Reception Planned by Graduate Student Organization

The Graduate Student Organization (GSO) at Old Dominion University, which is trying this semester to increase its membership, will have a "meet and greet" reception at 5 p.m. March 20 in the Rectors Room of Webb University Center.

"We are trying to solidify our existence," said Brittany Anderson, a doctoral student in human factors psychology who became GSO president early this year. "Building membership is a key goal."

The GSO, which is only two years old, has about 40 members now, but Anderson said many more are needed to give the organization a clear voice on behalf of ODU's 6,000 graduate students.

She said a GSO survey is planned to determine what issues are most important to graduate students at ODU. Already, according to Anderson, the organization is committed to working on these issues, which were gleaned from informal discussions with students in several colleges: getting affordable health insurance for graduate students; increasing the number of campus housing units made available to graduate students, and helping to revamp the graduate teaching assistant training process and graduate orientation.

Refreshments will be served at the reception, and there will be a raffle for Starbucks gift cards. Other door prizes also will be given.

Other officers are vice president, Marc Milne, doctoral student in biology; secretary, Amanda Fox, master's student in exercise science and wellness; treasurer, Changmei "Maya" Zhang, a doctoral student in finance; public affairs officer, Gokhan Ozcan, a master's student in business administration; and liaison (with other graduate organizations), Hilary Begleiter, a master's student in English.