Graduate and professional students have the opportunity this week to make their voices heard by electing individuals to represent them in student government.

Elections start today and will run until 5 p.m. Thursday. Students will be able to vote for a representative for their college by logging on to the Graduate and Professional Student Council's Web site, www.gpsc.arizona.edu.

This is the second time in GPSC history that elections will take place online.

Winners will be announced April 11, and sworn in at the April 22 GPSC meeting. At that time, the new council will elect the council presidency and officers.

This year's election will mean a big turnover, said Holly Mandes, elections director and an English graduate student.

"Nineteen of the current representatives are not rerunning," she said.

The large change of hands follows a year of hard work by a strong council, said current GPSC president Pete Morris.

Over the past year, the council has dealt with the largest tuition hike in state history and issues

surrounding graduate assistant tuition waivers and need-based financial aid.

The council reached a new maturity level, Morris said, by filling almost all the representative positions.

There are 17 candidates vying for 12 representative positions. There aren't any candidates from the fine arts, medicine, pharmacy, social and behavioral sciences or public health colleges.

Although election forms were due last week, there will be an opportunity to fill those positions during a special election in the fall.

It would be wonderful to fill all the positions before the end of the semester, Mandes said, but fall elections give new graduate students an opportunity to get involved.

GPSC candidates encourage graduate and professional students to vote.

"Students should be involved in the election process, but that's only the first step," said Veronica Diaz, higher education graduate student and GPSC candidate.

A student can participate in the decision-making process, she said. "It's important for students to make an effort to stay informed and connected to their council."