GPSA – The Daily Evergreen

GPSA senators make policy changes

MADYSEN MCLAIN, Evergreen GPSA reporter

February 11, 2020

The Graduate School dean and the director of Civil Rights Compliance and Investigation (CRCI) fielded questions from GPSA senators during a meeting on Monday. Holly Ashkannejhad, the director of CRCI, introduced new changes coming to Executive Policy 15 (EP 15), which addresses sexual misconduct, dis...

GPSA campaign applications open

MADYSEN MCLAIN, Evergreen GPSA reporter

February 4, 2020

The application for the GPSA general election opened on Feb. 2. Andrew Gillreath-Brown, GPSA communications chair, said there are about 60 senator positions and eight college representative seats open. He said students can also run for president, vice president and vice president for legislative...

GPSA unanimously confirms new president

MADYSEN MCLAIN, Evergreen GPSA reporter

January 28, 2020

GPSA senators voted unanimously to confirm a new president during a meeting Jan. 27. The special nomination committee nominated WSU doctoral candidate Jennifer Johnson for the position. The committee formed in December after former GPSA president Ralph Chikhany stepped down due to personal reasons. ...

GPSA president steps down

MADYSEN MCLAIN, Evergreen reporter

January 13, 2020

Due to medical reasons, the GPSA president stepped down from his position on Jan. 1. “I’m not a quitter, I fight a lot and I pursued a lot but there’s just circumstances that were beyond my control,” Ralph Chikhany, former GPSA president, said. Chikhany said they made the decision over Tha...

Children’s center expands resources

KAITLYN TEJERO, Evergreen reporter

November 5, 2019

GPSA featured a speaker who discussed the new additions to the Washington State University Children Center's evening program during Monday night's meeting. Director of WSUCC Heather MacDermott-Havey said the main goal of the evening program is to support graduate and professional students who also...

Speaker updates on potential mental health service

KAITLYN TEJERO, Evergreen reporter

September 23, 2019

GPSA featured a speaker who discussed the university's plan to implement new mental health and counseling services for WSU students. Ellen Taylor, associate vice president of student engagement, said she has previously worked at the University of Washington, Oregon State University, and has now been...

Sutherland speaks about plans to advocate in Olympia

ANDREA GONZALEZ, Evergreen reporter

September 9, 2019

Matthew Sutherland told attendees he wants to speak with state lawmakers about graduate students and the policies that affect them during Monday night’s GPSA meeting. Sutherland, who will travel to the state Capital to lobby should the GPSA board approve it, said he is working to advocate for students...

GPSA discusses new health care for graduate students

CAITLIN KOONCE, Evergreen reporter

August 26, 2019

GPSA featured a speaker who discussed a new health insurance plan provided by Cougar Health Services that would make costs cheaper for graduate students during their first meeting of the semester. GPSA Vice President Veneice Guillory-Lacy went over an upcoming ice cream social event put on by GPSA....

GPSA approves new board members, budget

CHERYL AARNIO, Evergreen reporter

April 22, 2019

GPSA held its last meeting of the school year and voted to approve new directors, the budget and a bylaw amendment. The organization had its general election recently. However, certain executive board member seats were not been filled, GPSA Vice President David Silva said. GPSA members confirmed thre...

GPSA discusses department representation issues

CHERYL AARNIO, Evergreen reporter

April 8, 2019

The GPSA Internal Affairs Committee proposed bylaw changes in the Senate’s meeting Monday night. The committee proposed changing the word "department" to "academic unit" in the bylaws. This will redefine who can get a Senate seat so Research and Extension (R&E) students will be able to hold a ...

Researchers present work at annual showcase

HANNAH WELZBACKER, Evergreen reporter

March 28, 2019

Faculty, staff and graduate and professional students from all specialties presented their research Thursday morning at the 2019 Academic Showcase and GPSA Research Exposition. The Academic Showcase had a poster session that included over 260 boards with both creative and research work. The GPSA...

GPSA discusses community standards update

CHERYL AARNIO, Evergreen reporter

March 25, 2019

GPSA senators discussed the WSU community standards process and secondary elections. They also elected a new vice president of legislative affairs. Elizabeth Peisner, interim assistant dean of students, said WSU has implemented a new system-wide community standards process as of Jan. 7. The Office...