Dear Fellow Graduate Students,
The Graduate Student Council welcomes you back and hopes the Spring semester is off to a smooth start. As a refresher to our roles on the GSC, the primary aims of the executive board are to foster a sense of community among graduate students across departments, to facilitate collective action on graduate student-related issues, and to be a voice for the graduate community. It is in this spirit that the ten-member Executive Board communicates and seeks to address any concerns and topics of interest with the University administration. We meet regularly with the Deans of the Graduate School, the President, the Provost, and others to advocate for the needs and interests of our community. We also host various events to help build community among all graduate students across disciplines and backgrounds.
Additionally, our monthly general body meetings are held on the first Wednesday of the month at 7 PM in the Graduate Student Lounge. We will have our first meeting of the semester this Wednesday, February 7th. All students are welcome and we encourage you to attend. As always, we will have food and beverages available. All departments/programs should have at least one departmental representative who should attend the meetings and relay any relevant information to the rest of the graduates of the program. Some departments have vacancies, so if you are a member of such a department, we encourage you to sign yourself up and come to our meeting. Our meeting agenda for this month can be found here.
Notably, the topic of unionization has currently been present on campus. As such, we would like to share with you our FAQ that we put together regarding the issue of unionization, which contains links to some further resources. Because we anticipate the likelihood of an official unionization vote later this year, the GSC is organizing a forum this semester. To reiterate our stance, the GSC is a neutral body, representing the entire spectrum of graduate students, including both doctoral and master’s students. Each group holds different perspectives and concerns with respect to work, research, and the graduate student experience at our institution. Our constituents include those who are in favor of unionization, those who are opposed, those who are not quite sure, and everyone in between. To best represent all our constituents, we will continue to facilitate a fair and unbiased environment for conversation. If you are interested, please read the FAQ, and be on the lookout for more information on our forum in the near future.
Lastly, if you are interested in staying up to date with events and initiatives of the Graduate Student Council, we encourage you to follow us on Facebook and Twitter, as well as to check our website for updates and sign up for one or more of our mailing lists. Additionally, if you have any concerns, please feel free to raise them at our monthly meetings or to reach out to members of the Executive Board; our roles are to advocate for all graduate students.
The 2018 Executive Board of the Graduate Student Council,
Alastair Tulloch, President
D’Ondre Swails, VP of Advocacy
Eboni Chambers, Treasurer
Alexander Laferriere, Chair of Communications
Sophie Brunau-Zaragoza, Chair of International Advocacy
Alexis Grant, Chair of Master’s Advocacy
Christian Casey, Chair of Nominations
Lauren Watts, Chair of Social Events
Andrew Lynn, Chair of Student Life
Ghous Amjad, Chair of Technology
D’Ondre Swails, VP of Advocacy
Eboni Chambers, Treasurer
Alexander Laferriere, Chair of Communications
Sophie Brunau-Zaragoza, Chair of International Advocacy
Alexis Grant, Chair of Master’s Advocacy
Christian Casey, Chair of Nominations
Lauren Watts, Chair of Social Events
Andrew Lynn, Chair of Student Life
Ghous Amjad, Chair of Technology