It is important that students have forums to express their concerns and for their voices to be heard and acted on. May this petition serve to this extent.

One concern voiced by many graduate students is that our programs have been consistently underrepresented and ignored by the University of La Verne. Specifically, there has been no forum to address graduate student concerns. It appears that although graduate students outnumber the undergraduates and make significant contributions to the university, the focus of the administration has been the needs of the undergraduates. As an example, graduate clubs do not receive funding from the university on projects that benefit the university as a whole, such as seminars for students’ professional development and activities that foster a positive university climate for all individuals. Graduate students pay a much higher rate of tuition than do undergraduates. Therefore, it seems unreasonable that we should be required to pay additional fees, such as an activities fee, to be offered opportunities. ULV's goal for providing school opportunities should be to improve the overall university community, for undergraduate and graduate students alike. It is also unnerving that graduate students are turned away from campus activities, such as free food events. They are told that only undergraduates may attend. Such policies communicate to us that graduate students are second class citizens at ULV.

Furthermore, we know that our success stems from qualified, motivated professors who are willing to devote themselves to the betterment of their students. Thus, it was alarming to discover that graduate level adjunct professors typically teach courses as a favor to the university or to the professors, since adjuncts are so poorly paid at this university. This puts an enormous degree of strain on the faculty to find willing psychologists to teach at the masters and doctoral level. Even more concerning is that our learning suffers as a result of the time adjunct faculty are unable to dedicate to their classes. We believe our full-time faculty are not well-paid either. They are often overworked. We have been fortunate to find such incredible professors who love this university and its students, but just think how much more our programs and university could improve if we raised the standards and the pay.

There are many more concerns that our graduate students have expressed.

We ask that the new president of ULV, Dr. Devorah A. Lieberman, take the time and effort to understand graduate students' needs. This is extremely important as we are constantly representing the university at national conferences, worldwide publications, internships and careers throughout the nation. We are proud to be a part of ULV and we truly appreciate the dedication of the faculty in our program.

We are optimistic that this is a step in the right direction, but remain concerned that graduate student needs will be lost in the bureaucracy. Our request is a simple one: provide graduate students with equal representation on all fronts.

Please join this petition if you agree with these concerns, or share your own concerns and add to the voice of graduate students at ULV.

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