A new president and executive board will be taking over at the end of tonight’s Graduate Student Senate meeting.

“Right at the end of it will be kind of the passing of the gavel from me to [President-elect] Brian Anderson,” said Brian Crabb, president of GSS.

Becky Mack, parliamentarian, said all of the executive positions, except president, are open.

These positions are: vice president, parliamentarian, treasurer, secretary, communications chair, Legislative Affairs chair and professional advancement chair.

“The positions turn over every year,” she said.

Crabb said next year’s budget will also be voted on at the meeting. He said the budget will include money GSS provides for PAG travel grants for graduate students who go to conferences, as well as money for research grants, money for department organizations and “all the different money we need for running the GSS.”

Mack said some of the budget also goes toward scholarships and graduate and professional student organizations.

“It’s basically the same as it has been every year,” she said.

Crabb agreed the budget will be about the same.

“[Next year’s budget] is roughly equivalent to this year’s budget,” Crabb said. “There aren’t any dramatic increases or decreases.”

He said even though the amount of money GSS would be receiving is going up because of the raise in tuition, the university has decided to give a lower estimate of the number of graduate students for next year, due to overestimates in the past.

“It’s better to be too conservative than too liberal with how much money you’re going to have,” Crabb said.

Crabb said there are also a number of departments that do not yet have senators. He said if students have questions on whether their department is represented, they can go to the GSS Web site, www.grad-college.iastate.edu/gss.