The Graduate Student Government is working on a project to bring free menstrual products to bathrooms on campus, one of its four major projects for the 2023-2024 academic year. 

During the 2023-2024 academic year, GSG also hopes to create more on-campus spaces for graduate students, improve campus accessibility and empower students to speak up about harmful working relationships.

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While product dispensers have been installed in bathrooms across campus, GSG is now working with Facilities Management Services to restock menstrual products in the restrooms.

The Period Project is an expansion of a similar project undertaken by the Viterbi Graduate Student Association, which put menstrual products in four restrooms in Viterbi. Shahd Bawarith, GSG vice president of advocacy and former president of the VGSA, said it was important to take the project to all students.

“They’re still working on all of these projects in Viterbi specifically, but it’s time to push forward. It’s time to expand,” Bawarith said.

Within GSG, many projects begin at individual schools through umbrella organizations, such as the VGSA, the Graduate Policy and Administration Community at the Price School of Public Policy or the Pharmacy Graduate Alliance at the Mann School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences. 

“Before we escalate this to the Graduate Student Government directly, let’s try to mitigate things in-house. That’s what happens a lot in graduate programs,” said GSG president Jose Scott. “It’s a lot more fragmented, and I think for good reason because we’re just doing such different work.”

The GSG advocacy team is also attempting to increase the availability of community and workshop spaces for graduate students. Scott said that masters students in particular are unlikely to be provided work spaces by their departments, and Bawarith said the Baum Family Maker Space in the Viterbi School of Engineering is limited to undergraduates.

In the spring, GSG collaborated with the Undergraduate Student Government to create RestSC, a wellness space for students in the University Religious Center. Scott said GSG also provided money to remodel portions of the URC kitchen and install lockers. This year, Bawarith’s goal is to create spaces in more departments, including in the library.

The advocacy team also aims to improve accessibility on campus by getting ramps and lactation rooms listed on campus maps and ensuring accessible doors to bathrooms on campus. The team’s final project for the year hopes to mandate Relationship and Sexual Violence Prevention and Services training to prevent harmful student-student, student-professor and professor-professor relationships.

The GSG senate, meanwhile, passed a resolution related to financial transparency by the University last November. The resolution called for an audit of University payment systems for graduate students and for the University to reevaluate the impact of GSG stipends and grants on students’ financial aid. Scott said GSG is still awaiting the University’s response to the resolution.

Since many issues are addressed by umbrella organizations, the GSG senate passes fewer resolutions than the USG senate and has not passed any resolutions since the November resolution.

GSG director of elections and recruitment Catherine Chester said when she assumed the role, her predecessor said it was important to work with senators to support them in introducing bills and resolutions. 

“When we transitioned, [the previous director of elections and recruitment] talked a lot about trying to really motivate and encourage our senators that these are the avenues that you have to make a positive change for your school [and] for the graduate student body as a whole,” Chester said. 

Chester said that a member of the GSG senate has expressed interest in introducing a resolution in support of IDEAS at USC, a group that promotes dialogue among undocumented students and their allies. The resolution would mirror one passed by the USG senate in October that called on the University to support undocumented students.

Scott said the organization is continuing to support students while taking steps to be more transparent in its funding and operations.

“GSG should be accessible,” Scott said. “We should be out and listening to the feedback of students and our constituents because, at the end of the day, that’s why we’re here.”