A letter from the President of the Graduate and Professional Student Government on the Resolutions of No Confidence for Chancellor Roberts and Provost Clemens on October 9, 2024
As president, I have seen multiple actions taken by the UNC administration over the past year that have concerned me greatly. Additionally, given my role I have interacted with many individual administrators that have made continuous efforts to improve the lives of graduate and professional students. While I have had the chance to enjoy these experiences, I know that many of my peers have had less than positive if not at times adversarial relationships with administrators across campus.
Students are looking to ensure that their voices are heard to effect change. While some students feel that their previous efforts to do this have not resulted in change it is important to acknowledge that while it may not be at the speed or scale of progress we want, progress is happening, and it is not an all or nothing experience. In the past year alone, I have seen the university administrators respond to the creation of a Graduate Student Bill of Rights by going further and creating a multi-year transformative opportunity that has evolved into what is now the Graduate Student Experience initiative. This will not only improve graduate student contracts, working conditions, student health and well-being, and more.
As the GPSG President & as a former GPSG Senator, I was proud to see the Senate use its power to debate issues that matter and impact the lives of graduate and professional students. While I do not agree with the resolutions, I respect the senate’s voice. The GPSG Executive Branch and I plan to work productively for all the graduate and professional community members with the administration to improve the UNC community.
These resolutions still need to travel through the entirety of our legislative process. Last night, I was contacted by the Undergraduate Senate’s Leadership that they have motioned to designate the resolutions as joint with the Undergraduate Senate. This means that the resolution will be brought before the Joint Governance Council (JGC) before the resolution is finalized. I will have more updates after our next JGC meeting on Wednesday, October 16th.
Katie Heath
GPSG President