G.S.A.C. - Graduate Student Advisory Committee

Benefits For Graduate Students

Funds Available – The Mechanical Engineering GSAC has access to thousands of dollars to help send graduate students from our department to research-related conferences and meetings, removing much of the financial burden from you and your advisor. For instructions on receiving these funds, contact us at: me-gsac@mech.utah.edu
Your Voice – We are involved with ongoing improvements in the department. We pay special attention to the quality of teaching/mentoring that the graduate students receive from the faculty. We act as the voice of the graduate student body when our professors are evaluated by the department to determine retention, promotion, and tenure.
Strong Legacy – We actively recruit quality graduate students to the department. We operate as departmental hosts when perspective students visit campus, and we make regular recruiting visits to other colleges and universities. In addition, we participate in the recruitment of new department faculty, in collaboration with a departmental search committee and the undergraduate SAC.

Commitment – We are a group of graduate students working to serve the Mechanical Engineering graduate student body. We are anxious for your participation in the projects in which we are involved, either as a full committee member or as a volunteer on an event-by-event basis. Traditionally, GSAC members are asked to commit between 5 and 10 hours per semester, which includes the actual events and the necessary planning meetings. If you would accept an invitation to serve, please contact us at: me-gsac@mech.utah.edu
Service – In addition to the goals mentioned above, we also act as support for some undergraduate recruiting activities sponsored by the department. We typically limit this to the bi-annual Trebuchet Competition held in conjunction with the department’s Design Day in the Union Building.
Skills – Those of us that are Master’s or PhD Candidates headed toward industry receive opportunities to develop leadership and interpersonal skills as we serve. We also have occasional exposure to industry recruiters in a professional setting. In addition, those of us that are headed to academia are getting valuable exposure to the faculty-level academic environment through our interactions with department administration and perspective faculty members.

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