MINUTES
Graduate & Professional Student Assembly Council of Representatives
September 16th, 1998
Big Red Barn Graduate & Professional Student Center Greenhouse
5:00 P.M.

I. Call to Order

The meeting was called to order at 5:05 p.m. by Stefan Hames, Vice President of the 1998–99 GPSA.

II. Welcome

John Schwarz, President of the 1998–99 GPSA, welcomed members to the first meeting of the Council of Representatives (COR). He explained that every field can send a representative to COR to represent the interests of each constituency. From the larger COR group, 15 people are elected from pre-determined field clusters to make up the GPSA. The GPSA constitutes one of five Assemblies. They are the GPSA, Employee Assembly (EA), the Student Assembly (SA), the University Assembly (UA) and the Faculty Senate (FS).

J.Schwarz noted that the COR represents a community of roughly 5,000 graduate and professional students. If one thinks of this community in economic terms; tuition paid is roughly $110M a year, and approximately $60M a year is spent on living expenses. In addition, roughly $5M is spend on health care premiums and $30M spent on rent. He noted that about a year and a half ago, there was an effort in Washington, D.C. to tax the tuition benefits of assistantships. This would have cost the graduate community roughly $16M a year. What goes on in Washington DOES matter and as representatives for the graduate/professional community it is important to pay attention to issues and get involved. To help address and keep up with the many legislative issues, the GPSA voted last year to join the National Association for Graduate and Professional Students (NAGPS). The COR does represent a sizable and significant community on such important issues.

J.Schwarz encouraged members to get involved in one of the areas of interests and to actively represent the interests of graduate and professional students. He noted that this was an introductory meeting and next month there will be more information and specifics on how more people can get involved.

III. Announcements and Reports

A) Assemblies Retreat

S.Hames stated that many members of the GPSA went to the Assemblies’ Annual Fall Retreat on September 2. They met with the administration and the leadership of other Assemblies. At the retreat, participants broke up into small groups and discussed one of two topics: Town/Gown Relations or Diversity/Inclusion. S.Hames stated that he was in the second group and one issue they discussed was the University provides support for people with visual and mobility impairments. They spoke of the low numbers of women and minorities in certain departments. The group then discussed ways to address these issues. Notes from the retreat are being compiled.

B) Gannett Health Consultant

S.Hames informed members that on September 21, an outside health care consultant will be on campus. Hilary Ford, Assistant Dean of the Graduate School, has requested feedback from graduate and professional students who have concerns about any part of the health care system. He requested that members e-mail H.Ford at hf17@cornell.edu or Valerie Lyon at 255–3564 if they have any concerns/issues they would like addressed.

IV. Business of the Day

A) Proposed changes to the Cornell University Alcohol Policy

S.Hames introduced Janis Talbot, Community Health Educator from Cornell University Health Services. J.Talbot chaired the committee that reviewed and proposed changes to the current Cornell University Alcohol Policy.

J.Talbot stated that Cornell University has had this alcohol policy well before 1980, when she arrived on campus. Since then, the only major changes occurred when the legal drinking age was raised from 18 to 19, and then to 21 years of age in NYS. This policy has not been formally reviewed since 1989. Since the University is required by law to review this policy more frequently, Susan Murphy called together an editorial review committee to review what was in place and make recommendations for improvement.

J.Talbot stated that because there is no common way that alcohol is used on campus, the policy formulated had to be very flexible. The committee took quite a bit of time to ensure that the policy can be applied broadly to different groups in different situations. In order to achieve this, the committee spoke to various people to gain more information as needed. The goal of this policy is to set minimum standards and guidelines for everyone. Individual units and departments can set further standards to fit their particular needs, but every one of them must meet the minimum standards. The committee realized that these standards have to be supported by the community as a whole, and that they could be realistically enforced.

J.Talbot stated that the committee edited the policy in three major ways:

1) incorporated the drug statement into the alcohol policy

2) put the policy into the new University policy format to improve readability

3) clearly defined terms such as student organizations

In addition to these changes, the committee listed related documents and all relevant laws. A contact list was also added.

On page 13 of the proposed policy draft, there is a flowchart to help individuals understand how to plan events where alcohol would be served. J.Talbot then demonstrated how to use the flowchart, with the example being a department barbecue. She noted that in this example, which would probably include underage people at the event, it is not recommended that alcohol be served.

Members noted that these “underage people” are generally students’ children. Therefore, there should be no need to worry about serving alcohol.

J.Talbot stated that in groups of 50 or more, people will be discouraged from serving alcohol if any minors attend. The host of the party would be liable if, for example, someone’s minor child consumed alcohol and became injured. All mixed groups would be encouraged to think very carefully if it is necessary to serve alcohol at a particular function. If the group decides to serve alcohol, they would be encouraged to hire an insured caterer so there is no liability for the group.

J.Talbot stated that if the event was sponsored by a campus organization, they would have to fill out a Use of University Property form which will ask if alcohol will be served. The larger the group is, the more strongly it is recommended that one hire a caterer.

Members asked about events held at someone’s house and how this policy would apply to such events.

J.Talbot stated that if it is at a faculty member’s house and all Cornell affiliated people attend, then it begins to look more like a department event, especially if funds from student organizations are used to buy alcohol. The host needs to be aware of their personal liability. If the event is not at a faculty member’s house, then it may not be considered a University event. However, the host should know about their liability and inform the chair of their department of this event. She noted that some education needs to be provided for the people who host such parties.

S.Hames, noting that there is little time, stated that the proposed changes to the Cornell Alcohol Policy will be coming for a vote in the University Assembly (UA). Dennis Carlson, CALS, is a GPSA representative to the UA. He offered to have people contact him at dwc14@cornell.edu if they wanted to follow-up. S.Hames also volunteered to work with people on this issue and pass concerns to the appropriate people if they wished to contact him. His e-mail is rsh5@cornell.edu.

J.Talbot also said that members could e-mail her at jit1@cornell.edu if they wish to continue this discussion. She requested their help in rewording the part concerning events funded by the GPSA.

B) GPSA Finances

Michael Cosh, Civil Engineering, stated that the graduate student activity fee brings in about $200,000 a year. This fee is $48 per capita, and of it, the Graduate and professional Student Assembly Finance Commission (GPSAFC) sees only $80,000. The rest of the money goes to various organizations such as the Cornell Concert Commission, the Big Red Barn, club insurance, and others. Last year, athletics was added to the fee, so now all graduate/professional students and their families can attend all athletic events for free, with the exception of ice hockey. Graduate/professional students and their families can attend ice hockey events at a reduced price.

The money that the GPSAFC receives is distributed among student organizations that consist of at least 41% graduate students. Each year, requests are received from about 100 student organizations. Of the funds, only about 60% is spent. The other 40% comes back to the Finance Commission and is distributed to special projects. These special projects may be requests for additional funding, and once a month the Finance Commission meets to discuss financing these projects. It tries to be fair when making such decisions and ensure that every group gets their fair share. Afterwards, the organization is informed of the decision. M.Cosh noted that the GPSAFC only has $80,000 to distribute but receives requests for funds that total approximately $300,000.

The Funding Policy Committee (FPC) is responsible for setting the Student Activity Fee. This is done every two years. Since the Activity Fee was set last year, it does not have to be set until 2000. Consequently, the committee will now focus on setting better guidelines for future setting of the activity fee.

M.Cosh requested that members inform him if they wish to join either of these two committees. He noted that the GPSAFC meets for two hours each month, while the Funding Policy Committee will probably meet only for a couple hours each semester. If members need information about applying for special funding, they can go to the activities web page. The url is http://www.activities.cornell.edu.

M.Cosh stated that there will be a treasurer’s workshop on September 26. At this workshop, the process of receiving funding from the Finance Commission will be covered. It is important to ensure that all necessary paperwork is filled out, else funds won’t be distributed. All organizations and their advisors will be informed of this event. He noted that the Vet School will have a separate workshop in October.

V. Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned by S.Hames at 6:10 p.m.