http://www.columbia.edu/cu/gsac/

The Graduate Student Advisory Council (GSAC) is a student government organization at Columbia University. Membership consists of student-elected departmental representatives from the Ph.D. and free-standing M.A. programs of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. GSAC facilitates communication among students, deans, and other administrators. Quality-of-life concerns—housing, campus and study space, computer services, health care, stipends—can have a powerful impact on academic success, including the student’s ability to learn, to teach, and to conduct research. GSAC sponsors social, cultural, and academic events, as well as workshops to improve the quality of life for GSAS students. These events offer students from different departments the chance to socialize and learn from each other. The frequency and variety of events point to GSAC’s vitality as an organization that creates a network of resources for GSAS students within Columbia. GSAC also helps arrange orientation activities for new GSAS students and provides awards each year to Columbia faculty members who excel in the mentoring of Ph.D. students.