MINUTES
Graduate & Professional Student Assembly Council of Representatives
February 8th, 1999
Big Red Barn Graduate & Professional Student Center Greenhouse
5:00 P.M.

I. Call to Order

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

II. Open Forum

A member asked about the Student Health Insurance Proposal which Dean Walter Cohen, Dean of the Graduate School, brought to the attention of the GPSA at a previous meeting. This member reported concern among her constituents regarding the proposal and asked for the status of the proposal.

S.Hames replied that he believes this topic is in abeyance because Dean Cohen is currently on sabbatic. The proposal has been given to Don Randel, Provost. However, there have been no other new developments since the last COR meeting.

J.Schwarz added that it was made clear to Dean Cohen that the GPSA wishes to be consulted throughout the process and does not want this topic to be acted on without the GPSA knowing of this action. The issue on the table at the last meeting was whether the GPSA would support looking into this proposal in theory. The GPSA approved looking into the proposal and wants to hear more concrete details before deciding whether this proposal will be a benefit to graduate students. Consequently, there are no plans for implementation of the proposal at this point since it is still far too early in the process. The GPSA has been assured that it will be consulted as details of the proposal are revealed.

S.Hames acknowledged there is a lot of concern regarding this proposal and that the process will probably move slowly.

Patrick Carr, Geology, announced that he had brought his petition to be on the ballot for Student-elected Trustee to the meeting, and asked that members sign it. He offered a disclaimer by saying that members signing the petition would only help him get on the ballot, and members’ signatures were in no way an endorsement or agreement to vote for him. He informed members there are two student members on the Cornell Board of Trustees who are elected by the student body.

Deidra Dees, GPSA Secretary, informed members that February is Black History Month. She stated there will be an event held in recognition of this on February 24 at 12:20 PM in 101 Kennedy Hall. She stated that members can e-mail her at dld15@cornell.edu if they want more information.

S.Hames announced there will be some changes to the agenda. Item III A “Announcements and Reports; TCAT Service Concerns” will be replaced by Hilary Ford, Assistant Dean of the Graduate School, introducing her GPSA liaison replacement. Item IV “Business of the Day” will insert a section about the Student-elected Trustee elections between the “A” section of “Funding Levels for the Women’s Law Coalition” and “B” section of “Changes to the GPSA Charter”.

Because the “TCAT Service Concern” item was removed from the agenda, a member commented during this Open Forum section that, although a larger bus has been added to the morning route, it is still insufficient. It was reported there is still overcrowding on the bus runs and the improvement was ineffective. S.Hames asked for this member to send specifics to him and he will forward this information to R.Ghearing, General Manager, TCAT.

III.Announcements and Reports

A) New Graduate School Liaison

H.Ford stated that she has enjoyed being the Graduate School liaison to the GPSA. She said she had been involved with the GPSA for about five years and stated that it has been very interesting watching the GPSA grow since it was first conceived by graduate students serving on the Student Assembly. H.Ford said that she has enjoyed getting to know the members of this group.

H.Ford introduced Terry Plater, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, who will replace her as the GPSA liaison from the Graduate School.

T.Plater stated she has been on the faculty at Cornell for about four and a half years and has a degree in Art, Architecture and Planning. She confirmed that she is a student advocate and is interested in hearing from students about their concerns. T.Plater noted she is not as well acquainted with the sciences and students’ needs in those fields and looks forward to learning more in those areas. She stated she would like to support the GPSA in its endeavors and to have the GPSA’s support for her. She repeated she would be happy to answer any questions students may have.

In response to members’ questions, T.Plater explained that she will be doing some work with underrepresented minorities at Cornell. She noted she will also be working with all graduate student groups and will help work on the graduate school policy in general. Her office is in 350 Caldwell and she plans to hold office hours on Wednesday afternoons. She invited people to drop in at their convenience any time, but suggested that members may wish to call first to make sure she is available.

B) Joint Assemblies Financial Aid Review Committee Vacancy

S.Hames explained that the Joint Assemblies Financial Aid Review committee (JAFARC) was instituted by the University Assembly and the Office of Financial Aid. S.Hames noted this committee seems to have primarily focused on undergraduate issues and that since he and another graduate student have been attending the committee meetings, they have helped to move some of the committee focus to graduate concerns. S.Hames regrets that he is no longer able to serve on this committee, but other commitments do not allow him enough time to continue as a JAFARC member. He felt this would be a good committee for anyone interested in financial aid concerns. He reported this committee is currently meeting every other week and requested that any members interested in serving on this committee contact him after the meeting.

The JAFARC has divided itself into two task forces. One task force is focusing on the Students Helping Students (SHS) program. The SHS program works by setting aside money from the undergraduate Student Activity Fee in order to give emergency money to students who need it if they experience a catastrophic situation. For example, funds were given to students after the recent fire in Collegetown. S.Hames stated that the committee would like to improve oversight in distribution of SHS funds. In addition, the program is being evaluated regarding its effectiveness, with a thought toward seeing whether the graduate students should consider setting up a similar program. S.Hames stated that the second task force is primarily focusing on the quality of service experienced when students apply for financial aid.

IV. Business of the Day

A) Funding Levels for the Women’s Law Coalition

David McCusker, Law, stated that the Women’s Law Coalition had recently received money from the GPSAFC to fund a symposium and they are grateful for the funding. He felt that because some of the GPSAFC procedures are somewhat opaque, he would like to know what the budget is and have a breakdown of the budget so he can report back to the Law School regarding what they are getting from their Student Activity Fee.

Michael Cosh, Civil Engineering, replied that this information is available on the bulletin board outside 518C Willard Straight. He also offered to send D.McCusker a copy of the budget spreadsheet.

D.McCusker requested that information regarding the budget application process be sent with the budget information.

M.Cosh replied that all of the information relevant to the budget application process can be found on the Web. In addition, anyone with questions can contact Loreen Geiger, Accounts Assistant, in the SAFC Office in 518C Willard Straight. On a related topic, M.Cosh noted that the GPSAFC needs more people to serve on the committee because budget hearings will occur in March and more people are needed. He estimated the time commitment to be about two hours per week during this time, though the committee usually only meets once a month for one hour. M.Cosh stated there will be four budget hearings, one for each of the three professional school and a fourth one for the Graduate School. He stated that the budget application deadline for organizations will be in March and that everything can be submitted via the Web. He requested that anyone interested in serving on this committee contact him.

B) Student-elected Trustee Elections

J.Schwarz stated there are two student members on the Board of Trustees who are elected by all Cornell students. He reiterated that he would like graduate and professional students to have a specific seat designated for their own Student-elected Trustee. J.Schwarz confirmed that three polling locations have been added for the 1999 elections and they should make voting more accessible to professional students. The polling locations are at Sage, Hughes, and the Vet School Atrium. The GPSA has contributed $400 to help fund expenses related to these additional locations and J.Schwarz said he believes the benefits to graduate and professional students will determine this to be a good use of GPSA money.

In response to members’ questions, Bonnie Bailey, Office of the Assemblies, stated the 1999 elections will be held on March 2 and 3.

S.Hames noted that Cris Gardner, Director of the Office of Assemblies, has been very supportive of their efforts to get greater graduate student involvement in the election process.

J.Schwarz stated that voting information will be included with the information that is being sent to students regarding the COR/GPSA elections. Additionally, he noted the GPSA may get a seat on the Trustee Nominating Committee. There is currently an open undergraduate student slot on this committee and the undergrads have been asked if they will give this seat to a graduate or professional student to obtain input from that constituency.

Members commented that it would be a good idea to have more polling locations in the Ag. Quad. The Vet school and Trillium are the two polling locations in that area.

J.Schwarz reminded members that each department needs to select its representative(s) to the COR by the end of March. There will be a double meeting of the COR in April. The first meeting will be for the 1998–99 COR, and the second meeting will be for the 1999–00 COR. He reminded students that information regarding this process will be sent to students in the next week.

C) Proposed Changes to the GPSA Charter

S.Hames established that the leadership of the Assemblies is very interested in improving communication between the GPSA and the administration. He noted that requests for input from graduate students on important issues has been erratic. He stated this action is being taken to let the administration know that the GPSA wants to have a more active role and wants to be consulted on relevant issues. He acknowledged that one goal of the proposed changes to the GPSA Charter is to reassert the GPSA’s right to appoint graduate and professional students for committees established by the administration. The GPSA does not want students selected at random and without their knowledge. The GPSA resolution is in line with a resolution made by the Faculty Senate on this same issue.

S.Hames said the leadership of the GPSA, EA, SA, and UA are united in their belief that the administration has not been communicating well with the Assemblies when making decisions affecting the constituent assemblies. Discussion between Assembly leaders regarding the best way to approach this problem has taken place. One of the suggestions was for the Assemblies to make charter changes to the language which would specifically spell out the GPSA role in the policy and decision making process. This explains the proposed changes to Section 2.2 of the GPSA charter.

S.Hames stated that the changes to Section 2.13 were made to clearly establish the GPSA right to appoint graduate students to University-wide committees.

In response to members’ questions regarding the change to Section 2.13, S.Hames stated that the logistics of how the GPSA will make future committee appointments has not been developed yet. He stated that GPSA committee staffing has been done by the GPSA Executive Committee. S.Hames remarked that the appointment process is time-consuming and he does not relish increasing the workload. However, unless the additional work is done, the GPSA will have no control over who is appointed to these special campus-wide committees.

B.Bailey stated that other Assemblies use an Internal Operations Committee to fill committee seats. She suggested that the GPSA look into making the GPSA Internal Operations Committee active to avoid overburdening the Executive Committee.

S.Hames stressed that appointments are not made unless the appointee wants to serve on the committee.

In response to members’ questions, S.Hames stated that approval from President Rawlings must be given before any changes to the GPSA charter become final. In addition, he stated that the other Assemblies must be given at least 24 hours notice prior to the GPSA voting on this resolution. He stated this resolution will be brought up at the next Leadership Meeting, which is taking place before the the February 22 GPSA meeting, so this requirement will be fulfilled. S.Hames reminded members that the GPSA resolution is modeled after one that the SA has passed, and the EA and UA also plan to pass a similar resolution. S.Hames stated he is letting everyone know about this subject now so it can be discussed and changes to the draft can be proposed. S.Hames stressed it is very important that all GPSA members attend the next meeting because a two-thirds majority is needed to pass the proposed changes to the charter.

D.Dees explained that, in regards to committee appointments, someone requesting a particular committee appointment may get appointed because there is no competition. However, the GPSA Executive Committee carefully considers applicants when there are several candidates for a position. She stated the new wording in the charter will not affect this process. However, it will make the representatives serving on committees responsible for communicating back to the GPSA.

J.Schwarz added that if there ever was a dispute over a committee position, it can go to a vote by the GPSA. He stated he is more concerned with ensuring GPSA representation on ad hoc committees. He noted that there are approximately fifty graduate and professional appointments made per year.

A member asked how this process would work in cases where a committee is formed, such as a committee in the Vet school. It was asked if these types of committees would become open to the entire graduate/professional community, or if it would stay within the Vet school.

S.Hames replied that he believes this process will apply only to campus-wide committees, but this question needs more consideration. He added that it is not necessary to be on the COR in order to serve on a committee. The purpose of having these appointments made via the GPSA is so the GPSA knows who to contact in case they have any questions and to keep the GPSA informed of issues affecting its constituents. S.Hames reiterated that the proposed charter changes will be voted on at the next GPSA meeting.

V. Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned by S.Hames at 5:55 PM.