By Fritz Klug
News Editor
It’s an incredibly busy time for the Graduate Student Advisory Committee, said Chair Brandi Pritchett.
GSAC is the student government for graduate students at Western Michigan University. Like the Western Student Association, GSAC organizes events for students, advocates their causes, and funds events put on by Registered Student Organizations.
GSAC is calling for papers for the Spring 2010 issue of their interdisciplinary journal, the Hilltop Review. Last fall was the first time the journal has been published since 2006.
As publication of scholarly work is a staple to a graduate education, and the Hilltop Review can serve as a way to become familiar with the publishing process, Pritchett said.
“It’s a great way for someone to see what to do to be considered competitive,” she said
Submissions can be from any discipline, from English, mathematics, to even artwork.
If graduate students do not want to submit papers, Pritchett said there are other ways to become involved with the Hilltop, such as serving as a peer reviewer or a member of the editorial board.
“You can get familiar with the publication process, the process of editing and get recognition for scholarship,” Pritchett said.
The turnaround time from submission to publication is four to five months, unlike most other scholarly journals which can take up to nine months to a year.
One of the big things about the Review is that it has an ISSN Number, which will allow the work published to be cited in libraries across the state.
The deadline for submissions is Feb. 1, 2010 and editing will begin in late February/early March.
GSAC is also looking for a new chairperson when Pritchett’s term ends at the end of the semester.
For a grad student, the two-year position counts as a full-time assistantship and pays for six credit hours of tuition, in addition to a bi-weekly stipend.
The deal gets better for doctoral students, Pritchett said. The stipend is larger, and pays up to nine credit hours of tuition.
Pritchett said that the chair must identify the needs of graduate students at WMU and have an agenda to meet them.
The position is perfect for someone who is interested in the workings of academia, she said, because the chair attends many meetings to represent the students’ voice.
The past semester, GSAC has spent most of its time advocating for students on campus.
GSAC has worked with university libraries to extended semester long loaning privileges to non-funded graduate students.
This semester, they will be working with the University Recreation Center to allow part-time graduate students access to the Rec Center.
Next week, GSAC will be hosting two events for Carl Wilkens, director of World Outside My Shoes. Wilkens was the head of Adventist Development and Relief Agency International in Rawanda at the time of the 1994 genocide.
“He will be talking about global compassion,” Pritchett said, “and thinking of the world as a family.”
On Thursday, there will be a screening of the HBO documentary “Sometimes in April,” from 8 to 10 p.m. at the Little Theater. After the film, there will be a discussion with Wilkens. Snacks and drinks will be included.
On Friday, Wilkins will be giving a lecture entitled, “Rwanda Yesterday, Darfur Tomorrow: Embracing Global Compassion in the Fetzer Center” from 4 to 6 p.m.
Online registration will be required for both events.
Other events this semester include a winter sport event in February, and the annual karaoke and bowling night in March. On the professional side, a panel will be held in February for international students. Lawyers will be on hand to answer student questions about finding work in the U.S.
While there are not fixed dates, Pritchett said that they will be updates on the GSAC Web site, www.wmich.edu/gsac/.
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