The Graduate Studies Committee (a standing committee of the department's faculty, chaired by the Director of Graduate Studies) interprets degree requirements, approves plans of study, and acts on petitions from students to the department and to the Graduate School.

As a former Director explained, the job of the Admissions Committee is to get you IN; the job of the Director of Graduate Studies is to get you OUT, preferably but not necessarily with the degree to which you aspire.

A full-time Graduate Student Services Manager maintains student records, answers admission and on-board student queries, and directs student requests to the Graduate Studies Committee and to the Graduate School. Most student requests for forms, office assignments, RA/TA assignments, scheduling of exams, and so on, may be made through the Graduate Student Services Manager, usually on forms available from the Manager's office. The Manager will forward completed forms to the appropriate authorities and may advise the student on how to complete them.