GSA executive is an engineering slate committed to all grad students

Karen Herland

Sometimes if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself.

When Molham Chikhalsouk and his fellow engineering students were frustrated by some of the speed bumps during the faculty’s move into the EV Building, he got some people together to approach Dean Nabil Esmail to try to ease the transition.

“The Dean asked who our representatives were, and that was when I realized that we had no idea where to go when we had a problem as grad students,” said Chikhalsouk, who is completing a PhD in mechanical engineering.

The answer is the GSA (Graduate Student Association). Now, Chikhalsouk finds himself the first engineer elected as president of the GSA in about a decade. He and a slate of four other engineers occupy the executive positions in the GSA.

GSA council maintains proportional representation from all four faculties and Chikhalsouk pledged to represent all graduate students, regardless of their field of study. “We want to be accessible and serve all students. Our goal is to defend students’ rights and go to the administration on their behalf.”

The first few days back at school were occupied organizing the GSA orientation day on Sept. 8. Students were offered an opportunity to mingle while learning survival tips on everything from graduate-level writing and research to funding opportunities.

Chikhalsouk had met CSU president Khaleed Juma last May at a Canadian Federation of Students conference when they were both new to their respective posts. They agreed in principle to work together for the university as a whole, and to organize at least one common event at some point.

There has not been much time to follow up on that commitment since last spring, partly because Chikhalsouk spent eight weeks at the Indian Institute of Technology on an exchange program with seven other students. The campus, in the middle of a wildlife reserve, offered a number of opportunities for reflection and interaction with local students.

Both associations were also caught off guard by the administration’s decision to change the vocation of the Hall Building Mezzanine. A statement on the GSA web site aligns them with the CSU in maintaining space for students to have fairs and exhibitions.

Chikhalsouk left his home in Syria three years ago. “I was an activist in Syria, a representative of the engineering school in the Damascus University student union.”

He immigrated to Toronto and heard about Concordia’s program through a friend. “It’s a good school, the faculty members are up-to-date with research and I was convinced I would get a good education.”

Improving the quality of grad students’ academic experience is a priority for Chikhalsouk, and he hopes to work with the administration toward that goal. He is also planning a website where grad students can post their CVs. He hopes that professors will promote the program and encourage business leaders to look at Concordia grads and near-grads as potential employees.

He also wants to ensure that our graduates remain competitive, with access to up-to-date software and resources.

Chikhalsouk would also like the GSA to celebrate Concordia’s diverse community. “We are all under the Concordia umbrella, but it’s an umbrella with many different colours.”

For more information on the GSA and its activities, please go to gsa.concordia.ca