Graduate and Professional Student Senate

The Graduate and Professional Student Senate (GPSS) is an elected governing body through which graduate and professional students express their concern for the welfare of graduate and professional students at Iowa State University, develop and disseminate ideas for the improvement of graduate and professional education, and contribute to the formation of relevant University policies. Founded in 1970, it is the recognized independent representative body of graduate students at ISU; it is charged with representing the graduate and professional students' perspective on campus issues and serving as a liaison between graduate/professional students, the university administration, and the Board of Regents.

Each department is permitted to have at least one GPSS representative; one senator is allotted for every 100 graduated students in a department, up to four maximum.
Look here to see if your department is being represented!

Please see our Executive Solidarity Statement regarding the Black Lives Matter movement.

Please see Iowa State University's land acknowledgement statement of Ioway Nation territory, here, and more about the Meskwaki Nation of Iowa here.

Updates

GPSC is around the corner!

The Graduate and Professional Student Conference is a free opportunity for graduate and professional students to highlight their work while practicing their presentation skills. Students will get the chance to participate in competitions through oral, poster and exhibitions for the chance to win cash prizes. We would like to remind you that this conference is not stricktly about research, this conference is open to all graduate and professional students to present their research, proposals, case studies, or exhibitions. If you do not see a section that fits with your work please email gpssconfchair@iastate.edu, we can and will create a space for you to present!

8th Annual Graduate and Professional Student Conference

Register and submit your abstract here!

Submit your abstract by Monday, March 22nd. All presentations and participation will be held virtually on Friday, April 9th for the 8th annual Graduate and Professional Student Conference. All pre-recorded presentations, materials, and resources will be available on Canvas for participants and judges to access. Each participant will be placed into sections to meet judges and other participants via WebEx to answer questions about their presentation topic. On the day of the conference, registered participants have the opportunity to attend a professional development workshop, receive a free boxed lunch, and a professional headshot for your online profiles. Our keynote speaker will provide a talk on Thrusday, April 8th at 7pm, this talk will be open to the public and recorded for acess at a later date.

Please join us for GPSS Winter Wellness Weeks! We will be publishing the modules as the weeks go on, and we hope that you will follow along with us. The hope this that we can all take a little bit of time each week to learn something new and to prioritize our mental health and wellbeing.

Add the course via Canvas: https://canvas.iastate.edu/courses/77362

COVID-19 Updates

The GPSS is actively monitoring the current COVID-19 outbreak and its effects on Iowa State University and the Ames community. The latest university news can be found here, and the City of Ames has relevant updates here. If you have any questions or want to provide feedback, please feel free to reach out to your GPSS Senator, the GPSS Wellness Committee, or the GPSS Executive Council.

Mental and Physical Wellness

The Centers for Disease Control and the World Health Organization have some helpful tips on managing stress and anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Iowa State University Thielen Student Health Center also has a page providing helpful COVID-19 information for students. This BBC article also has some tips for mental wellbeing during this time.

The Student Wellness Division has some helpful tips for students and employees, and action plans to support student and employee wellbeing.

News

May 19, 2020

Margaret Ellen White Award Receipents

We are excited to announce that the recipients of this year's Margaret Ellen White award are Dr. Denise Schmidt-Crawford & Dr. Cathy Miller.

Apr 29, 2020

GPSS Award Winners

Professional Advancement Grants Committee of GPSS has finalized the review of Awards for the 2019-2020 academic year. The following graduate students are named as Teaching, Research, and Leadership Awards winners. Congratulations to all award recipients!

Apr 06, 2020

GPSS Election Results

GPSS elections were held on April 6, 2020, during the senate meeting, and the following Senate members are named as officers-elect for the 2020-2021 academic year.

Mar 30, 2020

GPSRC Takes Place Online

The GPSRC will take place in the form of a poster submission on Canvas. Workshop materials and interactive discussion will also be available to participants beginning on Wednesday, April 8th.

Role	Executive Member	Pronouns	Day	Time
President	Eleanor "Ellie" Field	she/her/hers	NA	NA
Vice President	Carrie Ann Johnson	she/her/hers	NA	NA
Treasurer	Charles "Chuck" Wongus	they/them/theirs	NA	NA
Senate Information Officer	Kate Alucard	she/her/hers	NA	NA
Senate Engagement Officer	Chelsea Iennarella-Servantez	she/her/hers	NA	NA
Conference Officer	Abigail Kropf	she/her/hers	NA	NA
Wellness Officer	Madelyne Losby	she/her/hers	NA	NA

Executive members can be found during their office hours in Memorial Union, West Student Offices, Space F.

DUE TO COVID19, THE MEMORIAL UNION IS NOT REQUIRING OFFICE HOURS FOR SAFETY; PLEASE REACH OUT TO EXECUTIVE OFFICERS AS NEEDED VIA EMAIL. YOU SHOULD RECEIVE A RESPONSE WITHIN 48 HOURS.