To our graduate and professional student colleagues, here are this week's announcements and updates: 

Announcements: 

Congratulations to our new GPSG Executives! 

President of Engagement: Saydie Sago

Saydie is a 3rd year Ph.D. student in Integrative Physiology with the College of Arts and Sciences; she looks forward to advocating and supporting minoritized student population groups, specifically- Native and Indigenous students. As a current graduate leader for the Native Graduate Student group and a past committee member for the Center of Native American and Indigenous Studies, Saydie continues to evolve the graduate student experience through shared governance, organizing student cultural events such as workshops, conferences, concerts, and art nights. 

President of Administration: Pritha Agarwal

Pritha is a 3rd year Ph.D. student in Advertising, Public Relations, and Media Design with the College of Media and Communication Information. Pritha has a history with GPSG, as she had an opportunity to shadow our previous President of Outreach, Mckenzie Dice. Pritha comes with experience from Washington State University, where she served as the President of the Indian Student Association, overseeing a vibrant community of more than 500 members. She plans to foster a collaborative dialogue with campus leaders and other shared governance groups to create an inclusive environment where every student's voice is heard and valued. 

Please join us this Wednesday, October 18th, 2023, during our Legislative Assembly meeting for the Introduction and Assembly Ratification of our two new executives, Saydie & Pritha.

Updates: 

Happening this Assembly meeting Wednesday, October 18th, 2023  https://app.zoom.us/wc/5531069073/

The Rules and Finance Committee (RFC)  will have the second reading of their GPSG fee increase proposal. The last GPSG fee increase was in 2021, which would go into effect July 2024. We invite you to listen and comment. 

Senator Carias will host a second reading of 2023 AB 02: A Bill to Improve GPSG stipends. This bill proposed increases to the current GPSG leadership. 

There will be the first reading of a suggested Assembly Resolution 2023 AR 01: Resolution to add Caste Protection to the Protected Groups in CU's Anti-Discrimination and Harassment Policy authored by Prasanth Prahladan CSGSA Vice-Chair for Antiracism and Inclusion. 

The Award and Grant Committee (AGC) will introduce amendments to the Excellence Award Bylaws. 

Ongoing meetings: 

- Tuesdays @ 12 pm

- Tuesdays @ 4:15 pm

- Wednesdays @ 5 pm

- Wednesdays @ 6:30 pm

Equity and Advocacy Committee- Thursdays @ 10 am; please email chiefofstaff.gpsg@colorado.edu for the Zoom link if interested in attending. 

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To our graduate and professional colleagues,

Please see below for a weekly update from the Graduate and Professional Student Government, which you should also be receiving from your department representative or college senator.

Upcoming events and opportunities:

• GPSG meetings
  •  - Wednesdays 5pm
  •  - biweekly Thursdays 4pm
  •  - Tuesdays 3pm
  •  - Thursdays 10:30am
  •  - Mondays at 10am
• Applications for Spring travel grants are open, due Friday, January 28.
• .
• !

Week in Review:

• The Assembly approved a grant to the ATOC Outreach Committee and discussed communication strategies with their colleges. These meetings are always open to the public.
• Fee Advisory Board Met on Thursday 20 January to finish updates to the Institutional Student Fee Plan. Updates pertinent to GPSG included that from now on one executive member (likely President of Outreach) and the Director of Finance will attend FAB meetings. Additionally, the email of the chair of the Board will be added on the finance office's website so that students may contact the chair if they have questions or concerns about a certain fee.  The final draft of this plan will be finished in a few weeks.
• Additionally (not related to the Fee Plan), last fall the capital construction fee was discontinued, which is about $100/semester. 
• We had 64 applications for the GPSG Fire Victim Assistance Fund and made awards to 16 students.
• The President of Engagement is working on proposing updates to the ºÚÁÏÉçÇøÍø Today emails to make them more useful to graduate students. If you have any thoughts about this, please email engagement.gpsg@colorado.edu.
• Please let us know if there are particular issues you’d like us to prioritize!

If any questions arise, you can reach out to your representative or contact us at gpsg@colorado.edu.

We hope you stay safe and have a great week,

Emily Jensen, Barra Peak, and Mckenzie Dice

GPSG Executive Team

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To our graduate and professional colleagues,

Please see below for a weekly update from the Graduate and Professional Student Government, which you should also be receiving from your department representative or college senator.

Upcoming events and opportunities:

• GPSG meetings
  • - Tuesdays 6:30pm
  • - biweekly Wednesdays 9am
  • - Tuesdays 4pm
  • - Tuesdays 10am
  • Outreach Team - Tuesday 4:30 pm (as needed)

Week in Review:

• Pay Raises and Fee Remittance! Starting January 2022 students on appointment will get a 3% base pay increase and their student fees remitted. Read the Grad School’s announcement here.
• Remember to take the Campus Culture Survey to help us reach a 50% response rate! A personalized link to the survey was sent to you with the subject line: "Reminder: Your link to the Campus Culture Survey.â€�
• We opened applications for GPSG Dir. of Social Events and Dir. of Legislative Affairs. Read more about the positions and apply here.

If any questions arise, you can reach out to your representative or contact us at gpsg@colorado.edu.

We hope you stay safe and have a great week,

Emily Jensen, Barra Peak, and Bobby Vondrasek

GPSG Executive Team

Off

To our graduate and professional colleagues,

Please see below for a weekly update from the Graduate and Professional Student Government, which you should also be receiving from your department representative or college senator.

Upcoming events and opportunities:

• GPSG meetings
  • - Tuesdays 6:30pm
  • - biweekly Wednesdays 9am
  • - Tuesdays 4pm
  • - Tuesdays 10am
  • Outreach Team - Tuesday 4:30 pm (as needed)
• The CU Regents are soliciting individual feedback on the CU System Presidential Search. Submit feedback
• Sign up for our weekly !
• Current open GPSG applications:
• Please continue to share any questions or concerns about campus COVID-19 policies via this .

Week in Review:

• Our Chief of Staff put together a list of services and amenities available to all students that are funded through your student fees. The list can be found here. See something that’s missing? Let us know!
• We met with Associate Vice Chancellor for DEI, Sonia DeLuca Fernández. We discussed structural challenges facing CU as relates to DEI initiatives. We will be meeting again before the end of the semester. Please let us know if there are any points you would like us to bring up.
• The CU Regents came to Assembly yesterday to discuss the system presidential search.

If any questions arise, you can reach out to your representative or contact us at gpsg@colorado.edu.

We hope you stay safe and have a great week,

Emily Jensen, Barra Peak, and Bobby Vondrasek

GPSG Executive Team

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Do you ever wonder where your student fee money goes each semester? While GPSG is continuing our fight to eliminate student fees for graduate and professional students, we want to make sure you get the most out of the money you are spending in the meantime. We've compiled a document outlining all the resources you can access by paying student fees. If you find something that is not on this list, please let us know by emailing gpsg@colorado.edu.

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The Graduate School announced changes to graduate and professional student benefits and fees in today’s CUBT Graduate Student Edition. The highlights:

1. Parental leave for all students and paid leave for students on appointment.

2. Opt-in dental insurance covered at the same rate as Gold SHIP for students on appointment.

3. University coverage of the RTD College Pass for students on appointment.

4. University-wide reductions of two fees: saving $59.20 per academic year, pending Regents approval.

UGGS is thrilled to see these initial changes being enacted from the recommendations made by the Compensation and Benefits Taskforce and from the ongoing conversations between UGGS and the Graduate School. These benefits and changes to fees represent a big win for the graduate and professional student community at ºÚÁÏÉçÇøÍø, and reflect the persistence of many student groups in making their voices heard both publicly and through the presence of UGGS on committees across campus.

This is a great step forward, but the work isn’t over yet. We recognize the financial burden of being a graduate student in Boulder, and will continue to advocate for graduate and professional students well-being and success in our ongoing meetings with the Graduate School and the ºÚÁÏÉçÇøÍø Administration.

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The principles of collegiality and shared governance are fundamental to the United Government of Graduate Students. We stand firmly by these ideals as the only way to a productive collaboration between the different college constituencies.

We urge the ºÚÁÏÉçÇøÍø Administration and the leadership of CUSG to act in the best interest of the ºÚÁÏÉçÇøÍø community, to recognize the needs of all undergraduate and graduate students, and to reflect upon the events that have brought the campus to this situation. We invite CUSG leaders and the Chancellor’s Office to engage the graduate student community and to collaborate with us as the conversation progresses.

This past week's events have brought confusion and uncertainty that has affected our fellow undergraduate and graduate students alike. We call upon our campus leadership to engage in a sincere and respectful conversation that encourages all stakeholders to participate.

Today, we have the opportunity to strengthen our campus institutions. We must take actions to reaffirm the value of student engagement, and reinstate our commitment to responsible oversight of resources, and their fair distribution.

Disclaimer: The plan to reduce financial oversight of CUSG, as appeared on the Chancellor's statement, identifies our group as a financial beneficiary of this change. The statement also suggested a plan to formalize the distinction between our two groups. We currently do not have details about this proposal. Although financial resources are very necessary, UGGS is not motivated by them. Our organization has one clear goal: the enrichment of all graduate and professional students’ experience at CU.

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