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Mission
The mission of the Graduate Student Advisory Council (GSAC) is to foster the sense of community within the Mechanical, Material, and Aerospace Engineering Department. The mission shall be accomplished by way of organizing communal events such as potlucks, coffee hours, sporting events, friendly competitions, etc. These will be organized on a monthly basis to ensure the faculty, students, and staff of MMAE are interacting in a more convivial manner than typical workplace interactions. As well as organizing events, GSAC is around to provide support to any graduate student within the department. This will include assistance with connecting students interested in research to professors with availability, advertising professors’ research needs, walking students through the process for reimbursement of attending conferences, and all general inquiries into the life of a graduate student. The goal of the club is simple: to create an environment of successful, friendly, Mechanical, Material, or Aerospace Engineers that look out for each other and help each other succeed.

Membership Benefits
First and foremost, the organization will benefit the students by providing reduced price meals monthly. These meals will expose students to different cultures and traditions of other research groups as well as expose them to other research groups and professors who they likely do not get to interact with on a regular basis. This will create a sense of a close-knit community that is looking out for one another. Additional benefits include the availability of support to incoming graduate students, further networking and connections that exist outside of the department/university/academic sphere. First-year graduate students often have a tough time adjusting to the increased demand and strain brought on by a new level of education. GSAC looks to ease this transition period by providing guidance and advice that has been passed down through the years by former GSAC members’ experiences. This is all in the hopes of making the startup period of most graduate students as smooth as possible. The establishment of a community provides access to inter-communal connections. The students who participate in the events hosted by GSAC will have access to talk and bond with other members who may have connections that another student is looking for outside of the community, such as a job opportunity or summer research program.