Ò»±¾µÀÎÞÂë

The President of the GSA coordinates and oversees all operations of GSA, the GSA Executive Committee, and GSA Advocates. The President of the GSA is the point representative of the graduate student population during interactions with Ò»±¾µÀÎÞÂë administration and various stakeholders. They are responsible for developing and maintaining relationships across the University and representing graduate student interests. It is the responsibility of the President to carry forward and lead the GSA towards fulfilling the vision laid out in the Strategic Plan.

Possible projects/initiatives could include the following, though advocates are welcome to propose their own ideas, too.

• To plan and facilitate town halls for Masters students to provide feedback on their overall experiences as Ò»±¾µÀÎÞÂë students, and run follow-up surveys as needed;
• To aggregate and analyze results from Masters student town halls and follow-up surveys;
• To work with the VP for Graduate Student Life to consider social events in the context of Masters student needs and interests;
• To collect and organize career and professional opportunities that may be useful to Ò»±¾µÀÎÞÂë Masters students;
• To collect and analyze information on how Masters Students use Ò»±¾µÀÎÞÂë resources (HUB, UHC) and resources outside of campus (esp. healthcare); and
• To act as the primary point of contact for Masters student-related issues as they arise.

In the case of more than one individual appointed to the position, the duties may be subdivided between the co-advocates.

The GSA Partner and Family Advocate(s) will work to create a welcoming campus culture that supports graduate students with partners and families as students, researchers, teachers, and members of the campus community. This advocate would be given an annual honorarium of $1000 for service of ~5 hours/week.

The duties for the Partner and Families Advocate may include but are not limited to:

• To act as the primary point of contact for family-related issues as they arise;
• To participate in outreach efforts to partners and families of graduate students;
• To expand efforts to build a self-sustaining partner and family community such as maintaining various social media presences;
• To develop a guide to the Pittsburgh area for Ò»±¾µÀÎÞÂë students with families (e.g. schools, housing, child care, etc); 
• To plan family-friendly social events to build community (e.g. an outing to the Children’s Museum);
• To curate a monthly email detailing free family-friendly events in Pittsburgh or other at-home activities if events are limited;
• To advertise the GSA childcare grant and review applications for eligibility;
• To advise key members of University administration and committees on the interests of graduate student families including (but not limited to) paid family leave for graduate students, accessibility of on campus childcare, and lowering barriers to domestic partnership status; and
• To report to the Vice President for Campus Affairs, serve as an ex officio officer of the Campus Affairs Committee, and provide monthly updates to the Executive Committee on Partner & Family student-related issues across campus.

In the case of more than one individual appointed to the position, the duties may be subdivided between the co-advocates.

The duties for the International Student Advocate may include, but are not limited to:

• To advise key members of University administration and committees (e.g. those that advise the Career and Professional Development Center, University Health Services, and Counseling and Psychological Services) on the interests of international students;
• To provide advice and feedback to the Office of International Education (OIE) on an as-needed basis;
• To participate in outreach efforts to international student groups, e.g. Indian Graduate Student Association, Chinese Student and Scholars Association, and more;
• To act as the primary point of contact for international student issues as they arise;
• To help create community via digital channels for international students and advance any concerns to the GSA Executive Committee;
• To liaise with VPEDI and OIE to create a resource guide for international students addressing visa and immigration issues
• To liaise with VPEDI and OIE to explore potential translation services for OIE communications;
• To advocate to align University instruction, student accommodations and more to the interests and concerns of international students, especially as concerns around the pandemic and new immigration restrictions arise; and
• To report to the Vice President for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (VPEDI), serve as an ex officio officer of the External Affairs and Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Committees, and provide monthly updates to the Executive Committee on international student issues across campus.

Potential projects include:

• Organize small events targeted to underrepresented student communities/constituencies, easing subsequent engagement with other affinity groups and the student body at-large.
• Organize cultural cuisine sharing celebration and invite “all” the orgs under the multicultural organizations to participate and contribute ideas for vendors
• Expand access to GSA programming and recruitment via digital media where some Ò»±¾µÀÎÞÂë communities/constituencies are more active, e.g. WeChat, etc., potentially inviting stakeholders to collaborate on translating key communications and publishing resource guides

In the case of more than one individual appointed to the position, the duties may be subdivided between the co-advocates.

The GSA Finance Committee Auditing Members will ensure fiscal responsibility in the use of graduate student activities fees. These seven members would be given an annual honorarium of $500 for service of ~3 hours/week. 

The duties for the Finance Committee Auditing Member are:

• To conduct weekly financial audits of GSA spending which accounts for 46% of graduate student’s activities fee;

• To conduct weekly financial audits of Rep spending for all 50 constituencies which accounts for 24% of graduate student’s activities fee; and
• To report to the Vice President of Finance (VPF), serve as an ex officio officer of the Finance Committee, and provide monthly updates to the Executive Committee on the state of fiscal responsibility of the GSA and Rep Constituency groups.

We anticipate up to seven individuals appointed to the position; duties will be subdivided between the co-advocates.

The Graduate Student Life Assistant(s) are charged with ensuring the success of the large social events targeted at the entire graduate student body. The list of duties for this advocate includes, but is not limited to: 

• Acting as a volunteer leader at GSA hosted events 
• Performing tasks associated with event planning as needed 
• Regularly updating social media accounts
• Assisting the VP GSL in making decisions for event plans 
• Assisting GSA reps with event planning needs

This position, appointed yearly, reports to the Vice President for Graduate Student Life (VPGSL), serves as an ex officio officer of the Graduate Student Life Committee, and will require a minimum 5 hours per week of work. Each advocate will receive an honorarium of $1000 per year served.