The Graduate Student Association (GSA) is an organization of graduate students designed to enhance the experience of each graduate student at UNCG. The GSA serves as the collective voice and power of the graduate student body in interactions with University administration and faculty. The GSA is run by an executive board that consists of a president and three vice-presidents (finance, programming, and public relations). These are paid positions that are elected at the end of the Spring Semester and last for one year. Any graduate student is eligible to run for these positions.

Every graduate student at UNCG is a member of GSA's legislative body and is encouraged to attend meetings and be an active member.

Funding is available for research support and travel to meetings through GSA. Funding comes in two forms, Professional Development Funds (PDF) and Thesis/Dissertation Funds (TDF). PDFs are for graduate students to attend professional conferences and present or perform original work and the maximum award is currently $200. TDFs are for graduate students to offset the cost of purchasing supplies needed for the completion of a thesis or dissertation the maximum award is currently $300. See the web page for further details about allocation.

It is important to note, however, that for any student in a department to be eligible for funding, at least one graduate student from the department must attend a minimum of two of the four semester meetings of GSA. For this reason, it is important for graduates in a department to decide among themselves a schedule of attendance to meet this minimum.

For more information on the GSA and how you, as a CARS graduate student, can become involved, see the GSA web page at https://sites.google.com/a/uncg.edu/gsa/home

CARS-GSA

In addition to the university-wide Graduate Student Association, the CARS department also holds a departmental student group designed to maximize the graduate experience for its student body. The primary objective of the CARS GSA is to represent the graduate students of Consumer, Apparel and Retail Studies (CARS) Department to the university community and to work in the interest and concerns of the students in order to enhance their educational and professional experiences. CARS GSA will provide assistance in securing travel funds for students to attend professional meetings, help build industry networks and collaborations, organize student activities such as graduate socials and seminars and works as a liaison between graduate students and the department.

Since its creation in 2011, the CARS-GSA has been instrumental in organizing graduate students socials such as Welcome Back events at the start of each semester as well as Game Nights and Day in the Park retreats to provide a broad range of social activities for CARS graduate students. You can find more information including pictures of past events on the CARS-GSA website www.carsgsa.blogspot.com or like us on Facebook, www.facebook.com/CARSGSA.

In addition to social activities, the CARS-GSA offers funding opportunities for graduate students in the department to facility research presentations at conferences. Since 2011, the student group has allocated nearly $10,000 in funds for graduate students in the department. These funds help to support expenses for travel, conference registration, and hotel accommodations.