Graduate Student Association

Due to weather conditions, please note that the GSA open office walk-in hours on Wednesday, January 17th and Thursday, January 18th will be cancelled.  We apologize for any inconvenience.  Please email gsa-feedback@buffalo.edu with any questions.

Please note that the GSA will be closing for Winter Break from Tuesday, December 12^th until Tuesday, January 2^nd.  Because of this, all paperwork for payments that your club wishes to be processed before this shut down will be due by Wednesday, December 6^th.  Any payment documentation submitted after this date will not be processed until after we re-open, which means that checks will not be cut until mid to late January.

GSA open through Monday, December 11^th

GSA closed Tuesday, December 12^th until Tuesday, January 2^nd

GSA on Summer Hours Tuesday, January 2^nd – Tuesday, January 23^rd

• • • Open Monday – Thursday 8:30am – 4:00pm, closed on Fridays

GSA closed Monday, January 15^th for MLK Jr. Day observance (University Closed)

Regular Business Hours resume Wednesday, January 24^th with the start of the Spring semester

Check out some of the great events GSA has to offer!

Provided by your mandatory student activity fee.

GSA needs a volunteer to represent graduate student needs and concerns to the Faculty-Student Association! If you can attend meetings the first Monday of every month at 4:00 p.m. over Zoom, please contact gsa-president@buffalo.edu. For more information about the FSA, see here: https://www.buffalo.edu/news/key-issues/faculty-student-association0.html

Check out some of the great events GSA has to offer!

Provided by your mandatory student activity fee.

https://ubwp.buffalo.edu/gsa/wp-content/uploads/sites/137/2023/10/November-Events.pdf

Note: GSA has been informed that Turning Point USA has moved this event to an undisclosed location off of campus. Accordingly, much of the statement we issued yesterday is no longer directly applicable to this event. Most importantly, it no longer makes sense for GSA to call on University Police to protect protestors’ rights to freely speak and assemble, since protests against this event will presumably happen off campus. Regardless of the location of the event, however, we would like to affirm our support for students who choose to exercise their right to protest. The statement below is the same statement that we issued yesterday, which will be left up on this website for the sake of transparency.

As many students are aware, the undergraduate club Turning Point USA at SUNY Buffalo has invited the conservative commentator Candace Owens to speak on UB’s campus. Some graduate students have expressed disappointment and frustration that Owens has been invited and will appear on campus. These emotions are understandable, especially considering that “reporters” from Turning Point have, just this month, injured and harassed an instructor at Arizona State University.

At its best, the university is a place where faculty members and students can argue and disagree in substantive, thoughtful, and nuanced ways about complex issues. We believe that appearances by provocateurs like Owens hinder this mission. We do not believe that Turning Point USA treats UB as a place for learning, discovery, and genuine intellectual engagement; for them, UB is a prop in a predictable melodrama designed to divide and antagonize.

GSA recognizes that, as a public university, UB believes that it does not have the legal right to ban speakers on campus, even if students find those speakers to be wrongheaded, distasteful, harmful, or even hateful. But students also have a Constitutional right to protest or speak against Owens’ event. We call on University Police to protect protesting students and to safeguard their right to free expression and assembly. And to those students who choose to exercise their right to free expression by protesting this event: we stand with you.

Isaac Kolding, President
Sarah MacDougall, Vice President
Melanie March, Treasurer

The GSA is currently hiring a Programming Coordinator to serve through the end of the current fiscal year (July 31, 2024).  The full description of the position is attached.  If you are interested in this posting, please email the required materials listed to the GSA Vice President, Sarah MacDougall, at gsa-vicepresident@buffalo.edu by Wednesday, October 25^th in order to be considered.  Applicants must be currently enrolled graduate students who have paid their mandatory student activity fee and must be able to serve for the full term of the position.

Each year COAL releases an application for a programming grant that is a joint collaboration between COAL and Faculty Student Association (FSA) that allows any recognized student government club to apply for a programming grant to create a new program, expand a current program, or produce a publication. This is an opportunity for clubs to create a large-scale program that impacts a huge portion of the student body, and it can be a great way to express your club’s creativity. Depending on the type of grant you apply for, funding can range from $5,000 to $45,000.

An important note, if you submit a grant and receive funding, you cannot change what items you proposed that you needed and you also cannot ask for a higher amount if the amount you requested and got approved for does not satisfy the amount for which the program would have cost so be very mindful in what items you mention.

Reminder : Applications are due on October 6^th by 11:59pm so please give yourselves enough time to find product costs and make meetings with the GSA President and Treasurer to discuss your ideas because they will give the final go-ahead and signature prior to submissions and the overall COAL vote in October.