GPSO reelects Harman to lead executive council

Current Graduate and Professional Student Organization President Brady Harman was reelected to serve in next year’s executive council during the weekend’s GPSO elections.

The council is responsible for organizing the GPSO Assembly and committee meetings.

After several slow years of GPSO, Harman said he focused this year’s term on making the assembly more active, organizing committees and increasing campus involvement, creating a “culture of advocacy.”

Harman said during his presidency, he accomplished his goal of giving the GPSO a good foundation for governance.

“We’re the only body recognized by the administration as the student government for graduate students,” he said. “We need to be looking at issues proactively, examining current campus policy, bringing feedback to the administration. None of that was happening.”

There were two candidates for GPSO president, Harman and a first-year graduate student.

At the election, each candidate gave a short, timed speech and then answered any questions from the audience. Then, they left the room to let the audience discuss and vote on a secret ballot.

The Executive Council, which Harman will once again lead, is composed of five elected positions, three appointed positions and two paid staff members.

The next position voted on was vice president, the only paid position after president.
There were two candidates, both first-year students, and physics Ph.D. student Justin Vasel won.

Vasel was recruited to form a graduate student government when he was studying at the University of Minnesota.

Though he was not there to see it completed, Vasel said, it gave him a better idea of what he would be doing as a member of the Executive Council.

“I’m trying to make a difference in an arena that’s not just physics,” he said.
Candidates for treasurer, parliamentarian and liaison ran unopposed.

The GPSO has a new rule this year that candidates running unopposed have to gain 75 percent of the student vote. If they don’t, there is to be another election at the next
meeting.

All candidates received the required amount of votes, and Zach Bailey was elected as treasurer; Skyler Hutto was elected parliamentarian; and Julianna Gjonaj was elected liaison.

Harman said his plans for the Executive Council next year include making the body more inclusive, surveying the student body more frequently and establishing a Presidents Council, which would be a council of graduate student organizations to discuss relevant issues.  

“I think we have a good foundation,” Harman said. “The next problem is that this student voice that the administration now recognizes needs to be as informed and accurate as possible.”