The Graduate Student Senate is the official representative body of graduate students and is the primary means for graduates to participate in campus governance at the University of San Francisco. The GSS is organized to represent, lead, and unify the Associated Graduate Students of the University of San Francisco, to achieve the betterment of the students in their professional and social interests, and provide leadership opportunities for students. This organization aids in the appointment of members to a variety of internal and university committees, task forces, and boards that establish or influence a wide range of policies, procedures and the general direction of academic and non-academic programs and services offered at USF.Mission
“The core mission of the University is to promote learning in the Jesuit Catholic tradition. The University offers undergraduate, graduate, and professional students the knowledge and skills needed to succeed as persons and professionals, and the values and sensitivity necessary to be men and women for others.
The University will distinguish itself as a diverse, socially responsible learning community of high quality scholarship and academic rigor sustained by a faith that does justice. The University will draw from the cultural, intellectual, and economic resources of the San Francisco Bay Area and its location on the Pacific Rim to enrich and strengthen its educational programs.”
from the USF Vision, Mission, and Values Statement
Core Values
- The University’s core values include a belief in and a commitment to advancing:
- the Jesuit Catholic tradition that views faith and reason as complementary resources in the search for truth and authentic human development, and that welcomes persons of all faiths or no religious beliefs as fully contributing partners to the University;
- the freedom and the responsibility to pursue truth and follow evidence to its conclusion;
- learning as a humanizing, social activity rather than a competitive exercise;
- a common good that transcends the interests of particular individuals or groups; and reasoned discourse rather than coercion as the norm for decision making;
- diversity of perspectives, experiences and traditions as essential components of a quality education in our global context;
- excellence as the standard for teaching, scholarship, creative expression and service to the University community;
- social responsibility in fulfilling the University’s mission to create, communicate and apply knowledge to a world shared by all people and held in trust for future generations;
- the moral dimension of every significant human choice: taking seriously how and who we choose to be in the world;
- the full, integral development of each person and all persons, with the belief that no individual or group may rightfully prosper at the expense of others;
- a culture of service that respects and promotes the dignity of every person.
