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Both candidates to be president of UNM’s Graduate and Professional Students Association agree that graduate students need more funding, but their differing academic backgrounds made for different approaches at the forum on Wednesday in the SUB atrium.
Priscila Poliana, an international student and master’s student in community and regional planning, said one of her strengths is that she attended UNM for her undergraduate degree, and is already well acquainted with student and administrative networks.
She said her connections would be helpful in securing funding for graduate students and responding to discrimination and harassment on campus against minority groups.
“We need to foster an environment here where administrators and students respond quickly, and together, to various needs,” Poliana said.
Poliana’s platform focuses on grant funding for teaching assistantships and graduate assistantships.
“I look around and I see many of my peers underfunded,” Poliana said. “To that end, I’ve already begun to work with the office of the provost, the office of the president and (the office of graduate studies) to bring more funding opportunities for the next school year.”
Sharif Gias, a doctorate candidate in economics who previously taught at the University of Wisconsin, said his main concern also focused on obtaining sufficient funding for graduate research. He said he also wants to make it easier for grad students to graduate sooner than they typically do at UNM, and bring in more money for the University to increase faculty retention. He did not have a specific plan as to how he would do these things.
“All these questions come to my mind, just being a graduate student,” Gias said. “Now I want the chance to do something about them.”
Gias said one of his platform’s focuses is cooperation between different departments. He described a hypothetical National Science Foundation grant to build a road in Albuquerque and listed how it could involve multiple departments: engineering students would build the road, economics students would manage the costs, social sciences students would study how the road would impact the community, environmental sciences students would do a study on the environmental consequences of building the road and law students would deal with any legal challenges that might arise when building the road.
“This shows how much human capital can be brought together in order to benefit the University,” Gias said.
After each candidate presented their platform, there was a Q-and-A session. Amy Vesper of the Social Justice League asked about both candidates’ stances regarding the fact that Chick-fil-A was allowed to remain in the SUB after an 8-3 SUB Board vote Feb. 27.
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On Feb. 20, the ASUNM Senate voted 15-3 in favor of a resolution that urged the University to replace Chick-fil-A with another restaurant, in the wake of public comments made by Chick-fil-A CEO Dan Cathy against same-sex marriage made in June and July of 2012.
ASUNM passed the resolution after conducting a survey in January that showed that 85 percent of those surveyed were in favor of keeping Chick-fil-A on campus, while 15 percent were in favor of removing it.
Poliana, a member of the SUB Board and one of the three who voted to remove Chick-fil-A, said if she had to vote again, she would vote the same way.
“This is about an agenda that has chosen to stand up for intolerance on a national level,” Poliana said. “I don’t take this lightly, students tell me they feel unsafe on campus.”
Gias said that while he supports protecting underrepresented groups at UNM, he also supports a compromise position as opposed to ousting a business.
“We need to communicate between students and administrators, and discuss the needs of both, and then find a solution that benefits both,” Gias said.
The only other question asked at the forum was about how the candidates would actually bring additional funding to graduate students at the University.
Poliana restated her platform, that she would continue to work with the office of the provost, the office of the president and OGS to secure additional funding for teaching assistantships, graduate assistantships and grants.
Gias also restated his platform that students should work together with faculty to determine the best ways to receive additional funding for those three areas, because working with faculty more closely would also help his goal of increasing faculty retention.
Thursday
An open-forum debate between GPSA presidential candidates focusing on campus diversity and the needs of minority groups on campus.
El Centro de La Raza conference room in Mesa Vista Hall
Noon – 1 p.m.
Friday
An open-forum debate between GPSA presidential candidates discussing the importance of increased integration between main and north campuses.
Domenici Large
Auditorium on north campus
4 p.m. – 5 p.m.
Saturday
General debate with GPSA presidential candidates, with questions from a panel of GPSA Council representatives.
Domenici West Room 3010
9 a.m.
