Wasiolek addresses GPSC on long-term plans

Sue Wasiolek, dean of students and vice president for student affairs, announces plans for current Central Campus buildings, such as the International House, in light of New Campus construction at Tuesday’s GPSC meeting.
Sue Wasiolek, dean of students and vice president for student affairs, announces plans for current Central Campus buildings, such as the International House, in light of New Campus construction at Tuesday’s GPSC meeting.

CORRECTION: A previous version of this story incorrectly described plans for the International House. Officials had discussed offering individuals the opportunity to pay to move houses on Campus Drive under plans for New Campus—which have since been put on hold. Plans to move International House operations to Smith Warehouse are tentative. The Chronicle regrets the error.

The Graduate and Professional Student Council met Tuesday to elect new members to the judicial committee and to discuss the spring meeting schedule.

Sue Wasiolek, assistant vice president for student affairs and dean of students, addressed the group on the development of New Campus. She dismissed concerns that the International House would be bulldozed to make way for New Campus construction. She assured students, however, that the International House services would be still be provided, even if they are ultimately moved to a new location at Smith Warehouse.

When about her vision of the Duke community in the next three to five years, Wasiolek said that although she does not intend for the University to have a larger student body, she does expect to see new institutes and centers added in interdisciplinary fields, new joint degree programs and new graduate and professional programs.

“One of the things I am most proud of at Duke, and something that has personally enhanced my time here, is the fact that we are such a diverse campus,” she said. “We see diversity in every possible way, in our people, our programs and our initiatives.”

Wasiolek also said she would like to see more graduate and undergraduate interaction outside of the classroom.

“You bring a maturity level and a world view to the undergraduate scene,” she said.

Wasiolek said the administration thinks about graduate students all the time, but she added that they are a difficult population to grasp because they are not as centralized as undergraduates. Graduate students frequently visit Student Health, and Wasiolek said the University seeks to respond to graduate needs in planning Student Health’s services.

“I hope that you, as graduate students, will continue to feel supported by the institution,” she said. “We rely on GPSC to let us know where those needs are and where we are falling short.”

In other business:

GPSC members elected three new students to serve on the judicial committee after the original Oct. 20 ballot omitted a potential candidate.

Alana Belcon, a third-year Ph.D. candidate in earth and ocean sciences who was elected as one of the new members to serve on the judicial committee, expressed excitement about the growing support and involvement of GSPC and her opportunity to play a larger role in her new position.

“I am excited to bring a layperson’s view—I don’t have a judicial background but I feel that oftentimes it is easy to get lost in the letter of the law and lose the human aspect,” she said.

GPSC also voted unanimously to change the next meeting from Nov. 17 to Nov. 18 so that GPSC members will be able to attend that week’s men’s basketball game.

GPSC President Yvonne Ford, a fourth-year Ph.D. candidate in nursing, said she is most proud of GPSC’s renewed sense of school spirit from the graduate and professional community. This year’s basketball Campout was the largest yet and the number of graduate Cameron Crazies and football fans have escalated in the past two years.

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