The incoming executive members of the Graduate and Professional Student Council will focus on improving the quality of life for graduate and professional students.
GPSC Vice President Bill Hunt, a fourth-year doctoral candidate in English, will succeed Felicia Hawthorne, a fifth-year doctoral candidate in the genetics and genomics program, as president of the council. Hunt said that the role of president was more external and policy oriented than his current role. Serving as president will require Hunt to make specific policy decisions, create a strategic vision for the organization and work closely with University administrators.
“We’ll continue working on maintaining and improving upon the quality of student life in the Duke community and making Duke a place where graduate students and professional students can pursue their academic and professional goals,” Hunt said. “It’s a big responsibility, and it’ll be a big challenge. I look forward to doing it.”
Hunt, along with four other members of GPSC’s incoming executive board, were elected at the group’s meeting Tuesday.
Hawthorne said she hopes Hunt and the other executive members will continue to work on many of GPSC’s goals for this year. Some of the group’s main goals for this year were promoting graduate student involvement and advocating for safety on campus.
“[Hunt] really has a great understanding of how the group works, and the group has an understanding of who he is, and he’s a great leader,” Hawthorne said.
Shannon O’Connor, a third-year M.D./Ph.D. student at the School of Medicine, will serve as vice president of the council. O’Connor, who currently serves as a School of Medicine representative to GPSC, said she plans to streamline the group’s meetings next year.
“Primarily, I would like to run efficient and effective meetings, such that the amazing people who serve on GPSC will have their time well-spent,” O’Connor wrote in an email Wednesday. “I hope I can help embrace the collaborations that are forming and that have the potential to form when such a group meets and challenge people to be innovative in the functions planned for next year.”
Nick Brandley, a third-year doctoral candidate in biology, ran unsuccessfully to be the group’s president. Brandley currently serves as one of GPSC’s student life co-chairs. Brandley said he wants to encourage further student participation in the council.
“My hopes are that next year GPSC will broaden participation especially with the professional schools and under-represented students and establish a bigger graduate presence on the campus,” Brandley wrote in an email Wednesday.
Brandley plans to run for career development chair at the group’s next meeting. Chris Marsicano, a first-year master of public policy candidate, was elected attorney general. Marsicano said he wants to reform parts of the organization’s structure.
“We have a lot of bylaws that stand in the way of GPSC becoming a truly efficient and effective body,” he wrote in an email Tuesday. “By reforming current bylaws and streamlining the way we do business, we can provide incredible benefits to graduate and professional students in every corner of Duke’s campus.”
Amol Yadav, a doctoral candidate at the Center for Neuroengineering, was elected treasurer. Pan Wu, a fourth-year doctoral candidate in chemistry, will serve as academic officer.
Due to time constraints, not all positions were filled at Tuesday’s meeting. Many of the positions will be decided March 27, Hunt said. The positions that remain to be filled are executive secretary, communications coordinator, University affairs coordinator, student group liaison, community outreach coordinator, career development chair and student life co-chairs.
Yeshwanth Kandimalla contributed reporting.
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