The Graduate and Professional Student Senate’s current president, Diane Egdorf, graduate student in human development and family studies, will pass her gavel on to a new president.

The senate elected its new president, Michelle Bohan, graduate student in biochemistry, at its monthly meeting Monday.

Bohan has been the senate’s vice president for the past two years and served as a representative on the Student Health Insurance Committee in March 2001.

“Michelle [Bohan] had the most experiences of the students nominated for president. She is in a great position to be prepared for the presidency after putting in a lot of work and time as vice president,” said senator and graduate student in biochemistry Rachel Miller.

The term of president lasts for one year, beginning and ending in April, according to Graduate and Professional Student Senate by-laws.

Nominations for president are taken during the months of January and February of each year and a president is elected at the organization’s February meeting. A member of the senate can be nominated for the presidency by any senator, executive board member or himself or herself. The people nominated must also have served on the senate for at least one year.

After being elected, the president-elect “shadows” the current president for two months, learning the expectations and responsibilities of the position until he or she takes over the position, Egdorf said.

Bohan said she was excited for the new role.

“I would like to continue the presidency with continuity and flow. I’ve developed very good relationships with the administration and Dee [Egdorf] over the years,” Bohan said.

Egdorf has been a member of the senate for three years, having served as vice president from 2001 to 2002 and president for the past two years.

Egdorf said she’s pleased at what she and the senate have accomplished this past year.

“I’m pleased to finally see action by the administration on full tuition waivers,” she said. “This has been an issue for a decade, and it has finally come to a partial resolution. I’d like to see Michelle keep going with that.”

Egdorf said the goal is to someday include master’s students in the full tuition program.

“Dee [Egdorf] has been a strong president and has made a firm stand on some pretty hot issues that have come to the senate,” senator and graduate student in entomology Jeff Bradshaw said.

Bohan said she will take Egdorf’s advice and will work for a smooth transition through the phase-in process of full tuition waivers and help to eliminate any confusion on the implementation process.

However, she said she has goals of her own for next year.

One goal is to continue to improve relations between the Government of the Student Body and the Graduate and Professional Student Senate, she said.

She said she will also work on increasing involvement among graduate students and insuring that “our government is not just a small portion of people.”

Egdorf said she will not stay on the senate’s executive board or serve as senator when her term expires in April, but she would like to do committee work for the Graduate and Professional Student Senate.