I am deeply humbled by the support of those who voted for me, and I promise my administration will make it a priority to also represent those students who voted for my opponent. Now, it is time to get to work.
Though there is more than one month before I take office, it is essential to get started establishing the administrative team that will represent UNM graduate and professional students. A legislative special session is likely to be held in late summer in Santa Fe, and GPSA must have a presence there. Thus, it is of the utmost importance that we staff our lobbying team and other important positions before the end of this academic year. I have already begun to meet with Danny Hernandez, the incoming GPSA council chairman, and we agree that next year's leadership team needs skilled, motivated graduate and professional students who represent a variety of disciplines. Graduates students who are interested in working within the 2009-10 GPSA administration are welcome to submit résumés for the following top-priority committees: lobby, graduate/research/teaching assistants pay and benefits, finance and economics, and equity and inclusion. Please e-mail your résumés to Lissaknudsen@gmail.com.
There are also two graduate assistant positions that need to be filled by the end of the semester. The positions include a stipend, tuition and health insurance. One of the positions needs to be filled by a person with a strong background in writing and/or communication to help develop and maintain relationships with the press. This person will help create and implement a press strategy that will include drafting press releases and scheduling news conferences. The second position will focus on constituent services. This person needs to understand the UNM bureaucracy and be willing to help students with issues they have on campus. GPSA should help students who have problems with Financial Aid, OGS and any other issue. I am committed to establishing a constituent-service component in my administration. Both graduate assistants will be cross-trained and will also be expected to help with managing the GPSA office.
I want to increase the level of student participation, and I believe technology can help facilitate this function. I will transform my candidate blog into a conduit for communication. I will update this site with information as it becomes available. I will also conduct polls on important issues that influence graduate and professional students. The first poll will be up next week. The question will be this: Do you support increasing fees by $200 for 30 years to build a student exercise facility on South Campus? The Web address is GpsaPres.blogspot.com. Students are also encouraged to post comments for all poll questions and all blog posts.
I am also requesting all graduate student organizations, both departmental and non-departmental, to send me a meeting schedule. I want to attend your meetings to provide updates and listen to your concerns. I am committed to an open and transparent GPSA, and I want dialogue to be the foundation of our student government.
Once again, I thank you for the privilege to serve. We cannot afford to waste time because there are many challenges we face in the next year. My door and the GPSA office are always open. If you have a problem, please do not hesitate to contact me. The GPSA office number is 277-3803, my home number is 350-9730, or you can e-mail me at Lissaknudsen@gmail.com.
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Lissa Knudsen is the GPSA president-elect.
