Working Group on Graduate Admissions (WGGA)

Membership is open to all interested AAS members, regardless of their status or background.

History: The need for this working group has been established by the findings of the Graduate Admissions Task Force (GATF), which was established in March of 2024 and tasked with producing recommendations for the AAS aimed at improving the field-wide state of graduate admissions. The Working Group proposal was approved by the Board at its June 2025 meeting.

Chair and Vice-Chair: Under normal circumstances, one of the two current Board members on the EWG should serve as chair and the second member as vice-chair. When possible, these terms should be staggered, allowing for the vice-chair to rotate into the chair position.

Members: The Working Group on Graduate Admissions (WGGA) should comprise the following: a Chair, a Vice Chair, three to six general members, and two graduate representatives.

Term: Under normal circumstances, the expected term for members of the working group is three years, with exceptions allowed by agreement between the AAS President and the WGGA Chair. Terms may be renewed a maximum of one time sequentially. New members can be nominated as needed and will be discussed by the existing committee. 

Charges: 

• Serving as an immediate community resource
• Finalizing application recommendations for the AAS
• Collecting and publishing informational webpage content
• Researching and implementing a common-app system

Meetings and Timelines: The WGGA will nominally meet monthly for the first year to make progress on its immediate and long-term goals, including several tasks with urgent or imminent deadlines. This can be decreased in future years, provided that there is consensus from the WGGA that satisfactory progress is being made towards the committee goals. Additional meetings of the WGGA will generally be held ad hoc as the situation demands, though at a minimum, the schedule will always include meetings at the beginning (~August-September) and end (~April-May) of the yearly admissions cycle.