Author: slfrank

Every two years the graduate student activity fee is put up for a referendum vote.  A mandatory fee ensures that GSA is able to continue funding all of the clubs, programs, services and advocacy initiatives you have come to expect from your student government.  A voluntary fee would mean that the organization as a whole would cease to exist.  We hope that you will vote to continue supporting GSA!  Polls are open now through 11:59pm on Thursday, April 14th.

Congratulations to our Gas Card Giveaway winners!

• Wen-Ling Hsu (Biomedical Engineering)
• Amanda Fries (Public Health)
• Renee Rouleau (Biomedical Sciences)

Thank you to everyone who stopped by our tables and talked with us, and remember to vote in next week’s GSA referendum and officer election!

University Pride Lecture  

• Date: April 11, 2022, 7:00pm – 8:30pm:
• Caption: Ericka Hart (pronouns: she/they) is a Black queer femme activist, writer, highly acclaimed speaker, and award-winning sexuality educator with a Master of Education in Human Sexuality from Widener University.
• Ericka’s work broke ground when she went topless showing her double mastectomy scars in public in 2016. Ericka’s voice is rooted in leading-edge thought around human sexual expression as inextricable to overall human health and its intersections with race, gender, chronic illness, and disability. Both radical and relatable, she continues to push well beyond the threshold of sex-positivity.
• This event is part of UB’s Pride Week (April 11 – April 15).
• Co-Sponsored by Office of Inclusive Excellence
• Location: Lippes Concert in Slee Hall

Pride Week March and Mixer 

• Date: April 12,2022, 3:00pm-6:00pm:  
• March leaves from Knox Quad at the Progress Pride Paths
• The mixer will immediately follow the march in the Student Union Lobby
• March to celebrate your identity, support your peers, and honor the history of LGBTQ+ activists who paved the way for the community today. Beginning in Knox Quad at the Progress Pride Paths, this march will be immediately followed by a mixer with speakers, food, and conversation in the Student Union Lobby.

Pride Paint & Sip 

• Date:  April 13, 2022, 6 pm-8 pm
• Caption: Come paint and spill the tea about your experiences as QTPOC (queer & trans people of color) at UB and how we can work towards creating a more inclusive and engaging campus community.
• Co-sponsored by: UB Prism
• Location: Student Union 240

Queer Prom: A Night in Enchancia 

• Date: April 15, 2022, 7 pm -11 pm,
• Queer Prom concludes UB Pride

My name is Kelly Burke, and I’m working on my master’s degree in Science and the Public at UB. For my capstone project, I’m designing a flu vaccination campaign. In an effort to make sure the campaign is most effective, I designed a survey to determine the reasons that people use to decide whether or not to get their flu vaccine.

I would really appreciate if you would take the survey, whether or not you’ve gotten a flu vaccine. The survey should take less than 5 minutes. If you choose, you may add your email to be entered into a drawing for a $25 Amazon gift card. To be entered in the drawing, you must respond by April 3rd.

All responses are anonymous. If you choose to add your email address for the drawing, your responses will be connected to your email in the form, but it will not be used for anything except the drawing.

Survey Link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc9y2QUvT-HPJ0AJq3G3hwstm8zxuxQae49ri7tcFgzRYLktQ/viewform?usp=sf_link

The last date to apply for SEVIS Fee Mitigation is March 31, 2022, and anyone who paid their SEVIS fee after July 2, 2021 is eligible to apply for it.  The link and all of the details are at the bottom of this page: https://goer.ny.gov/graduate-student-employees-union-gseu.

Graduate Student Employees Union (GSEU) employees can apply now for professional development funds for activity between July 2, 2021, and July 1, 2022. This program is intended to assist eligible teaching assistants and graduate assistants develop their full professional potential or prepare for advancement by funding professional development activities. The maximum award is $1,000. You can learn more about the program and download the application form by viewing the announcement on our website.

The GSEU would like to gather graduate student input on the University’s recent decision to remove the mask mandate.  Please share your thoughts by completing the survey below:

https://forms.gle/gHKwMjKRuDCmRxna8 

Register for SUNY’s NRSA Proposal Development Webinar 

The next NIH Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) deadline is April 8, 2022. Receiving this nationally prominent award to support biomedical research is an excellent addition to your resume, regardless of what direction your career takes you.

To assist you, SUNY has created a NRSA award slide deck and training video developed and presented by Dr. Miguel Garcia-Diaz, Associate Professor of Pharmacology and Director of the Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology Graduate Program at Stony Brook University.

Please register to watch the training video as a group or to participate in live Q&A webinar session on March 8, 2022 from 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm. You can watch the training video at any time and join us for the Q&A portion around 3:10 pm.  This is an opportunity to ask questions, receive guidance on the application components and discuss any previous reviews you have received.

REGISTER

Most students apply for this award between the end of their third year and the beginning of their fourth year of training. Please talk with your advisor if you are considering applying for this award. Note that if you win one of these prestigious awards, you may be eligible for the SUNY GREAT award, an additional $5K in flexible research funds.

If you are not ready to apply in April, there are two additional NSRA application deadlines on August 8 and December 8. The video and slides will be available throughout the year, and we will schedule Q&A webinars for subsequent application cycles. Please note that the video and related materials may be useful if you apply for other awards or grants.

Support for this initiative comes from SUNY’s University Faculty Senate Graduate and Research Committee. Special thanks to Miguel Garcia-Diaz; Susan Brennan, SUNY’s Innovation in Graduate Education Research Fellow; SUNY’s Office of Research, Innovation and Economic Development; and the Research Foundation for SUNY.

Please email Jacquie.spano@rfsuny.org with any questions.

GSA will have free KN95 masks available for graduate students starting on February 28th at the UB Ticket Office (reserve online and pick up in 221 Student Union).  1 per UB ID while supplies last.