USC Graduate and Professional Student Senate (GPSS)

President/Chair (1): Mathias Knape (Mathematics)
Vice President (1): Anna Stubblefield (Law)
Finance Chair (2): Kirk Domke (Earth Sciences)
    Laksha K.Sampat (Engineering)
Elections & Recruitment Chair (2): Sujata Dhole (ISE)
    Yoko J. Igawa (PPD)
    Urvi Savla (Engineering Management)
Social Programming Chair (1): Amelia Jackerson (Occupational Therapy)
Community and Special Events Chair (1): N. Chloe Robinson (Social Work)
Communications Chair (1): Irfan Fazel (Electrical Engineering)
Public Relations Chair (2): Jason Harris (Classics)
   Mary Miao (Pharmacy)
Academic Affairs Chair (1): Johannes Volker Schmitt (Philosophy)
Health Sciences Campus Chair (2): Sahar Bedrood (Medicine)
      Eva Han (Pharmacy)

President – Mathias Knape Statement
Hi, I am Mathias Knape and I am running for president of GPSS.

It has been my pleasure to serve GPSS as vice-president this past year. As VP, I gained the institutional experience I believe is necessary to lead this organization. My service has also allowed me to identify possible improvements which will help GPSS fulfill its mission. Two issues are key.

Implementing these two goals will enable GPSS to be an even stronger advocate for graduate students. It would be my pleasure and honor to lead GPSS as president.

Hello! My name is Anna Stubblefield and I am running as Vice-President of GPSS. As Vice-President, I intend to support the President in fulfilling all of the objectives of the GPSS Executive Board and the GPSS Senators. Prior to enrolling in Law School, I served as an Assistant Program Manager to three different supervisors, often facilitating communications between unwilling parties. I’ve listened to various issues, while participating in student committees, and I have worked to find ways of resolving problems.
My experiences as both a student and employee have taught me resourcefulness as well as the how to effectively represent the interests of others, while find ways of reaching solutions that satisfy their needs. My goal as Vice-President is apply this same experience through continuing to represent the voice of the Graduate student body at an even greater capacity, especially since I, too, am a Grad. student.

During my time spent as GPSS Senator and Finance Committee member during the past year, I, Kirk Domke, have been able to learn from the current Finance Chair some of the necessary skills for effectively managing the duties of the GPSS Finance Chair. Following his example and equipped with my experience and knowledge gained on the Finance Committee, I am confident that I am prepared to enter the position as GPSS Finance Chair for the 2008-2009 school year.
As a 3rd year Ph.D. student in the Earth Sciences Department, I have shown the ability to effectively manage my responsibilities both on and off campus. Several of these obligations will not be on my schedule next year, so I will be able to commit as much time as needed towards serving the needs of the Executive Board, the Senate and the entire graduate student populations of both USC campuses.

I am Sujata Dhole, a graduate student with the Industrial Systems Engineering Department. I would like to run for the Election and Recruitment Chair position as I believe I have the required motivation and the skills to rise up to any challenge I might face in this position.

I’m Yoko Igawa, running for Elections & Recruitment Chair.

I want to implement innovative ways to involve fellow graduate students. The graduate student body contributes to much of USC’s prestige, reputation and excellence. The diversity, perspectives and experiences of our fellow colleagues are an awful thing to waste! I want to connect the wealth of possibilities that lies within our graduate student body into GPSS.

As a PPD Senator working with the Publicity & Recruitment Committee, I have a good foundation for future plans to:

To provide the highest level of service to more than 14,000 students requires responsibility and commitment. I would like to take this opportunity by running for the GPSS office of Elections & Recruitment Chair for the 2008-2009 academic year.
I shall assist in enhancing the experiences of USC graduate and professional students by actively taking the responsibilities. I hope to give my best and I believe if given the opportunity, I have the ability to provide a diversity of thought and I am confident that I will be able to contribute to GPSS from day one.

Experience:
Finance Director, Jain Students Association @ USC
Member of Public Relations committee in undergraduate college

Hello Graduate and Professional Students! I am running again for my third and final year. Over the past two years, I have had so much fun getting to know so many of you working to bridge together the USC graduate community. From the recent Grad Bar at Boulevard 3 to last year’s Santa Anita trip, I have really worked to serve you, providing not only nights on the town but events that cater to all social interests. My goal for next year and as always is to put on as many quality events as possible, bringing the USC community together and promoting fun as well as intellect. This year of social programming has been one of great success, including our newly formed and wonderful social partnerships with neighboring graduate schools including Cal Tech and UCLA, record attendance at events, and overall participation and frequency of social programming. Every year as Social Programming Chair, I learn a little more about the USC Community, Los Angeles, and how to efficiently and effectively serve the most students. This opportunity has been a real learning experience, and I hope to serve you all again next year. For 2008-2009, I want to continue to foster the bond between other graduate schools, promote bigger and better grad bar events, and build even more social relationships and events within USC and the community. Thank you all for the past two years, and vote for me!

Hello Trojans,
As the GPSS Community Services Chair I hope to motivate students to be more involved in the Los Angeles community. A little info about me is I spent the past five years living outside of Philadelphia, PA, but I am originally from Baltimore, Maryland. I am often told I possess an east coast vibe matched with a southern twang.
As a social worker I have a passion for fighting for social justice and working to enhance the lives of the vulnerable and oppressed. Martin Luther King said, “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter”. Giving back to the community is one of the most important and fulfilling acts of my life. My community service experience involves mentoring disadvantaged youth, Meals on Wheels, HomeWalk, and the LA Aids Walk. Please contact me at nrobinso@usc.edu about my goals for the position.

Communications Chair - Irfan Fazal Statement

My name is Irfan Fazal. I am a 3rd year PhD student. I have served on the Executive Board of GPSS for one year as Communications Chair. In this capacity I designed and dispatched the weekly GPSS newsletters, maintained a record of minutes of the senate and executive board, served as the communication interface for GPSS by email and maintained the GPSS website with relevant information as needed.
I am running for Comm Chair position for the next year, because I developed good rapport with the senate during my first year, and I would like to build on that and be able to enhance the image of GPSS by reaching out to a larger community of grad students.
Since this year, a large number of previous GPSS members are graduating, I believe that my experience as Comm Chair will help the new executive board in running GPSS in an efficient manner.

Public Relations Chair - Jason Harris Statement
My name is Jason Harris, and I am a 3rd year PhD student in the Department of Classics. I am currently Public Relations Chair for GPSS (having held the position of Elections and Recruitment the year before) and am re-applying to be PR Chair for 2008-2009. I feel that being PR Chair in 2007-2008 gave me a feel for the position and the field of public relations as a whole. I also feel that, using my experience from this year, I can improve on many different ideas and projects that have been started. I would like to work on a video of GPSS that could be used in acceptance packets to introduce incoming students to GPSS. I would also like to continue working with groups such as TriSight (the PR agency of Annenberg School) and the Daily Trojan to disseminate knowledge of GPSS into the USC community. I would also like to continue working on events, such as the GPSS Formal and Tabling, which would provide more exposure for GPSS on both the UPC and HSC campus.

Public Relations Chair - Mary Miao Statement
Great communication skills are essential for the smooth functioning of an organization and I believe I possess those skills and the experiences necessary to become a very capable Public Relations Chair. I want to be more involved in the graduate and professional student affairs as a GPSS executive board member and ensure that the interests and issues of our student body are not only communicated to the rest of the university but also addressed to satisfaction. I want to play an active role in keeping the student body informed and involved in various events and activities. Some of my experiences include starting up and managing a marketing team for an independent pharmacy. My tasks included building customer relationships and creating marketing material, so I believe I am strategic, capable, and technologically competent for this position, and I will strive to bring my best to the board and my fellow students.

Academic Affairs Chair – Johannes Volker Schmitt Statement
I want to run for the Academic Programming Chair because I think GPSS is one of the few organizations at USC that allow its board members to make a real impact on student life.
In 2007-2008 I have been both a GPSS senator for philosophy and an executive board member of the European Students’ Association. As a senator I have organized a major social event together with linguistics students and as ESA board member I was responsible for funding requests, programming and external relations with ISA. I also wrote a new constitution for ESA.
Since I am currently a member of the Academic Programming Committee, I already know the job profile of the Chair. My goal will be to organize events that encourage grad students to become interested and learn more about topics that go beyond their areas of specialization.

Health Sciences Campus Chair – Sahar Bedrood Statement
I am running for HSC chair because I would like to use my past experience as the 2007-2008 HSC chair in order to further the goals of GPSS on the HSC campus. During the past academic year I have helped bring a strong GPSS presence to the HSC campus by helping to coordinate many social, academic and community-based activities. Besides these events I have helped advocate for better campus and student life. For instance, I have circulated and collected a food survey given to all HSC students. I then presented the results to the school administrators in order to improve the food options and availability on the HSC campus. During this next year I would like to maintain the continuity of the HSC governing council and build upon the experience I have to make certain that the students of the HSC campus are more than adequately represented.

Health Sciences Campus Chair – Eva Han Statement
My name is Eva Han and I intend to run for Health Sciences Campus Chair. Being a student at HSC has encouraged me to advocate for the students at this campus. I would like to be involved in the planning of social events that can bring every student at HSC together; we can further support each other and work in sync as future Health Care Professionals. In the past, I have planned city wide venues and I would like to bring this quality and cooperate with the students at HSC to create similar events. Presently I hold a position on Class Board which can enable me to relay information to the students at the School of Pharmacy. I hope to bring students together at HSC so that we can function as a Trojan Family.

For More Information about Elections or If you would like to Join a Committee - Please Contact the GPSS Elections & Recruitment Chair by email at gpsser@usc.edu