The Graduate Student Caucus (GSC) of ACCUTE exists to represent the needs and varied interests of graduate students of English in Canada. Comprised of student representatives from English (and Comparative Literature) departments across Canada, the GSC elects an executive body at its annual meeting during Congress.

GSC Membership/ Departmental Representatives

What does a Departmental Representative Do? 

Student representatives exist to open and maintain lines of communication between English students in departments across Canada, as well as between students and ACCUTE, the national association that represents their interests (ie. at Canadian Federation of Humanities and Social Sciences, the CFHSS that runs the annual Congress, and at Social Science and Humanities Research Council, SSHRC, that manages national funding programs for students, faculty and Congress). This is done in two ways. First, student representatives represent ACCUTE to his or her department. This involves forwarding occasional emails, informing students about the association and its current mandates, and soliciting new members among the student body. Second, student representatives are responsible for representing their departments to ACCUTE. Perhaps the most important form that this representation takes involves the ministration of the GSC’s annual survey of graduate student life. This normally takes place sometime between November and February, and the final report is published in the June newsletter after been approved by reps in late April.

How can I become a Departmental Representative?
Student reps to the GSC are elected by their own departmental student associations, a process which may differ widely from one department to another. Contact a member of your department’s Graduate Student Association for information. If your department does not have a process for electing student representatives, please contact the GSC (see executive list below for contact info) and we will be happy to help you set something up.

Student reps to the GSC must be members of ACCUTE. For services rendered to their department, many reps have been able to get their ACCUTE fees refunded by their department.

Annual Graduate Student’s Survey

One of the most important of the GSC activities is the administration of an annual survey of graduate student life in Canada. This survey is very important as it provides:

a) a chance for each of us to get a clearer sense of how our departments are organized and run (and to generate conversations among students in our department about the institution that we inhabit),
b) a chance to witness how each of our department structures compares with other’s across the country (in the hopes that significant differences may become the stuff of changes and exchange), and
c) a chance to see how each of our departments evolves over time (if at all).

Graduate Student Survey, 2021-2022

If you wish to download a file of the survey above, please click here.

Please note: these are not scientifically conducted surveys, and reflect only the self-reporting done by graduate students or other members of their individual departments. As such, users should verify specific data with individual departments. These surveys are offered as snapshots for general trends.

Surveys from past years are linked below:

Report on ACCUTE-GSC Survey Data 2018-19

Report on ACCUTE-GSC Survey Data 2015-16

Report on ACCUTE-GSC Survey Data 2014-15

Report on ACCUTE GSC Survey Data 2012-13

And see the following newsletter issues for earlier reports:

2006 June Newsletter

2005 June Newsletter

Graduate Student Caucus (GSC) Executive, 2021-2022

The Graduate Student Caucus (GSC) of ACCUTE is comprised of student representatives from English departments across Canada. It exists to represent the needs and varied interests of graduate students of English in Canada.