Nominations for EGSA Elections 2013 and Freeish Coffee

EGSA,

This is the most important email you are reading right now, so please pay attention. Its purpose is to remind you to submit your nominations for EGSA elections by Friday. If you want to serve in one of the following positions—or if you just don’t want anyone else to and you’re willing to do it yourself—send me (Jeremy_Leatham@baylor.edu) an email indicating the position(s) for which you’d like run. (You can run for multiple positions, but you can only accept one.) Also, consider all those bashful EGSAers who should really be filling these positions and nominate them through the same process. Here again is the list of positions to be filled (and you get an announcement about coffee if you read all the way to the end):

1. Vice President: Open (currently Michael Milburn, who will be President next year)
One year term; in second year, becomes President upon approval of EGSA.
Assists the president and the secretary in their duties as needed; along with the President, meets regularly with the GPD and department chair; promotes departmental and campus events (e.g. graduate faculty/student mixers, Beall Poetry Festival, Scholar’s Week); assists Professional Development Coordinators in developing heteroglossia events as needed; updates the EGSA calendar on the website.

2. Secretary: Open (currently Jeremy Leatham)
Records and distributes minutes of EGSA meetings; publishes an EGSA Digest (via email) with announcements from EGSA, GPD, Dept Chair, or other groups/individuals to graduate students on a weekly or bi-weekly basis; sends and collects emails ballots for open positions or other proposals as needed; gathers signatures for “Thank You” cards to secretaries, GPD, the Department chair, the director of freshman composition, the Writing Center director, and EGSA’s faculty advisors at the end of each year for their support of graduate students; keeps a list of current English graduate students, updating the spreadsheet on the EGSA website each year.

3. Treasurer: Open (currently Heidi Seelke)
Collects membership dues ($10) at the beginning of each year; confers with Lois Avey on the EGSA account and keeps financial reports/receipts for EGSA; assists the fundraising chair as needed and assists with the biannual EGSA Conference Financial Committee.

4. Peer Advisor: Open (currently Danielle Williams)
Serves as the contact person for graduate students who have questions about their specific English graduate programs of study; makes available and explains the worksheets for the PhD program and the MA program; sends reminders about deadlines and dissertation/thesis workshops for the graduate program.

5. Professional Development Coordinators (2): Open (currently DeAnn Barta and Josh Boyd)
These officers serve a one-year term. They offer at least one heteroglossia event per semester, soliciting advice from EGSA faculty advisors and Vice President as needed. (Successful past examples include CV writing workshop, publication/research agenda roundtable with professors, how-to sessions with graduate professor/s…)

6. GSA Representative: Open (currently Julie Ooms)
“This person should have been at Baylor for at least one year, with exceptions for those programs that are only one year long. The representative attends monthly GSA meetings, works with one of the standing committees (Academic, Social, or Policy), and exercises a vote on behalf of the graduate students in their department” (GSA description).

7. GSA Alternate: Open (currently Ryan Womack)
“An alternate may be a new student; usually one who is interested in ‘learning the ropes’ and serving as your department’s Representative the following year. The Alternate preferably attends all meetings with the representative, would be introduced to the activities and issues of GSA, and would have the proxy vote if the Representative is not in attendance.” (GSA description)

8. Technology Assistant: Open (currently Kalani Pattison)
The assistant helps the technology chair with his/her duties while learning the EGSA website in order to take over the Technology Chair position the following year.

9. Fundraising Chair: Open (currently Adam Marshall)

The Fundraising Chair is responsible for planning the annual book sale, which consists of collecting book donations, publicizing the event, coordinating volunteers, and working with Student Activities. Those who assist at any fundraising events are considered part of the fundraising committee.

10. Social Chairs (2): Open (currently Elizabeth Fredericks and Sarah Rude)
The two social chairs organize and promote events such as, but not limited to, a fall picnic, a holiday party, a spring Welcome Back Party, Bad Wine/Bad Poetry Night, etc. The fall picnic and Welcome Back party will be held on the first Saturday of the fall and spring semesters, respectively, and other events will be decided at the first EGSA meeting of the year and added to the EGSA calendar on the website.

Completely Unrelated Announcement

Janet Bagby writes:

This is an opportunity for you to receive a $15 Starbucks gift card for only about 45 minutes of your time!

If you choose to participate, you also will be assisting fellow graduate students in their research study. The purpose of the study is to administer to graduate students a new online assessment instrument measuring skills that contribute to academic success at Baylor University.

Though you will be asked to sign an informed consent form and supply demographic information on the test, you will not be asked to put your name on the test and your responses will in no way be traced to you or impact your grades or standing as a graduate student.

All graduate students, except those who have already taken the assessment, are eligible to participate. We need 68 graduate students enrolled at Baylor for this first round of testing.

To participate, bring your Baylor ID for verification of your enrollment status and come to Room 105 on the first floor of Jones library during one of the following times:

Thursday, April 18: 9 a.m. to noon Thursday, April 18: 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Friday, April 19: 10 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Sunday, April 21: 7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. Monday, April 22: 9 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Monday, April 22: 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.

Testing will stop once we obtain our quota. Choose one of the earlier times to be assured of being in the study and receiving the Starbucks gift card. If you have any questions regarding this project, email me at Janet_Bagby@baylor.edu.

Happy DiaderecibircorreoelectronicoimprevistodetusecretariodeEGSA, Jeremy Leatham
EGSA Secretary