Graduate students can begin voting for the next GPSA president today.
Council Chairman Christopher Ramirez and Student Research Allocations Committee Chairman Danny Hernandez are vying for the presidency of the Graduate and Professional Student Association.
The seat is held by Joseph Garcia, who has been president for the last two years.
Voting begins at 8 a.m. today, and polls close 5 p.m. Thursday.
Students must vote online using their NetID and password, Elections Chairman Tarance LeNoir said.
Graduate students can vote by going to Unm.edu, logging in and following directions listed on their personal Web space, he said.
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"We're trying to make the process as democratic and transparent and smooth as possible," he said. "I've been doing everything I can to go above and beyond and make sure that students know about the elections."
Hernandez said his years of experience working for the government, running a business and organizing volunteer organizations qualify him for president.
Hernandez said he hoped to use GPSA as a vehicle to unite graduate students.
"I also have a vision for GPSA, and that is to make it an advocacy organization for all graduate students on both sides of Lomas," he said.
Hernandez said graduate students should be able to bring their problems to the GPSA and expect to have them resolved.
"We should be able to help them," he said. "And if we can't, then we need to change the rules so we can."
Ramirez said that as GPSA president, he would ensure that graduate students had a voice in the University community.
He would make sure that graduate students would have access to the resources they need to juggle their schoolwork and their family life, he said.
"We need to make sure that everybody has the same opportunities and make our campus more family friendly," he said.
Ramirez said GPSA needs a president that can bring all of the graduate and professional students together.
"We're a very diverse group of people who don't always agree," he said. "So, I think that's a very important thing. We all have to be able to come to the table and even when we don't agree, at least hear each other and respect one another."
Garcia said he would like to see the next president continue to encourage student participation
in the association and work closely with the Associated Students of UNM.
"I want to see that individual take the initiative to meet with legislators, to meet with city council-people and to meet with other leaders in the community and talk about important issues," he said.
