students respond
quickly or lose the offer. According to the Resolution,
     the option available to the student in this
situation who wishes to review several offers is to
     accept each one and then, by April 15, resign
from all but one. But this places the student in
     an awkward position and really violates the
spirit of the resolution, that is, that acceptances
     should not be made casually.

     A better approach is for institutions to give
students until April 15 to make decisions
     regarding appointments. Students often consider
multiple offers, and this option
     provides a reasonable opportunity for them to
do so. This would not preclude
     institutions asking students to accept or reject
offers in a timely manner. Particularly in
     the case of some prestigious fellowships,
institutions would like to know quickly if the
     student is going to decline so that the offer
can be extended to someone else. An
     example of one university's approach to this
issue is the following statement, which is
     sent along with the CGS Resolution:

     "The Graduate School would appreciate your
decision concerning the acceptance or
     rejection of our award as soon as you are
able to give us a reply. In asking a student
     for an early reply, we wish it understood
that the [Your University] Graduate School is
     not asking the student to relinquish any
privilege, if it is felt necessary to wait until April
     15, 19--. However, your early response would
be helpful to us in planning for the
     coming year.

     [Your university] will consider the accompanying
award offer valid until April 15 unless
     declined at a prior time. If your reply is not
received by April 15, the Graduate School
     may rescind the offer of financial award."



   2.Another part of the resolution concerns what
happens after April 15. The intent seems clear:
     commitments in force after April 15 can be
considered by the institution as binding. Students
     may still change their minds but this now
requires obtaining a written release from the
     institution. Similarly, institutions which
make offers to students after April 15 are to require the
     student to present a written release from
any previous offer.

     The effectiveness of this part of the resolution
in providing universities with some

     assurance about who will actually be in their
programs is totally dependent on how
     seriously it is taken by participating institutions.
Obviously, if a student decides, for any
     reason, that he or she does not wish to attend
your institution, there is not much point in
     insisting on it. But the language of the
resolution makes it clear that changes after April
     15 constitute reneging on a commitment, and
are not to be taken lightly by any of the
     concerned parties.



   3.The resolution states that a copy of the
resolution should accompany every scholarship,
     fellowship, traineeship, and assistantship
offer. This ensures that each student understands
     what the options are and knows which
institutions subscribe to this resolution.



   4.The role of the graduate dean in this matter
is twofold. First, from time to time--probably each
     year--this resolution should be brought to
the attention of graduate councils, departmental
     graduate committees, and other relevant groups
and individuals in order to ensure that
     everyone understands and supports the resolution.
Second, when graduate deans are
     informed that other institutions appear to be
violating the resolution, they should contact their
     counterparts at those institutions to resolve
the matter.



   5.The CGS Board reviews the resolution on a regular
basis and is interested in your comments
     and suggestions.



The long history of this resolution, and its widespread
acceptance in the graduate community, is
recognition that it is regarded as a fair statement of
good practice and that it serves a useful purpose.
If your institution is not currently signatory to the
Resolution and you wish it to be, please let us know
and we will add it to the list the next time the
Resolution is reprinted. Conversely, if your institution
does not wish to comply with the provisions of
the Resolution, we will delete it at your request.
There is no need to respond if you intend to remain
as signatory.

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