The Graduate and Professional Student Assembly recently elected an executive board for the upcoming year. The newly elected board members will serve as "officers-elect" until GAPSA's formal transition meeting on April 23.
GAPSA also chose to create a new office this year -- the vice chairmanship for public relations -- to help improve the group's publicity.
"A lot of people had responsibility for it, but no single person had responsibility for it," Wharton MBA student and incoming GAPSA chairman Rob Alvarez said. He noted that with a higher profile, GAPSA could more easily "create a University-wide sense of the graduate experience."
Newcomers and incumbents alike reflected on the past year and looked forward to the tasks ahead.
"GAPSA had a pretty good year," returning board member John Jung said.
A Med student and GAPSA's vice chairman-elect for policy, Jung noted a number of practical initiatives the association will pursue, including a mentoring database, a joint task force with the Undergraduate Assembly on graduate teaching, health insurance issues and advocacy.
"We've always done practical things," Jung continued, adding that "what GAPSA would like to do more than anything is continue to push for issue and policy statements... whether about Iraq or things that are going on with health insurance."
Alvarez, who took an outspoken position against sweeping policy statements when GAPSA passed its resolution against the war with Iraq, said that he would maintain his preference for practical initiatives during his upcoming term as the association's chairman.
"We have a fantastic role to play here because we have access to all the key decision makers," he said. "I'd rather take advantage of that and maximize the benefit of that than dig up some of these other issues."
The unionization drive that rocked the graduate student community -- now hibernating as the community awaits the National Labor Relations Board's ruling on Penn's appeal -- did not appear to influence the elections.
"GAPSA has decided to remain neutral on the question of whether graduate employees should form a union. It is the right of the graduate employees to decide that for themselves," said Michael Janson, a political science doctoral student, returning board member and GET-UP organizer.
"They're one voice at the table," Alvarez noted, adding that "if the court decides the election was proper... we'll be happy to work with GET-UP."
