President
Sameera Singh

VP of External Affairs - prof rep
Claire Ogee-Nwankwo

Sameera Singh
School of Dentistry
Third Year

‘Excellence is in our DNA’.  With this belief I stand before you to contest for the role of President. Born in India, raised in Nigeria, and being a Veteran’s daughter, I have had a multicultural upbringing and bring to the table a wide understanding and empathy towards diversity and representation. GPSA being an umbrella organization acts a liaison between all UCSF schools and UC Administration as well as California legislature.

As a student representative for the IDP3 class for associated student councils like CDA and ADEA, I have been involved at grass root level and understand the value of this role and the power of GPSA in broadening the horizon of dialogue to reach out to a larger audience and effectively bridge the gap between action and result.

The International Dental Program at UCSF School of Dentistry, class and council is extremely diverse, we have people from different nationalities, cultures, and belief systems. As Class President, I have successfully managed to bring such a beautiful brew of different mindsets and thought process on common ground and work towards the same goal. I aspire to advocate healthy communication, amplify the voice of my fellow colleagues and bring immediate effective change within the confines of my role if elected.

Nam Nguyen
School of Dentistry
Second Year

As a high school teacher turned student dentist—as well as a past Vice President of Internal Affairs for my undergraduate institution’s Student Government Association —I’d like to be humbly considered for the “Vice-President of Records” position. I duly understand that this position comes with important responsibilities and skills that I have been fortunate to hone through my involvement and leadership experiences.

Since starting at the UCSF School of Dentistry, I have got the opportunity to become involved with GPSA and Student Life via various committees, such as Student Service Fees and Student Organization Award Committee. Why? Because I wanted to give back to the organization that supported me and all other students during the pandemic when we struggled with the challenges of COVID-19 and had to rely on GPSA’s programs and resources for support. At UCSF, I received tremendous support from the Office of Science and Health Education Partnership (SEP) to create Classroom and Oral Health Education Partnership - an organization dedicated to the mission of providing standards-aligned/ inquiry-based science lessons from a dental clinician's perspective to underserved public schools classrooms. Being a first-generation US college student, I sincerely appreciate the value of the UCSF network that lifts each other up during a challenging pandemic, nurtures curiosity, and propels campus and research involvement.

As the VP of Internal Affairs, I’d work my hardest to:

1: serve as a liaison between the student body and administrators. I would like to give back and continue supporting our student body during- and post-COVID-19, with issues including but not limited to: financial support, housing, food security, or student fee and health services.

2: foster a healthy relationship with RCOs’ reps and host more frequent student panels to break down barriers of communication and identify interprofessional topics of concern.

3: Ultimately, as VP of Internal Affairs, I would like to generate more student representation on GPSA’s campus-wide committees and increase collaboration with campus publications, such as Synapse- our student newspaper.

Thank you for considering my application to serve as your VP of Internal Affairs! Your vote matters and it sure will empower UCSF/GPSA's bright future.

Woodger Faugas
School of Medicine
First Year

Please support my carefully-considered candidacy for the position described below.

Having served as GPSA’s (Graduate and Professional Student Association) Vice President (VP) of Finance throughout the prior, and still-unfolding, academic year, i.e., of 2021-2022, I am well-versed in what this multifarious post entails.

Throughout my tenure, I have, primarily, analyzed and officially endorsed multiple small, and mid-sized, budgets, with meaningful ramifications for some of UCSF’s institutional budgets (e.g., regarding GPSA and UCSF’s student services fee).

I have also collaborated with various inquisitive, interprofessional teams of graduate students and faculty advisors.

Together, we have proffered measured suggestions vis-à-vis contemplated budgetary alterations, with consequences for multiple student services domains, e.g., in the realms of mental health, transportation, sociocultural undertakings, and outdoor activities.

Specifically, as the supported leader of the Chancellor’s Student Services Fee Advisory Committee (SSFAC), I have worked with multiple stakeholders in performing an annual review of the programs and activities funded from UCSF’s student services fee.

Most notably, as a result of my pursued, collaborative efforts in the above-stated post, I have helped advance adjustment recommendations, in favor of a recurring increase to family services. And this supportive augmentation is scheduled to go toward offsetting childcare referral costs alongside sustaining a temporary allocation, aimed at facilitating the delivery of backup childcare for student-parents in need.

Furthermore, in the VP of Finance position, I have led the guided analysis of, and instrumentalized SSFAC’s committee-wide embrace of, funding recommendations, relating to various university administrative units.

In this vein, the fruits of sustained, interprofessional collaboration have gone toward upholding and instituting a sustainable growth in allocations, covering personnel costs, and bolstering staff salary and benefit increases.

Overall, my responsibilities as GPSA’s VP of Finance have entailed assisting with tactical and strategic matters, pertaining to cost-benefit analyses, budgetary management, and financial forecasting.

In this capacity, my cooperative and guided work has gone toward securing, and adjusting, new funding for administrative units, in consequent support of GPSA’s and UCSF’s multi-pronged missions and strategic priorities.

Given my experiences in the above-delineated leadership domains, I am kindly asking for your unreserved endorsement of my candidacy as GPSA’s VP of Finance.

Thank you for being you —irrespective of which way you end up voting!

Sree Duggirala
School of Dentistry
Third Year

I am Sree Duggirala, an IDP3 student at the UCSF school of dentistry. Before I go into why I applied for this position, I would like to say why I chose UCSF. The reason for selecting UCSF is its PRIDE values. I got fascinated when I read about PRIDE values, and I decided that I had to go to school here. Among all the PRIDE values, diversity plays an essential role in the progress of our university community. To operate efficiently and effectively, the University has to be a venue where all faculty, students, and staff are active members of the University life. All the groups should be welcomed and facilitate interaction so that there is no mental isolation; each individual should be encouraged and aware of how they add value to the expansion of knowledge that improves the well-being of our community. I believe that my past experiences of being on other student boards and leading sports teams have equipped me with the necessary skills to lead and resolve conflicts more effectively.

I want to make our experience at UCSF a memorable and rich one; I would be doing this by collaborating with the President and the rest of the board in conducting events and ensuring that everyone is included in all the activities. The next focus is that I would like to work on is communication. Communication is the key to any relationship. So, I am willing to take up the responsibility that we have better communication channels and ensure that everyone stays informed. Having effective communication would help social relationships and enrich professional relationships.

Further, I will work with the President to be the voice of our community. I would ensure that all the groups are adequately represented and effectively across the University.

Last but not least, I wanted to emphasize that I am available here for you any time of the day, deeply listen to the issues any of you are facing, and work together to resolve them. I am looking forwards to serving you all.

Thank you for taking your time to read my statement.

Claire Ogee-Nwankwo
School of Nursing
First Year

As the VP of External Affairs, Professional Rep, it has been an honor and privilege to represent and advocate for my student body. This past year I have had the opportunity to experience what living and learning at UCSF feels like and the challenges many students face – housing, childcare, safety and policing, food security, transportation, mental health services, etc. These challenges impact us all in various ways and I have been working closely with my colleagues, across the entire UC system, to define what dignified housing is and why this is a right for all students in the UC system. I plan to continue the work we have been doing and highlight the challenges faced by our student body to the attention of our Regents, local, state, and national legislative bodies. I will promote and support student involvement in our annual UCSA Congress, Students of Color Conference, Lobby Day.