After being on hiatus due to the pandemic, the Graduate Student Wellness Initiative Ambassadors Program has returned in time for the 2023-2024 school year. Fifteen students from various departments will work alongside GSWI Graduate Assistants.
The Ambassadors are:
College of Communication, Information, and Media
- Sunny Clark, Emerging Media Design and Development MA
College of Health
- Hunter Dieter, Clinical Exercise Psychology
- Rylee Ellett, Audiology PhD
- Miriam Rimawi, Clinical Mental Health Counseling
Teachers College - Alana Blubaugh, Educational Studies PhD
- Nichole Gonzalez-Perez, Applied Behavior Analysis MA
- Myrna Martin, Adult and Community Education EdD
- Amanda Nelson, Student Affairs Administration in Higher Education MA
- Aaron Ramirez, Student Affairs Administration in Higher Education MA
College of Sciences & Humanities
- Esther Atutey, Environmental Sciences MS
- Eric Atsutse, Mathematics MA
- Alex Sanchez, Psychological Sciences
College of Architecture and Planning
- Jasmine Bajracharya, Urban Design MA
- Olumide Oguntulu, Architecture MA
College of Fine Arts
- Ethan Atterson, Music MA
“The ambassadors are liaisons between GSWI and the various departments and programs on campus,” Graduate Assistant Ellie Jarosinski said. “GSWI is run by people within the counseling department, but we serve all graduate students, so we want people who have insight into all the different programs and not just our own.”
The GSWI Ambassadors come from a wide array of departments, such as the College of Sciences and Humanities, the College of Architecture and Planning, and the Teachers College. According to the GSWI Ambassador Program handout, responsibilities include meeting once a month, participating in at least two GSWI events, sharing feedback with the GSWI Ambassador Coordinator about student needs and ideas, and sharing information with their associated programs.
Ambassadors were selected through faculty nomination or through self-nomination. They are expected to serve for a semester and may continue to serve for the full academic year.
“There are two paths that people took [to join the program]. A lot of our ambassadors decided they were interested and applied directly to Dr. Phelps Ward. Then others were nominated by leaders in their department,” Jarosinski said.
Despite the various ways in which students became involved in the program, all the GSWI Ambassadors are united in one shared goal.
“I think people care about wellness for grad students. If you are a grad student, it’s easy to realize how important wellness is as well as how easy it is to not take care of yourself,” Jarosinski said.
