Though there are five contenders running for the office of vice
president of academic affairs in the Graduate Student Association,
they all share one goal ““ working to ensure academic rights
for graduate students.Â
The candidates, Jefferson Eppler, Anita Garcia, Amanda Lipon,
Kyle McJunkin and Michelle Sugi say they are determined to bring a
positive, and much needed change to GSA.Â
The vice president of academic affairs is a fairly new position,
created two years ago, and entails working with the Academic Senate
and different departments on various graduate academic issues and
concerns.
Originally, there was only one student running for this office,
but when the original candidate did not have enough signatures to
run for office, the application deadline was extended to April 15.
This extension welcomed four more candidates to the platform.
Current vice president of academic affairs, Marilyn Gray,
stresses that she would like to see continuing advocacy for
graduate fund-raising and funding because without excellent
graduate students, the University of California will lose its
ranking.
She also added that in order to do well in this office, the
candidate “needs to be committed to fulfilling core
responsibilities, seek the perspective of students, communicate
well, and have committee experience that works on policy
issues.”
Eppler, a first-year law and business program graduate student,
said he is running because he is interested in academic policy and
believes with his past experience he can help bring change in
graduate funding, fee increases and academic policies.Â
Eppler, a graduate from Stanford University, has dealt with
academic policy in the past. He served as an academic adviser to
students, implementing residential education policy. He also taught
middle school math for one year, during which time he evaluated and
developed academic policy.Â
Eppler feels that graduate students do not know about GSA and
are disconnected with other graduate divisions and departments.
“Among graduate students, it is easy to get lost in the
minutia of your dissertation, but there are so many
cross-disciplinary areas that graduate students can benefit from.
The vice president of academic affairs can affect the most change
in this issue,” Eppler said.Â
To advocate this change, Eppler plans on coordinating
interdisciplinary academic forums and utilizing the Graduate
Student Resource Center.
Eppler said he will also focus on graduate funding by soliciting
alumni, corporate and governmental sources for help.
“This position can help the Academic Senate in working to
find new sources to fund fellowships. As vice president of academic
affairs, I can publicize resources where students can find
funding,” Eppler said.
Garcia, a first-year law student, decided to run mostly because
the deadline was extended, and it looked like they needed people,
she said. Garcia says she feels qualified for the position and is
determined to increase opportunities for interdepartmental
collaboration, increase fellowship opportunities, and examine
issues of diversity between the different schools and
departments.Â
Following her undergraduate work at UC Berkeley, Garcia worked
in Sacramento for Sen. Richard Alarcon, D-San Fernando Valley, and
Assemblywoman Judy Chu, D-San Gabriel Valley. Because both Alarcon
and Chu sat on education committees, Garcia says she knows a lot
about educational policies and the UC system. While being a
legislative aide, she also worked on a bill regarding issues of
equality in education.
“I have a lot to offer the other vice presidents. “¦
I have a lot of ideas I can contribute regarding D.C. and
Sacramento politics,” Garcia said.
Lipon, a second-year law student, feels that the graduate
students at UCLA are extremely underrepresented to the
administration and do not receive academic support.
Among her goals, Lipon plans to hold higher levels of
accountability for GSA members, making sure they are implementing
their policies, and planning more activities such as an industry
night that will bring interdisciplinary departments together, she
said.
“Offering more panels and discussions on balancing careers
and family issues is also important because graduate students are
in their mid to late 20s and want to start families,” Lipon
said.
Lipon, a staff member of the UCLA Women’s Law Journal,
added that the best way to communicate with graduate students is
through e-mails and flyers.
McJunkin, a first-year doctoral student in higher education and
organizational change, decided to run because he said it is a
perfect way to put in practice what he is learning, and to
influence change in certain issues such as graduate student debts,
he said.
McJunkin plans on looking into how many loans graduate students
take out in order to complete their masters and professional
degrees.
“Loans are going to be a big pain. I want to address the
faculty with funding issues “¦ certain students are fully
funded while some students are given nothing,” McJunkin
said.Â
He also stresses that if financial aid is addressed, it will
also alleviate the time to complete graduate programs.
“I will work with departments to encourage students to
complete programs on time. It is a very complex problem with very
few solutions,” he added.
This year, McJunkin served the undergraduate council in the
Academic Senate as the graduate student representative where he was
actively involved in issues brought to council such as establishing
Chicana/o studies as its own department, and participating in
academic departmental assessments that will take place this
quarter.Â
McJunkin is committed to “being able to anticipate and
listen to the concern of other graduate students, and be able to
reflect that to the administration and faculty as issues they
should be concerned about,” he added.
Sugi, a public health masters student, wants to represent both
graduate and professional students to create a strong graduate
community
To accomplish her goal, Sugi says she will effectively utilize
the academic council members who represent the 13 different
academic graduate divisions.
“The academic council members are a direct source to the
graduate student body. If we use them, we can build a stronger
graduate community,” Sugi said.
Her first priority is to increase the visibility of GSA to the
graduate student population.
“I feel that not enough students know about GSA. I want
them to know that it exists and be aware of the resources it
offers,” she said.
Sugi also stresses that she will be more receptive to academic
issues and students’ concerns, especially in regards to
UCLA’s grading system which does not erase an
“incomplete” on students’ transcripts even after
they complete the quarter’s work. She plans on creating a
forum where students who can have discussions with the department
heads and chancellors.
As an undergraduate student, Sugi served on the undergraduate
student advisory board at Johns Hopkins University, and is
currently a public health coordinator for the UCLA Mobile
Clinic.