GSC recertifies EV families

The Graduate Student Council (GSC) passed a resolution Tuesday to certify that the Escondido Village (EV) Families housing organization can apply for Annual Grants next fiscal year. It also announced that it is currently looking for individuals to fill the council’s two vacant at-large positions.

The resolution, which passed unanimously, determined that EV Families can be considered a chartered organization and is therefore eligible to submit an Annual Grant application for the 2025 fiscal year. It can apply for funding through the same process as other voluntary student organizations (VSOs) and as such, all unspent funds will eventually be returned to the GSC.

The money from the Annual Grant can be used to fund events for families with children, said Jacob Benford, GSC treasurer and third-year J.D. student. 

According to the ASSU Joint By-Laws, chartered organizations are those that are “essentially under the control of students” but whose constitutions, budgets and policies are ultimately in the hands of outside bodies like a University office. Because non-students like the children and domestic spouses of Stanford students reside in the EV Families housing organization, it is, by definition, not a chartered organization. EV families consequently sought a certification. 

But the “chartered organization” label is not a permanent one. EV families must recertify their eligibility to apply for Annual Grants by submitting a new resolution to the GSC every year. They have been doing so for the past few years.

Benford raised concerns that this process might be inconvenient, and offered to speak with members of EV families. Instead of submitting a yearly resolution, Benford said that the students who live in the EV Families housing organization could organize their own permanent VSO group to apply for Annual Grants on behalf of EV Families.

Following this discussion, Emitt Pert, GSC co-chair and third-year Ph.D. student in chemistry, said he is planning on talking to the Vice Provost for Graduate Education (VPGE) about forming a more stable partnership between their office and the GSC on budgeting and funding requests.

“I think it would be helpful for [the VPGE] if our requests were more targeted,” Pert said. “It’d be helpful for us if we had a better idea of what kinds of things they were open to funding earlier in the process so that we could discuss what the priorities actually should be, rather than just going every year and asking for everything.” 

The meeting followed with a discussion surrounding the two open at-large seats for a parliamentarian and councilor seat. Councilors said they hope to fill the seat by next week.

“We would love to have applications. I guess we can explicitly say we’re running the vote next week,” Pert said. 

The GSC also unanimously approved funding requests for two events occurring next week — Greek Vasilopita 2024 and 2024 SERIO Mentorship Kickoff Event — and discussed the various upcoming social events, most notably the Graduate Student Formal that will be held on May 17.

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