GSA elections 2016: the results
Provisional results for the recent Graduate Student Association (GSA) election have been announced:
Two-Year Term (in order of election)
- Benjamin Fourniotis
- Eva Birch
- Thomas Whiteside
- Bradley Knight
- Lida Rashidi
- Georgia Daly
- Catherine Cheng
- Lin Zhang
One-year term (in order of election)
- Smriti Ghimire
- Bren Carruthers
- Trixy Grace Lam Chen
The results are subject to approval by the Electoral Tribunal.
In all, 2,326 graduate students voted in the online election which resulted in eight of 28 candidates being elected for a two-year term and a further three elected for one-year terms.
Half the Council is supposed to be elected every year for two-year terms, so there is an overlap that allows for continuity. The three councillors elected for one-year terms at the election have been elected to replace councillors who resigned during the previous year.
The report from election-runners Above Quota Elections (AQE) notes that the 2,326 voters came from a pool of 28,011 eligible to vote – meaning only 8.3% of graduate students eligible to vote did so.
The term for these councillors will begin as of the GSA Annual General Meeting (AGM), on Friday 27 May. They will at that point become part of the Council that is responsible for the running of the GSA.
In addition to general councillors, the GSA has eleven Office Bearer positions including President, Vice President and General Secretary, but also including positions for particular portfolios – e.g. Coursework Officer, Family Officer, International Officer and LGBTIQ Officer.
These Officer Bearers are elected by and from the councillors, and elections for these positions will be held at a meeting of Council within two weeks of the AGM.
The GSA is responsible for events, activities and representation for graduate students on campus.