The Cabinet | Graduate and Professional Student Government

The Cabinet is a part of the GPSG Executive Branch that enables exceptionally motivated graduate and professional students to serve as chairs or co-chairs of particular areas of campus and community life that require our participation in policy-making and programming. The Cabinet, alongside The Executive Board, design, implement, and engage new initiatives in collaboration with the graduate and professional student community. All students and members of the public are welcome and encouraged to attend.

Meeting Times (unless otherwise indicated)
Date:3rd Tuesday of the month, August through April
Time: TBA
Location: Zoom

Cabinet Members

Director of Academic Affairs (DAA) Madison Hester
The Director of Academic Affairs shall advise the Executive Board on issues related to University academic policies, graduate and professional degree requirements, and educational resources.

Biography

Madi is a first-year doctoral student and teaching fellow in English and Comparative Literature serving as the Director of Academic Affairs. She joins GPSG already absorbed in her teaching practices by questions of how to democratize higher education, and she works to make access to resources equitable and to make testing and degree requirements that reflect how graduate students learn and achieve. She also aims to increase graduate and professional student visibility and representation in the UNC system, especially to students belonging to other minorities.

She comes to UNC from Colorado, where she received her master’s in English Literature at Colorado State University studying contemporary literature and women’s authorship. Here she examines multicultural identity in recent American literature, and questions about how mixed-race people “rightly” identify themselves. She teaches first-year writing but hopes to find the mythical tenure track faculty position after earning her degree.

Director of Health and Wellness (DHW) Christopher Grohs
The Director of Health and Wellness shall advise the Executive Board on issues related to personal health and wellbeing of graduate and professional students and their dependents.

Biography

Christopher (They/Them, He/Him) is a second-year occupational therapy student focusing his research on mental health. As Director of Health and Wellness for GPSG, Christopher is working with students, faculty, and staff to increase access to mental health and wellness resources for graduate and professional students across campus. They are interested in hearing from you about resources you want to see on campus and how best to deliver those supports.

Christopher lives on his bike, loves almost any outdoor activity that involves moving their body and spending time with friends, reading for pleasure, and taking 20 minute power naps throughout the day.

Director of Safety and Security (DSS) Graham Zulu
The Director of Safety and Security shall advise the Executive Board on issues related to student safety and security, including, but not limited to, safety policies and protocols, policing, and the physical integrity of the campus.

Biography

Director of Employment Affairs (DEA) Theodore Nollert
The Director of Employment Affairs shall advise the Executive Board on issues related to graduate and professional student employment as Research Assistants, Teaching Assistants, Graduate Assistants, and other university positions.

Biography

Director of Local Relations (DLR) Celeste Kurz
The Director of Local Relations shall advise the Executive Board on issues affecting graduate and professional students and oversee initiatives and advocacy efforts within Chapel Hill, Carrboro, Orange County, and Durham County.

Biography

Director of State Relations (DSR) Devin Case-Ruchala
The Director of State Relations shall advise the Executive Board on issues related to state laws, regulations, and policies affecting graduate and professional education at UNC Chapel Hill.

Biography

Director of Federal Relations (DFR) Rachel Miller-Selzer
The Director of Federal Relations shall advise the Executive Committee on issues affecting graduate and professional students and oversee initiatives and advocacy efforts in the area of federal affairs.

Biography

Rachel Miller-Selzer (she/her/hers) serves as the Director of Federal Relations for the Graduate and Professional Student Federation during the 2020-2021 academic year. She is in her second year of the Master of Public Health program in the Health Policy and Management concentration. In her role as Director of Federal Relations, she is collaborating with Duke and NC State to plan a federal policy advocacy day in the spring, and will continue to raise awareness and increase resources for international graduate students at UNC.

Rachel calls Ottawa, Ontario home. She received her B.S. in Nursing from Northeastern University in Boston, and after a four-year career as a pediatric ICU nurse, Rachel has pivoted to pursuing health policy. She is passionate about policy advocacy, voter engagement, bipartisan collaboration, and federal legislation. Outside of academics, Rachel loves to play tennis, hike, stay engaged with current events, and spend time with her new puppy.

Director of Social Justice (DSJ) Brenda Caldwell
The Director of Social Justice shall advise the Executive Board on issues related to diversity, equity, inclusion, and advocacy on behalf of currently and historically marginalized student populations.

Biography

Director of Community Engagement (DCE) Elena Vidrascu

The Director of Community Engagement shall advise the Executive Board on and organize and oversee the public service initiatives of GPSG.

Biography

Elena Vidrascu (she/her/hers) is a 3rd year PhD Candidate in the Behavioral and Integrative Neuroscience program.

As Director of Community Engagement, Elena is working to connect graduate and professional students with one another and with members of the community. This in part will be achieved by providing opportunities for engaging with community organizations and with initiatives led by UNC to foster diversity and inclusion.

In her spare time, Elena enjoys playing tennis, hiking, reading,and spending time with her partner and fur children (2 ginger cats and a dog!).

Director of Environmental Affairs (DEA) Ana Dulskiy
The Director of Environmental Affairs shall advise the Executive Board on issues affecting graduate and professional students and oversee initiatives and advocacy efforts in the areas of sustainability and environmental consciousness.

Biography

Ana is a second-year master’s student in the Environment, Ecology, and Energy Program (E3P), where she studies the ecology of temperate corals off the coast of North Carolina. In her role as Director of Environmental Affairs, she is working to coordinate advocacy efforts related to sustainability and environmental consciousness, promote the use of clean energy and renewable resources in University facilities, and to develop a comprehensive report of sustainability initiatives across campus.

Ana received her bachelor’s degree from the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, MA, where she studied biology and music. Before coming to UNC, she worked and studied in Germany as a fellow with the Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange for Young Professionals, where she first became involved in environmental advocacy and outreach. Outside of research and teaching, Ana enjoys running, playing piano, and volunteering at the ReCYCLEry.

Director of Assessment (DA) Jonathan Schlosser
The Director of Assessment shall assist in designing robust and statistically sound survey tools for collecting quantitative and qualitative input from graduate and professional students.

Biography

Jonathan is a fourth-year PhD student in the Hussman School for Journalism and Media and is currently serving as the Director of Data and Assessment. Jonathan aims to develop, collect, and analyze data to identify challenges faced by graduate and professional students and to research ways in which GPSG and the larger campus can work to improve educational experiences. He comes to this position with years of experience in data science, statistics, and research design. In addition to this role, Jonathan works as a Lead Instructor and Curriculum Design Consultant with Correlation One and as a Statistics Help-Desk Consultant with the Odum Institute. He also works as a data scientist in a variety of other contexts and is beginning a career in industry. He hopes to bring his education, experience, and enthusiasm to this role in order to help drive data-informed decision-making and to strengthen the role graduate students have in conversations with the campus and the larger UNC system. Please feel free to check out his website at JonathanSchlosser.com for more information.

Director of Digital Media (DDM) Marin Weiskopf
The Director of Digital Media shall assist the Vice President for Communications with the communication and public relations activities for GPSG, including maintaining social media platforms and publishing the bi-monthly GPSG Newsletter.

Biography

Marin is a fourth-year PharmD Candidate attending the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy and completing her Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiences at the UNC Medical Center. In this role, she hopes to make campus resources more accessible, promote Graduate and Professional Student involvement, and provide transparency between GPSG, the administration, UNC initiatives, and our student population.

In her free time, she loves to go on hikes with her significant other and corgi, try new restaurants or recipes at home, workout, read in her spare time, and hang out with her friends.

Minutes and Documents

All minutes can be found at the GPSG archives.