GPSF Achievements Sparse in Fall Term

Woody said the GPSF's lack of tangible accomplishments, especially in regards to improved child care, result from the unexpected amount of time required to appropriate funds.

Monday's meeting finished out the GPSF's first semester under Woody's presidency. Woody said graduate student leaders have a lot of work ahead of them before achieving all of their goals for the year.

Woody ran on a platform to tackle issues such as housing, child care, teaching assistants' pay, and interaction between graduate and professional students.

"These are the hardest things to actually get things done on," Woody said. "We underestimated the amount of time it takes to go through the funding process."

Woody said progress has been made toward addressing the concerns of graduate student housing and social interaction, as well as getting graduate students represented on campus committees and boards.

But child care and teaching assistant improvements are two issues Woody plans to take on in the spring. "Hopefully next semester we'll be able to accomplish more," he said. "The issues (this semester) have been kind of scattered."

Given the amount of time it takes to address graduate student concerns, Woody said he will try to delegate people who have experience with specific issues.

But persuading people to help is not easy, Woody said. Referring to the 40 positions for campus graduate student representation he filled this year, Woody said, "For me it was just a lot of time talking those people into serving."

Monday's meeting was a good example of the conflict Woody has faced between allocating funds and tackling other substantive issues, as the Senate primarily focused on doling out money.

At the meeting, the Senate unanimously approved funding for the N.C. Student Rural Health Coalition's monthly trips to provide health care to rural communities.

Senate members also debated whether to fund expenditures for Jennifer Burgoon, a UNC student who works for the National Association of Graduate and Professional Students.

NAGS is a national organization that lobbies for graduate students' concerns. "We're the only national group that represents graduate and professional students," Burgoon said. "This is the one thing that can truly help us in the long run."

After a lengthy debate about the constitutionality of approving a request to fund an individual, the Senate voted to approve the $1,000 request.

At the end of the meeting, Eric Johnson, a junior who plans to run for student body president, took the opportunity to address the Senate and let them know he was available to hear their concerns.

"I'm not just going to be representing a lot of undergraduates. I'll be representing a lot of graduate students, too," Johnson said. "I really have a long way to go before I understand what your needs really are."

And Woody admits he also must make progress before he can help fulfill graduate students' needs.

"I think we certainly have a lot of work to do."

The University Editor can be reached at udesk@unc.edu.