My name is Emerita Mendoza Rengifo. I am a third year PhD student in Geological Sciences. I am very excited to be running for President of the Graduate Student Association. I was born and raised in Peru where I graduated from Pedro Ruiz Gallo University with a Bachelors in Biology, Microbiology, and Parasitology. Afterwards I graduated from the University of Sao Paulo (Brazil) with a Masters in Biomolecular Physics. Throughout my life, I have involved myself in many organizations and am well equipped to serve as President. Since moving to Canada, I have been involved with and currently serve on the board of directors of the Bridge City Bicycle Co-op where I am strongly engaged on the finance and partnership committees. I am also a member of Women in Chemistry. I thoroughly enjoy the responsibilities associated with both. I have chosen to run for the position of President because I know that all graduate students are very essential for the University and all of us are responsible for the reputation, success, and culture of our University. As President, I plan to construct a closer relationship between graduate students and the University by building a sense of community and increasing networking opportunities. I look forward to working with all of you in the future. If elected, I will serve in this position to the best of my ability, and bring excitement in every task while ensuring that the GSA continues to stay committed to enhancing the experiences of all.

Hello!!! I am a MSc student in physics with great problem-solving capabilities. Being in this university for 6 years have helped me to understand needs of students at U of S. If elected as Vice President Finance and Operations of GSA, will ensure to stop the rise of graduate student recreational fees or if the fee is to increase due to need, will make sure to give proper justification. GSA commons in recent years is not seeing graduate student crowd using the space, as VP Finance and Operations, I will work along with other executive committee members in allocating budget to attract more graduate student crowd to GSA Commons. Financial literacy events which are very useful to graduate students like tax filling sessions were organized in past years, as this year VP Finance and Operation if elected, will continue to organize such useful events along with other financial literacy events and programs which will enhance and support the life of graduate students at University of Saskatchewan.

My name is Mohammad Wajih Alam. I am a third year graduate student at the University of Saskatchewan pursuing PhD in Electrical Engineering. Prior to this, I have completed my BSc in Electrical Engineering from Bangladesh and Masters from South Korea. My expertise lies in leading the developmental efforts by utilizing operational strategies to achieve defined goals within set period of time. I have acted as President, Vice-President and Director of Student Affairs for Nepalese Student Association at different periods of time (year 2010-2016). My communication skills along with organizational ability and attention to detail are the assets that I have been able to utilize in fostering the relationship between both local as well as international student groups. Moreover, being friendly and approachable helped me to develop my multilingual ability (6 international language). I am a good listener and believe in open-door policy. As such, I would welcome any GSA member to come forward about any issues that they are facing so that we can solve the problem together. I want to build an all-inclusive community promoting gender equality and demoting racism and misogyny. I am self-motivated, highly driven and goal-oriented individual with multifarious interests in policy, science, technology, engineering, politics and finance.

Graduate Students are usually regarded as completely and self-sufficient individuals that don’t need help at all. In my opinion, this is absolutely wrong; graduate students are one of the population groups that struggle the most with mental health; and sometimes, we would like help, even if we don’t state it as much. As graduate students, we often immerse ourselves in the academic environment and overlook any other aspect of our life, like mental health, physical health and spiritual health. My goals as a VP Student Affairs are to promote mental health wellness among graduate students, advocate for equity among students and faculty disagreements, promoting of safe spaces that support spirituality on campus and planning of workshops tailored to graduate student’s issues present in their academic or personal life.

I am Abhiroop Mookerjee (also known as Roop) and I wish to run for the position of Vice President External. I am presently pursuing my MSc in Biological Engineering.

I have been a part of the University Student Council during my undergraduate days back in India and have organized several events. I wish to deploy my skills and knowledge in the field of managing events or talking to potential sponsors for funding the events and do something valuable for the Graduate Students in the University of Saskatchewan.

My major goals would be to :

1. Carry on the ongoing process of providing first aid training at very low costs to the members of the GSA (aimed towards the new students).
2. Organizing rehabilitation events (laughter therapy, dance therapy, meditation, yoga) especially targeted for improving the mental health of the grad students who are burdened with a huge load of lab work and studies.
3. Organizing more recreational sports events and even introducing “cricket” in the list.
4. Introducing self-defence training for women.
5. Introducing communicative language classes in French, Spanish, Mandarin for interested students.
6. Introducing additional spoken English classes for non-native English speakers.
7. Collaborating with other Universities working on similar projects for short exchange programs.
8. Collaborating with big companies to visit the campus and talk about what they need from the students and if any opportunities are available for summer internships or permanent jobs.

The importance of Student associations in universities cannot be over emphasized as it plays an integral role in seizing initiatives, planning and implementing programs that impact the lives of students and generally improve their wellbeing. As a graduate student of the University of Saskatchewan, I intend running for the post of the Vice President External in the Graduate Students’ Association to share my knowledge, ideas, assist graduate Students within my capacity and work with other organizations in the University and beyond.

During my undergraduate studies, my position as the president provided a platform to champion a phenomenal team and work with the students in organizing events directed towards awareness of best and healthy practices among students, invite agencies to give free HIV and AIDS tests, lectures and materials to students and others present so as to remove stigma and promote healthy living. Presently, I am the Vice President of the School of Public Health Students’ Association and I sincerely believe everyone possesses skills that when contributed no matter how little can positively impact any situation. I am a well-focused individual with a firm belief in professionalism, positive attitude, dedication and team work in bringing about the required growth in my working environment.

Definitely, with the position comes responsibilities but with a hardworking student council, active participation and adequate support from graduate students we will together ensure sustainable growth.

An election will be held for the following positions:

• President
• VP Finance and Operations
• VP Student Affairs
• VP External

GSA Executives can build professional experience and expand their network by assuming a position on the Executive Committee. GSA Executives also serve on important University committees.

Executives receive a monthly honorarium. Information can be found on the GSA Website (Bylaws and Budget).

Note: See Bylaw for executive duties and responsibilities (https://gsa.usask.ca/documents/important-Documents/GSABylaws.pdf

Nomination will be open on March 4, 2019 at 9:00 AM and will close on March 25, 2019 at 12:00 PM.

The nomination form is available here

The Nomination Package must be submitted in a sealed envelope to the GSA Office Manager at the GSA Commons, attention GSA Chair and Chief Electoral Officer, no later than 12:00 PM on Monday, March 25, 2019.

• Be a regular member of the GSA.
• Be a registered student in the University of Saskatchewan College of Graduate and Post-Doctoral Studies for the academic year 2019/20
• Not be an election official
• Not nominate another person for the same position that they are seeking
• Additionally, nominees must be: i) over age of 18, ii) not have been found to lack capacity by a court, iii) must not have the status of bankrupt, iv) not to be charged by any misconduct in the University of Saskatchewan.

February 25, 2019 – March 5, 2019	Election announcement, call for nomination and promotion
March 4, 2019 – 9:00 AM	Nomination period opens
March 12, 2019 – 5:00 PM	First orientation meeting
March 15, 2019 – 12:00 PM	Second orientation meeting
March 18, 2019 – 12:00 PM	Third orientation meeting
March 18, 2019 – 5:00 PM	Nomination period closes
March 18, 2019	Election Committee meets to ratify the nominations
March 19, 2019 – 12:00 PM	Mandatory procedures meeting for all nominees
March 21, 2019 – 9:00 AM	Campaigning begins
March 25, 2019 – 5:00 PM	All candidates forum
March 31, 2019 – 11:59 PM	Campaigning ends.
April 1, 2019 – 9:00 AM	Voting period begins
April 5, 2019 – 4:00 PM	Voting period ends. All campaign material must be removed by 11:59 p.m.
April 8, 2019 – 12:00 PM	Formal complaints must be emailed or delivered to the GSA Chair/CEO
April 8, 2019	Election Committee meets to ratify and announce the results

The GSA invites you to attend one of the orientation sessions to learn more about the roles and responsibilities of each of the GSA Executive positions. All sessions will be held in the GSA Commons.

Tuesday, March 12 at 5:00 PM

Friday, March 15 at 12:00 PM

Monday, March 18 at 12:00 PM

Thursday, March 21 at 12:00 PM

Monday, March 25 at 12:00 PM

Please RSVP to one of the above sessions here

Please join us for the GSA Elections All-Candidates forum, where you will get a chance to hear from each of the individuals who are running for positions on the GSA Executive and ask questions.

This event will take place:

Day: Monday, March 25, 2019

Time: 5 PM - 6 PM

Location: GSA Commons.

Please RSVP (https://forms.gle/Se5eVHeHqU5dr5x38), light refreshments will be provided.

Please feel free to direct any questions to the GSA Council Chair and Chief Electoral Officer at gsa.chair@usask.ca.

The Elections Committee is a committee of GSA Council which is responsible for overseeing and managing the Elections and Referenda as required by the GSA. 

The 2019 Election Committee members are:

• Reggie Nyamkeye, Council Chair - Chief Electoral Officer
• Liliana Rodriguez, General member
• Alex Gu, General member
• Brittany Laing, Council member
• Rifat Zahan, Council member
• Carmen Marquez Mellidez, Council member
• Narsimha Pujari, Council member

Questions regarding Elections can be directed to the GSA Chair and Chief Electoral Officer at gsa.chair@usask.ca

Formal complaints must be emailed to gsa.chair@usask.ca or delivered to the GSA Main Office in a sealed envelope to the GSA Office Manager at the GSA Commons, attention to the GSA Chair and Chief Electoral Officer, no later than 12:00 PM on Monday, April 8, 2019.