The

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Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

Graduate and Professional Student Senate (GPSS) is the official student

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is ...

for graduate and professional students at the University of Washington. GPSS is made up of two senators from each degree-granting department, four officers and several staff members. GPSS provides students with representation on the university's Seattle campus, in the state legislature, and in

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

. It also acts as a resource center and funds graduate programming.

History

The Graduate & Professional Student Senate was founded in 1967 to provide a separate focus and voice for the interests of graduate and professional students at the University of Washington. Prior to its founding, all students were represented by the

Associated Students of the University of Washington The Associated Students of the University of Washington (ASUW) is the Student Government at the University of Washington. It is funded and supported by student fees, and it provides services that directly and indirectly benefit student life. The ...

(ASUW), founded in 1906. As interests between the ASUW and GPSS have become more specialized, GPSS has established itself as an organization devoted to serving as a platform for issues related to graduate and professional student life. The two entities formally became two autonomous organizations in April 1976. While the ASUW still represents all students, GPSS represents only graduate and professional student interests. In 2007 GPSS initiated an annual Higher Education Summit, bringing together academics, policymakers, and practitioners to discuss issues important to higher education and graduate & professional students. Each summit has taken up a different topic related to contemporary issues in higher education in Washington State. In 2008 GPSS was one of the founding members of Student Advocates for Graduate Education (SAGE), a national coalition of graduate student governments from other top tier public research universities.

Composition

GPSS is governed by a Constitution and a set of Bylaws. Meetings of the Senate are typically held every other week throughout the school year. GPSS has five elected officers: President, vice-president of External Affairs, vice-president of Internal Affairs, Treasurer, and Secretary. GPSS has ten internal committees and six subcommittees in addition to the full Senate through which it conducts its business: * Community and Outreach * Dispute Resolution Advisory * Elections * Executive * Finance and Budget * Government Relations :* Federal Legislative Steering :* State Legislative Steering * Graduate Program Review * Judicial * Social * University Affairs :* Academic and Administrative Affairs :* Community Affairs :* Student Life :* Diversity

External links

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Associated Students of the University of WashingtonSAGE CoalitionUniversity of Washington
{{Coord, 47.655253, -122.30524, display=t Washington, University of University of Washington organizations