GSA recap – Oct. 18

The Graduate Student Association is the voice of graduate students on campus. The association meets for forum every three weeks and takes positions on current issues affecting graduate students. Forum meetings are at 5:30 p.m. in the Global Viewpoint Lounge in Ackerman Union.

Agenda

• The association approved GSA President Michael Skiles’ appointments to the internal vice president and external vice president cabinets, the Academic Senate and the policy committee.
• The association approved extending the commissioner of elections position from a two-quarter to a three-quarter appointment.
• Elections Commissioner Justin Gelzhiser said he thinks this extension will give the commissioner more time to plan for the spring elections and reach out to graduate students to achieve a larger voter turnout.
• The association voted to increase the budget for organizations in the student interest board, including the Black Graduate Students Association, to $3,000 per year with funding from the GSA discretionary fund.

Officer reports

• Skiles said he has been working with the Graduate Student Resource Center, the Office Technology Center and the Biomedical Library to implement the South Campus Printing Initiative and install more printers at the Biomedical Library.
• He added he hopes to make free printing services available to graduate students in both North and South Campus within the next few weeks. He said the free printing would cost less than $10,000 per year.
• Skiles said he successfully lobbied the Westwood Neighborhood Council to create a student engagement committee, which has worked on council proposals to support increases in the availability of affordable housing in Westwood.
• He added he is working with Artisanal Brewers Collective to open up a craft brewery on Broxton Avenue by winter or spring quarter.
• Vice President of Internal affairs Alexander Fung said he has helped graduate students create new graduate student organizations.
• He said his cabinet will be launching various initiatives, including the GradCafe, a program that provides graduate students free lunches during weeks five and 10 of every quarter.
• Vice President of External Affairs Parshan Khosravi said his office has been opposing UCLA’s treatment of valet workers at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center. He invited members to attend an upcoming emergency town hall event Oct. 23 to learn about labor policy at the UC and hear valet worker testimonies.
• Khosravi said the UC Graduate-Professional Council, which consists of graduate student representatives from 10 UC campuses, was created in the summer because several graduate student leaders said they think the UC Student Association does not focus enough on graduate student needs. He added his office has decided that GSA will continue as a voting member with UCSA and not join UCGPC this academic year.
• He said that last year, GSA temporarily rejoined UCSA for one year to observe whether their involvement with UCSA was beneficial to the association