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The Legislative Branch

The Senate is GPSG’s legislative body and is overseen by the Senior Vice President of GPSG. This forum seeks to discuss and reach consensus about graduate/professional student issues, and also to award funds for events and travel. Consistent Senate attendance enables each department/program to receive an end-of-year monetary allocation for its own social events.

All students and members of the public are invited to attend the monthly meetings. Email William Boyer, the 2024-2025 Senior VP, with any questions or concerns.

Meeting Times (unless otherwise indicated)
Date: 2nd Tuesday of every month, September through April.
Time: 5:30pm
Location: Kerr 2001 

Senate Committees

All legislation, minutes, and archival information can be found at the GPSG archives. 

Appropriations

If you have any questions, email the Appropriations Committee.

Name Department Email
Samantha Beck (Chair) Pathology shbeck@email.unc.edu
Rob Jarrel Law rkj@email.unc.edu
Kaitlyn Hohmeier Mathematics kaith@unc.edu
Kachi Adike Public Health Ojadlike@unc.edu
Avery Baker Public Policy averynb@unc.edu
Joana Vasquez VP of Communication jvaz@unc.edu

Rules and Judiciary

If you have any questions, email the R&J Committee.

Name Department Email
Molly Hoch (Chair) Biostatistics mhoch@unc.edu
Hashem Amireh Economics hamireh@unc.edu
Mandy Fowler English & Comparative Literature alfowler@live.unc.edu
Dana Mulligan Folklore danajm@unc.edu
Ramy Voloshchuk Nutrition rvolosh@unc.edu
Sabina Sabal Solicitor General sabsabal@unc.edu
William Boyer Senior Vice President Whboyer@ad.unc.edu

Travel Awards

If you have any questions, email the Travel Awards Committee.

Name Department Email
Fernando Quijano (Chair) Business Administration (MBA) fernando_quijano@kenan-flagler.unc.edu
Victor Henry Knight IV Religious Studies vhk4@ad.unc.edu
Gavin Michael Buehring Political Science buehring@ad.unc.edu
Nyssa Tucker Toxicology tunys@ad.unc.edu
Open
Erica Li VP of Finance erica_li@unc.edu

State of Graduate and Professional Student (SoGAPS)

If you have any questions, email the SoGAPS Committee.

Name Department Email
Ellen Risemberg (chair) Bioinformatics & Computational Biology erisembe@email.unc.edu
Jair Valenzuela Biomedical Engineering jeva117@email.unc.edu
Bryce Ross Communications sbross@unc.edu
James Collins City & Regional Planning jpco@unc.edu
Melina Flores Information & Library Sciences meme@unc.edu
William Boyer Senior Vice President Whboyer@ad.unc.edu
Elaine Reiche VP of Advocacy and Governmental Affairs reicheel@unc.edu

Finance

If you have any questions, email the Finance Committee.

Name Department Email
Leah Frasier (Chair) Pharmacology leahkf@ad.unc.edu
Omar Merhebi Bioinformatics & Computational Biology oem@email.unc.edu
Emma Wrenn Linguistics ewrenn@unc.edu
John Viboch Business Administration (MBA) John_viboch@kenan-flagler.unc.edu
Ben Kornegay Genetics & Molecular Biology bkornegay@unc.edu
Erica Li VP of Finance erica_li@unc.edu

Oversight and Advocacy

If you have any questions, email the O&A Committee.

Name Department Email
Ben King (Chair) Public Administration kingben@unc.edu
Lauren Rackley Biostatistics lrackley@unc.edu
Alexandr Shtumpf History ashtumpf@unc.edu
Katherine McCormick Political Science kgmc21@unc.edu
Kieran O’reilly Economics kierano@unc.edu
Bex Nelson Chief of Staff bex@unc.edu
Nick Moloci President Pro Tempore nmoloci@email.unc.edu

President Pro Tempore – Nick Moloci

Duties of the President Pro Tempore:

  1. The President Pro Tempore shall serve on the Hearing Committee.
  2. The President Pro Tempore shall also serve as an Ex Officio member of the following committees:
    1. The Student Advisory Committee to the Chancellor;
    2. The Student Fee Audit Committee;
    3. The GPSG Oversight and Advocacy Committee; and
    4. The Future of the GPSG Committee
  3. The President Pro Tempore shall be the presiding member of the Senate when the Senior Vice President is absent, or when the Senior Vice President designates the President Pro Tempore to be the presiding member.
  4. The President Pro Tempore shall keep a list of speakers during Senate meetings to facilitate the recognition of said speakers.

Chair of Summer Governance – Samantha Beck

Duties of the Chair of Summer Governance:

  1. The Chair of Summer Governance shall convene the summer sessions.
  2. The Chair of Summer Governance shall act as the tie-breaking vote.

Senate Minutes and Documents

Senate Meetings and Passed Legislation can be found in our GPSG Archives under the Legislative Branch. All archives folders are public.