OUtgoing GAPSA Vice Chair for Student Life Nikki Thorpe (Design) and Outgoing Vice Chair for Social Activities Jessica Kim (Education) have both been selected to receive the President and Provost’s Citation for Exceptional Commitment to Graduate & Professional Student Life.
Also selected was former GAPSA Representative Brian Coleman (Social Policy & Practice), who is currently the Chair of the Black Graduate and Professional Student Assembly (BGAPSA), and Heather Klusaritz (Social Policy & Practice) for her work as a GAPSA appointee to the Student Health Insurance Advisory Committee.
The citation is presented annually to graduate or professional students, upon their graduation from Penn, who have been a catalyst for transformative and lasting new developments that have enhanced graduate and professional student life at Penn. The 2009 Award will be given out at a reception held on Wednesday, May 6, 2009. For more information click here.
The Division of Public Safety’s Commendation Ceremony is an annual event held during the spring conducted jointly with DPS, GAPSA and the Undergraduate Assembly (UA). Commendations of merit and commendatory letters will be presented to members of the University of Pennsylvania Police Department (including the Detective Unit), the PennComm Center, and AlliedBarton Security. Letters of recognition are also given to outside law enforcement agencies, such as the Philadelphia Police Department, and to various citizens from the community.
GAPSA and the UA also recognize members of the UPPD and Allied Barton for their efforts during the school year. Nominations are submitted to GAPSA and the UA by various students and award winners are chosen by committee.
The 2008-2009 GAPSA-UA Public Safety Recognition Award Recipients are:
Sergeant David Adler
Mr. Lance Brown
Detective Pete Black
Mr. Maxie Diggs
Ms. Renee Duckett
Ms. Cornelia McLeod
Detective Supervisor John Peterson
Mr. Jamal Reed
Mr. Ralph Thomas
Ms. Tamieka Wilson
Click here for the transcript of the GAPSA-UA portion of the award ceremony.
The GAPSA Executive Board is pleased to announce successful advocacy for graduate and professional students by way of a significant increase in funding for student government activity over the next three to four years.
The increase will begin during the next fiscal year (FY10) in July 2009, when GAPSA will receive an additional $100,000 on top of the usual increase (3.72% or $23,925 for FY10) tied to the increase in the graduate and professional student General Fee. This will bring the overall GAPSA budget to a total of $787,078 in FY10, a 19.2% increase over the FY09 budget of $643,153. The new budget will account for about 4.12% of the graduate and professional student General Fee pool.
For more information, check out the recent GAPSA press release.
At the request of one of the school student governments, GAPSA has conducted a review of the apportionment of School Representatives seats in the GAPSA General Assembly in accordance with the GAPSA Constitution.
The new seating will take place in September 2009 and will affect the following schools.
The School of Veterinary Medicine (+1 Research Seat)
The Law School (-1 Professional Seat)
The School of Engineering & Applied Sciences (+1 Professional Seat, +1 Research Seat)
The Graduate School of Education (+1 Professional Seat)
The School of Medicine (+2 Research Seats)
The School of Arts & Sciences (+1 Research Seat)
A net of six new seats will added to the Assembly. To view the complete press release, click here.
Roshan Abraham (Classical Studies)
Roy Anati (Computer and Information Sciences)
Philip Ernst (Statistics)
Greg Hall (Philosophy & Law)
Fern Lin (Marketing)
Goran Lynch (Electrical and Systems Engineering)
Laura Napolitano (Sociology)
Jon Pogach (Economics)
Nathaniel Prottas (History of Art)
Shalini Roy (Economics)
Charles Sharpe (History)
Hannah Voorhees (Anthropology)
On April 8, 2009 the Graduate and Professional Student Assembly elected its 29th Executive Board! Congratulations to the following individuals who will begin their year-long term on May 1, 2009.
Chair: Corbett Brown (Nursing, PhD)
Vice Chair: Lee Solomon (Medicine, PhD)
Vice Chair for Communications: Allison Sullivan (SAS, PhD)
Vice Chair for Equity & Access: Michelle Jacobson (Arts & Sciences, MES)
Vice Chair for Finance: Ashley Goss (Medicine, PhD)
Vice Chair for International Affairs: VACANT
Vice Chair for Operations: David Stein (Engineering, PhD)
Vice Chair for Professional: Jade Palomino (Law, JD)
Vice Chair for Research: Henry Friedman (Wharton, PhD)
Vice Chair for Social Activities: David Conklin (Engineering, PhD)
Vice Chair for Student Life: VACANT
Vice Chair for Student Programs: Maher Zamel (Education, EdD)
The Assembly opted to leave two seats empty, these will be filled by special election in September.
The DP published an interview with Chair-elect Corbett Brown on April 13, 2009. The audio file can also be found below. For more articles about GAPSA check out the press page.
On March 25, 2009, the Assembly passed a resolution condemning the recent Grassley-Sanders amendment to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (H.R.1 Federal Stimulus Bill), which places restrictions on the hiring of H-1B visa holders from companies receiving Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP) money, as this legislation has already begun to negatively impact the future job prospects of our students. The GAPSA resolution urges the University Offices of the President and Vice President for Government and Community Affairs and our Congressmen to lobby against protectionist legislation in Washington, to work toward providing greater options for international graduate students, and to promote a culture of tolerance and understanding between individuals from different backgrounds.
An article on this resolution was printed in the Daily Pennsylvanian on April 2, 2009.
On March 25, 2009, the Assembly adopted a 14-page report on housing resources for graduate and professional students. The report contains a compilation of the feedback and data gathered by the Assembly to date, from a variety of sources, concerning the availability of suitable student housing options in the area surrounding the University. It presents several areas of concern and challenges facing our students and recommendations for how both GAPSA and the University administration can work to address them.
On March 25, 2009 the Assembly passed a resolution urging the Office of the Provost and the Council of Graduate Deans to implement a periodic University-wide survey of graduate and professional students. This instrument would be used to assist in institutional effectiveness efforts and to support the University’s mission and purpose by collecting data that will provide insight into the experiences, opinions, and satisfaction levels of students. The resolution was accompanied by a list of topics and questions, which the Assembly would like to see used in the design of the final instrument.
