Meet Your GPSA VP Candidates
The mission of the Graduate and Professional Student Association (GPSA) is to serve the collective interests of graduate and professional students at UCSF in order to improve student life on a university and system wide level through dialogue, action, and activities between students, faculty, and staff.
Below you will find statements of candidate running for the 2016-17 GPSA Executive Council. The ballot for the 2016-17 GPSA Executive Council is open April 4-15.
For those still interested in getting involved, the VP of External Affairs positions are still open with anyone interested encouraged to contact Jennifer.rosko@ucsf.edu.
Troy Santos
School of Pharmacy
First Year Student
Hi fellow UCSF students! My name is Troy Santos, a first year pharmacy student, and I want to be your next VP of Internal Affairs for one simple reason: I care about the happiness of our students.
You are the life force of the schools of UCSF, and I know you all work so hard in your programs while making a big impact on the community. It’s tough to juggle sometimes, I get it.
I’m here to create an environment that re-energizes you so you can still thrive. Next year, I want to ensure that we improve the events that you enjoy, such as UCSF Formal and Cultural Night. I’m also going to work towards creating fun inter-professional socials so that you can meet more students outside of your school, and build meaningful relationships with them.
When you’re walking around your respective UCSF campus, my goal is for you to feel a sense of comfort, kind of like snuggling with a thousand puppies and kittens on cotton candy clouds.
That’s right, a vote for me is a vote for puppies and kittens.
In all seriousness, I also understand that we need to solve issues that are barriers to your happiness. That’s why, when the Student Regent came to UCSF to meet with the leaders of the RCO’s, I was there advocating for the unique needs of a UCSF student.
When President Napolitano’s representatives came to discuss her housing initiative, I was there to emphasize that we need more support in finding proper housing, because it’s hard to treat patients when you’re paying $900 a month for a walk-in closet. As VP, I will continue to be your voice next year for these issues.
That’s why next year, I want to increase the online presence of GPSA, especially on social media. I believe it should be easy for you to submit your ideas online, and see us address them clearly in a way that won’t flood your inbox.
This year as president of PUSO, an inter-professional student organization representing the Pilipino students on campus, I worked on projects that would positively impact our local Pil community while reaching out to students from all schools to get involved.
I’ve also worked with Micah, the current VP of Internal Affairs, to build upon what’s worked for GPSA and scrap what didn’t. I’ve lead a few projects for organizations under the School of Pharmacy, but in the end, I think the most important qualification I have to be your VP is that I really am passionate about student life.
The bottom line is that all our programs are tough, and we’re not making excuses – we are UCSF and we take on challenges. However, I’m here to say that there’s still room for your school to create a fun student life and ensure that you enjoy your time here.
If you believe that, consider voting for me. I’m the guy smiling in the cliché beach picture with a big forehead.
VP of Finance
Kyung (Phillip) Nam
School of Dentistry
Second Year Student
Leaders exist in different forms in every group. However, I believe a dedicated one is the leader who makes differences and improves the system. I want to be that dedicated leader of Graduate and Professional Student Association (GPSA) and help improve student life at UCSF and make differences.
A unique aspect of UCSF is that there are priceless opportunities to interact with people from all fields of health professions. As a dental student, I had a privilege to meet students from different health professional schools and understand their roles and concerns in terms of patient care. We interacted through many events on campus as well.
The opportunities were provided through different Registered Campus Organizations (RCO) at UCSF and I greatly appreciated GPSA’s effort on trying to make these interactions possible as a student participating and also as a part of RCO hosting these events. Now I want to give back and contribute to the UCSF community as the Vice President of Finance.
As a vice president of International Students Volunteer Organization during my undergraduate years, I organized many different volunteering events and activities at UC San Diego.
Currently, I am taking active roles in various Registered Organizations and Clubs at UCSF. I serve as class representative of Periodontics Club, Communications and Relations officer of Korean American Health Professional Student Association, and Academic Chair of Xi Psi Phi, a dental fraternity.
Taking these leadership roles strengthened my weaknesses and enhanced my strengths. I learned to effectively communicate with both the organization and the members, to precisely organize and perform planned meetings and events, and to represent the student body.
I want offer my communication and organization skills I have been training to bring difference on UCSF student experience and their daily lives.
As a student at UCSF and a member of many RCO’s, finance is one of the biggest concerns I have and I am sure it is for many students at UCSF and most leaders of RCO’s.
I want to let GPSA take a part in addressing very real issues that students face everyday with their finances and make sure that UCSF community’s voice is heard when decisions are made as a whole. I want to make sure that funds are appropriately processed and made available for different RCO’s, so their events provide educational, diverse, and fun experience for UCSF community.
As Vice President of Finances, I will always put forth the benefits of students and thrive to make improvements at UCSF. Thank you for your consideration.
VP of Diversity Affairs
Jose Tinajero
School of Pharmacy
First Year Student
As a UCSF student, I admire the university’s ability to initiate and lead in education, healthcare, and university affairs. However, graduate schools, including UCSF, are still in the early stages of improving minority group representation and transforming the campus to nurture and support cross culture collaboration.
In my undergraduate career, I lead a diverse student body towards academic success as a supplemental instruction leader. My goals as an S.I. leader included establishing an environment where students of all races, religions or economic backgrounds could come together to collaborate and work towards academic success. Inclusion of a myriad of groups and ideas allowed students to flourish in my biochemistry course. As an instructor and educator, I was also able to receive critical feedback that allowed me to work alongside faculty to innovate a supplemental website for biochemistry students to use at University of California Riverside. By fostering an environment that encouraged diverse minds to work synergistically, innovative ideas developed and were executed to further continue the educational missions of the Academic Resource Center.
As I transitioned into UCSF, I became a member and class representative of the Latino Association of Pharmacy Students. One of my many roles allowed me to serve as a student pharmacist in underrepresented communities. In addition, I mentored undergraduate students interested in pursing pharmacy. This experience brought my attention to how UCSF is proactive in offering mentorship toward other local undergraduate institutions; however, our presence and outreach in influencing college bound students can be stronger.
As Vice President, I will advocate for students and execute my plans efficiently to progress the student’s educational experiences. My goals are to serve and represent the students, encourage diverse collaboration, and expand university outreach. I am a strong candidate that will be able to efficiently progress and enhance the Diversity and Outreach missions that UCSF leads.
