Life
In order to raise additional funding for the Graduate Student COVID-19 Relief Grant from private donors, the GSA is asking for you to share your story of how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected your life. Read on for more info and to submit your testimonial.
The GSA Executive Board is requesting âgraduate student help to support âthe collective graduate student community. As you hopefully know, this month the GSA established âthe COVID-19 Relief Grant (to which you can apply here) with an initial $25,000. As COVID-19 has continued to change university life since then, âGSA has combed through âtheir budget and come up with an additional $10,000, effectively maxing out all of the remaining funds in the GSA budget for the 2019-2020 academic year. The GSA has also exhausted âtheir Child Care Grant, and are nearly out of funds for âtheir Emergency Grant. âThey have also been working with the Graduate Division, who âthey convinced to donate an additional $10,000, bringing the fund to $45,000. This is still not enough money to support all of the grads that have already submitted an application, or may need to during the harsh summer months the university is anticipating.
The GSA is now seeking additional funding from private donors by working with John Loftus, âthe Assistant Dean of Graduate Fundraising, and âis asking you to share your story of how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected your life. As a consequence of the misunderstandings that the general public has about what it is to be a graduate student, many of these potential donors simply have no idea what âgraduate student lives are like here at UC Santa Barbara. Though submitted anonymously, the GSA will ensure your testimonials are further anonymized to protect your identity before being given to individuals who want to donate to help graduate students directly.
The GSA wishes there were other options for securing funding to support âgraduate students and âtheir families. âHowever, potential donors don't know what âgraduate student lives are like, and âGSA believeâs they will be moved by graduate student stories. Many of these donors do not understand that âgraduate students send money home to âtheir families, or live with and take care of parents and children; that âgraduate students work seventy plus hours a week; or that âthey have medical conditions that exacerbate all of this. âGSA wants to let you know that they genuinely believe a little knowledge will go a long way.
If you are interested in sharing how COVID-19 has affected your life, please share it with âthe GSA here. These are completely anonymous and will only be used for the purpose of fundraising with private individuals. Any identifying information will be removed, unless you indicate on the form you want your narrative passed along as you submitted.
The GSA thanks you for your understanding, your patience, and for your continued and unwavering tenacity in the face of this extraordinary crisis we are living through.