Grad students present final vision for gov't

After almost a year of hard work and often-heated debate, graduate students have at last unveiled the final version of their proposal for student government restructuring.

The final proposal includes one General Assembly for the entire graduate-student community and a separate group made up of graduate students from the School of Arts and Sciences.

Until this proposal, SAS was the only school without its own student government.

The 47 member General Assembly, which, due to University by-laws, will continue to be called Graduate and Professional Student Assembly, will be divided into two councils - one that represents research students and one that represents professional students.

With eight representatives each, SAS and Wharton will have the greatest representation, and the Annenberg School of Communication will have the least, with only one. Representation will be based on school size.

The executive board will consist of one man and 10 vice chairmen who govern three divisions - administration, policy and student life.

Funding allocation has also been a hot point of discussion in this debate, which has been ongoing since May.

The new proposal would send more money directly to the individual graduate-school governments, instead of funneling it through the Graduate Student Associations Council or GAPSA - the current student-government bodies - making it more easily accessible to students.

The revised proposal was presented at last night's GSAC meeting and will be presented again at tonight's GAPSA meeting.

The final proposal will be put to vote at GSAC and GAPSA meetings next week. If it is approved, the constitutions of the two organizations will be appropriately ratified to implement the new structure.

The final proposal stems from a collaborative effort over the past few months between supporters of two initial proposals.

The first proposal, called Government Version 2 and put forth by the executive boards of GSAC and GAPSA, called for the creation of one all-encompassing general assembly and the replacement of GSAC with a SAS student government.

The second proposal, called UPGRADE, was presented by a group of graduate students who preferred reforming the current structure of GSAC and GAPSA to meet student needs rather than starting from scratch.

But now, both groups seem to be pleased with the results.

"I'm really excited," said GAPSA chairman Lee Shaker, an Annenberg fourth-year Ph.D. candidate. "It's sort of a textbook example of teamwork and public deliberation."

GSAC president Cassondra Giombetti agreed, saying that last night's meeting "went great," and that "there's a lot to be gained by this new model. I'm thinking positive."

"There's been some real openness from the leadership and they've been very receptive to our concerns," said fourth-year SAS graduate student Roger Turner, who initiated the second proposal.

"What's important is that we get a student government that cares about issues that are important to most graduate students here on campus," he said.

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