At the behest of the faculty, President Davies created the Committee on Graduate Study in 1947. The committee was instructed to study all questions pertaining to the possibility and plausibility of offering graduate work at the college, and to make recommendations to the faculty. In 1949, the committee was given the additional responsibility of assisting faculty with matters of research and writing. The committee's duties were spelled out more precisely in 1955 when it was instructed to determine the need for graduate and professional programs, the ability of the college to meet those needs, the national trends in graduate study at teacher training institutions, and the impact of higher education elsewhere in Wisconsin on the development of a graduate program at Eau Claire.

At the committee's suggestion President Davies replaced the Committee on Graduate Studies in 1958 with the Graduate Council. A body advisory to the Dean of Graduate Studies and University Research, the Council sets policies and makes recommendations for the graduate program, studies nationwide trends, demands and needs for higher education, and evaluates the impact on the graduate program of recommendations made by administrators and faculty. In addition to maintaining the duties formerly held by the Committee on Graduate Study, the council establishes regulations governing advanced work, determines criteria for selection of instructors, and approves curricular offerings as part of the graduate program.