#40156

                         RECORDS OF THE
          GRADUATE AND PROFESSIONAL STUDENT FEDERATION

                             in the

             University Archives and Records Service
                         Wilson Library
           University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
                            CB# 3926
                   Chapel Hill, North Carolina
                           27514-8890


                          October 1995

     The history of the Graduate and Professional Student
Federation (GPSF) begins in the late 1960s.  At that time,
Student Government at the University generally focused on the
needs of the undergraduates, despite an increasing population of
graduate and professional students.  This discrepancy was
especially apparent in the allocation of student fees, which
primarily funded undergraduate institutions and organizations
such as the Student Union.  In 1968 a handful of graduate
students chartered the Graduate Student Association (GSA) with
hopes of addressing this inequity.  

     When the GSA disbanded in 1971, another organization, the
Graduate Student Coordinating Committee (GSCC), quickly emerged
to fill the void.  In the beginning, the GSCC envisioned the
creation of a new student government for graduate and
professional students.  After great discussion and debate with 
University leaders and Student Government, the GPSF emerged as a
quasi-independent organization within Student Government and was
allocated eight seats on the Campus Governing Council.  With its
position secured within Student Government, the organization
called for the election of departmental officers.  As
intermediaries between the GPSF and the graduate students, the
officers acted both as representatives and as distributors of
student fees within each department. 

     Since its creation the GPSF has continuously fought over the
allocation of student fees.  In 1979, after numerous attempts by
Student Government to defund the organization, an amendment was
passed guaranteeing that the GPSF would receive at least 15% of
the student fees paid by graduate students.  In 1992 the GPSF
spearheaded an attempt to increase this percentage; this effort,
however, failed.

     Beginning in the early 1980s, the GPSF began to address a
wider range of graduate students' needs.  In 1982 the
organization conducted a study to determine the feasibility of
providing affordable health insurance.  Then in September of
1984, it launched one of its most ambitious projects, a general
survey of graduate and professional students.  As Glen Macdonald,
Chairman of the Commission on Graduate and Professional Student
Education, explained in a 1984 memo, "Its purpose [was] to locate
and identify major problems with the curriculum, policy and
campus life from a graduate student's perspective."  Of the 7053
surveys distributed, 1750 (25%) were returned.  The responses
were then tabulated and in February of 1986, the GPSF published
its findings.  Overall, the survey found that most students were
satisfied with the education they received at UNC.  Nevertheless,
it also revealed numerous problems.  These included a
disorganized financial aid system, a lack of communication
between faculty and students, inadequate access to Davis Library,
a lack of child care services, and, not surprisingly, parking. 

     The records of the Graduate and Professional Student
Federation held by University Archives consist of general
correspondence, two brief histories, departmental constitutions
and lists of officers, minutes from the GPSF Senate, general
correspondence concerning the survey, responses to the survey,
and the subsequently published report.  An inventory of those
files will be found on the following pages.

Box 1:
     General, 1972-1993

     Constitution, GPSF, n.d.

     Constitutions, Departmental, 1975-1983

     History, 1984, [1994?]

     Minutes, GPSF Senate, 1971-1994
     
     Officers, Departmental, 1975-1983

     Survey of Graduate Students, 1984
          General, 1984-1986
          Report, 1986

Box 2:
          Responses:
               Anthropology
               Anatomy
               Biochemistry and Nutrition
               Bio-Medical Engineering and  Mathematics
               Botany
               Business Administration (MBA)
               Business Administration (PhD)
               Chemistry
               City and Regional Planning
               Classics
               Comparative Literature
               Computer Science
               Drama
               Economics
               English
               Genetics

Box 3:
          Responses:
               History
               Journalism
               Law (School of)
               Library Science (School of)
               Mathematics
               Medicine (School of)
               Immunology
               Neurobiology
               Nursing (School of)
               Occupational Therapy
Box 3: (cont.)
     Survey of Graduate Students, 1984 (cont.)
          Responses: (cont.) 
               Operations Research
               Pharmacy (School of)
               Philosophy
               Physical Education
               Physical Therapy
               Physics
               Political Science
               Psychology     

Box 4:
     Survey of Graduate Students, 1984

          Responses:
               Public Health
                    Biostatistics
                    Environmental Science
                    Epidemiology
                    Health Administration
                    Health Education
                    Maternal and Child Health
                    Nutrition
                    Parasitology
                    Public Health Nursing
               Radio, Television, and Motion Pictures
               Recreation Administration
               Rehabilitation Counseling
               Religion
               Romance Languages
               Slavic Languages
               Social Work
               Sociology
               Speech Communications
               Speech and Hearing
               Statistics