Tucked away on the top floor of Kerckhoff Hall, the Graduate
Students Association, an organization struggling for visibility
among its small community, finally found its niche in the graduate
student community through strengthened organization, efficiency and
communication among its current officers.
Starting the year off with only one returning officer and three
officers with relatively low GSA experience, graduate student
council members and observers were wary of what would be ahead in
the coming year.
But with the opening of the Graduate Student Resource Center, a
thriving environmental coalition lecture series, the revision of
GSA bylaws, and the advocating against graduate student fee
increases, GSA officers have something solid to smile about.
Though visibility of the organization within the graduate
student community is still low, within the past year GSA has
experienced what members call one of its most
“fruitful” years yet.
Finally gaining an “organizational momentum” that
was shaky in the previous year due to officer resignations and a
faulty internal vice president, all in light of drastic budget
cuts, officers now see GSA in its most stable form, said Marilyn
Gray, GSA vice president of internal affairs.
“I think it is very strong, and I think there is a lot of
potential for graduate student community and life,” Gray
said. “We hope that we are making a qualitative difference in
graduate student life.”
Michelle Sugi, GSA vice president of academic affairs, who ran
for the position last year with no previous GSA experience,
immediately recognized the “drastic difference” between
this year and last, she said.
Sugi said having Gray as a returning officer was helpful and
“built up so much momentum” and added that she hoped
Jared Fox, current GSA president, would also be a returning officer
next year.
Marking this year as unique in comparison to other years is the
reward of actually seeing results from potential ideas, Fox
said.
Notable improvements in organization and task efficiency, in
addition to having one returning officer, are only a few of the
reasons for GSA’s success in the past year, officers say.
“It’s very rewarding to see all the amazing progress
we have been able to make this year as a result of our endless
hours of hard work,” Fox said.
The most rewarding and successful project of the year, most
officers agree, was bringing the neglected Graduate Student
Resource Center, which technically opened last year with the
renovation of the Men’s Gym, to its feet.
A resolution to have such a center was created several years
ago, but serious planning for such a resource did not begin until
this summer and fall when GSA received substantial funding.
With a full staff, in addition to a full-time salaried director,
the resource center offers graduate students workshops, social
events and everyday resources.
“The Graduate Student Resource Center is an excellent
facility to bring together resources all across campus,” Fox
said. “We have workshops and seminars and a wide variety of
issues that are beneficial to graduate students both academically
and personally.”
In addition to the revamped resource center, a new publications
lab was also opened within the center.
This year GSA funded 26 journals and added a new facility that
will lower the cost of publishing, make journals more physically
appealing, and provide the option of publishing work online.
In answer to rising graduate student fees, GSA started a
letter-writing campaign. After state budget negotiations, the
proposed 40 percent increase to graduate student fees was halved
and spread out over a time span of three years.
Fox said the letter-writing campaign initiated by GSA had an
impact in this resolution.
GSA members have also been active in fighting the recent
proposition to raise student fees for both the UCLA School of
Public Health and the UCLA School of Public Affairs.
“I spoke against it. … (The regents) already voted on
it, so it will be hard to get them to change their mind,” Fox
said, who will be a candidate in the upcoming elections.
With more than one candidate running for each position in this
years’ elections, interest among GSA and its functions for
the community are slowly becoming more visible.
GSA was able to achieve this improved visibility as Gray heavily
collaborated throughout the year with Graduate Quarterly, a
graduate student publication that reaches all graduate students,
and the Graduate Division by involving the two organizations within
GSA efforts, events and ideas ““ something that was not
initiated last year.
While undergraduate students have a detailed orientation upon
attending UCLA, graduate students only have specialized
departmental or specific school orientations.
What current GSA officers hope to see next year is a general,
practical orientation for graduate students, educating them not
only about GSA but the UCLA campus as well.
Reflecting on the past year, officers say they are more than
content. In contrast with last year when quorum was difficult to
reach, attendance at forum has been high this year and meetings end
on time, members said.