Please Vote

Aaron Cowan (MPA, M.A)

For GPSA President

(March 28^th – April 1^nd on my.unm.edu )

Qualifications

Biography

Positions

Photos

PRESIDENTation

· The Experienced Local Choice:

Years of working with UNM Administration to get things done

¡Si Se Puede UNM!

Local:

· Graduated from West Mesa High School

Alumni:

· Bachelor’s, Master’s, and Doctoral work at UNM

· 3^rd Year PhD Student, TA, RA

· Daily Lobo Sports Reporter, Volleyball Referee “GO LOBOS! (VAMOS LOBOS!) ”

Service:

· Years of Service on GPSA Council, Staff Council Officer, Faculty Senate Officer, PAGSA, OILS Student Alliance President

Work:

· Teacher with APS, CNM, UNM, AmeriCorp

· Proud Union Member and Supporter

Politics:

· Democratic Precinct Chair

· Large network of political contacts

· Pro-black lives matters, pro-police reform, pro-voter rights

· Must protect students against gun violence

· Anti-racism awareness now

Other credentials:

UNM Management Academy graduation, Project Management Certification, Continuous Quality Improvement

Proficient in Spanish, French, and Esperanto

*First GPSA president to speak Esperanto

Qualifications:

Served in GPSA since 2018: Council Chair speaker, NMRG Chair, Lobby Committee, Election Chair, Legislative Steering Committee Chair (2^nd in line to President)

Staff Council Officer, Faculty Senate Representative

Four-time UNM Alumni, including Master in Public Admin & M.A. Organizational Information.

President of OILS Student Alliance, PAGSA Officer.

Academic:

3^rd Year PhD Student, Organizational Information and Learning Science (anticipated Dec 2023)

Certifications in Project Management, Continuous Quality Improvement, Conflict Mediation

Precinct Chair for Bernalillo County Democratic Party, Voter Registration Agent, Election Clerk Intern.

Biography:

Aaron graduated from West Mesa High School and later returned there to teach high school chemistry and math there (like Brian Cranston’s character in “Breaking Bad”). He has also taught at CNM, UNM, Catholic Charities, and served as an AmeriCorp mentor, as well as a GED instructor, where he has impacted the lives of thousands of young people. As a Christian educator at Catholic Charities he teaches English as a Second Language (ESL), and Citizenship for immigrants, and loves seeing immigrants become naturalized US citizens. When the Trump Administration changed testing requirements for Citizenship exams, Aaron as one of many people who aggressively and vocally petitioned the Biden administration to remove these discriminatory changes which would have made it more difficult for many immigrants to attain citizenship. These efforts succeeded.

Aaron has been a GPSA council representative for years, where he has served on and chaired multiple committees, and lobbied on behalf of students, and fighting to get greater rights and educational funding for graduate students. He also served as a leader on Staff Council and in Faculty Senate, where he honed his leadership skills, and got to know many senior UNM administrators. He has also acted in dozens of movies & TV shows including Better Call Saul, Longmire, Nightshift, Logan, Horse Soldier, Get Shorty, Manhattan, and many others.

Positions:

Cares Act money must be retroactively restored to 80% of graduate students who did not receive it

Increase Grant Limits disbursed by GPSA

Right for United Graduate Workers UNION must be protected and strengthened

GPSA must take more political positions

Must support Black Lives Matters and Anti-racism.

Must support police reform and violence de-escalation on and off campus

Must support actions to protect our local, national and global environment

We should rollback tuition differential increases and excessive fees like online course fees.

We must lobby state legislature directly for graduate student interests

Greater graduate student scholarship funding

Better compensation and benefits for graduate students…and for undergrads too