GPSC decides fate for upcoming year

By Elizabeth zinchuk

Graduate Professional Student Council members elected new officers during their meeting Tuesday.

GPSC re-elected Blaine Tisdale as president through a secret ballot, while councilman Matt Ryg was voted to replace Peter Lucas as Vice President for Administrative Affairs and councilman John Stewart was voted to replace Brooke Talley, Vice President for Graduate Affairs. In other agenda items, Lucas also announced GPSC’s end of the year budget is in line with last years’.

Tisdale said he is honored to serve another term as president.

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“This has been a very rewarding experience, and I have learned a lot,” Tisdale said. “I plan to put those hard earned lessons to work in the coming year as president.”

Tisdale said he hoped to increase graduate student representation and better advertise GPSC’s ability to fund registered student organizations during his first semester. The council has made strides toward those goals, he said.

Beyond decisions for GPSC’s future, Peter Lucas said the council’s present financial status is similar to its status toward the 2011-2012 school year’s end.

Lucas said at the meeting that GPSC has given out 109 individual travel support awards, which help students attend conferences and other events, totaling $14,440.98. The council has a total travel support budget of $30,000, he said.

“I was curious about those numbers, so I did some research,” Lucas said. “Last year we had 213 people for the amount of $27,000. The majority came in the spring, so it looks like we still have quite a bit of funding to give out.”

GPSC has funded 25 events this year totaling $27,274.16, Lucas said. The council’s event funding budget is $35,000, and last year the council spent $38,239.19 funding events.

“We are right on track with last year,” Lucas said.

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Lucas said GPSC has also given out 60 research awards. Students from every college on campus received awards, he said.

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