GPSC sets up trustee selection

The Graduate and Professional Student Council took the first official step in its selection of the next Young Trustee representative for graduate and professional students at its general body meeting last night. Members elected a six-person Young Trustee Screening Committee, chaired by Julia Bowsher, a graduate student in biology.

The committee will collect and examine applications for the position in November. After conducting interviews, it will narrow the pool to three candidates and present those finalists at a general body meeting early next semester.

The creation of the Screening Committee preempts the University Board of Trustees’ decision on GPSC’s proposal to restructure the graduate and professional student representative’s tenure from a three-year to two-year term. “If approved, we will be able to have two representatives at the table each year, one as an observer and the other as a voting member,” GPSC President Heather Dean said. The Board will vote on the proposal Saturday.

Dean stressed the importance of increased representation on the Board, given that Duke now confers more diplomas to graduates and professionals than to undergraduates. “We want to go ahead and establish the Screening Committee, before the Board votes on the change,” Dean said. “I cannot say for sure that the proposal will pass, but we are very optimistic.”

In other business, GPSC Basketball Committee co-chairs Andy Baraniak and Jeff Kovacs commented on the Basketball Campout that took place two weeks ago. About 1,300 students lasted through the entire weekend, and they considered the weekend’s charity basketball tournament a success. Suggestions from GPSC members for future campouts included better communication and revisions to the attendance check system so as not to interfere with guest speakers.

Members also separated into seven internal committees and reported major goals for the coming year. Among several goals, the Academic Affairs Committee aims to improve training in ethics. A major concern for the Community Affairs Committee is to focus on the needs of international students through support networks. Members of the Health Care/Insurance Committee want to develop a strong relationship with the yet-to-be-named director of student health. And the Community Service Committee will set out to find an organization with which to work consistently and make service opportunities more accessible.