GPSC President Alethea Duncan Photo credit: Megan Morr

Durham, NC - With a national award under its belt, Duke University's Graduate and Professional Student Council (GPSC) plans to expand its commitment to improving the lives of the students the group represents and the local community.

The council, which formed more than 50 years ago, lobbies for better services such as health care and housing for Duke's graduate and professional students. This past fall, these efforts were recognized nationally when the council received its first "Graduate/Professional Student Organization of the Year Award," presented at the National Association of Graduate-Professional Students' National Conference at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities.

"It was long overdue, and I am very happy that it happened during my term as the president of GPSC," Alethea Duncan said. "GPSC has been working on the local and national level with legislators on issues varying from H1B visas, non-discrimination and trying not to have the stipend of Graduate and Professional Students taxed."

One of the council's main successes has been securing better health benefits for graduate and professional students. The council has also campaigned for additional financial aid exclusively for the 7,117 graduate and professional students at Duke, who represent more than half of the university's enrollment. (For a story on a new doctoral student leave policy for births and adoptions, click here.)

Future goals, Duncan said, include securing adequate housing facilities for graduate and professional students, which today only accommodate 50 of these students.

The council also plans to further its work in strengthening the Duke-Durham communities through activities at the Durham Rescue Mission, by cleaning forests, making gardens for schools, volunteering with Habitat for Humanity, and expanding its role in the Duke-Durham Neighborhood Partnership.