{"635226":{"#nid":"635226","#data":{"type":"news","title":"\u2018An Ardent Advocate\u2019: Joshua Weitz Named Georgia Tech Faculty of the Year by Graduate Student Government Association","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ELong before \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/cos.gatech.edu\/news\/immunity-recovered-covid-19-patients-could-cut-risk-expanding-economic-activity\u0022\u003ECOVID-19 research\u003C\/a\u003E started taking up much of his time, \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/biosciences.gatech.edu\/people\/joshua-weitz\u0022\u003EJoshua Weitz\u003C\/a\u003E had a different cause vying for his attention: efforts to roll back temporary graduate student fees that have been in place for a decade.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWeitz, a professor in the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/biosciences.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Biological Sciences\u003C\/a\u003E and Director of the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/qbios.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EInterdisciplinary Ph.D. in Quantitative Biosciences\u003C\/a\u003E, was recognized for those efforts this spring with the Faculty of the Year Award from the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/sga.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EGraduate Student Government Association\u003C\/a\u003E (SGA).\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe first student fees were $100 per semester. In Fall 2019, Weitz drafted and presented a resolution before the Faculty Senate detailing how the graduate student fee, now totaling $1,000 per fall and spring semester, was a major concern for the students. \u0026ldquo;While the faculty have been generally supportive of this cause, this was the first time that the Faculty Senate went on record to acknowledge the issue,\u0026rdquo; says \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.mse.gatech.edu\/people\/narayan-shirolkar\u0022\u003ENarayan Shirolkar\u003C\/a\u003E, Graduate SGA president, in an email to School of Biological Sciences Chairman \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/biosciences.gatech.edu\/people\/todd-streelman\u0022\u003ETodd Streelman\u003C\/a\u003E announcing the award. \u0026ldquo;He (Weitz) has been ardent advocate for graduate students, raising this issue through social media, and has contributed to numerous public articles on this topic, including an \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.ajc.com\/blog\/get-schooled\/opinion-roll-back-georgia-temporary-fees-college-students\/fa6WDFD67vo1WxUkWVGxjO\/\u0022\u003Eop-ed\u003C\/a\u003E in The Atlanta Journal Constitution in March 2019.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;It is an honor to be recognized by the Georgia Tech community of graduate students,\u0026rdquo; Weitz says. \u0026ldquo;I am deeply grateful for the critical contributions that graduate students make to Georgia\u0026nbsp;Tech\u0026#39;s research, teaching, and entrepreneurship missions. I am also\u0026nbsp;particularly proud of their collective service and action-taking in the\u0026nbsp;past year, whether as members of the SGA, or as concerned students acting\u0026nbsp;of their own accord, to raise awareness on the critical need to reduce fees and improve graduate student financial well-being. I remain optimistic that progress this past year will mark a change point towards long-term\u0026nbsp;improvements to support graduate students at Georgia Tech in the broadest sense.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWeitz\u0026rsquo;s research team, the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/ecotheory.biology.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EWeitz Group @ Georgia Tech\u003C\/a\u003E, studies theoretical ecology and quantitative biology. The group is working collaboratively with researchers at Tech and around the globe on several projects related to \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/covid19risk.biosci.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ECOVID-19 modeling\u003C\/a\u003E and \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/helpingstories.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003Eresponse efforts\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"School of Biological Sciences researcher presented with Faculty of the Year Award by Graduate SGA for student fee equity efforts "}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ESchool of Biological Sciences Professor Joshua Weitz is honored by the Graduate Student Government Association for his advocacy efforts for students.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"School of Biological Sciences researcher presented with Faculty of the Year Award by Graduate SGA for student fee equity efforts "}],"uid":"34434","created_gmt":"2020-05-08 16:06:54","changed_gmt":"2020-05-08 16:17:13","author":"Renay San Miguel","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2020-05-08T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2020-05-08T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"635045":{"id":"635045","type":"image","title":"Joshua Weitz, professor, School of Biological Sciences ","body":null,"created":"1588625892","gmt_created":"2020-05-04 20:58:12","changed":"1588625892","gmt_changed":"2020-05-04 20:58:12","alt":"","file":{"fid":"241667","name":"Weitz.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Weitz.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Weitz.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":629497,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Weitz.jpg?itok=mxzUMxcw"}}},"media_ids":["635045"],"related_links":[{"url":"https:\/\/cos.gatech.edu\/news\/immunity-recovered-covid-19-patients-could-cut-risk-expanding-economic-activity","title":"Immunity of Recovered COVID-19 Patients Could Cut Risk of Expanding Economic Activity"},{"url":"https:\/\/cos.gatech.edu\/news\/joshua-weitz-discusses-past-present-and-possible-futures-covid-19-new-talk-and-interviews-ajc","title":"Joshua Weitz Discusses Past, Present, and Possible Futures of COVID-19 in New Talk and Interviews with AJC, WABE, GPB"}],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"1275","name":"School of Biological Sciences"}],"categories":[{"id":"134","name":"Student and Faculty"}],"keywords":[{"id":"4896","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"166882","name":"School of Biological Sciences"},{"id":"11599","name":"Joshua Weitz"},{"id":"184779","name":"Graduate Student Government Association Faculty of the Year Award"},{"id":"184780","name":"graduate student fees"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39501","name":"People and Technology"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ERenay San Miguel\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nCommunications Officer\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nCollege of Sciences\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n404-894-5209\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["renay.san@cos.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}