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The GSG has held general elections for its six officer positions: President, Vice President, Communications Director, Secretary, Treasurer, and Social Chair.

In addition, the GSG Assembly voted at its November 2009 meeting to submit a question to referendum during the 2010 Officer Elections: students were asked whether the graduate student fee should be changed from $10 per year to $10 per semester. More information can be found here.

The GSG Assembly approved the list of candidates for officer positions on Friday, February 12, 2010. The official list is available here, along with the candidate statements.

A Meet-the-Candidates Forum was held on Wednesday, February 17, 2010 in the Friend Center Auditorium (Room 101) at 6 PM EST. Candidates had a chance to present their candidacies and to debate their opponents. The audience was also given the opportunity to ask questions to the candidates. This discussion was followed by a presentation by and a debate with members of the GSG Assembly who supported the fee change. The forum videos are here!

The polls were opened from March 1 to March 8 and are now closed.
Results were approved by the GSG Assembly on March 10 and can be found here.

You can also:

• Read about the duties of each of the positions;
• Read about the housing and parking incentives for holding a GSG office;
• Read an overview of the election timeline;
• Read the full election plan (as approved by the GSG Assembly on January 13, 2010);
• Find out more about the Election Committee.

General Notes on Offices

• While officers are expected to bring new ideas to the GSG, they are elected to serve the GSG Assembly, not to pursue a personal agenda.
• The typical time-commitment of an office is 3~6 hours per week, depending on the office.
• No prior involvement in the GSG is required to hold an officer position, and the Election Committee encourages all interested students to run for a position.
• All full-time enrolled Princeton graduate students (DCE students qualify), including degree students, non-degree students, and leave-of-absence students who were enrolled the previous year are eligible to run for a position. ETDCC students can also run, but only if they pay the GSG dues (for more information, contact us).

Officer Duties

• All officers are required to attend the monthly GSG Assembly meetings.
• Historically, all officers have worked collectively to perform the administrative and advocacy work of the GSG; this typically includes a weekly meeting with the other officers and occasional meetings with University administrators.
• Each officer has office-specific duties, which are outlined below:
  • The President is the leader of the GSG. You are usually the first person the administration will e-mail with questions. You will also be asked to represent graduate students at University events, on various committees, and to Princeton alumni.
  • The Vice President keeps the GSG meetings running smoothly. You are responsible for making sure that each department/program sends representatives to the GSG Assembly. You also serve as the Chair of the Campus Relations Committee.
  • The Communications Director manages communication among the GSG, the administration, and the graduate student body. You are responsible for coordinating the updates to the GSG website and for responding to e-mails sent to our gsg@ address. You are also in charge of maintaining contact with campus and local media.
  • The Secretary maintains the records of the GSG. You are in charge of taking minutes at our monthly Assembly meetings.
  • The Treasurer maintains the financial records and the budget. You will also chair the GSG Events Board, which provides funds to independent student groups.
  • The Social Chair coordinates and organizes GSG social events.
• For more information on the offices, please see the GSG Constitution Article V and By-Laws Article III or speak with the current officers.

Housing Incentive

The Graduate School and the Housing Department provide priority in the housing draw for GSG officers. The officers are given priority just below the residential committees (Butler Committee, Lawrence Committee, GC House Committee, etc.) and before other students. This ensures that, as an enrolled student (DCE students are enrolled students), you will be successful in the housing draw, and have a higher lottery number for getting a room/apartment assignment.

Parking Incentive

The Office of Transportation and Parking Services provides special on-campus parking privileges for GSG officers. The GSG permit allows these students to park on-campus during the day in lots 4, 23, and 25, as well as in the regular graduate commuter and resident lots. This serves as an incentive for the student volunteers and assists them when traveling between their offices/labs and on-campus meetings to represent graduate students.

Note: These incentives serve both to reward the officers for serving the graduate student body and to assist them in performing their duties (by making it easier for them to travel to meetings, by ensuring that they live with other students in campus housing, etc.). They come with the expectation that you will perform all the duties of your elected role and participate fully in the GSG. Any officer who is not adequately performing his or her duties risks being removed from office and/or having these privileges taken away. These incentives may change at any time at the discretion of the GSG, the Graduate School, the Housing Department, and/or the Office of Transportation and Parking Services.

The following is a summary of the 2010 election process. All times are Eastern Standard Time. For more information, see the 2010 Election Plan.

• February 1 (Monday), 5 PM: Deadline for students to submit nominations
• Nominees will be contacted to confirm their interest.
• February 9 (Tuesday), 5 PM: Deadline for nominees to accept nominations
• This is also the deadline for nominees to submit candidate statements.
• ETDCC students wishing to run must pay the 2009-10 GSG dues by this date.
• February 17 (Wednesday), 6 PM: "Meet the Candidates" forum
• Come meet all the candidates and discuss the referendum question!
• This event will be held in the Friend Center auditorium (Room 101).
• March 1 (Monday), 5 PM: Polls open.
• ETDCC students wishing to vote must pay the 2009-10 GSG dues by 5 PM on March 2.
• March 8 (Monday), 5 PM: Polls close.
• March 10 (Wednesday), 6 PM: The GSG Assembly certifies the election results.
• The newly elected officers take office upon adjournment of the meeting.