Graduate Student Association
School of Journalism and Mass Communication
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Notes from September 2003 GPSF Meeting

The Grad Student Senate had its first meeting last night. See below for all the scoop about:

  1. Almost-gala happy hour following ours Thursday night. Why not meet some more grad students?
  2. Chances to participate in student government and on campus committees. It's easy to volunteer for committees. Only requires filling out an online form that you'll find at Grad Students Association website at http://www.unc.edu/student/orgs/gpsf/
  3. Thoughts about how we in JOMC can sponsor activities that get GPSF funding while making us smarter, better connected and more marketable.

Read on, colleagues.

Glenn

The Graduate/Professional Student Federation Senate met last night. Some highlights and ideas for all of us:

  • First in importance: A happy extension of our Happy Hour. The GPSF is sponsoring its own walking tour of watering holes Thursday night. You can stagger right over after the JOMC event. The “Introduction to Franklin Street” is patterned after a successful premiere last fall, when it was apparently quite a lively affair. It begins at 8 p.m. at He’s Not Here and continues with stops at Top of the Hill (9:30 p.m.) and Lucy’s (11 p.m.). This is your chance to meet other grad students from other areas, including medical and law schools, biz, social sciences, humanities, IT and all. See fliers posted in 3rd floor lounge.
  • Get Involved: Organizers are looking to fill seats in several areas of student representation. I encourage many of you in JOMC to look into volunteering, which will look impressive on your resumes and will raise our profile among other grad students and groups. You can find most of the key info by going to the GPSF website at http://www.unc.edu/student/orgs/gpsf/
  • The UNC Student Congress has three open seats for grad students from JOMC, Information & Library Science, Continuing Studies, or Off-Campus Studies. The congress sets policies for the Honor Court and distributes $$ from student fees to student organizations. A special election to fill those seats will be on Sept. 16.
  • The Grad Student Federation has lots of committees to fill with people like you. The most pressing: Teaching Awards Committee, Food Services Committee, Carolina Union Board, Career Services. There are many others, too, including Public Safety Committee and a Building and Grounds Committee, where you can be heard about the miserable construction conditions that we are supposed to be happy about.
  • Spending our Money: We heard last night that the Grad Senate has $16,000 to distribute to groups who come up with initiatives to promote scholarship and career goals. I want to see JOMC people qualify for some of it (since the money comes from our fees.) My idea is to coordinate an event that welcomes grad students from other disciplines to our place for a few hours of discussion on interdisciplinary research and service possibilities. This is a no-brainer for funding. The Senate’s first priority is for activities that cross academic borders. But we need to put together a plan and sell it. I suggest a scoping session sometime soon and hope many of you will participate. Any suggestions gladly accepted at gwscott@email.unc.edu. Those of you taking courses outside JOMC, please ask grad students from other departments about their thoughts and needs.

All for now,

Glenn

Copyright 2002 Graduate Student Association