{"589317":{"#nid":"589317","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Make Your Voice Heard: Graduate SGA Elections Underway","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGraduate\u0026nbsp;Student Government Association (SGA) elections are now underway. Graduate students can cast their votes\u0026nbsp;at \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/elections.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Eelections.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E, and polls close March 31.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThis year, two teams of students are running for graduate SGA leadership. Get to know more about them below.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EMeanwhile, undergraduate elections are now in a runoff, with polls closing March 30. Read below for more information.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch3\u003EPresidential Candidates\u003C\/h3\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ESkanda Prasad\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThis third-year electrical and computer engineering Ph.D. student has been involved in SGA throughout his graduate studies at Tech. He chose to run for president in order to \u0026ldquo;advocate for students\u0026rsquo; concerns and help the university solve them.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;I\u0026rsquo;ve been involved in SGA with increasing levels of responsibility. Having worked on many past initiatives, I believe that I\u0026rsquo;m best suited to build on this prior work with new ideas,\u0026quot; Prasad said.\u0026nbsp;He considers himself a unique candidate for this position. \u0026ldquo;Being able to navigate Tech\u0026rsquo;s complex organizational hierarchy to bring groups together requires a firm understanding of SGA and other stakeholders. As I worked on or directed many SGA initiatives, I gained insights into graduate concerns and ways to aid Tech\u0026rsquo;s administration in addressing them.\u0026quot;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EPrasad has served as a senator and vice president of graduate life in Graduate SGA. His current platform revolves around advocacy, resource improvements, and collaboration.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EPrasad hopes to push for \u0026ldquo;recognizing graduate student issues of wellness, financial stability, and social isolation.\u0026rdquo;\u0026nbsp;He plans to improve advisor-advisee relations and work toward\u0026nbsp;stronger Institute grievance redressal policies. Finally, he hopes to collaborate more closely with Undergraduate SGA to make improvements in student life more inclusive and successful.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EPrasad is passionate about the graduate community and hopes to serve them to the best of his abilities.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Talk to [Grad SGA], hold us more accountable, question us, join us,\u0026quot; he said. \u0026quot;You\u0026rsquo;ll see that there\u0026rsquo;s so much that we can do to make your experience at Tech more fulfilling.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMuhammad Fahad Razzaq\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ERazzaq, a first-year electrical engineering master\u0026rsquo;s student, has been involved with SGA since he enrolled at Tech. He has served as a senator and worked with the Joint Campus Organizations Committee.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;I got insight into SGA and I would like to get more involved by serving in an executive position,\u0026quot; he said. \u0026quot;I feel that I am experienced and will have more time next year to devote to the role.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ERazzaq\u0026rsquo;s platform is focused on encouraging graduate students to get involved in extra-curricular activities and make the most of their time at Tech. \u0026ldquo;Georgia Tech is a very competitive school and it keeps its students busy most of the time,\u0026quot; he said. \u0026quot;This leads to increased stress levels, but there are still people taking part in campus organizations.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EHe hopes to bridge the gap between students who are not involved in extracurricular activities and students who are active in the campus community. \u0026ldquo;We can create a healthy balance between studies and fun. This would improve performance and mental well-being.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ERazzaq plans to make Tech\u0026rsquo;s environment better for everyone by encouraging kindness, respect, and equality.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;We must strive to make our surroundings more welcoming,\u0026rdquo; he said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch3\u003EVice Presidential Candidate\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/h3\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EUnlike undergraduate elections, president and vice president are elected separately in Graduate SGA.\u0026nbsp;Vineet Ravi Tiruvadi, a fourth-year biomedical engineering Ph.D. student, is running unopposed. As a student in Tech\u0026#39;s joint biomedical engineering program with Emory University, Tiruvadi has served as a senator in both\u0026nbsp;Tech\u0026#39;s and Emory\u0026#39;s SGA. His goals are to increase the voice of graduate students, reduce non-academic financial burdens to graduate students, champion critical graduate student services, and engage and foster the graduate community at Tech.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/sga.gatech.edu\/g\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Grad-SGA-Elections-2017-Candidates.pdf\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ERead more about all the candidates\u0026#39; platforms here (pdf).\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch3\u003EA Message to Graduate Students\u003C\/h3\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBoth presidential candidates encouraged the graduate community to vote in this year\u0026rsquo;s election.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Since graduate students are often too busy to directly involve themselves in advocacy of important matters, they tend to become a silent and unrepresented minority,\u0026quot; Prasad said. \u0026quot;The voice of the graduate student body president is possibly the most direct way for graduate students to be involved. I encourage grad students to hear the respective platforms, discuss their concerns with SGA, and get more involved \u0026mdash;\u0026nbsp;and that starts with voting in this election.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ERazzaq pointed out that graduate students already have a financial stake in SGA activities, so they should make their voices heard in how resources are used.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;SGA is responsible for allocating\u0026nbsp;funds from the student activities fee that we all pay, so it is important for all of us to be involved in the process,\u0026quot; Razzaq said. \u0026quot;As responsible members of the graduate community, we must take some time to decide which topics matter to us. This makes elections very important.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch3\u003EUndergraduate Update\u003C\/h3\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EUndergraduate SGA elections are now in a runoff between the Sujay Peramanu\/Richard Wang ticket and Lizzie Lisenby\/Connor Brogan ticket. \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/nique.net\/uncategorized\/2017\/03\/16\/sga-elections-result-in-runoff-between-top-candidates\/\u0022\u003ERead more from the \u003Cem\u003ETechnique\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E. Undergraduate students can vote through March 30 at \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/elections.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Eelections.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Get to know more about the Graduate SGA executive ticket candidates and their platforms."}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGraduate Student Government Association elections are now underway. Students can cast their votes at \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/elections.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Eelections.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Graduate Student Government Association\u00a0elections are now underway. Students can cast their votes\u00a0at elections.gatech.edu."}],"uid":"30867","created_gmt":"2017-03-28 16:03:45","changed_gmt":"2017-03-28 13:38:25","author":"Julia Faherty","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2017-03-28T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2017-03-28T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"121721":{"id":"121721","type":"image","title":"SGA Seal","body":null,"created":"1449178582","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:36:22","changed":"1566415234","gmt_changed":"2019-08-21 19:20:34","alt":"SGA Seal","file":{"fid":"237940","name":"sga-seal-color.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/sga-seal-color.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/sga-seal-color.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":100331,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/sga-seal-color.jpg?itok=eCVEEp2q"}},"589378":{"id":"589378","type":"image","title":"Graduate SGA Candidates 2017","body":null,"created":"1490707905","gmt_created":"2017-03-28 13:31:45","changed":"1490707905","gmt_changed":"2017-03-28 13:31:45","alt":"Graduate SGA Candidates 2017","file":{"fid":"224553","name":"gradsga.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/gradsga.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/gradsga.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":207644,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/gradsga.jpg?itok=VAVXmt5T"}},"589379":{"id":"589379","type":"image","title":"Undergraduate SGA Runoff 2017","body":null,"created":"1490707969","gmt_created":"2017-03-28 13:32:49","changed":"1490707969","gmt_changed":"2017-03-28 13:32:49","alt":"Undergraduate SGA Runoff 2017","file":{"fid":"224554","name":"runoff.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/runoff.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/runoff.png","mime":"image\/png","size":289221,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/runoff.png?itok=fdan9keP"}}},"media_ids":["121721","589378","589379"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/sga.gatech.edu\/g\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Grad-SGA-Elections-2017-Candidates.pdf","title":"Platform Summaries (pdf)"},{"url":"http:\/\/sga.gatech.edu\/g\/","title":"Graduate SGA Website "}],"groups":[{"id":"1182","name":"General"},{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"}],"keywords":[{"id":"167481","name":"sga elections"},{"id":"169119","name":"Student Government"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71871","name":"Campus and Community"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:stucomm@gatech.edu\u0022\u003EJulia Faherty\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EInstitute Communications\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["stucomm@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}