The council began collaborating with the city of East Lansing last spring to create a program to provide graduate students with discounted parking permits, said Shannon Demlow, vice president of internal affairs. Permits now are available for purchase on the third floor of the Division Street parking ramp, she said.

“The graduate parking permits on campus are only good for the faculty and staff spots south of the Red Cedar River, so this is especially good for students on the north side of campus,” Demlow said.

The permits can be purchased for $150 per semester, a significant discount from the $70 per month the city usually charges, she said.
“It’s beneficial to the students and the city,” Demlow said. “The city has a lot of unused parking capacity, especially at peak time, nine to five.”

COGS president Stefan Fletcher said the group projected it would sell about 60 permits.

“We’re up to 61 permits, so we’ve already exceeded the projection, which is good news,” Fletcher said. “The response we’ve gotten from folks, especially (teaching assistants) or those working on the north side of campus has been tremendous.”

Demlow said the group’s ultimate goal is to sell 100 permits per semester.

“It would make us the single bulk user of East Lansing parking permits,” Demlow said.

MSU athletic director Mark Hollis also is scheduled to make a presentation at the meeting.

COGS has been discussing how to connect more graduate students to the athletic department, Fletcher said. Hollis will talk about how graduate students affect the department and what the graduate students who have worked with the department have gone on to do.

“This is an opportunity a lot of student groups don’t have, especially because athletics is such a prominent, central part of MSU,” Fletcher said.

Adam Lovgren, COGS vice president for graduate welfare, has been working to help graduate students network with each other to promote active and healthy lifestyles.

“We’ve been trying to connect graduate students with other graduate students so they’ll have time to get out, relax and enjoy their environment,” Lovgren said.

IM Sports-Circle opened its doors to graduate students during Graduate Student Orientation Week for a night of volleyball, badminton and swimming and the IM Sports facilities do a good job of creating graduate and faculty IM sports teams throughout the year, he said.

Lovgren said the orientation week also provided graduate students with information about health insurance, mental health and the resources available for students with families.