Submission: GSA candidate Matthew FitzGerald outlines eight-point plan

The vice president of external affairs is supposed to take the charge on advocating for state and national concerns that UCLA students seek movement on.

After a year of involvement in Graduate Students Association as the presidential appointee to the UCLA Drug-Free Schools Committee, I’ve developed an eight-point platform addressed below.

Reconnect us with the University of California Student Association:

Fifteen of 19 undergraduate and graduate student governments in the UC system, including UCLA’s undergraduate student government, are a part of UCSA. GSA loses out by not being involved. As I explained to the Daily Bruin, my thought-out proposal is to propose alternative funding strategies to reconnect, like fund-raising, which I know is a multi-year effort.

Advocate on the plight of the professional and graduate student:

Over the course of the year, I’ve visited with many of the GSA councils. As I explained to The Bruin, I’ve identified specific advocacy issues to bring to state and nationwide forums: high interest rates on student loans, seeking to reinstate the recently removed interest subsidy on graduate student loans, graduate student career outcomes – this joins together why it is critical to rejoin UCSA. Here is a blurb from the ongoing UCSA Jobs! campaign:

“In 1987, about 53 percent of the academic labor force were tenured and tenure-track faculty. The remaining 47 percent occupied part-time and full-time adjuncts and other non-tenure-track positions. Today, 75.5 percent are employed in either full- or part-time contingent positions off the tenure track, and have no access to the tenure track. This dramatic shift has profound implications for … graduate students – especially academic master’s and doctoral students – in the UC system.”

Do more on the alumni side and UC Academic Senate issues:

As I explained to The Bruin, professional and graduate students often get jobs through connections, more than credentials, in the current employment market. My specific strategy is to capitalize on the connection between the vice president of external affairs and the UCLA Alumni Association to build upon existing mentorship, networking and career advancement programs, and help build new ones in departments without.

Further, at the UC Academic Senate I’d seek to have passionate and consistent messaging, and also to convince undergraduate students to stand with teaching assistants and graduate and professional students to advance our collective goals.

Build a stronger connection with the Undergraduate Students Association Council:

As I explained to The Bruin, my very specific strategy is to seek to get a representative from GSA to sit on USAC, whether facto or ex-facto (voting or non-voting), and the equivalent for the GSA forum. This would allow direct communication and synergy.

Meet with the GSA councils for direct advocacy issues:

The vice president of external affairs is supposed to regularly meet with council presidents. I believe this is to learn about direct issues affecting graduate and professional student populations, in order to build advocacy plans and present proposals for action items to forum. This year I met with many of the councils, and would mirror that engagement if elected.

Improve the GSA, every day and in every way that we can:

As I explained to The Bruin, if elected I would sit across from fellow cabinet members to have direct interaction.

I would also make sure that we are 100 percent up-to-date on the website and calendar.

GSA transition materials:

As I explained to The Bruin, I’ll advocate fiercely for transition policies – as a committee representative, I struggled initially without transitional guidance from my predecessor – it is important to build upon foundations.

Get councils more involved in publicizing GSA events:

As I explained to The Bruin, I very specifically desire to communicate with councils to impress upon them the need to keep their constituencies informed and build a culture of engagement with GSA.

I have a track record in student government and nonprofit governance. I’ve been active since 2010, when I gave a speech on commuter needs that got my picture on the front page of the Daily of the University of Washington.

I’ve been involved in various student governments for three years, and when at the UW, I was in the Associated Students of the UW Student Senate, a 150-plus person – at the time – legislative body that shares balance of powers within the ASUW, and represents the official student opinion for the 40,000-plus students at UW. I’ve led student organizations, served on campus-wide committees and helped lead and have led several campus-wide campaigns at UW. I’ve been on significantly sized nonprofit corporation boards of trustees. Given this experience, I will continue to do my best to bring GSA, and graduate and professional students, into a brighter future.

FitzGerald is a graduate student in law and a candidate for the Graduate Students Association’s vice president of external affairs.