As dean of The Graduate School at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, I am grateful to Provost Chris Clemens, to Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz, to the Board of Trustees, to the University’s Faculty Council and to Theodore Nollert, who is serving as President of the Graduate and Professional Student Government, for working together to support our graduate students through increasing graduate student stipends. That support is crucial: it is tangible proof that — together — we are not only committed to the success of our current students, but to bringing the best and brightest to UNC.
While The Graduate School does not set the stipend for graduate students, it strives to advocate for resources necessary to support them. From recruitment to mental health and well-being, increasing graduate student stipends will positively affect our University, our students and the state.
This support comes at a crucial time: A graduate student recently shared with me that she had applied for food stamps. Her graduate stipend simply wasn’t enough to cover her daily living expenses. She is not alone. Her story is emblematic of our moral obligation to our graduate students: increasing the stipend demonstrates our collective commitment to fulfill that obligation. It is a down payment on our promise to our students and our state to produce the next generation of leaders and scholars.
To ensure an ongoing pipeline of new knowledge and a workforce to implement solutions to the big challenges of our day, it is imperative that we strive to support our graduate students. An increase in our minimum stipend is indicative of our shared vision for the future of North Carolina and beyond.
– Beth Mayer-Davis, Dean of The Graduate School, member of the Faculty Executive Committee and the Faculty Council
