Graduate and Professional Student Senate

This page contains the details of the work I did while I was a member of the Graduate and Professional Student Senate (GPSS) of Virginia Tech. I am particularly proud to have had a part in this work of making the operating procedure of the GPSS clear and concise, especially as graduate students go forward in organizing for fair treatment.

The GPSS serves as representation for the post-graduate students of Virginia Tech. More detailed information may be found on the GPSS website.

Roles Served

• Recent Roles

  • Departmental Senator (Fall 2020-Spring 2022)

  • Committee on Judicial and Internal Affiars (Fall 2020-Spring 2022)

• Past Roles

  • Constitution Transition Committee (Summer 2021)

  • Committee on Judicial and Internal Affairs (Chair, Fall 2020-Spring 2021)

  • Subcommittee on Constitutional Overhaul (Chair, Fall 2020-Spring 2021)

  • Elections Subcommittee (Chair, Spring 2021)

  • Parliamentarian (Fall 2020-Spring 2021)

Summary

My primary goal throughout the 2020-2021 academic year, in collaboration with other GPSS members Ben Beiter and Phil Miskovic, was to rewrite the constitution and bylaws of the GPSS, as well as to form a handbook to serve as a reference for the positions and functions of the GPSS. This allows the GPSS to operate more smoothly, enabling the GPSS to better advocate for graduate students throughout the university.

The constitution (linked to here) was approved:

• by the GPSS (on March 18th, 2021),

• by Univeristy Council (on May 11th, 2021),

• by the Board of Visitors (on June 8th, 2021).

During the summer of 2021, the bylaws were constructed by a transition committee, consisting of myself and GPSS executives, to be in compliance with the guidelines of the constitution. To the best of my knowledge, the Handbook is still under construction.