GSG provides many services to the graduate student body at Clemson University. As the official representation of the graduate student body to the University administration, it is the duty of GSG to represent all gradaute students to the best of its ability.

Advocacy to the University administration

In the past, graduate students did not have any representation at University meetings. When graduate students were simply an organization of the Undergraduate Student Government, graduate interests usually were placed at a lower priority than undergraduate interests. Since the creation of a separate Graduate Student Government in the early 2000s, graduate student representatives have been voicing graduate student concerns to University administration.

Each week, members of the Executive and Legislative branches attend numerous meetings to ensure that graduate students are represented at the table. We've provided a list of some of the areas that we discuss regularly. There are many more, as most of the topics across the University affect graduate students in one form or another.

• Graduate student stipends: on average, graduate students are paid $5,000 less than students at peer institutions. The stipend level is decreasing due to the current financial situation of the University. We meet with the Dean of the Graduate School, the Provost, and the Board of Trustees, always informing them how graduate students want to be paid at a rate comparable to their peers.
  
• Parking: there aren't enough parking spaces on campus. We would like to see a special class of parking permit for our graduate students who work as assistants in the professional realm (such as Student Affairs), who have to carry tests into campus from the West End Zone, and who have to walk to their car at 3:30 AM due to performing research experiments early into the morning. We meet with the Director of Parking Services, the Dean of Students, and the Vice-President for Student Affairs to work them to find a solution to our parking problem.
• Environmental issues: what can graduate students do to reduce Clemson's carbon footprint? We meet with the Environmental Committee to find ways to make Clemson a cleaner place for all of us.
• Research and economic development: there isn't enough support for graduate students to market their research and be successful at finding a job after graduate school. We are working with the faculty to set the strategic goals for economic development at Clemson and ensure that graduate students are included in the decisions and the monetary awards that result from the economic development.
• Graduate policies: many graduate policies are not followed by faculty advisors and graduate students are treated differently across departments. This is a common problem and we work with the Graduate School to ensure that graduate students who are mistreated have a recourse. We successfully were able to get all graduate assistants the holidays that full-time employees are afforded; no longer do graduate students need to request from their advisors to take off Christmas.
• Research indirect funds: graduate students are paid by these funds in many cases and the University has deferred payment, effectively causing graduate students to be unable to complete their degrees. GSG is discussing this issue with the administration and the colleges to ensure that the current financial times are not affecting the ability for graduate students to graduate.
  

Health Insurance Benefit Oversight

Enrollment in the Student Health Insurance Plan is required for all Clemson graduate students who cannot provide proof of insurance from another source. While Health Insurance is important to Redfern, proper oversight and discussion of the benefits isn't always the top priority of the Redfern staff. Graduate representatives from GSG review the benefit package and the insurance premiums yearly to ensure that current graduate student needs in insurance aren't forgotten. We successfully were able to get a second dental cleaning per year, an increase in the covered prescription benefit, and a wellness benefit covering vaccines, vision, and preventative measures added to the plan for only $45. Increased benefits never come without a cost, but GSG works hard to ensure that the cost is outweighed by the increased benefits.

Professional Enrichment Grants (PEGs)

Attending conferences whether to learn material, make contacts, or present research is critical to the development of graduate students. Unlike other universities, Clemson University does not offer any central funding for graduate students to attend these enrichment activities. Any funding that does exist comes from the colleges, departments, or individual faculty. These funds are usually insufficient or reserved for special case students. GSG offers the Professional Enrichment Grants to allow more graduate students to attend conferences for enrichment. Graduate students must apply for a grant; the application is judged by their peers. Over $90,000 in requests come in to the GSG office for only $10,000 in funds. GSG is committed to the PEGs and any activity fee increases will allow GSG to increase the amount of a PEG award and increase the number of grants awarded.

Graduate Housing

Clemson has never constructed graduate housing. The only graduate housing that Clemson has ever had for graduate students was at the Douthit Hills site, which is now demolished. Thanks to the pushing of GSG and the support of Student Affairs and the Graduate School, graduate housing is on the housing project list at the top, due to be completed in the first five years of housing projects. Once the current financial problems are over, GSG will continue to push for affordable graduate housing to be built on campus to allow graduate students to live on campus. We are fighting specifically for our graduate students with families to be able to take advantage of living near other graduate students and not have to worry about their children encountering the typical issues with a college town.

Graduate Student Organization support

Many graduate students find other ways to be involved with Clemson University than just teaching and research. Graduate organizations allow graduate students with common interests to network, plan activities, and meet new people. Many of our organizations are professional or departmental to allow graduate students in departments to relax with their peers. We also have many international organizations and even organizations dedicated to recreation. As the majority of the items that the organizations host are open to the entire graduate student body, GSG provides funding support for all of these organizations. We want our organizations to succeed and provide graduate students with other things to do while at Clemson.

Graduate Student Activities

The University offers many programs for undergraduate students. It is not quite as good at offering programs for graduate students, unfortunately. GSG helps to cover this lack of activities by providing free activities for all graduate students. We offer monthly trivia nights for the mainstream graduate population. In the Fall, we host a Halloween Party for our graduate students with families. In the Spring, we host a Family Fun Festival on Bowman Field for graduate students to bring their children, eat free food, enjoy free music, and play outside on Bowman. We are always looking for more events to hold for the graduate body and suggestions are welcome.

Athletic Tickets

Many graduate students like sports. GSG knows this and we work with Athletics to ensure that graduate students are included in discussions regarding sports. Over 300 graduate students purchase season tickets to the football games. Over 500 graduate students enter for the basketball ticket giveaways. Graduate students must unfortunately pay for many of their tickets (particularly football). GSG has been fighting this to get rid of the discriminatory practice of forcing graduate students to pay for a hill ticket. For anything with athletics, however, no graduate student activity fee money goes to pay for athletic ticket giveaways.

Graduate Student Orientation

The University does not provide any support for graduate student orientation. Departments will have their own orientations, the Graduate School has an online welcome guide, and Student Affairs provides for a comprehensive undergraduate orientation, but Clemson does not offer an orientation for all graduate students. GSG believes that an orientation for all graduate students is a necessary part of welcoming new students to Clemson. Our orientation is completely student designed and run and doesn't waste new students' time. We cover the items that are common to all graduate students, such as, health insurance, what to do at Clemson, where to eat in Clemson, where to shop, what Southern food is like, what to do if you have problems in your department, where to find Clemson policy information, and who to contact if you have problems at Clemson.

Related Article: Descriptions of the fees that graduate students pay