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Yousr Dhaouadi is the Graduate Student Organization’s first female president in almost 10 years. She is serving her term as president for the 2021-22 academic year and said she hopes to increase graduate student involvement in the GSO Senate.

Born in Tunisia, Dhaouadi lived in the United Arab Emirates before arriving at Syracuse University as an undergraduate studying chemical engineering. She is now a chemical engineering Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Biomedical and Chemical Engineering. Prior to becoming president, Dhaouadi was the financial secretary for GSO and then served as the organization’s comptroller for two years, where she handled finances for the organization. 

Dhaouadi said she is hoping to continue some programs the previous GSO president, Mirjavad Hashemi, began while also instituting some of her own. During her tenure, Dhaouadi said she is looking forward to creating a space where graduate students feel comfortable voicing their concerns. 

“I want to continue the mentor-mentee advising initiative,” Dhaouadi said. “We want to create a better contact-based relationship between advisers and grad students so that responsibilities are laid out and communication is better.”

The mentor-mentee advising initiative encourages students and their advisers to create a professional relationship with one another. The workload of graduate school can be overwhelming, and it’s important for students to be aware of their rights, Dhaouadi said. Former GSO President Hashemi told The Daily Orange in 2019 that the relationship between mentors and mentees had been strained. 

“GSO doesn’t feel new to me, I just see it through a different lens,” Dhaouadi said. “I see it in a more serious way. Now I have the opportunity to be more assertive of how I feel and push for change a bit more.”

Increased involvement between graduate students and the GSO Senate is important, Dhaouadi said. The senate is constantly pushing for engagement between students and itself, she said.  

Dhaouadi said that there’s something within the structure of the senate — whether it be language, the set up or the communication — that’s keeping the same number of students engaged within the senate. The GSO Senate is trying to change that this year, she said.

“We’ve historically had an average of 30 active people in the senate, but we can have up to 200. We really want to figure out how to increase that engagement and keep it there,” Dhaouadi said. 

Dhaouadi is looking forward to the monthly senate meetings so that students can voice their concerns and be heard in a proper setting. With COVID-19 restrictions, Dhaouadi is aware of the socio-political climate and knows students are apprehensive of public gatherings, but she said she believes that participation is key.

Although senate meetings will be largely in-person this year, Dhaouadi said she wants to give graduate students other options to participate. She plans to do this through asynchronous virtual meetings to give people the opportunity to get comfortable with the senate.

Dhaouadi said she looks forward to making her mark on GSO and making sure graduate students’ concerns are heard. 

“One thing that motivates me is that I truly care. I feel like we can make a difference,” Dhaouadi said. “The school is willing to listen. You just need to find the appropriate way to do it and get those things done.”

CORRECTION: Yousr Dhaouadi is the Graduate Student Organization’s first female president almost 10 years, not more than 10 years. The Daily Orange regrets this error.

Published on September 5, 2021 at 11:46 pm

Contact Ambre:
awinfrey@syr.edu