Graduate Students Association Endorsements 2016

All endorsements are decided upon by the Daily Bruin Editorial Board.

Jonathan Koch

Running for: President

Endorsement: Endorsed ✓

Jonathan Koch has the mindset and tools to not only restructure the Graduate Students Association but also to advocate for underrepresented groups and improve graduate students’ education and livelihood.

Koch’s understanding that the GSA can’t just solicit input in an empty manner, but needs to actively ensure representation at the forum, makes him an excellent GSA presidential candidate. Koch mentioned specifically that he wanted to integrate the voices of underserved communities – such as Mothers of Color in Academia de UCLA and a working group on sexual assault policy – in order to make the GSA a more equitable and inclusive place.

Additionally, Koch’s platforms, which he calls “bread and butter” issues, respond to students’ demands, such as improving accessibility and affordability for graduate student housing and ensuring student voices are heard in discussions of campus fees. In addition, Koch promises to advocate for better working conditions for TAs and adjunct professors, as well as collaborating with the student community to improve sexual assault policy and responses.

Koch has demonstrated an understanding of the issues plaguing GSA this year, particularly the issue of attaching political biases to discretionary funding and impeding widespread access to the council. Koch’s platforms to restructure and ensure that the GSA’s website, meetings and functions are navigable are the necessary first steps to improve transparency.

His work with UC Academic Workers for a Democratic Union and United Auto Workers Local 2865 to advocate for graduate student interests, such as decreasing class size, will prove to be instrumental for the GSA in becoming a better ally for graduate students.

While Koch’s platforms are wide-ranging, his commitment to restructuring the GSA to increase transparency and community representation will transform the council for years to come.

Michael Skiles

Running for: President

Endorsement: Not endorsed

Michael Skiles is a strong candidate for the Graduate Students Association’s presidency. However, his opponent Jonathan Koch’s stronger focus on transparency and student advocacy earned him the nod over the very qualified Skiles.

Skiles’ experience as president of Weyburn and Hilgard Residents’ Association places him ahead of his competitor in terms of qualifications, but his lack of awareness of this year’s problems is obvious since his platforms do not include anything about making GSA more transparent amid the allegations against Milan Chatterjee.

In fairness, Skiles did push for transparency through the GSA Discretionary Fund amendment, but has not set attainable goals that will increase transparency and create a council the entire graduate student body can trust.

Additionally, Skiles held several leadership positions in the past and has accomplished tangible goals in those roles. He met with UCLA administrators to urge them to keep the graduate student gym open, and he also brought the increase in graduate students’ rent from 3 percent last year down to 2 percent this year.

Skiles also planned to host more social events. Additionally, he advocated for the GSA to be more involved in UC decisions through the Board of Regents’ student adviser position, but lacked an understanding of how to work with the representative to advocate on behalf of graduate students.

However, his opponent focused his platforms on achievable transparency measures and student advocacy. This should be at the forefront of the GSA’s agenda, especially following a year during which the current president faced allegations of inappropriate and retaliatory behavior.

Skiles’ experience is formidable, but it is important to select candidates who take action and avoid repeating the same problems the GSA experienced last year. For that reason, Koch would be a more suitable candidate for president.

Ian Coley

Running for: Vice president of internal affairs

Endorsement: Endorsed ✓

The board endorses Ian Coley for vice president of internal affairs with the hope that he can provide some stability following a year marked by disarray.

While his platforms are certainly not groundbreaking, Coley’s focus on adherence to the Graduate Students Association constitution, transparency and fair representation more broadly – which he displayed as a member of the GSA Forum – can remedy some of the issues this year’s council had.

GSA, spearheaded by President Milan Chatterjee, likely lost a good deal of its constituents’ trust when it withheld funding from groups based on their viewpoints this year. Leadership like Coley’s, should he continue his record of accountability and fair representation, could help win back the confidence of those invested in GSA.

Part of what made this year’s term so contentious was the council’s lack of transparency. Coley mentioned the need to promptly post meeting minutes online after meetings, something this year’s GSA failed to do on a consistent basis. He also specifically mentioned the need to adhere to “Robert’s Rules of Order” during council meetings. Although these proposals aren’t revolutionary, they’re necessary to govern the internal affairs of a governing body that has lacked internal order.

As a member of the GSA Forum, Coley also displayed sagacity in allocating funding to organizations and consulted constituents before making relatively large-scale fiscal decisions. The importance he places on maintaining a clear line of communication with the people he serves will not only serve him well as vice president of internal affairs, but as a representative of the graduate student body more generally.

Though Coley is a modest candidate with modest goals, his no-nonsense approach to governance is a much needed breath of fresh air for a council that brought an unnecessary amount of controversy upon itself. Even without major proposals, he can provide the council with much-needed level-headedness. In the case of GSA, a little can go a long way.

Ioan Istrate

Running for: Vice President of Internal Affairs

Endorsement: Not endorsed

The board is choosing to not endorse Ioan Istrate for vice president of internal affairs not due to his lack of vision, but lack of experience.

We do not doubt Istrate could sufficiently fill the position and perhaps accomplish more along the way, with some experience as a business consultant and as a vice president of international student relations at the Anderson Student Association. His desire to revitalize graduate student organizations by diversifying representation in student government is one that his opponent should consider adopting.

However, Istrate simply lacks the knowledge of how the GSA functions, even though one of the vice president of internal affairs’ primary duties is leading the forum. This is especially worrisome because internal discord has been a prevalent issue in the association this year. He has never attended a GSA Forum meeting and is unable to take a position on, or even describe, President Milan Chatterjee’s controversial actions this year that sidestepped the forum when creating and amending funding policies.

While Istrate’s platforms emphasize the need for more representation and student engagement – after all, less than 10 percent of students decided last year’s GSA cabinet – there are too many obstacles he is unaware of that next year’s cabinet will have to overcome. His focus on developing social and collaborative events reflects his ambition without sufficient foresight.

Istrate’s opponent, on the other hand, is not only familiar with the association and its need for improvement, having served as a forum member this academic year, but also has a solid idea of how to repair the broken bureaucracy within the GSA.

The board believes Istrate has good and smart intentions that would best serve the GSA in a non-executive position while he is still inexperienced.

Alexandra Latshaw

Running for: Vice president of academic affairs

Endorsement: Not endorsed

This board does not endorse Alexandra Latshaw for vice president of academic affairs. While the physics graduate student shows a great deal of passion, Latshaw lacks necessary knowledge of the Graduate Students Association and her potential role in the association.

In an interview with the editorial board, Latshaw, if elected to council, said she will work to improve transparency within the GSA by insisting on publicized minutes and encouraging graduate students to view these and hold their student government accountable.

Additionally, her platforms include an effort to enhance lobbying for better mental health facilities on campus, continue advocating for rent control, insist on holding GSA members accountable and increase diversity, especially in the science and math fields.

All of these are commendable and appropriate for the GSA to take on, and they should be incorporated into other GSA candidates’ platforms as well.

However, the purpose of the vice president of academic affairs position is to advocate primarily on behalf of graduated students with regards to academic issues. In reality, very little of Latshaw’s platforms actually promote academic issues. Encouraging gender and racial diversity within departments is a fine goal, but her other platforms fail to fall under the appropriate academic lens, missing the purpose of running for this specific position.

Latshaw also said she has not yet been to a GSA meeting, making her too inexperienced at this time. We encourage her to become more active and continue to be a voice for students on campus, whether it is through committees within GSA or through other campus forums, and in the future, run for GSA under a more suitable position with more specific platforms.

Another year of experience, coupled with more focused platforms, would make Latshaw a strong candidate in future elections. As of now though, there are still too many questions.

 

Tess Armstrong

Running for: Vice president of academic affairs

Endorsement: Not endorsed

The board chooses to not endorse Tess Armstrong for vice president of academic affairs because of her vague ideas and lack of concrete plans.

Armstrong’s main platform was to increase the number of graduate student applicants serving on committees, citing low participation rates at committee meetings.

However, she failed to identify which committees on campus she feels are important, and was unable to explain how to ensure the representatives she would choose actively participate and advocate for student rights.

Armstrong’s other key platform was to advocate for curbing undergraduate student enrollment at UCLA because increased enrollment can lead to higher class sizes and drive up university housing prices. Armstrong indicated that an increased undergraduate enrollment is a topic up for debate; however, a plan to increase resident enrollment by 10,000 students over the next three years has already been approved.

Armstrong did not have any concrete plans on how to advocate for the curb in enrollment. She also did not have an opinion on how to balance providing students with access to higher education with the issue of increased enrollment.

Increasing social events and advocating for stability in graduate student housing prices were two of Armstrong’s other platforms. However, those do not fall directly in the scope of her role as vice president of academic affairs. These platforms are exactly the same as those of Michael Skiles, who is running for president.

Armstrong’s lack of a clear direction is worrying. However, the board hopes that if elected, Armstrong will work on initiatives that fall more directly under the position’s authority and use her experience as a teaching assistant and the treasurer of the Weyburn and Hilgard Residents’ Association to devise a clear plan to achieve her goals.

 

Andres Schneider

Running for: Vice president of external affairs

Endorsement: Endorsed ✓

This board endorses Andres Schneider for the Graduate Students Association’s vice president of external affairs position. His past experience shows that he is qualified, and his platforms are set to tackle pressing graduate student issues even if some of his plans are not as clear as we would like.

Schneider, a graduate student of economics, used this year to advocate on many initiatives that were important to graduate students, such as the NextBus service for Santa Monica’s Big Blue Bus.

Schneider’s delivery of past promises makes us confident that he will work hard towards his new platforms, though some are less plausibly achievable than others. This year, he hopes to reduce the discrepancy between graduate student stipends and the costs they face such as rent. He also wants to take steps to close the bridge between UCLA and the University of California Student Association, and increase representation of international students in the GSA.

These are mostly platforms which he has mentioned in years past, so this year will most likely be an extension of the work he has already been doing.

In some cases, this is good. In terms of bringing GSA and UCSA closer together, Schneider has invited UCSA members on multiple occasions and met with them to advocate on issues. He plans on continuing this and trying to build the relationship even further. Though the exact relationship he has with UCSA should be more clearly defined, at least he has made UCLA’s voice heard to some extent.

There were other issues that Schneider could have been more clear about. While bringing stipends closer to rent costs for graduate students is certainly an issue worth pursuing, Schneider didn’t give any concrete plans for trying and making that happen. Having a clear plan would certainly be a first step, and one that Schneider should take as soon as possible.

Though we hoped Schneider would be more clear about his approach to some topics, we think he will make an effective vice president of external affairs.