The ongoing saga of the administrationâÄôs attempt to reorganize the graduate school has reached yet another unfortunate milestone with the ill-timed announcement of the three final candidates for vice provost and dean of graduate education. In February, President Bruininks notified the University of his intent to close the school, dispersing some functions to college deans and centralizing others in the ProvostâÄôs office. This decision was made without input from the dean of the Graduate School herself, much less the UniversityâÄôs 25,000 graduate students. Amid the subsequent uproar, the administration formed an implementation team, which promptly renamed itself the Committee on Graduate Education, to distance itself from the PresidentâÄôs plan. Following the lead of an open letter from 24 RegentâÄôs Professors and public browbeating from GAPSA, it ultimately made recommendations contrary to the administration. President BruininkâÄôs follow-up report on reorganization was finally released in late June, perfect timing to avoid the harsh glare of student interests. The formation of a search committee and candidate interviews were then, unsurprisingly, done under a shroud of secrecy. Adding insult, the ten-member committeeâÄôs single student vote was bizarrely given the same weight as the undergraduate dean. The e-mail notifying graduate students of the finalists was sent at 11:00 PM the night before the first open forum, insufficient time for students and their representatives to fully review the candidateâÄôs qualifications and record. The administration must stop capitalizing on graduate studentsâÄô short tenure and harried schedule to further their inexplicable appetite for secrecy and blame avoidance.