Michael Appel and Emma Hashman are the new president and vice president of the Executive Council of Graduate and Professional Students (ECGPS). Natalie Virden is the executive officer.

ECGPS is the governing body that represents nearly 10,000 University of Iowa graduate and professional students. An inauguration ceremony for the 2012–13 leadership was held April 19 at the UI Athletics Hall of Fame.

ECGPS leadership is selected by the group’s six member governments (Carver College of Medicine Student Government, College of Pharmacy Student Council, Graduate Student Senate, Iowa American Student Dental Association, Iowa Student Bar Association, and MBA Association).

Appel is a second-year law student from Coralville, Iowa. He served as vice president of ECGPS during the 2011–12 academic year, and as a delegate the previous year. Appel also is academic director for the UI College of Law Moot Court Board. He holds a Bachelor of Science in political science from the UI.

Hashman, of Story City, Iowa, is first-year student in the Graduate College. She is pursuing a master's degree in international studies. Hashman has been involved in Graduate Student Senate and works as a graduate assistant in International Programs’ Study Abroad unit. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in political communication from the University of Northern Iowa.

Virden is a first-year law student from Reston, Va. and Waukee, Iowa. She previously served as delegate to ECGPS and is an Iowa Student Bar Association representative. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in political science from the UI.

The trio’s top priorities for the next academic year are: the “one-big improvement initiative,” which aims to help each member government accomplish one big initiative that will improve student life; to continue working with Universities for a Better Iowa, a student-led campaign to raise awareness of the impact of Iowa’s public universities on the entire state; and to increase graduate and professional student collaboration and networking across campus.