The Harvard Graduate Council, in the midst of a drive to bolster graduate student participation in the University presidential search, elected four officers to its 2006-2007 executive board at a meeting last week.

Graduate School of Education student Cheng Zhu, an international student from Beijing studying human development and psychology, will take the helm of the council, which includes 47 representatives from all of the University’s graduate and professional schools.

“Our goal is to foster a very strong sense of Harvard graduate community,” Zhu said, adding that the board hopes to tackle issues like cross-registration, the academic calendar, health care, and inter-campus transportation in the coming year.

The election comes on the heels of a push for more graduate student consultation in the search for Harvard’s next president.

Current council president John W. Kalis, backed by presidents of each graduate school’s own student government, called on the University last Thursday to add a graduate student to its nine-member presidential search committee. At the present, the committee only includes members of the University’s two governing boards, the Harvard Corporation and the Board of Overseers.

Zhu said that as of last night, the University had not replied to the request for a graduate-student seat. She added that involving graduate students in the search will be a “challenge and opportunity.”

“We’re trying to work with the administration,” she said. “The ball is in their court.”

At the April 4 meeting, the council also elected five students to serve as vice presidents. Beginning this summer, Harvard Law School student Alicia B.J. Woodley will serve as vice president for internal operations, Graduate School of Design student Sandy Hussain will serve as vice president for events, and Jordan P. Amadio, a joint-degree student at Harvard Medical School and Harvard Business School, will act as the council’s vice president for external relations.

Earlier this year, the council was one of 12 student organizations supporting a campaign to divest from the Sudan-linked oil company Sinopec. The council also coordinates graduate social activities and acts as the official conduit between University administrators and graduate students. The officers are scheduled to assume their positions on June 8.

—Staff writer Javier C. Hernandez can be reached at jhernand@fas.harvard.edu.