Anthony St. Claire, president of the Graduate and Professional Student Association, said he felt like the new kid on the block upon settling into his new leadership position.
After ascending from what he described as a “sharp learning curve,” he said he is ready to tackle the year.
The first GPSA meeting of the academic year took place Monday, and was dedicated to approving an increased GPSA budget and working with committees to accomplish a variety of goals for the coming school year.
“We’re trying to take (GPSA) into a direction of more grad student involvement in the organization as a whole,” St. Claire said.
St. Claire said GPSA aims to provide further benefits for graduate students to make their financial burdens less stark, such as possible pay raises for senators and giving senators the ability to attend faculty senate meetings — a responsibility traditionally reserved exclusively for the president.
In order to increase graduate involvement in GPSA, St. Claire said the organization plans to actively learn about graduate student needs through department senators, and then target the specific interests of students.
“Someone with a chemistry major in grad school would have more opportunities to learn about what’s going on in the field, interact with classmates and really get to know what to expect after graduate school, which many of us think can be a problem,” St. Claire said.
One of the resources frequently utilized by graduate students is travel awards, which are full or partial reimbursements for graduate students who go on research trips or conferences related to their major. St. Claire said that the pool of funds for graduate students received an increase because of how many students applied for travel reimbursements.
“I know that travel awards mean a lot to graduates because they’re going to a lot of places,” St. Claire said. “We do provide travel awards and they need to contact their departmental senator to get more information on that.”
St. Claire is also “betting on” a GPSA program known as “Lunches with Researchers,” to ripen the research conversations this year. He said the program resembles the Lunches with Leaders program put on by the UI Department of Student Involvement, but the Lunches with Researchers program is different because it will showcase talent that would be beneficial to graduate students involved in research.
Originally from Coeur d’Alene, St. Claire moved to Moscow to complete his final undergraduate years at UI, and was so enamored with the collegial environment and culture he decided to stay to earn his master’s degree in English.
He says the “treefull” campus setting appeals to him, and one of the highlights of attending UI for him is experiencing winter mornings in the Arboretum. He described the snow and rising-sun combination over the rolling hills as magical.
When he earns his master’s degree, St. Claire said his plans are still up in the air.
“I may teach abroad, it may be here in the United States, it may be here in Moscow, I’m still in flux,” he said. “My dream is to just teach my little heart out. I want to teach English.”
George Wood Jr. can be reached at [email protected]