DAGS Board Members 2020

DAGS' Board of Directors & Officers is currently made up of 7 Dalhousie graduate students. There is currently one unfilled position (Director of Health Professions). New Board Members are elected or appointed every winter term, and take office May 1st. For information on individual Board Members, please see their profiles below. 

For a more detailed description of duties for each position, see our By-Laws.

Please note that Office Hours listed are not necessarily applicable on holidays or over scheduled academic breaks. Send an e-mail to president@dags.ca if you wish to check availability or set up a visit during any of those periods.  

As well if you would like to talk or pick up a cheque but are unable to make any office hours, please e-mail president@dags.ca to set up a visit. 

​President: Ankit Bajaj​
Program: Master of Electronic Commerce
Email: president@dags.ca 
Description: The President represents DAGS to Dalhousie University administration and serves on the Faculty of Graduate Studies (FGS) Council. They work with the Board as a team to implement decisions made by the Council and bring new initiatives to the Council. They chair the Board, Council, and Administration Committee; and serve on the Governance Committee of DAGS.

Vice-President Academic Affairs: ​Raha Khosavi
Program: M.Sc. Electrical Engineering 
Email: vpacademic@dags.ca ​
​Description: The Vice President Academic attends Dalhousie Senate and Faculty Council Meetings. They also chair the Academic and External Relations Committee. The VP Academic sits on the FGS Academic Planning and Curriculum Committee and Academic Appeals Committee. The main duty of the VP Academic is to support graduate students in navigating the academic policies and programs at Dalhousie. 

Vice-President External Advocacy: Asal Yans​
Program: PhD Medical Neuroscience
Email: vpexternal@dags.ca 
Description: The Vice-President External Advocacy serves on Dalhousie Student Union (DSU) Council and maintains a collaborative and working relationship with the DSU President and Vice-Presidents. They act as a representative of graduate students to organizations of which DAGS, the DSU, or Dalhousie University is a member and as a delegate at conferences of external organizations of interest to DAGS as directed by Council. They develop and formulate policy on external matters and ensure that Council is kept informed of and has opportunity to respond to initiatives of the DSU and external bodies that impact graduate students. They serve as co-chair of the Academic and External Relations Committee and chair of the Governance Committee.

Vice-president Finance and Operations: Soheil Latifi
Program: M.Sc. Computer Science
Email: vpfo@dags.ca
​Description: The Vice-President Finance and Operations oversees the operations of DAGS in cooperation with the Office Manager, and the Administration Committee. They work closely with the President to ensure collaboration between DAGS and member societies and act as the Chair of the Administration Committee and Governance Committee.

Vice President Student Life and Communications: Jaykumar Patel
Program: M.Sc. Mechanical Engineering
Email: vpsl@dags.ca
​Description: The Vice President of Student Life and Communications is a new position for the 2019-20 year! This position is responsible for overseeing DAGS communications (website, social media, etc.), as well as planning events (ex. Orientation events) and programming for graduate students. They Chair the Student Life committee and work closely with member societies to put on events for graduate students. 

Director of Engineering, Architecture and Planning: Sri Krishna Chaitanya Avala
Program: MASc Civil Engineering
Email: director1@dags.ca
Description: Directors work to serve the faculties and programs they represent through a variety of Councils and committees throughout the University. ​

Director of Science and Computer Science: Fatemeh Rahimi
Program: MSc Computer Science
Email: director3@dags.ca
Description: Directors work to serve the faculties and programs they represent through a variety of Councils and committees throughout the University.  ​

​Director of Health and Medical Sciences: Pooyan Moradi
Program: Ph.D. student, Friedman lab, Dep. of Medical Neuroscience
Email: director4@dags.ca
Description: Directors work to serve the faculties and programs they represent through a variety of Councils and committees throughout the University. ​

​Director of Arts, Social Sciences, Law and Management: Vacant
Program: N/A
Email: director2@dags.ca
Description: Directors work to serve the faculties and programs they represent through a variety of Councils and committees throughout the University. ​