Graduate Professional S.A. Elects Exeutive Council

At its last meeting for this academic year, the Graduate and Professional Student Assembly held elections last night for the assembly’s 2009-2010 executive council.
Darrick Evenson grad was elected the president of GPSA. Erica Gutierrez grad was elected executive vice president, and Brian M. Forster grad was elected the vice president of operations.
“The main issue I want to focus on is that the GPSA needs to be more representative of the graduate student body,” Evenson said. “While all 96 — including three professional schools — have a seat available in the non-voting body of the GPSA, only 42 percent are actually filled.”
As for Gutierrez, making sure Cornell is environmentally sustainable is her most pressing concern.
“I am very concerned with sustainablility issues and most how that applies to the buildings at Cornell.
she said. “I also want to increase the participation of graduate students on campus and in the greater Ithaca community.”
All newly elected members of the council ran unopposed.
“I was really happy to have the support of the assembly and that they were confident in my abilities,” Evenson said.
According to Michelle Leinfelder grad the outgoing president of GPSA, the greatest challenge for GPSA for the 2009-2010 academic year will be the financial situation, especially setting the activity fee for graduate students. Nevertheless, Leinfelder expressed confidence in the abilities of next year’s GPSA members to address the needs of graduate students and the University as a whole.