The fall semester is wrapping up, but the goals established this year for the Graduate Student Senate will carry into the next semester.

GSS President Debbie Martinez said the goals GSS members are working toward are set on an annual basis – and most exceed that.

Some of the objectives the senate set out to accomplish included establishing closer ties with the Government of the Student Body, lowering graduate student tuition and fees and creating affordable child care for graduate students and their families.

“I feel we have been very successful in forming a more cohesive connection with GSB,” Martinez said. “We work on so many committees together, so the more we can agree as a whole, the better things will be.”

John Mayfield, GSS faculty adviser, said the goals are long-term and difficult to accomplish, but the members have taken the first step on several projects.

For example, he said, GSS was instrumental in the formation of the new Preparing Future Faculty Program. The group also launched petition campaigns to protest the tuition increases, and several committees have been formed to deal with child-care issues, said Mayfield, associate dean of the graduate college.

“In the long-term, GSS and the graduate college have a lot of common interests, and in pulling together, they can have more of an impact than on their own,” he said. “The challenge is to focus on issues that you can actually have an impact on.”

Martinez is pleased GSS has started the ball rolling on several issues, but she said it is a process of “baby steps.” The increased involvement in the individual department senators has been encouraging, Martinez said.