[Poscgrad] POSC GSA Updates

[Gregory Hutchins]

Hi Everyone,

Welcome Back for the Fall Quarter! (And to our first year's welcome to the
Highlander Community) I hope you had a productive summer, but that you also
had some time to rest and reset. I have a few GSA updates for all of you
that are pertinent to the start of the quarter. I am going to start making
these emails a monthly occurrence. They should come out the first
Thursday of each month which is the day after our campus wide graduate
council meetings. Today's email will focus on a *few general updates, an
opportunity to get involved in the GSA council for those interested, a
request to provide input on how I should spend GSA related funds, and I am
also attaching information about a paid position that GSA is offering.*

As always, please feel free to reach out if you have questions about the
material, or if there is anything you want to talk about that is either
department-GSA or campus-GSA related. Additionally, to the effort of open
communication, *I will be hosting "office hours" on Monday's from 11 to 12
and 1 to 3. *My office is 1218 Olmstead Hall. If you are walking to
psychology / lot 6 it's the last door on your left labelled "Inland Empire
Labor and Community Center." If those times do not work for you, shoot me
an email and we can schedule something.

*General Updates*

1) Grad Success: We had our first Graduate Coffee Social today with about
120 graduate students in attendance. I wanted to thank the couple of you
who were able to make it, and I hope you enjoyed the iced coffee. Similar
to last year, Grad Success has fully implemented the use of PadLet to
provide useful links and event reminders. I have placed the link below, and
I encourage you all to check them out.

Grad Success PadLet
<https://padlet.com/ucrgradsuccess/gradsuccess-c928g8ywotwz81vq>

2) UAW: As many of you know, we are in the beginning stages of
bargaining for our next contract. (Our current contract expires in May of
2025.) Many of us have already filled out various surveys to express our
priorities for the year, but our campus is starting to begin the
organizing aspect related to our bargaining. To that effort UAW has *two
events today* that might be of interest to you all. The first is our
Contract Action Team (CAT) training which will start today at 3:30 PM in
the ASUCR conference room. (RSVP for CAT training
<https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfmATq3yrXM_w1u2icYU3fd0GiLXfTIVROWl-qCC54xWjsb-A/viewform>)
The union is also hosting a social event at the Getaway cafe, but you DO
NOT need to attend the CAT training in order to go to the social hour. They
will also be providing pizza at the social event. (RSVP for UAW Social Event
<https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfeb-9qjOh0097SRzpbUCaLdlZvxpCcrvgg-gDkYGdoSuCIaA/viewform>)
I will likely be at both events so I hope to see you there. Additionally,
if you want some more information about the training and bargaining in
general please see the following presentation slides: UCR ASE Contract
Action Team (GSC)
<https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1_spE5-OBjBfdhjDYoYs9ybMlC_zgAH1LbpcTNn6Z3KI/edit#slide=id.p>

*GSC Involvement Opportunity*

Given the size of our department I can appoint a second person to the
graduate student council. It's a great opportunity for those who want to
start getting involved, but don't want to commit to a significant amount of
work. Our GSC meetings are the first Wednesday of every month from 7-9 PM.
(You can attend over Zoom or in-person.) For those that are interested
please email me.

*Department GSA Funds*

After some advocacy and budget work I did last year with GSA, we have an
increased department GSA budget this year. We now can spend $700 on events
throughout the year. In the past we have typically used these for various
social events, and I have no issue continuing with that tradition. However,
I wanted to provide space for input. If you have any ideas for events
(social or otherwise) shoot me an email, and I would be happy to consider
it.

*GSA FUNDED EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY*

GSA is looking for a new Dial. An oversimplification of the position is
essentially an Ombudsman, but a graduate student. I have attached a copy of
the full description below.  The position does have a full fee-award so
tuition and fees would be covered. However, it is a non-union position and
is hourly. If you are interested you can apply on handshake, and I would be
happy to answer questions about the position.

That should be everything. As I mentioned earlier, please feel free to
contact me if you have any questions / comments related to the information
above. I hope you all are having a great start to the quarter.

Respectfully,
-- 
Gregory Blake Hutchins, M.A.
GSA President & PhD Candidate | Department of Political Science
Senior Advisor and Lead GSR | Inland Empire Labor and Community Center
UC Advocacy Officer | UCR Graduate Student Association
Budget Engagement Commissioner | City of Riverside
University of California, Riverside

www.gregbhutchins.com
Phone: 951-827-0592
Twitter: @GregBHutchins
Instagram: GregBHutchins
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