University of Saskatchewan Graduate Students' Association

The University of Saskatchewan Graduate Students' Association (GSA-uSask or UofS-GSA) is the university-wide representative body for graduate students at the University of Saskatchewan, located in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.^[1][2] It was established in 1985 as an office inside the University of Saskatchewan Students' Union (USSU), but it became an independent body only in 1992. Its head office is located at 1337 College Drive in the Emmanuel and St. Chad. The College of Emmanuel and St. Chad was designed by Webster, Forrester and Scott of Saskatoon and constructed in 1965 and 1966.^[3][4]

University of Saskatchewan Graduate Students' Association

Institution	University of Saskatchewan
Location	Saskatoon Saskatchewan  Canada
Established	1992 (33 years ago) (1992)
President	Kayla Benoit
Vice presidents	Finances & Operations: Ramin Mohammadi Student Affairs: Olusola Akintola External: Abbas Fazel Anvari-Yazdi Indigenous Liaison: Kayla Benoit
Members	+ 4,000
Affiliations	Canadian Federation of Students
Website	gsa.usask.ca

"The GSA Commons is located on Treaty 6 Territory and the Homeland of the Métis, and we pay our respect to the First Nations and Métis ancestors of this place and reaffirm our relationship with one another."

History

In 1883 by an Act of Parliament, Emmanuel College was incorporated as “The University of Saskatchewan.”^[3][5][6]

In 1984-85, it was created inside the USSU (University of Saskatchewan Students' Union) a group to handle issues specifically related to graduate students in the University of Saskatchewan.

In 1992, this group became an independent body, called University of Saskatchewan Graduate Students' Association. The GSA-uSask is a not-for-profit student organization that provides services, events, student clubs and advocacy work to the graduate students of University of Saskatchewan.

In the fall of 2006, the Emmanuel and St. Chad space earmarked for GSA-uSask.^[3]

stained glass in the GSA Commons, Emmanuel and St. Chad Chapel.

Since 2016-17, the GSA is pleading for a seat on the U of S Board of Governors.^[7] The Board is responsible for overseeing matters on management, administration and control of the university's property and financial affairs.^[8] Currently, the U of S is the only university in the U15 group that doesn't have a seat for graduate students on the Board. Although changes on the composition of the Board depends on University of Saskatchewan Act's amendments (within the scope of the Provincial Legislature), recent support by the University Council is an indication that not only the graduate students consider this an important cause.^[7] In 2021, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the GSA and the PSAC Local 40004 — which represents U of S graduate students who work as teaching, research and student assistants — created a petition to oppose the tuition increase proposed by the U of S.^[9] Another increase to the differential rate of 14.6%, from 1.58 to 1.81, will affect more the international student. The projected tuition for this group will rise from $2,243 to $2,698.71 — a difference of about 20%.

GSA Commons

Since 2007, Emmanuel and St. Chad Chapel holds the GSA-uSask headquarters, also referred as GSA Commons. The chapel was de-consecrated by a multi-faith opening ceremony.^[3]

Governance

The governance of the University of Saskatchewan Graduate Students' Association is shared among three bodies: the executive committee; the Council; and the Board of Directors.^[2]

• Executive committee: members of the University of Saskatchewan Graduate Students' Association elected by their peers for a one-year-long term of office.
• GSA Council: composed of Academic Units' representatives, chosen in their Departments by their own rules. All graduate programs should have at least one representative in the monthly GSA Council meetings.
• Board of Directors: Defined in the GSA Bylaws.

Academic units

See also: University of Saskatchewan academics

• Engineering Graduate Community Council (EGCC), College of Engineering
• Indigenous Graduate Students' Council (IGSC)
• Physics and Engineering Physics GSA Council at the U of S (PEGASUS), College of Engineering
• Saskatchewan Agricultural Graduates Association (SAGA), College of Agriculture and Bioresources
• Soil Science GSA, College of Agriculture and Bioresources
• WCVM GSA, Western College of Veterinary Medicine

Student clubs

The student clubs in the University of Saskatchewan may be ratified by the USSU and/or ratified by the GSA. Among the several student clubs in this University, there are those related to cultural backgrounds (students from other countries), professional associations, sustainability groups, religious studies, sports and many more.

Offered services

• Health and Dental Plan^[10]
• U-Pass^[11][12]
• Bursaries^[13]
• ISIC Cards^[14]

Previous executive members

Academic year	President	VP Finances	VP Operations	VP Student affairs	VP Academic	VP External affairs	Indigenous Liaison
2021-22 [15]	Rifat Zahan	Ehsan Moradi	Ehsan Moradi	Olusola Akintola/Mostofa Kamal	Olusola Akintola/Mostofa Kamal	Leslie Tetteh/Devin Cherneski	Tina Alexis/-
2020-21 [16]	Humaira Inam	Hadi Ramin/Emerita Mendoza	Hadi Ramin/Emerita Mendoza	Carmen Marquez	Carmen Marquez	Qasim Gill	Tina Alexis (Dakelh)
2019-20	Emerita Mendoza Rengifo[17]	Mohammad Wajih Alam	Mohammad Wajih Alam	Alejandra Fonseca	-	Chiamaka Ezekwesili	-
2018-19	Naheda Sahtout[18]	Jesus Corona Gomez	Jesus Corona Gomez	Edgar Martinez-Soberanes [19]	-	Somto Ufondu [20]	Marie-Eve Presber [21]
2017-18 [22]	Ziad Ghaith	David Bennett	David Bennett	Ali Kiani	-	Naheda Sahtout	Iloradanon Efimoff
2016-17 [23]	Ziad Ghaith	Kusum Sharma	Nafisa Absher	Shailza Sapal	Ali Kiani	Carolyn Gaspar[24]	Dana Carriere
2015-16 [25]	Rajat Chakravarty	David Bennett	Ziad Ghaith	Hardi Shahadu	Jebunnessa Chapola	Natalia Terekhova	Dana Carriere
2014-15 [26]	Izabela Vlahu	Mohammad Rafati	Xin Lu	Rajat Chakravarty	Ranjan Datta	Rahwa Osman	Dana Carriere
2013-14 [27]	Ehimai Ohiozebau	Mohammad Rafati	Kiri Staples	Reanne Ridsdale	Izabela Vlahu	Steve Jimbo	Dana Carriere
2012-13 [28]	Ehimai Ohiozebau	John McLeod	Maily Huynh	Steve Jimbo	Dylan Beach	Elizabeth O’Meara	Nicole Callihoo