The Graduate Students’ Association (GSA) 2018 election is underway, with only one slate running.
The executive positions that need to be filled are: president, vice-president (operations), vice-president (external), vice-president (academic), and vice-president (finance). The election will also seek to fill three nominees to the University Senate and five graduate faculty board positions.
Elevate is the only slate running. Current GSA vice-president (academic) Jay Ramasubramanyam is running for president, while the vice-presidential candidates are Ashley Courchene (finance), Miranda Leibel (operations), Helia Doutaghi (external), and Trycia Bazinet (academic).
This is the second year in the row that only one slate is running in the election.
Alexa Dodge, a fourth-year PhD student in law and legal studies, is running for re-election to the University Senate, a position she has held since 2015. Tariqa Tandon, a first-year political science master’s student, and Hemant Gupta are also running.
Melissa Conte and Bridgette Desjardins are running for the faculty board positions.
In an email, chief electoral officer Megan Elliot said, “We know that we advertised the elections but only one slate came forward. This slate still has to earn the confidence of the electorate on voting days.”
Graduate students are also being asked to vote in a referendum on whether or not they support the creation of a $1.31 levy per semester, tied to inflation, to support the Carleton University Student Emergency Response Team (CUSERT).
