The GPSA executive board discussed admissions for WSU graduate degree programs, as well as upcoming Professional Development Initiative events during a meeting Thursday.

Rabayet Sadnan, GPSA awards and scholarship chair, asked if certain departments were not admitting graduate students for master’s and doctoral programs because of the pandemic.

The WSU Department of Sociology decided not to recruit students for fall 2021. The Department of Sociology usually admits up to 10 students seeking a doctorate each year, according to the department’s website.

“Overall applications have been declining year to year by 5 to 10 percent,” said Lisa Gloss, dean of WSU’s Graduate School. “Applications for this year are not that far down, but it’s too early in the cycle to tell.”

She said only one department has announced they will halt admissions for fall 2021 so far. Students were notified so they would not pay the application fee.

“Many of our schools in the region are actually seeing an uptick that tends to be more at the master’s degree level,” Gloss said.

The next PDI event presented by WSU librarian Lorena O’English will teach undergraduate and graduate students about reference management software systems, GPSA PDI Chair Anika VanDeen said.

The workshop is 1-3 p.m. Feb. 12 via Zoom. Students can register for the event beforehand.

Another popular workshop, Submitting Your Thesis and Dissertation, is 1-3 p.m. Feb. 19 via Zoom, VanDeen said. Graduate School employees Daniel Vickoren and Kelly Caraher will host the event.

All PDI events are free for undergraduate students, graduate students and faculty.