Council of Graduate Students President Stefan Fletcher speaks to parliamentarian Shannon Demlow on Wednesday, Sept. 5, 2012 in a private dining room of Brody Square. The council discussed issues about lack of graduate areas in the library. Julia Nagy/The State News
MSU’s Council of Graduate Students will soon say goodbye to its four-term president, Stefan Fletcher, and elect a new leader in his place.
Fletcher, a higher education administration doctoral student, Fletcher said he was able to carry out four terms despite a policy that limits presidents to two terms which the council waived. He said that he will no longer be involved with the council after his term ends in March.
Fletcher served as president of his undergraduate student body in Wisconsin and immediately wanted to get involved upon coming to MSU. He started out as the College of Law representative and worked his way up to vice president of internal affairs and ultimately president in 2010.
Fletcher said he was grateful for the opportunity to collaborate with other organizations and programs during his time as president of the council and was happy to service graduate students.
“One of my passions really is public service,” Fletcher said. “I believe in the value of public service and engagement.”
Fletcher has several accomplishments under his belt from his tenure, including a partnership with MSU Federal Credit Union and the office of the Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies, which provided $30,000 to expand the conference grant program to send more graduate and professional students to conferences.
He also looks forward to the upcoming renovation of Chittenden Hall, which will be a sort of “hub” for graduate students.
As for the newest potential president, College of Human Emily Bank, the current vice president of internal affairs, was nominated to run for president at the most recent council meeting.
Fletcher said the council is still accepting nominations via email and at the next meeting, but could only confirm Bank’s nomination because it was publicly announced.
The higher, adult and lifelong education graduate student accepted her nomination and expressed her excitement to be a candidate for the position.
“I’m very excited about it. It’s an honor to be nominated for the organization,” Bank said.
Bank has plenty of experience with student government because of her involvement with ASMSU.
Most recently, she climbed from educational administration representative this past fall to interim vice president for internal affairs and was officially elected for the position in January.
Fletcher said he hopes the election will “provide a completely clean canvas” to the council and for the newly elected president to carry out their own ideas and initiatives.
“There is a lot of talent and potential for taking the organization onwards,” Fletcher said, adding that visibility is an important aspect for the new president to consider.
Bank said the relationships that she has already built with collaborators, students and administration would help her to be a successful leader if elected.
Still, Bank said she could only hope to accomplish half of the things Fletcher has done during his time.
“If I were elected, I’d have some very big shoes to fill,” Bank said.
Fletcher said that the end of his presidency and involvement with COGS is bittersweet, but he’s still a phone call away for anyone seeking advice.
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