Save Graduate Student Association at Florida International University

The last week of February 2010, the Student Government Association (SGA) Executive Cabinet at Florida International University approved a bill that calls to dissolve and/or restructure of the Graduate Student Association (GSA), as well as the athletics liaison program, Panther Rage. Graduate Students were not informed neither by SGA or GSA representatives about any of these changes.

Instead of the current GSA structure, it is proposed to have 4 senators and 2 other members working under them, as well as a CSO Representative, who will be organizing ALL the events, conference funding, etc. According to SGA association, this structure when the officers are not accountable to a particular person, will make GSA more efficient and will force Graduate Senators to get involved in GSA, which did not happen often previously.

The SGA proposed to increase number of Graduate Senators (2 instead of 4). As well, the proposal contained a suggestion to increase of conference and research funding from 45,000$ to 100,000$. Though, it did not offer any comprehensive plan of distribution of these funds, nor any guidelines, as GSA has.

While this bill, supported by Campus Life administration, was supposed to be voted on by the Student Senate on March 1st, SGA members under the pressure of the Graduate Students who learned about the situation, decided that they needed more time to discuss this change before a vote can be taken.

For a university that prides itself on its' research accomplishments, it seems rather contradictory to dissolve the organization that represents and supports the graduate students. They are the ones who produce that research, improve the reputation of the school, and travel throughout the world to gain and share this knowledge. As President Rosenberg has stressed the importance of FIU's reputation as a student-centered public research university, it is vital that graduate students are provided with a sense of community and camaraderie. It is through the GSA that graduate and professional students share similar interests, provide leadership and support for one another, and maintain the reputation of excellence that FIU constantly strives for. GSA supports graduate students by providing funding for research, conferences, and other travel expenditures that arise during the career of a graduate or professional student.