The Syracuse University Graduate Student Organization has won its bid to host the 2017 National Association of Graduate-Professional Students conference in November.

The NAGPS is a nonprofit student run organization that focuses on improving the quality of life of graduate and professional students across the United States.

The November conference will be used as a platform for graduates to strategize on national and regional levels and make elections to the organization’s executive board, according to an SU News release.

GSO President Rajesh Kumar, a Ph.D. candidate in the College of Engineering and Computer Science, said in the release more than 80 universities will be represented at the conference.

Peta Long, GSO’s vice president of external affairs and a Ph.D. candidate in the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, presented the GSO’s bid at an event at the State University of New York at Stony Brook last November.

With the national conference coming to SU, Long said in the release the GSO will be able to “utilize our network and history of advocacy to engage that conversation about advocacy alongside legislation.”

“We want to influence the nationwide discussion on graduate student employment and rights, and various social justice issues, such as sexual assault advocacy, diversity and inclusion, and the changing landscape of the graduate student population,” he said.

Fellow graduate student representatives from colleges unanimously supported the GSO’s bid across the United States, according to the release. Kumar said the conference presents an opportunity for the GSO to share its “best practices, programs and achievements” with others.

Aside from the GSO winning the bid to host the conference, Samuel Leitermann — a member of the GSO and a College of Arts and Sciences graduate student — was elected president of the NAGPS. Leitermann previously served as a social justice advocate for the national organization, according to the release.

GSO worked with members of SU’s Student Bar Association and State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry students to make its bid, per the release. The bid also received support from SU Chancellor Kent Syverud and Vice Chancellor and Provost Michele Wheatly.

Kumar said that in the months leading up to the conference, GSO members will be lining up speakers and building up excitement for the event, per the release.

“I envision graduate students not as students but professionals engaged in work that strengthens their area of expertise as an individual and their discipline as a unit,” Long said in the release. “What I hope to secure in the hosting of this conference is a change in definition about who graduate and professional students are.”

Published on February 14, 2017 at 10:28 pm

Contact Sam: sfogozal@syr.edu | @SamOgozalek