POSITION DESCRIPTIONS
President
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Candidate:
Ryan Scheel Candidate Description: For the past year I have dedicated a lot of time and effort into improving GSA (meetings, bylaws, 501(3)(c) application, increased communication, etc.). There are many initiatives that are still only partially complete, and with another year I can ensure that they are successful and feel confident that GSA will continue to thrive in the future. |
Vice president of grants & awards
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Candidate:
No nomination Candidate Description: |
Vice president of international activities
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Candidate:
Taye Birhan Candidate Description: I strongly believe that the beauty of our campus lies in the diversity of its students. I had a chance to travel and study in different parts of the world. Thus, I would like to offer my international experience and express my sincere interest in participating at GSA. |
Vice president of professional development |
Candidate:
Sarah K. Caltabiano Candidate Description: As GSA V.P. of Professional Development I will see that graduate students have the skills necessary to rise to their full potential as not only students, but professionals as well. Previous professional development and governance positions that I have held that I feel make me a strong candidate for this position are lead trainer for the N.Y.S. Department of Agriculture ALB project, representative to Long Island Re-Leaf committee, core member of the Hollis Hills CSA, and student advisor to the John Bowne FFA organization. During my experience with these organizations I found that there is no substitute for developing the skills one needs to succeed outside of their academic career, such as confidence in self and knowledge, communicating that knowledge effectively to a varied audience, imagination, innovation, leadership, and organization. In order to do this I will continue to facilitate GSA professional development events such as the elevator pitch contest and “All you need to know to defend”, and work with students and the committee to develop new programs for enhancing these skills. |
vice president of social activities
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Candidate:
Robert Moesch Candidate Description: I would like to continue growing the social activities of the GSA. I feel I have had a successful first year putting on events for the graduate student body. I aim to continue growing fun and inclusive events that everyone would love to attend. I also hope to bridge a few events with the USA (undergraduate student association) that will help with attendance and make the event available for future graduate students. Lastly, I want to start asking the graduate student body of what they would like to see more of on campus. I thank you for your consideration! |
Vice President of Curriculum |
Candidate:
Daniel Collins Candidate Description: I would like to run for the VP of Curriculum position because of my interest in higher education and curriculum development. I was a TA for a required 200-level course in EFB for 4 years, and now I work with the ESF Open Academy (helping to coordinate the GA Teaching Colloquium is one of my jobs there), and have learned even more about about the theory and practice of higher education. This semester, I began teaching my own special topics course on therapeutic horticulture, and it has been a wonderful learning experience. I want to teach after I graduate, and these experiences are fantastic in giving me some exposure and lessons that I would have learned only after I had already started that career. I want to bring more graduate students to that level of working on their own curriculum, developing their skills as an educator, and enhance the quality and quantity of coursework, training, and experience for future educators. |
Vice President of Research |
Candidate:
Rea Manderino Candidate Description: As Vice President of Research, I intend to give greater voice to the needs of the graduate student body and the collective conditions in which we conduct our research. As a GSA member last year, I created the Graduate-Undergraduate Mentoring page, which successfully paired up graduate student researchers with undergraduate mentees to advance research goals. Projects advanced through this facilitation have exemplified ESF's ongoing research and some are now in prep for publication. Maintaining the capability for such connections to ensure research productivity will be a priority for me in this position. I hope to increase the visibility of the academic and applied graduate student research as a fundamental part of ESF. As a member of GSA, I have been a voting member of Academic Governance, chaired the Ad Hoc Committee on the Tuition Tax, represented the graduate teaching assistants regarding salary increases, and have been participating in the ongoing GSA-lead discussions with the Business Office surrounding the issues of fee increases and the timing of bills. Going into my fourth year as a PhD student, I am very familiar with the stresses of graduate student life here in Syracuse, and I will continue my advocacy in this position for greater graduate student support from the college. Thank you for your consideration. |
Vice president of Communications
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Candidate:
Tusha Yakovleva Candidate Description: I am grateful for the GSA's efforts in advocating for and providing interesting opportunities for graduate students. I would like to support the organization's work in the upcoming academic year. My professional experience in journalism, event planning, and project administration makes me well suited for the role of Vice President of Communications. |
Secretary
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Candidate:
No nomination Candidate Description: |
Treasurer
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Candidate:
Gregory Kronisch Candidate Description: I'm currently the GSA treasurer and it pretty much led to us getting a 50% increase in our annual operating budget. I might as well keep this train rolling. |
Department Representative: Paper and
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Candidate:
Christopher M Thomas Candidate Description: I have been the GSA representative for the PBE department since time immemorial. The department, its people, politics and inner-workings are laid bare before me. As your GSA rep, I promise the PBE department will only grow in prestige and power, shining like the brightest star in our tiny galaxy that is ESF. |
Department Representative: Environmental
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Candidate:
No nomination Candidate Description: Candidate: No nomination Candidate Description: Candidate: No nomination Candidate Description: |
Department representative: Chemistry
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Candidate:
Dominique Derminio Candidate Description: As of next year, I will be a fourth-year Ph.D. candidate. I am very involved with the chemistry department, as well as a part of activities and committees throughout the University. Also, in the 2017-2018 academic year, I held this position and I am up-to-date on what is occurring at SUNY ESF. |
Department Representative: Landscape Architecture
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Candidate:
Richard Connor Neville Candidate Description: Greetings fellow GSA members (and LA grads)! I, Connor Neville, have just completed the 2018 spring semester serving as the current DLA representative, and would love the opportunity/privilege to serve in the same capacity moving forward into the '18-'19 academic year. My qualifications stem from my passion for landscape architecture, academic governance, public speaking, and servant leadership. I feel that being the DLA representative has been a wonderful outlet for me to contribute to the graduate student life of ESF - especially considering the students in our department, and our unique voice that can be offered to campus on larger issues and formative discussions. As a second-year MLA student in the fall, I hope to further dedicate my efforts of faithfully representing DLA graduate students well! Thank you very much for your time and consideration! |
Department Representative: Forest and Natural Resource Management
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Candidate:
No nomination Candidate Description: Candidate: No nomination Candidate Description: |
Department Representative: Environmental Science |
Candidate:
No nomination Candidate Description: Candidate: No nomination Candidate Description: |
Department Representative: Environmental Resources Engineering |
Candidate:
No nomination Candidate Description: |
Syracuse university graduate student organization representatives |
Candidate:
Kirsten McGiver Candidate Description: I have served as the Representative to the GSO for the 2017-2018 school year. I am currently the chair of a committee at SU and this has enabled me to better serve the GSA and the ESF community. I am intent to continue to serve the ESF community this way in the future. |
board of trustees representative |
Candidate:
Alex Poisson Candidate Description: After 4-5 years of tension between especially Faculty and Administration, a sense of disappointment and dissatisfaction has grown with the ESF Board of Trustees (BoT). Given the complexities of the situation it will be important for the next GSA rep to the Board to have an excellent first-hand knowledge of the events, personalities and decisions that led to the current crisis in confidence. Being able to articulate an accurate and precise diagnosis of problems and root causes will be crucial to recovery. It will also be important for the GSA rep to propose constructive ideas that can help the campus heal and rebuild, and ultimately transition with new leadership As the grad rep to the Board for the last two years (voting and non-voting), I have worked closely with the GSA Executive, USA BoT rep., and USA President, to set up frequent and direct communication channels with the ESF Administration (Leadership Council, Fall 2016). I have also prioritized advocating for graduate student salary increases (since May 2016) and worked with the GSA Senate, Administration and a few dedicated faculty to reach this goal (milestone agreement reached this Spring of 2018, with ~$3000 a year increase, starting in the fall of 2018). I also proposed that GSA engage with Administration in reviewing graduate student courses and programs and successfully advocated for the creation of two new GSA VP positions (Curriculum and Research) to help GSA oversee that effort. In the coming year, if elected to the BoT position, I will advocate for bottom-up solutions to ESF’s challenges and work with the GSA, USA and Academic Governance to advocate for (1) a new faculty position to the ESF Board of Trustees (likely Emeritus), (2) a student representative (annually alternating graduate and undergrad) to the Executive Committee of Academic Governance, (3) permanently securing proposed graduate student salary increases, (4) ESF adopting a budget committee and re-activating ESF’s Capital Planning committee; and (5) ESF abandoning its “two-faced” approach to campus sustainability, and instead embracing continuous improvement in sustainable facilities management, through a restructuring of ESF’ Physical Plant and Facilities. |
