The 2021 GSA election results is here! Congratulations to the winner!
President: Caroline Seiler
Vice President External: Sarah Elshahat
Vice President Service: Wei Zhao
Vice President Administration: Harneet Hothi
FRC – Social Sciences: Ghada Sasa
FRC-Business: Ce Ji & Lingze Meng
The detailed election data is here.
The 2021 GSA AGM has been held on last Friday. Please have a look at the recorded meeting if you missed it at here. Password:!!#bN4zM
The 2021 GSA election will open from Monday, March 22nd 10am to Wednesday, March 25th 6pm!
Here is a link to ALL the candidates’ statements on our website.
Please cast your ballot here:
Note:
Besides, we have 2 candidates for the GSA President 2021-2022! Saturday, March 20th at 2 p.m. Thus, there is a Presidential Debate between 2 candidates Spencer and Caroline. Please have a look at their performance at Zoom!
The 2021 GSA Annual General Meeting (AGM) will be held on March 26th @ 10:00 AM!
Register here!
Please check the following AGM documents:
Don’t forget to mark the date on your calendar!
Calling all students! Applications for the Graduate Student Association (GSA) have been extended. Positions for GSA Executives (paid!), Board of Directors (volunteer!), and Faculty Representatives of the Council (volunteer!) are available. Nomination forms are available here. The nomination period will finally close on Monday, March 15th at 12:00 p.m.
We would like to report to you on the academic year April 2020 to April 2021. While many changes happened, we are so excited to connect with all of you at our GSA Annual General Meeting on March 26th, 2021 at 10 a.m. Save the date to attend and vote on proposed changes for the 2021-2022 year!
Graduate student elections to the Senate. Voting for grad student representatives to McMaster’s Senate is open March 15 to 17. For more information, including a list of candidates, visit the Daily News.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Alireza Kamyabi
UBC Graduate Student Society
VP External Relations
vpexternal@ubc.gss.ca
778-319-6414
Graduate students call on federal government to utilize university residence isolation plans
as an equitable alternative to mandatory hotel stay for arriving international students
Eight graduate student societies and associations, representing 91,000 graduate
students across Canada, are calling on the federal government to approve university-administered quarantine plans at university residences as an equitable alternative to 3-day mandatory hotel stay for arriving international students.
On February 21st, 2021, Canada introduced new restrictions on international travel requiring all travellers arriving in Canada to isolate in a federally-approved hotel for three days at their own expense. While restrictions on international travel to Canada are required to ensure safety and wellbeing of travellers and residents, we believe the unequitable barriers to entry to Canada must be mitigated for those that must enter the country for essential travel.
Graduate students are a group that must enter Canada to be able to partake in their studies, which is primarily research which takes place in research facilities on and around campuses.
As organizations advocating on behalf of graduate students, our priority is the health and safety of our respective student bodies and broader community. We believe university residences’ isolation programs are a safe, equitable and affordable alternative to mandatory 3-day hotel stay for international graduate students who must enter the country for their research and studies.
Quotes from GSS/GSA Student Leaders on the impact of this letter:
“We believe there is an opportunity here to utilize university residence isolation programs as a safe and affordable alternative to mandatory hotel stay that will reduce costs for students and allow for greater utilization of hotel space for other arriving groups. Our university residences’ quarantine plans have proven to be safe and effective programs so far and we think approving them would be beneficial especially as we universities to re-open and more students arrive in Canada:
– Alireza Kamyabi, Vice-President External Relations, Graduate Student Society of University of British Columbia Vancouver
“International graduate students are key contributors to the academic mission of Canadian universities, and we need to reduce travel-related barriers so they can begin or continue their studies here. Our universities’ federally-approved isolation packages are the ideal compromise between affordability, safety, and accessibility for these students.”
– Marc Waddingham, President, University of Alberta’s Graduate Student Association,
gsa.president@ualberta.ca
“It’s already difficult for international students to adjust to a foreign country. In addition to that, incoming international students face high financial stress due to increased payments that are required to start a life in a new home country. Forcing students to also pay a minimum of $2,000 for a hotel room stay is creating more financial barriers for students, especially when universities are prepared to receive international students during the pandemic and have government approved quarantine plans in place.”
– Humaira Inam, President, University of Saskatchewan’s Graduate Students’ Association
