Spectrum - Volume 18 Issue 32 May 30, 1996 - Graduate Student Assembly elects officers

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Graduate Student Assembly elects officers

By Susan Trulove

Spectrum Volume 18 Issue 32 - May 30, 1996

Mike S. Schroder, a doctoral student in vocational and technical education, has been elected president of the Graduate Student Assembly (GSA).

John M. Aughenbaugh, a doctoral student in public administration and policy, is vice president.

Janet Wojcik, a doctoral student in exercise science is secretary.

Martha McCollum, a master of science student in animal nutrition, is treasurer.

Schroder, the former GSA treasurer, said his goals as president are to "create a better awareness across the university, and market what the GSA has to offer in programming, governance, and social activities to better enhance graduate-student life."

He said he will also continue the strong relationship established by previous GSA leaders with the university's administration and the university community.

Schroder said he is a good example of a product of the merger of the colleges of Education and Human Resources at Virginia Tech. His undergraduate degree is in hotel, restaurant, and institutional management in human resources, and his master's degree is in vocational, technical education in the College of Education. He is a member of Omicron Tau Theta, the American Vocational Association, Phi Delta Kappa, and the American Society for Training and Development.

While he continues his academic career in education, Schroder maintains contact with the hospitality industry through consulting and evaluation. He is also doing follow-up on a state Department of Education project.

His long-term goal is to work in higher education through continuing education and to teach hospitality courses at a university.

Aughenbaugh's goals for the GSA are "to renew the organization's focus on representing graduate students within the university's governance system and at the state and national level."

Having earned his undergraduate degree in political science and history at the University of Pittsburgh's Johnstown campus, and his master's in political science at Virginia Tech, Aughenbaugh is an adjunct faculty member in political science at Tech. Before beginning the Ph.D. program, he was an administrative staff member in the Division of Student Affairs at Virginia Tech.

He was recently elected chair of the Commission on Student Affairs, the only student to chair a university commission.

His long-term goals are to be a university teacher in political science and public administration.

As an officer, Wojcik intends to "help facilitate more involvement by graduate students with the GSA."

Her undergraduate degree is from the State University of New York, Buffalo, in sport and exercise studies. She worked as a graduate assistant at Canisius College, where she earned a master's in physical education. She is a member of the American College of Sports Medicine National and Southeast Regional Chapters and the Kappa Omicron Nu honor society at Virginia Tech.

Wojcik's long-term goal is to obtain an academic position in exercise physiology and to be involved with professional organizations at national and regional levels.

McCollum says she will work with the other officers "to continue the growth of the GSA and to maintain this organization's efforts with state officials to allocate funding for graduate student needs."

She also earned her undergraduate degree at Virginia Tech. As a graduate student, she is doing research on peptide transport in the ovine fore stomach. She will be a Ph.D. student in the fall. "I wish to continue in the field of animal nutrition. I also want to continue to educate the public about agriculture."

McCollum is a member of the American Society of Animal Scientists and Gamma Sigma Delta, the agriculture honorary fraternity.