Comparative Literature and English Association of Graduate Students Constitution (2014)
CoLEAGS is an organization designed to improve the academic, professional, and social experience of all graduate students in the Department of English and Comparative Literature through effective advocacy, organization, and planning.
Accomplishing this mission involves the following activities:
- Understanding the concerns of graduate students and advocating to see that those concerns are addressed; this is accomplished through periodic surveys of and Town Hall Meetings among the graduate students, as well as informal discussions with graduate students about issues of concern to them.
- Facilitating effective, professional, and collegial communication between graduate students and members of the faculty and administration; this is accomplished in part through regular meetings with the department’s Director of Graduate Studies and through CoLEAGS’ appointment of a representative to sit in on appropriate departmental faculty meetings.
- Organizing events that foster professionalization among graduate students, including the Graduate Lecture Series, Professional Development events, and Community Engagement events.
- Organizing events that enrich the intellectual environment of the program. This is accomplished through CoLEAGS’ sponsorship of the Critical Speakers Series and the Furst Forum; all of these activities foster contact between UNC’s graduate students and excellent scholars from other universities.
- Planning social events to build a sense of community and provide opportunities to network with other graduate students and faculty, including Writing Retreats, Grade-a-thons, Coffee Hours, and more.
President
Joshua Cody Ward
Vice President of Operations
Ellie Rambo
Vice President of Finance
Angelique Bassard
Communications Officer(s)
Krista Telford
Community Engagement Chairs
Kyle Cunningham
Valerie Burgess
Professional Development Chairs
Erica Sabelawski
Rachel Rackham
Critical Speaker Series Senior Coordinators
Emily Singheisen
Rene Marzuk
Critical Speaker Series Junior Coordinators
Faith Rush
Tyler Elrod
Graduate Lecture Series Coordinators
Anna Blackburn
Devin Gregg
Furst Forum Coordinator(s)
Charlotte Scott
GPSG Senators
n/a
Faculty Advisor: Dr. Eliza Richards
The Department Chair meets with CoLEAGS presidents to keep the organization abreast of developments that might affect graduate students, and, in concert with the CoLEAGS officers, advocates for graduate student needs and concerns to the faculty and administration at large. The VP of Operations takes minutes of faculty meetings and disseminates those to graduate students in the program. Twice yearly, the president hosts a Town Hall to communicate student concerns to faculty and initiate conversations between the two parties. CoLEAGS is a graduate-led organization that seeks to foster community amongst graduate students in the ECL program, to provide support for students as they meet benchmarks in the program (exam preparation, written and oral exams, prospectus meetings), and to facilitate communication between the graduate student body and faculty in the department.