Meet the Graduate Student Government Officers  

Officers

Graduate Degree:  Ph.D. Political Science

Michael is a 4th year Ph.D. student in the Department of Politics and International Affairs. He is in his 3rd year of service to the GSG, having previously served one year as a department representative and one year as vice president. In addition to his duties as president, Michael chairs the Elections Committee, is the graduate student representative to the Strategic Planning and Budget Council, and sits on the Arizona Students’ Association board of directors. Originally from Maryland, he received his B.A. in political science and German from Randolph-Macon College in Ashland, Virginia, and his M.A. in political science (with an emphasis in International Relations) from Northern Illinois University (NIU) in DeKalb, Illinois. He also has a Graduate Certificate in LGBT Studies from NIU and a Graduate Certificate in Women’s and Gender Studies from NAU. He is looking forward to his Ph.D. prospectus and field work in the coming semester and summer.

Graduate Degree: Ph.D. Educational Psychology

Alison J. Le Grand is a 4th year doctoral student in the College of Education at NAU, pursuing a Ph.D. in Educational Psychology. Originally from Ithaca, NY, Alison has lived all over the American Southwest, including a stint in Santa Fe, NM where she earned a Master's degree in philosophy and the liberal arts from St. John's College. She worked for two years as a researcher on a longitudinal study at ASU, looking at mental health and behavior patterns across multiple generations of families with histories of drug and alcohol abuse. Alison also taught educational psychology courses to undergraduates for the past three years at ASU and NAU, including classes on gender development and social issues. At present, she works at the Office of Disability Resources at NAU, assisting students with disabilities to obtain the accommodations needed to have equal access to educational opportunities on the NAU campus. She hopes to finish coursework, dissertation, and internship requirements in the next few years before attaining employment as a school psychologist in a public school environment.

Graduate Degree: Ph.D. Political Science

Mia is from Hemet, California and received her B.A. with majors in International Relations and German in 2005 from the University of Redlands. She received her M.A. from San Diego State University in 2009 in Political Science, with an emphasis in West African politics. She is a 4th year Ph.D. student in the Department of Politics and International Affairs and in the Graduate Certificate program in Ethnic Studies. Her focus is on International Relations and Comparative Politics; specifically, her research examines the political economy of E-waste in West Africa. She plans on traveling in summer of 2013 to Ghana in order to conduct her dissertation field work. Besides serving as Secretary, she is also the Chair of the GSG Grievance Committee and serves on the Travel Committee. 

Graduate Degree: Psychology

Tim Bonson is a second year school psychology student at Northern Arizona University. He has earned a Master of Education in Higher Education from Texas Tech University and a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. He serves as chair of the Appropriations and Travel Awards Committee and as the GSG representative on the University Residency Appeals Committee. Tim is looking forward to building strategic partnerships with members of the campus community.