Invitation to the new graduate students
The GSA is an organization by graduate students for graduate students acting to promote a sense of community among AOS students. Building and maintaining this sense of community is why it is so important to get involved. To emphasize this here are a few things we have been up to:

• Supporting Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) efforts within the AOS department. A couple of years ago the GSA wrote a letter to the AOS faculty to indicate the importance of bringing DEI efforts to the forefront in our department. This led to the formation of an AOS DEI committee comprised of faculty and graduate student representatives who have been diligently working on improving DEI efforts in AOS.

• Two graduate students attend monthly faculty meetings to act as the voice of the GSA, and they report back at GSA meetings.

• GSA influences the courses offered each year by expressing desires and concerns to the faculty.

• GSA has a say in the hiring process for new faculty- with representatives attending interviews and our curriculum requests influencing the sorts of specialties desired in new faculty (i.e. hiring Dr. Mayra Oyola-Merced for radiation topics).

• We direct seminars each week, having some freedom to do what we want with this time (besides reserving days for M.S. presentations).

• Hosting outreach events like teaching 4th graders at Melrose-Mindoro Elementary School about how to read weather maps and what they mean.

• We have social events to help grad students get to know one another.

• GSA also has funds (and raises funds) for graduate student events/items. Stay tuned here... there is a break room in the works we might be helping with this year!

How can you get started with GSA? Well, membership is automatic for all AOS graduate students, but to be active in the group please attend our monthly meetings.