GPSA is the graduate and professional student voice. Our executive branch meets regularly with President Crow, other members of ASU’s administrative team, and the Arizona Board of Regents to ensure that graduate student needs and concerns are addressed. The GPSA’s Office of External Affairs participates with the Arizona Students’ Association to present issues of student concern to the Arizona Legislature, voice the opinions of students and advocate for students on all issues affecting higher education. GPSA works on behalf of students to influence public policy at local, state and national levels.
Here are a few of the ways that GPSA advocated on behalf of graduate students during the 2010-2011 school year:
ADVOCACY
- Engaged student Assembly Members and Department Representatives across all four ASU campuses
- Communicated with university administration on graduate students’ concerns
- Passed student referenda to improve the quality of student governance and advocacy for ASU graduate and professional students
- Established an independent volunteer judiciary committee to hear out and rule on graduate student grievances
- In collaboration with the Arizona Students’ Association… saved the universities from being cut an additional $37 million, saved over $14 million of need-based financial aid (AFAT) from permanent repeal, protected investments in education by having TABOR vetoed, won in-state tuition status for all honorably discharged veterans, made it easier for students to vote by establishing voting centers, protected student governments’ ability to advocate on behalf of students, prohibited several other bills that ASA and student government opposed from advancing.
- Began collaboration with the ASU Family Resources Advisory Board regarding childcare and other family policies for ASU graduate and professional students
- Collaborated with the Graduate College to survey graduate and professional students about their professional development priorities
- Represented ASU graduate students at events hosted by the ASU Commission on the Status of Women
- Collaborated with the GPSA Internal Affairs office and the ASU Project for Wellness and Work-Life to develop a tool to assess graduate and professional students’ work-life needs