The Graduate and Professional Student Council elected graduate student Rob Saunders as its president Monday night and also selected the entire executive board for the 2002-03 academic year.
Saunders, a second-year graduate student in physics, defeated current GPSC Vice President David Ferguson, a second-year student in the Divinity School.
Saunders, who has worked with GPSC on health insurance issues this year and served as the GPSC representative for the physics department the last two years, campaigned with three goals: institution of a long-term plan over the next five years, a survey of all graduate and professional students about the issues they want GPSC to address and increased publicity for the group's events, for which Saunders said he hoped to create a specific position.
"We've had a lot of success in the last three years," Saunders said. "Now that we have this success, the question is, what do we do with it?"
The vice presidential office was the only other contested executive position. Audrey Beck, a graduate student in sociology, won that position, also defeating Ferguson.
Although
"GPSC isn't an organization... where all the nominations get filled beforehand," said Will Tyson, the group's current omsbudperson and third-year graduate student in sociology. "[In the past,] some of our best officials, in our mind, weren't nominated before the election day."
Before the elections, current GPSC President Elayne Heisler said the group was prepared to see some positions go unfilled in the spring, and fill them in the fall without causing major problems.
Heisler herself will serve as the GPSC omsbudperson next year. "I'd like to still stay involved," the third-year sociology graduate student said.
"I've learned a lot and I think I can still be a resource."
Carol Chancey, a third-year graduate student in biomedical engineering, will serve as GPSC attorney general for her third straight year. Tobin Freid, a third-year student in the Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences, will continue as student life chair, along with a new co-chair, Ben Cooke, a graduate student in mathematics.
Freid and Cooke said they wanted to increase communication and publicity of social gatherings, create a calendar, include more family-friendly events and schedule more regular monthly activities.
Freid and at-large officer Marc Sokol, a Fuqua School of Business student, will serve as the executive board's two professional school representatives. Like the current executive board, the new officers are predominately graduate students, despite the council's goal of increasing professional school involvement after last year's elections.
Amy Vickers, a first-year graduate student in art history, will serve as the other at-large member. Jandy Hanna, a graduate student of biological anatomy and anthropology, will serve as executive secretary, and Heather Dean, a second-year graduate student of neurobiology, will serve as treasurer.
IN OTHER BUSINESS: GPSC lacked quorum--defined as half of the seated membership in attendance--at last night's meeting. Short by one person, it thus was not able to vote on amending GPSC's charter and bylaws.
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