The Graduate Student Organization discussed its budget and executive leadership for the next academic year on Wednesday night, in its final meeting of the spring semester.

Jack Wilson was re-elected as GSO president by a vote of 23 to three. Other executive electorates for the fall semester include Vice President of External Affairs Sweta Roy, and Comptroller Joshua Fenton. Nick Mason will be the sole newcomer to the executive board after he was elected unanimously as vice president of internal affairs, the position that Rikki Sargent currently holds.  

A primary focus that Wilson will pursue next semester is long-term future planning, including the GSO’s civic engagement wing in an attempt to stay in touch with recent graduates.

As a result of his long-term planning, Wilson acknowledged local, state and federal legislation that the GSO may have to adapt to in the fall.

“For all the stress and all the crises this year, I can’t tell you that it can be any better next year,” he said. “As long as the current party in power holds the House and the Senate and the White House, I’m worried that we must operate under the assumption that the tax bill, and the Prosper Act, and the travel ban and the DACA review … We as the GSO must prepare in the coming year to react to these crises.”

Perhaps the most notable function that the GSO approved this year is a change in graduate health insurance from an employee to student plan. The vote has proven to be contentious among graduate students. The assurance of a smooth transition will be a key focus for the executive staff this coming summer, Wilson said.

Still, concerns persist over the process under which the healthcare resolution was approved. There were members in attendance on Wednesday who did not support the resolution, and others who did not support the manner in which it was passed.

“This organization needs to do a critical reflexive look to itself on how it represents itself, and makes itself accessible to the entire student body” one senator told Wilson after his closing remarks.

The final budget was also proposed and approved for the coming school year during the meeting.

Several service providers, such as Student Legal Services, the Slutzker for International Services and Graduate Career Services, among others, have lobbied the GSO for funding from its budget. About $163,000 of the budget is allocated toward those services.

The graduate school recently received National Endowment for the Humanities grants, which match $25,000 of any non-federal, third party fundraising that the graduate school receives. This program is aimed at enhancing, “doctoral training for humanities Ph.Ds in ways that prepare students to pursue a wide range of meaningful careers,” according to a university press release.

Glenn Wright, director of the Graduate Schools Programs Office, lobbied the GSO to contribute money to fund a substantial portion of that cost. He emphasized the opportunity for expanded career-related services for graduate students pursuing a Ph.D in a humanities-related field.

The trouble with fundraising, Wright said, was a lack of enthusiasm from the College of Arts and Sciences and the bracket of alumni that they are asking for donations from. He said that people getting humanity Ph.Ds do not represent the income bracket that provides most of the alumni donations that SU receives.

Of the $31,000 the GSO will allocate to the graduate school, $15,000 will go toward the NEH grant.

The total budget of the GSO, which combines the three categories of service providers, operating expenses and student organizations, is about $409,000. Some of the main programs and organizations that receive funding from the budget are SLS, the Travel Grant Program, and executive compensation.

Other business

• Jagdeep Dosanjh, Taylor Sanders, Chris DiCesare, Adebimpe Adegbite and Steven Harris were all elected as university senators.

• Rikki Sargent, Christia Parsons, and Mo Mamaghani were all elected as at-large senators. Three more at-large senators will be elected in the fall.

• Jack Wilson said that it would be “improper” for the president to insert personal opinion on the graduation student unionization drive that Syracuse Graduate Student Employees.

Published on April 26, 2018 at 1:45 am

Contact Gabe: gkstern@syr.edu | @gabestern326