Graduate Student Advisor to the Dean of Graduate Studies and Chancellor

The Graduate Student Advisor to the Dean of Graduate Studies and Chancellor

As a key leadership position, the Graduate Student Advisor to the Dean of Graduate Studies and to the Chancellor (GSADC) is the campus graduate student representative serving as a voice for graduate student concerns, needs and perspectives. In addition to their work with the Chancellor, the Dean of Graduate Studies, the Graduate Council and other campus administrators, the GSADC meets with graduate students, the Graduate Student Association (GSA) and other graduate student groups and organizations. This position also provides the opportunity for professional development during which the GSADC may hone their leadership skills while also becoming familiar with university administration, particularly in relation to graduate education.

2023-2024 GSADC Daniel Castaneda

Daniel Castaneda graduated from the University of California, Riverside in 2019 with a B.A. in History and a B.A. in Public Policy. He is currently a PhD Candidate in the Department of History. Daniel's research focuses on Democratic Party politics between the 1970s and 1990s in California. He seeks to understand how party leaders and activists shifted the party's political priorities and is particularly interested in how Latino politicians sought to increase political representation for their community and how this shaped (and continues to shape) California politics today. His yearlong project, “Rising Together: Building Capacity for a More Inclusive Graduate Experience,” seeks to extend the logic of a Minority Serving Institution to encompass the unique challenges graduate students face in continuing their higher education

Email Daniel at gradassistant@ucdavis.edu if you would like to arrange a meeting to voice concerns about administrative policies, input your opinion on graduate student representation, or discuss difficulties encountered in your course of study. You can also self-schedule using his appointment calendar here.

Previous Graduate Student Advisors to the Dean and Chancellor

  • 2022-2023 Ryan Hodge

  • Human Development Graduate Group

  • 2021-2022 Daisy Hernandez

  • Plant Pathology
    Project: A mentoring workshop aimed at bridging the cultural-knowledge gap between mentors and their diverse students

  • 2020-2021 Gillian Moise

  • Sociology
    Project: The Graduate Alumni Mentoring Pilot Program and the Tuesday Talks with Alumni Speaker Series

  • 2019-2020 Slande Erole

  • Political Science
    Project: First-Gen Initiative Pilot Program

  • 2018-2019 Mayowa Adegboyega

  • Anthropology

  • 2017-2018 Jeanelle Hope

  • Cultural Studies
    Project: Graduate Student Retention Assessment

  • 2016-2017 Sarah Messbauer

  • Ethnomusicology
    Project: Full-Scale Review of Graduate and Professional Student Experience (aka, “The Great Big Graduate Review”)

  • 2015-2016 Erica Vonasek-Eco

  • Biological Systems Engineering
    Project: Reimagining the Graduate Student Assistant to the Dean and Chancellor (GSADC) Role and the Student Assistants to the Chancellor (SAC)

  • 2014-2015 Angel Hinzo

  • Native American Studies
    Project: Developing the First Friends Program with the SISS Graduate Student Researcher

  • 2013-2014 Amandeep Kaur

  • Physics
    Project: Emerging Leaders in Policy & Public Service (ELIPPS) and Diversity Dialogues on Graduate Education

  • 2012-2013 Rosalyn Earl

  • Education
    Project: Graduate Student Retention & Mental Health Workshops: Managing & Preventing Stress, Anxiety and Suicide

  • 2011-2012 Lisceth Cruz

  • Education
    Project: Leadership Development Series for Graduate Student Organizations

  • 2010-2011 Cassandra Paul

  • Physics
    Project: Graduate Teaching Community

  • 2009-2010 Abigail Boggs

  • Cultural Studies
    Project: Graduate Ally Coalition (GAC) – Developing a Sustainable Organizational Structure

  • 2008-2009 Cynthia Degnan

  • English
    Project: Getting the Most Out of Mentoring Workshops: A Conversation Among Graduate Students

  • 2007-2008 Toby Beauchamp

  • Cultural Studies
    Project: Graduate Student Bill of Rights and Responsibilities

  • 2006-2007 Kara Thompson

  • English
    Project: The Grad ComPost

  • 2005-2006 Alison Sheets

  • Mechanical & Aeronautical Engineering
    Project: Graduate Student Mental and Physical Wellness Survey

  • 2004-2005 Heather Wylie

  • Sociology
    Project: Mentors Mentoring Mentors: Tips from Faculty for Faculty on Becoming a Better Mentor

  • 2003-2004 Sheri Tatsch

  • Native American Studies
    Project: Creating a Successful Graduate Student and Faculty Relationship: A Faculty Response

  • 2002-2003 Joaquin Feliciano

  • Ecology
    Project: A Review of Student Affairs Services to Graduate and Professional Students

  • 2001-2002 Nicole Rabaud

  • Agricultural & Environmental Chemistry
    Project: The Nature and Causes of Graduate Student Attrition at UC Davis

  • 2000-2001 David Quijada

  • Education
    Project: "What's Identity got to do with it?" roundtable discussions

  • 1999-2000 Amy Lyn (Gerbrandt) Wiley

  • Comparative Literature
    Project: Facilitating Institutional Memory: Week of Orientation and Welcome

  • 1998-1999 Jennifer Cross

  • Sociology
    Project: Graduate Student Financial Support Survey

  • 1997-1998 Alessia Ortolani​

  • Animal Behavior
    Project: Mentoring Graduate Students

  • 1996-1997 Arlene Alvarado

  • Animal Behavior
    Project: Communication Through Computers

  • 1995-1996 William K. Johnson

  • Genetics
    Project: Interdisciplinary Graduate Student Symposium

  • 1994-1995 Tami Winternitz

  • Human Development
    Project: Co-organization of a Mentoring Forum for Graduate Students, Editing and Distribution of Graduate Student Grievance Handbook

  • 1993-1994 Dorothy Ginnett

  • Ecology
    Project:
    Coordination of Scientific Integrity and Professionalism Course, AWIS/GWIS Spring Conference and Graduate Student Grievance Handbook

  • 1992-1993 Tony Waters

  • Sociology

  • 1991-1992 Michael Noh