1. No category

Dear Fellow Graduate Students,
My name is Brian Tatum, and I am running for Vice-President of Programming and Outreach of
the Graduate Student Council so that I can strengthen our graduate student organizations on
campus and form connections between graduate students on campus and graduate students across
Texas and the nation. I plan to use this network of graduate students to advocate for graduate
benefits at the university, state, and federal level. I am a PhD student in English concentrating on
British literature of the nineteenth-century. Upon graduation, I hope to earn a tenure-track
position, teaching courses in literature, composition, and technical communication to
undergraduate and graduate students. Serving graduate students through GSC will help me
strengthen the university where I hope to one day teach as a professor and possibly serve as an
administrator.
During the past year, I have served as GSC Director of Programming and as a GSC Senator for
the English Department where I have advocated for graduate students at the local, state, and
federal levels; connected graduate students within UNT and across the nation; and empowered
students by helping organize the Fair Rep campaign that made GSC an official student
government organization. I advocated for graduate students at the local, state, and federal levels
by meeting with elected officials and staffers including Representatives Crownover and Pena at
the Capitol in Austin, TX to request funding increases and tuition waivers for graduate students.
These legislators voted to increase funding for UNT by over $100,000,000. I also helped
organize more than 50 UNT graduate students to participate in the GradsHaveDebt2 campaign
by calling state and federal officials to reduce graduate tuition and student loan interest rates. At
the university level, I served on the printing committee to successfully double the number of
pages students are allowed to print. I formed connections between UNT graduate students and
graduate students across the nation by representing UNT graduate students at the National
Association of Graduate-Professional Students (NAGPS) national conference in Columbia, MO.
Our presence at this conference helped us gain support to successfully pass the referendum that
has made GSC an official student government organization. I also now serve as the Director of
Communications and Administration in the NAGPS Southcentral Region to coordinate the
efforts of graduate students in Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Mississippi, Missouri, and Louisiana.
I empowered graduate students by finding funding streams to fully fund (over $3200) the largest
and most successful UNT Critical Voices Conference to date, and helped organize the Fair Rep
campaign that made GSC an official student government organization.
I plan to continue and expand these efforts throughout the next year in the following ways:
Advocating
In 2015-2016, as Vice-President of Programming and Outreach, I plan to advocate for graduate
students by:
 Meeting with elected officials and staffers to continue the discussion and advocate for
increased research funding for graduate students
 Working with graduate student organizations to create advocacy teams to support students
within each department
 Increasing our participation in the GradsHaveDebt2 campaign to include 100 students calling
state and federal officials to reduce graduate tuition and student loan interest rates
Connecting
In 2015-2016, as Vice-President of Programming and Outreach, I plan to connect graduate
students by:
 Organizing a conference in the early fall to bring together all of the graduate student
associations and provide advocacy training, resources for internal and external funding
streams, and training on organizing a successful conference
 Meeting with graduate student councils at other regional universities to form a strong
coalition and share best practices
 Organizing social and professional events that bring together students from multiple
disciplines
Empowering
In 2015-2016, as Vice-President of Programming and Outreach, I plan to empower students by:
 Working with the Vice-President of Finance to ensure that graduate student service fees
directly benefit graduate students
 Helping graduate student organizations find new internal and external funding streams
 Organizing town hall meetings to provide students a forum to express concerns and work
with university administration to find solutions
My efforts over the past year have led to endorsements from the following student associations:
 Graduate Students in English Association
 College of Education Doctoral Student
Association
 Muslim Student Association
 Korean Student Association
 Public Administration Doctoral Student
Association
 Public Administration Student Association
 Sigma Lambda Beta (Theta Beta Chapter)
Together, we can increase opportunities for all UNT graduate students. Please support me with
your vote.
Sincerely,
Brian Shane Tatum
GSC Director of Programming