Funding for students’ sixth years
Beginning in the 2015–16 academic year, the Graduate School will provide funding for PhD students in the humanities and social sciences who need a sixth year to complete their work. Fifth-year students who are on track to complete their dissertations by May of the following year will receive support for the nine-month academic year in the form of guaranteed teaching positions or other assignments appropriate to the students’ professional goals. Doctoral students in the sciences and engineering will continue to be funded for the number of years it takes to complete their degrees. The minimum annual stipend for PhD students this year is $28,400. In addition, students receive tuition waivers, free comprehensive health care, career guidance, and many other services.
New housing for graduate students
Yale is planning a new residence hall for graduate and professional students at 272 Elm Street, Provost Ben Polak announced in January. The building, slated for occupancy in 2017, will have modern, suite-style units with kitchens, and is, according to Polak, “a crucial step toward the long-awaited renovation of the Hall of Graduate Studies.” The HGS dormitory tower will close in June 2017, and the Graduate School academic deans, the Office for Diversity and Equal Opportunity, and the Teaching Fellow program, admissions, and financial aid offices will be relocated. HGS-based humanities departments will temporarily move to swing space on a phased schedule and will return to the building once renovations are complete. Under consideration is the transformation of HGS into a central home for the humanities at Yale. Both the McDougal Common Room and the Blue Dog Café will reopen in HGS after renovations.
Alumnus begins term in US Senate
Former Midland University president Benjamin Sasse ’04PhD (history) is now a US senator, representing the state of Nebraska. Elected in November, he was sworn into office on January 6, when the 114th Congress met for the first time. Prior to running for national office, he served for five years as the president of Midland University in Fremont, Nebraska. During his tenure at Midland, enrollment more than doubled and the university went from a seven-figure deficit to a seven-figure surplus. Sasse earned his undergraduate degree in government from Harvard University and an MA degree in liberal arts from St. John’s College in Annapolis, Maryland. His Yale dissertation won both the Theron Rockwell Field and the George Washington Egleston prizes at graduation.
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