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.

Along with serving in their individual roles on Cabinet, our members also sit on University and community appointments that are closely related to their position. It’s through these appointments that we are able to engage with members at-large to make recommendations that will benefit graduate and professional students. Click on the following link to learn more!

External Appointments

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

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

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

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

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.