Graduate and Professional Student Assembly Council of Representatives Notes

Big Red Barn Greenhouse September 10, 2001 5:00–6:00 p.m.

I. Call To Order O. Salminen, At-Large Representative and Vice-President of the 2001–2002 GPSA, called the meeting to order at 5:05 p.m.

II. Open Forum O. Salminen began by thanking former GPSA members for their work related to changes that were implemented this year to graduate student health insurance. She suggested it would be a good idea to try to do some follow-up to see if people have benefited from these changes.

E. Salas, Veterinary representative, noted that the vet school students have been pleased with the appeals process that is in place.

O. Salminen remarked that insurance from outside the United States is no longer accepted as a form of student coverage. She wondered if this policy has created any problems. If so, what portion of students are affected? She noted that in Landscape Architecture the TA’s don’t get full funding. Consequently no Landscape Architecture students benefit.

B. Krishnamachari, Engineering representative, estimated that 95% of the engineering graduate students have benefited.

D. Grossman, Computer Science representative, wondered if that estimate was representative of only Ph.D. students. He clarified that Masters of Engineering students haven’t benefited.

J. Carroll, Real Estate representative, remarked that coverage for a Cornell graduate student costs approximately $900.00 He noted that it is very expensive to add a spouse or dependant to the plan.

P. Carr, Geological Sciences representative, stated that the Graduate School was interested in making these changes for recruiting purposes because it allows Cornell to be more competitive with other schools.

Liz Graznak, Plant Breeding representative, expressed that she has a lot of international students in her department. Many have dependants and the plan is very costly for them.

E. Salas asked how high spouse coverage is.

J. Moriarty, ILR representative, thought the costs were over $2000.00 to add a spouse and $1500.00 per child. She added that these costs were on top of the single coverage.

D. Brown, Agricultural Economics representative, told members that one could seek other insurance to supplement a spouse or dependants besides what Cornell offers. He noted there are other options that work very well. He suggesting contacting local doctor offices for information or looking on the internet at places such as Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Central New York.

A. Saathoff, Agricultural & Biological Engineering representative, stated this is an example where the Graduate School or GPSA needs to disseminate information better.

V. Augusta, Education representative, stated she didn’t think it was the insurance committee or Gannett’s responsibility to provide insurance alternatives to grad students, but that the GPSA or the Graduate School could serve as possible resources.

D. Demaine interjected that Brendan O’Brien from the ISSO (International Students and Scholars Office) will provide a list of different insurance plans. He added that Gannett also provides a lot of information on the web—one just needs to take time to read it.

K. Hueffer, graduate Veterinary Medicine representative, said he would like to discuss the recent e-mail from John Sebastian, Medieval Studies representative. That e-mail had touched on the topic of unionization.

R. Hickey, ILR representative responded that he felt there are two questions that were raised in J. Sebastian’s e-mail. The first raises the relationship between the GPSA body and unionization efforts at Cornell. He stated he feels the two are separate bodies and felt an appropriate response or position of the GPSA could be to say that the GPSA supports the National Graduate and Professional Students’ Bill of Rights which states that graduate students have the right to collectively bargain if they choose. He stated the second issue raised regards information and communication of those working for unionization. He declared there was no effort to keep anyone in the dark. Unionization efforts are in the very early stages and Cornell is a large place. Classes have not been in session very long and it will take time to coordinate efforts to reach out to all departments. He invited anyone interested in hearing more information about this to talk with him after the meeting. He said if departments are interested in having people come to them to discuss this as a group that he’s open to that. He reiterated that outreach will take time as it is a very large task.

P. Carr affirmed the GPSA’s neutrality on the topic of grad. unionization at Cornell. He called it “active passive neutrality”. He stated the process should be passive between students and administration because they do not want things to turn ugly. He told members that he and J. Sebastian had discussed the possibility of having GPSA sponsored debates on this topic. This would not mean the GPSA sponsors unionization; only that it sponsors dialog and discourse on the topic. He suggested trying to do something such as this in the spring.

R. Willer wanted to support the former points made by R. Hickey. He stated he has been involved in organizing efforts and it is a daunting task to coordinate outreach to everyone.

M. Wesling, English representative, asked if there was a statement available that could be shared with departments.

J. Moriarty responded they could talk about that after the meeting.

K. Hueffer stated his support of P. Carr’s idea for holding public debates on the topic. He felt it would be a good way to get the ideas out to the public.

P. Carr added that it would also increase visibility.

III. Announcements and Reports A) GPSA Update P. Carr informed members the GPSA held its business meeting two weeks earlier. At that meeting, the position of Funding Policy Committee chair was filled by Gavin Hurley and the position of Graduate and Professional Student Assembly Finance Committee chair was filled by Karsten Hueffer. The assembled members covered goals for the upcoming year, with a repeated interest in promoting GPSA visibility being brought up by many. The GPSA voted to continue full membership with the National Association of Graduate and Professional Students (NAGPS). He said that committee assignments were made last spring, after the April organizational meetings. P. Carr asked members to let the GPSA executive committee know if issues arise at their committee meetings throughout the year.

B) Assemblies’ Fall Advance P. Carr told members that the Assemblies’ Fall Advance is an annual event that brings together members from the assemblies and Cornell administrators. It was held at the Community Commons this year and did a good job of mixing people together.

O. Salminen stated that she took part in a discussion group that was interesting. She noted that another guest did not seem to have clear ideas about what the assemblies actually do. She stated that it’s possible that this is because many of the guests are new to the assemblies and are still learning. She told the group they will learn together and will work collectively to set goals this year.

C) Funding Policy Committee P. Carr reminded members that this is an activity fee setting year for the GPSA. This process takes place every other year and it needs to be completed by the GPSA by its last business meeting of this semester. The Funding Policy Committee (FPC) is charged with contacting by-line funded groups and getting their monetary requests. The FPC will interview the groups and examine the submitted material. The FPC will then make recommendations based on that information and bring it to COR and GPSA meetings for discussion and approval. He told the group they will be hearing much more about this soon.

D. Demaine asked if the GPSA follows the same procedures as the Student Assembly (SA).

P. Carr replied that the process is similar, however the SA has more guidelines and they seem to have a more challenging time reaching agreement.

J. Bowers, Policy Analysis and Management representative, asked if the FPC sets the price. Does it determine how much is allocated?

P. Carr answered that the FPC recommends the total amount for the student activity fee. It is then submitted to the President for approval. With that, a total amount is given to the GPSAFC. It is up to the GPSAFC to determine how it distributes that lump of money to its graduate and professional student organizations.

A member asked if they should contact G. Hurley if they were interested in helping on the FPC.

P. Carr responded that would be fine.

K. Hueffer added that GPSAFC members should meet him after this meeting to see if they can set up another time to meet.

IV. Business of the day A) Methods to Increase Awareness of GPSA/COR O. Salminen told members that a common goal for this year seems to be increasing public awareness of the GPSA. This will require thought on how to better disseminate information.

A. Saathoff said that a lot of people come to campus and don’t understand how things are set up. They don’t understand their options or the pathways to follow if problems are encountered. He said the GPSA could try to come up with something to address this type of thing.

O. Salminen said she has been at Cornell for six years and never knew who her GPSA representative was. E-mails were not sent. She said the GPSA is supposed to represent the people, but it cannot do a good job representing the people if it doesn’t reach out to hear from them. She felt they need to decide on a common method of communication.

V. Augusta said the communications committee should develop literature that could be included in orientation packets. Incoming people could be given the names of their representatives. She stated that if people are not reached early, they may never be reached.

B. Krishnamachari said hanging small informational posters covering what GPSA/COR is could be of help.

T. McConnochie, Astronomy & Space Sciences representative, asked if they could occupy space in the Big Red barn on a regular basis. He noted that often people may not seem to care unless they have a problem or issues they need to deal with.

O. Salminen agreed that both ideas sounded good.

V. Augusta added that bulletin boards in Caldwell Hall would also be a very good space to try to utilize. It gets a lot of graduate traffic.

R. Chesley, JGSM representative, stated that the business school also has good space.

E. Salas added that the material posted in Caldwell would also be beneficial to the vet school.

Members agreed that trying to get bulletin board space in Caldwell and each of the three professional schools to post GPSA information would be good.

K. Hueffer commented that e-mail should not be overused.

J. Carroll, Real Estate representative, wondered how visible the GPSA really needs to be? He stated these ideas are good, but questioned if the GPSA is creating an additional role for itself.

J. Moriarty replied that she felt it important that when issues are brought to the GPSA that its member vote on the topic based on the opinion of the constituents. She felt that voting should not be based on personal opinion.

D. Brown commented that his department has a graduate student electronic mailing list. He uses it and communicates easily with his department. He said that if messages were sent asking to be forwarded to constituents that he would forward them to spread the information. He noted that people don’t like to read lengthy messages and suggested having key points taken from a meeting to use for forwarding.

J. Moriarty replied that she could do brief summaries.

O. Salminen concluded that the Communications Committee has been given a lot of good suggestions to work with. She told members that if they were interested in helping with the committee that they should contact her.

B) Goals for the Year J. Wightman, Environmental Toxicology representative, told members she was appointed to the Student Assembly Environmental Committee. She stated interest in following up on the KYOTO NOW! Protocols that were initiated last spring.

A member asked where the university stands on this issue.

J. Wightman replied that the university has stated a commitment to reducing energy usage, however she feels this will really be a student driven initiative.

A. Saathoff told members that the GPSA, SA and UA each adopted resolutions last year in support on KYOTO NOW! Concretely, the university was reviewing energy use at Cornell. This will used as a basis for further action.

J. Wightman informed members that there have been difficulties in establishing methods to determine energy use. For example, how does one accurately compare levels to 1990?

O. Salminen asked if any other members had goals they would like to see addressed this year.

R. Chesley said he would favor more GPSA sponsored social events that draw together graduate and professional students from different departments.

V. Augusta enthusiastically brought up the TGIF Fridays that are held at the Big Red Barn. She said they are definitely worth the time for people to attend.

C) Meeting Time Rescheduling O. Salminen asked members how they would feel about moving the regularly scheduled COR/GPSA meetings from 5:00–6:00 p.m. to 6:00–7:00 p.m.. She said that some members have expressed that they cannot make the 5:00 meetings due to a conflict with a required course being scheduled for the same time.

Several members responded at random. Some agreed it would be ok to change the meeting time. Others said they could not make 6:00 meetings if it were changed.

D. Brown stated that he would be concerned about changing the meeting time if changing it meant that some members would still have a conflict.

A. Saathoff stated that the 5:00 meeting time is not new and is the historic time that has been used for COR/GPSA meetings.

B. Krishnamachari suggested a compromise of having the meetings from 5:30–6:30 p.m.

Other members felt this was not a better alternative than changing the time from 6–7:00 p.m.

O. Salminen recommended that the GPSA/COR meeting times stay as is for now. Members were in agreement.

V. Adjournment O. Salminen adjourned the meeting at 6:02 p.m.

Respectfully Submitted, Bonnie Bailey Office of the Assemblies