Dear fellow CSC graduate students,

As the only candidate for CSCGSA President next year, I certainly hope you vote for me. However, it is much more important that you vote for those who will form the best executive committee team. I have already been discussing CSCGSA's goals and major activities for the next academic year with certain energetic individuals. Before I highlight some of our goals for next year, I would like to point out these excellent candidates who deserve your vote.

Please vote for Claris Castillo. Her contributions to WiCS and CSCGSA are invaluable. Her ideas for the future of CSCGSA are wonderful and I cannot imagine an executive committee without her. The major ideas for our activities and goals next year come directly from our conversations. Additionally, please vote Eun Young Ha, Mohan Iyer, Chaya Narayanankutty, and Anjing Wang as At-Large officers. They are all bright, caring, and active individuals. Also, certainly vote Marivic Bonto-Kane for Treasurer--she has been instrumental in several CSCGSA events this academic year (and is also running unopposed). I highly encourage you to vote and place these great folks in the executive committee.

I feel it is helpful to mention some of the major activities we have planned. As graduate students, our primary focus is on research. Thus, all students can benefit from an environment that allows us to practice presenting research. Speaking in front of an audience of peers is essential for our careers. To facilitate this, we will found an annual CSC Research Symposium. All students will be welcome and encouraged to present their research or study and prizes will be awarded.

Many of our graduate students come here internationally. It is always a daunting task to move to a new place and establish yourself academically, financially, and socially--almost like jumping into cold water. Marivic Bonto-Kane and our current CSCGSA executive committee offered a series of events to address this issue. It is not only useful for international students, but it also helps domestic students to understand the challenges that a large number of their fellow graduate students face. These events are also excellent for mingling between international and domestic students. It can be very difficult to meet people when you feel like an outsider! I highly encourage you, my fellow students, to attend these socio-cultural events and meet students whom you usually may not.

Finally, we are planning professional/academic transition events. These events are aimed to give us an understanding of the demands of academia and industry. For instance, we will organize an industry panel to elucidate the need for communication in any work environment. Additionally, we will provide resources for applying to faculty positions or hearing about how specific research areas are applied to industry (for those of us wondering about our prospects after the degree). These events will be great for all students, but especially those who will be graduating soon.

I look forward to meeting as many of my peers as possible over the course of next academic year. I greatly appreciate the opportunity to add to the academic environment of NC State. Such high-quality, useful events would not be possible without the support of the student community. Please feel free to e-mail me with any ideas or discussion about our graduate community. And most importantly, please vote!

Sincerely,

Joe Grafsgaard

Candidate for CSCGSA President