The Graduate and Professional Student Government met Friday to vote for next year’s elected leaders.
The GPSG voted on the president, vice president and health and wellness committee chairperson, treasurer and parliamentarian. They will take office May 1.
Those elected were Adam Reneker, president, Blake Forland, vice president and health and wellness committee chairman, Brian Shaw, treasurer, and Alyssa Gonzalez Specht, parliamentarian.
Before voting, current GPSG president Ben Verdi urged his fellow assembly members to use their time wisely and ask candidates questions.
“We want to engage in a bigger discussion,” Verdi said. “We want to have a good, thorough vetting of each person who wants an element of responsibility next year.”
Before the assembly voted, each candidate had five minutes to explain why they believed they should be elected and to answer any questions.
Each category except vice president had only one candidate. For these categories, the candidate needed at least 70 percent of the assembly vote to get the position. Otherwise, the vote would be rescheduled. The vice president candidates, however, simply needed the majority vote.
Forland ran against Dominick Tartaglia, a two-term GPSG representative, for the vice president position and health and wellness chairperson.
A current GPSG representative on the benefits committee, Forland said he wants to extend his ideas about what the GPSG should do beyond just an individual committee.
As vice president, Forland said he would work more with the IU Student Association, oversee committees and their development, and increase GPSG awareness and participation.
The assembly eventually voted for Forland as next year’s vice president and health and wellness committee chairman.
Running as the sole presidential candidate, Reneker said his job as GPSG’s current parliamentarian and his understanding of its constitution and bylaws will help as president.
His goals for the next year include creating an assembly member handbook, working to change the internal structure of the GPSG and increasing visibility of the GPSG.
To increase visibility, Reneker said he wants to use social media and create a GPSG presence in the graduate and professional programs.
“Graduate students are really busy, and so a lot of times, unless something is right in front of their face, they’re not going to pay attention to it,” Reneker said.
In terms of changing the internal structure, Reneker’s ideas include combining the parliamentarian and vice president role.
Concerns regarding the vice president’s workload and organization stipends were raised at a GPSG meeting earlier this year.
To address these issues, Reneker said he wants to combine the parliamentarian and vice president role since the majority of their workloads occur at different points in the year.
As president, Reneker will work with the executive committee on combating this structural issue.
Next year’s parliamentarian Gonzalez Specht said she is going to use her extensive experience in student government at New Mexico State University to help her in this position.
Elected as next year’s treasurer, Shaw wants to maintain transparency and accountability in regard to the GPSG’s funding.
He also plans to continue working with the sustainability committee.
Coming from a background in financing and budgets, Shaw said he can also help answer any financial questions assembly members have.
“I would like to be a resource for you,” Shaw said.
