GSC Attempts to Fill Positions, Calls for Increased Participation at Second Fall Meeting

The Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Student Council held special elections for unfilled positions, asked students to engage more with the council, and approved a motion for a new at-large position at its second meeting of the fall semester.

More than half of the hour-long meeting was spent on elections and calling for students to run for open positions and join committees — for the second monthly open meeting in a row.

The asynchronous special election filled four positions: chair of technology, chair of research, and two at-large representatives. At the end of the meeting, a second asynchronous special election opened for five more positions, including the newly-created co-chair of support.

GSC President Laura Köning opened the meeting by presenting the council’s mission and encouraging students to run for open positions.

“You can also just step up to be a representative right now,” she said.

“It’s super fun, promise,” David A. Caldas, the chair of support, added.

Köning and Caldas then presented updates from various GSC and GSAS committees, again calling for increased participation. They highlighted the work of the Conference Grant Committee, which provides funds up to $750 for travel and other expenses.

The board also presented a calendar of upcoming events, including a representative mixer and a syllabus workshop at the Bok Center for students applying to January@GSAS, which allows GSAS students to teach courses during the January term.

The GSC then passed a motion to add an at-large representative for special students and visiting fellows.

There are currently 102 special students and visiting fellows at the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. While they pay GSC’s $35 student fee, they are not eligible for the council’s conference and research grants because they are not candidates for a GSAS degree.

“We want to make sure there is no taxation without representation,” Köning said.

Some attendees questioned how representative one at-large position can be for a diverse category of students: Visiting fellows are full-time research students that are pursuing or hold a graduate degree from another institution, while special students are not degree candidates but are eligible to take both undergraduate and graduate classes.

Other students asked about the implications of adding new positions given already low levels of engagement with existing slots.

“If we have these constitutionally-enshrined positions, but struggle to fill them, is there any consequence?” said Max Street, a Ph.D candidate in Germanic Languages and Literatures.

Köning said if the group chooses to create a new position, “technically, we have to have elections until this position is filled.”

Köning added that if the GSC is unable to fill the representative position, “maybe that means that there are no real concerns that this policy representation right now has, or maybe we just need to do a better job communicating.”

The GSC adopted the motion, and then opened the floor for nominations for other unfilled positions.

Ethan J. Sontarp, a Ph.D. student in Environmental Science & Engineering, nominated himself for chair of communications, and Ph.D. student in Historical Musicology Flora S. Giordani nominated herself for co-chair of support.

The meeting ended with a discussion of professional development, the advocacy topic of the month.

Students expressed discontent with the lack of an active opportunity for funding similar to the professional development fund, which allowed students who entered GSAS between the falls of 2015 and 2019 and were in their third year or above to request up to $2,500 from the Office of Financial Aid.

“That’s the problem,” Aden Solway, a graduate student in Film and Visual Studies, said. “A lot of students have really suffered without professional development funding.”

—Staff writer Maeve T. Brennan can be reached at maeve.brennan@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X @mtbrennan.

—Staff writer Angelina J. Parker can be reached at angelina.parker@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X @angelinajparker.