Guidelines for Good Practice in Graduate Education

Good practice in graduate education centers on responsible interactions between graduate students and faculty, supported by staff. The Graduate School and the Graduate Faculty, represented by the Graduate School Council, offer this document as constructive and instructive guidelines for all those involved in graduate education at the University of Washington. 

Graduate programs help to advance human knowledge, educate professionals, and resolve problems to address societal needs. To accomplish these goals, each graduate student ideally will develop an understanding of and capacity for scholarship, independent judgment, academic rigor, and intellectual honesty. The key component of the graduate education transaction lies in the relationship between faculty and students for which both parties share responsibility. Faculty and students must work together to ensure an atmosphere that encourages freedom of inquiry and fosters mutual respect.

These guidelines are intended to be constructive and instructive to faculty and graduate students, and do not constitute statements of institutional policy or requirements.

The guidelines have been divided into three groups. Each of these groups provides information for students and faculty members about their individual roles and responsibilities.

Professionalism and Ethics-- Student's responsibilities, Faculty member's responsibilities

Teaching-- Student's role, Faculty member's role

Mentoring-- Student's role, Faculty member's role


The Graduate School at the University of Washington gratefully acknowledges the earlier work of the following institutions: the Graduate School at North Carolina State University, the Graduate College at the University of Arizona, the Office of Graduate Studies at the University of California at Davis, the Graduate School at the University of Oregon, and the Office of Graduate and Professional Programs at the University of Southern California. Materials are used with permission.

The 1997-98 Graduate Student Service Appointees Committee and the 1998-99 Huckabay Fellows also made significant contributions to this publication.

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