Graduate and Professional Student Assembly Minutes

Big Red Barn Greenhouse October 29, 2001 5:30 - 6:30 p.m.

Attendance: 2001–2002 GPSA Members 4/23 8/27 9/24 10/29 11/26 1/28 2/25 3/25 4/22 Shaffique Adam P P P P Virginia Augusta P P P P Pat Carr P P P P Rob Chesley A A P A Tyrell Haberkorn P E P P Karsten Hueffer P P P P Gavin Hurley P P P P Bhaskar Krishnamachari A A P P Joan Moriarty P P P P Aaron Saathoff P P P P Elisa Salas P P A P Outi Salminen P E P P John Sebastian P P P P Jeff Siegel A A A P David Toomey P P P P Others Present: Philip Sapirstein, V. Blodgett, Phil McPheron, Bonnie Bailey, and Margaret Heavey

I. Call to Order Pat Carr, President of the 2001–2002 GPSA, called the meeting to order at 5:34 p.m.

II. Open Forum J. Sebastian, At-Large representative, announced that the GPSA Ivy League Conference is in two weeks. He said he’s desperately busy and would appreciate help with the planning. He asked interested members to please see him after the meeting.

A. Saathoff, CALS (Biological Sciences) representative, commented on the recent flurry of e-mails on GPSA-L@cornell.edu. He reminded members that when they are using email they should treat each other with respect and professionalism, as this is a formal line of communication. The electronic mailing list is a valuable tool since they only meet once a month.

P. Carr asked if there were any other comments about this.

V. Augusta, CALS (Social Sciences) representative, asked if there were any alternative means of electronic communication. She wondered if perhaps having separate COR and GPSA lists would help.

E. Salas, Veterinary representative, agreed it might not be a bad idea to look into two lists.

J. Moriarty, Other representative, remarked that issues brought forth are of interest and concern to some of the graduate and professional students. If representatives don’t want to read relevant messages then get them off the list.

O. Salminen, At-Large representative, said this same issue comes up a few times each year with the ISSO list. She said people should use the e-mail subject line to clarify messages. If the subject line is properly used it is very easy to delete unwanted messages.

K. Hueffer, Biological Sciences and Graduate Veterinary representative, commented he is opposed to making separate COR/GPSA lists.

D. Toomey, A&S (Humanities) representative, suggested forming a separate discussion list and an announcement list.

E. Salas suggested sending a message to clarify for members that this is a format for communicating issues of graduate and professional student concern. One may not personally feel the topic to be of interest, however they are representatives and need to consider if their constituents would be interested.

P. Carr commented he thought the issue resolved itself. He added he felt that J. Sebastian handled it well.

J. Moriarty questioned if those people who sent messages asking to be unsubscribed had been removed from the list.

B. Bailey, Office of the Assemblies, replied their request had been honored and they were removed from the list. However, they are still being cc’d on meeting agendas and minutes. They will miss out on any conversation related to specific issues however.

V. Augusta noted that the students who had gotten so upset over the e-mails were from professional programs and maybe their interests differed from that of graduate students.

II. Approval of GPSA Minutes September 24, 2001 This item was postponed for consideration later in the meeting.

III. Announcements There were no announcements.

IV. Committee Reports A. Executive Committee�P. Carr and O. Salminen O. Salminen reported that the International Students were seeking legal aid regarding off campus housing issues with landlords. She noted that Cornell University offers a legal aid clinic in the Law School, but they don’t provide help with this particular issue. O. Salminen spoke with S. Power, Interim Dean of the Graduate School, about this and she asked students to make a formal recommendation.

V. Blodgett, Director of Graduate Student Life, noted there used to be a place in the Dean of Students office that worked with off campus housing issues and contract disputes.

O. Salminen said such a place no longer existed.

P. McPheron, Director of Graduate and Professional Student Housing, added that office was expanded to have a part time attorney on staff, however it was dismantled at a later date partially due to budgetary issues. He said that legal aid is available in DeWitt Plaza for students. He noted that Cornell is not anxious to engage in litigation with the City of Ithaca.

V. Blodgett noted the university did not want to decipher between who is a good landlord and who is not.

P. Carr remarked he met with senior administration on the previous Tuesday. He will meet with the Dean on Friday. He asked members to let O. Salminen, J. Moriarty, or himself know if there were issues they’d like brought up.

B. Trustee Nominating Committee Vacancy P. Carr announced the vacancy on the Trustee Nominating Committee. He explained that serving in this position would entail helping with election planning as related to the student-elected trustee and dealing with associated issues. He asked if anyone was interested in this position.

S. Adam, A&S (Physical Sciences) representative, indicated he would be interested.

As there was no objection, S. Adam was acclaimed the graduate member of the Trustee Nominating Committee.

C. Other Committees P. Carr announced there are positions available for graduate and professional students on faculty committees. Handouts were distributed for the Committee on University Lectures, the University Faculty Library Board, and the Committee on University-ROTC Relations. He told members to contact the Dean of Faculty’s office if interested.

VI. Business of the Day A. Resolution to Amend Section 2.19.4 of the GPSA Charter to Lower the Required Fraction of the Activity Fee Allotted to the GPSAFC from 35% to 25% P. Carr explained this proposed amendment to the Charter. He explained he had contacted President Rawlings and S. Murphy, Vice President for Student and Academic Services, and they accept the GPSA’s reasoning for this change. The Charter currently states that the GPSAFC must receive 35% of the total activity fee. Because so much of the money is unspent, the GPSAFC is sitting on a large balance and the GPSA would like to reduce that allocated percentage. He reported they negotiated amounts and 25% seems to be as low as the administration is comfortable with. P. Carr said he believed the President would approve this reduction if the GPSA approved it.

B. Krishnamachari, Engineering representative, asked if P. Carr felt the administration was really firm at 25% or if they might allow less.

P. Carr replied he didn’t think administration would agree to less.

B. Krishnamachari replied he’d be more comfortable with a reduction to 20%.

A. Saathoff asked if anyone had done budget predictions before making proposed reductions.

K. Hueffer reminded members this is not a fixed 25%; it states the GPSAFC must receive at least 25% of the activity fee total. The GPSA could allot more than 25% when looking at future activity fees.

B. Krishnamachari again questioned if the GPSA could vote to set the allocation lower. He made a motion to lower it to 20%, adding that it sounds as if 13% is what the groups are asking of the GPSAFC.

K. Hueffer remarked he’s looking at last year’s figures. He thinks 41% of allocated money was returned. This isn’t what we got in, only what was allocated. The GPSAFC started off with $99,000 in rollover. It over-allocated money to groups, but 40% came back.

P. Carr asked if there was any objection to changing language in the resolution from 2/3 to 40%. There was no objection and the revision passed.

S. Adam told members that a big reason money is returned by groups is for situations such as speakers not showing up.

P. Carr disagreed; saying this is not entirely true. He felt that because of restrictions imposed for the “social” category” that groups over inflate their requests in other ways.

J. Sebastian said another reason money is not used may be due to high turnover in group leaders from year-to-year. Groups may have money allocated, but the entire group doesn’t know.

O. Salminen remarked groups always need more money for social events than they are given. The money they receive for speakers isn’t really enough either. In some co-sponsored events, such as movies, all the money is not usually used. She’d like to encourage more co-sponsorship.

E. Salas mentioned that Vet clubs seemed strapped for cash. She asked if they can they reapply for more money?

P. Carr responded they could.

D. Toomey called to question.

P. Carr directed member’s attention back to R.1. He noted it would need 10 votes to pass. A vote was taken on resolution 1. It was unanimously passed by the Graduate and Professional Student Assembly by a vote of 12–0. The text reads as follows:

Resolution Concerning the GPSAFC Allocation from the Student Activity Fee

Whereas the Graduate and Professional Student Assembly Finance Commission (GPSAFC) has requested an amount, which, in summing the other byline-funded groups request, results in an allocation below that specified (35%) by section 2.19.4 of the GPSA charter and

Whereas this request is sufficient, since in the past three years, given 35% of the fee, the GPSAFC has apportioned more than its initial budget but had returned to it more than 40% of money allotted at the end of each year,

Be It Therefore Resolved to strike out “35” from section 2.19.4 of the GPSA charter and insert “25,” so that it reads,

The GPSA shall ensure that an appropriate balance is maintained between funds allocated to by-line funded organizations and to the GPSA Finance Commission (GPSAFC). The allocation made to the GPSAFC shall be set at no less than 25% percent of the total funds available from the Student Activity Fee in any year.

Respectfully submitted,

Patrick Carr GPSA President

Karsten Hueffer GPSAFC Chair

B. Amendments to Appendix A of the Charter, Restrictions on Byline Funded Groups P. Carr said the basis for these amendments was due to discovered oddities in the rules groups are subject to.

O. Salminen questioned if groups would have statements for the past 4 years.

P. Carr responded most groups do have this information accessible.

A. Saathoff questioned if groups could ask for money for capital equipment.

S. Adam questioned how groups presently apply for capital equipment and wondered about depreciation.

P. Carr said Cornell University accounting would deal with depreciation and he wasn’t sure about how groups currently ask for capital equipment.

S. Adam questioned if it was wise for groups to request by-line funded money for capital equipment. As an example he asked, “Do we want the Camel Breeding Club to buy camels with activity fee money”?

P. Carr stated this discussion applies only to by-line funded groups. Something such as the Camel Breeding Club wouldn’t be considered by-line funded. It would receive money from the GPSAFC instead.

A. Saathoff commented he likes the idea of long-term build up. He also remarked that perhaps strengthening the language from “ Organizations are encouraged to seek financial help…” might be too weak. He asked if the GPSA could tell them they needed to do it instead of encouraging them.

V. Augusta inquired if the by-line funded groups need to use all of their money each year and zero out their accounts.

P. McPheron replied that budget surplus would carry over. He suggested including “monitoring” in the language.

P. Carr added that they must report balances in all depreciation accounts in yearly financial statements.

S. Adam stated he thought that mentioning capital equipment in this resolution would logically lead to groups going before the GPSA when making those purchase.

P. Carr interjected that maybe they should define capital equipment.

V. Augusta stated that Cornell University already has a definition and they should take care to be consistent.

S. Adam questioned if there would be a problem asking groups to report to the GPSA when they purchase capital equipment items.

A. Saathoff agreed, saying if a group says they are putting money away for something that it would be good to make sure it is used for that purchase.

V. Augusta added that if the account was specifically set up for capital equipment that the groups couldn’t use it for other things.

B. Krishnamachari noted he was concerned with time. For example, what if a film projector broke down? Would a group be required to wait for the GPSA to meet and give approval before they could purchase a new one?

G. Hurley commented he thinks this capital equipment discussion would only apply to the Cornell Cinema and EMS.

A. Saathoff noted they could just say, “subject to later verification”.

D. Toomey inquired about the language in the resolution encouraging groups to get financial help.

P. Carr commented that with the recent scrutiny required by the FPC in this activity fee setting process that they felt they really want to encourage groups to get financial help. It was a challenge in some cases to get the necessary information.

J. Sebastian inquired if perhaps the language ought to read “strongly encourage”?

P. Carr responded that he felt simply saying “encourage” would work.

P. Carr asked if there was any more discussion. As there was no further discussion, the GPSA voted on resolution 2. The Graduate and Professional Student Assembly unanimously passed it by a vote of 14–0. The text reads as follows:

R.2

Resolution for Amendments to Charter Appendices A and B

Whereas some of this year’s funding requests from by-line funded groups violate portions of Appendix A: Guidelines for Funded Organizations yet were felt reasonable by the Funding Policy Committee, and other sections of Appendices A and B were found in need of amendment,

Be It Therefore Resolved to substitute Appendix A III.3 with Organizations that own capital equipment are strongly encouraged to include depreciation in their full yearly budgets and must report balances in all depreciation in yearly financial statements. Capital equipment purchases must be reported in the financial statements of the year purchased.

Be It Further Resolved to add “and the Graduate and Professional Student Assembly.” to Appendix A III.Cornell Cinema.1 so that it now reads,

Cornell Cinema shall not increase student ticket prices without the express approval of the Student Assembly and the Graduate and Professional Student Assembly.

Be It Further Resolved to strike Appendix A III.Emergency Medical Services.1 and renumber.

Be It Further Resolved to strike the first sentence of Appendix B II.B.1 and insert,

Submit financial statements for the past completed four years, a budget and spending to date for the current year, and budgets for the two years in the funding cycle applied for. Organizations are encouraged to seek financial help, professional or otherwise, in preparing these statements and budgets.

Respectfully submitted,

Patrick Carr GPSA President

Gavin Hurley FPC Chair

C. Motion to move a Portion of the GPSAFC Excess to the GPSA G. Hurley noted the GPSAFC has a very large excess balance in its account and some thought has been given on what to do about this. They are proposing Resolution 3: Resolution to Transfer Excess Balance to GPSA. He stated he doesn’t know how else to decrease the GPSAFC balance as the amount keeps growing each year. Transferring $100,000 would still leave the GPSAFC with $80,000. He emphasized this could only be a one-time event. GPSA can then discuss ways to use this money.

P. Carr noted part of the idea behind this is to give the EMS a “gift” for their ambulance. It would help the EMS cause of saving to purchase an ambulance and still keep graduate and professional student activity fees low since the money given to EMS would not come from their activity fee.

D. Toomey asked if the GPSA could invest in an endowment.

P. McPheron also brought up the recent discussion of NYU graduate students in need.

S. Adam questioned if anyone, such as the administration, would object to the GPSA doing this.

P. Carr responded fundamentally there should be no objection. The GPSAFC is a body of GPSA.

A. Saathoff commented that in the interest of time the GPSA pass this resolution and investigate ways to spend the money at a future meeting.

V. Augusta stated they should investigate the possibility of an endowment since the idea of an endowment perpetuates a constant benefit. It could help keep future activity fees lower. She noted this is a good amount of money to start an endowment fund.

P. Carr stated in the last few years endowment accounts earned approximately 5% income.

E. Salas asked to move to question.

P. Carr said funds acting as endowment can be removed.

A. Saathoff moved to question.

V. Augusta inquired if they had to decide tonight.

G. Hurley announced the results of the GPSA’s decision on Resolution 3 would affect FPC decisions as they continue the activity fee process.

J. Siegal asked how much money was in the GPSA account.

P. Carr replied they get approximately $5, 000 in each year from the activity fee and the account had about $18,000 total.

P. Carr asked members if they would approve extending the meeting length as they were currently over in time.

Members agreed to extend the meeting.

P. Carr returned to the question of Resolution 3 and said it would be voted on as presented. A vote was taken. It was passed by the Graduate and Professional Student Assembly by a vote of 12–1. The text reads as follows:

R.3

Resolution to Transfer GPSAFC Excess Balance to GPSA

Whereas the GPSAFC has approximately $180,000 in allotted money returned to it in the past three years, which is over twice its annual budget and

Whereas the GPSA has fewer restrictions on spending than the GPSAFC and is more suited to spend that kind of money for the benefit of graduate and professional students and

Whereas the GPSAFC is a committee of the GPSA and

Whereas the requested transfer will still leave the GPSAFC a substantial balance and groups may request additional funding from the Funding Policy Committee of the GPSA,

Be It Therefore Resolved that $100,000 be transferred from the GPSAFC to the GPSA.

Respectfully submitted,

Karsten Hueffer GPSAFC Chair

Patrick Carr GPSA President

D. Funding Policy Committee Preliminary Activity Fee Recommendations and Discussion

F’00-S’02 Allocation F’02-S’04 Request Actual Increase % request increase FPC proposal Proposed increase % proposed increase Cornell Cinema Concert Commiss. CUPB Big Red Barn CUEMS ISPB GPSAFC Athletics GPSA GPSA Club

      Insurance

GPSA Orientation

      Program
$7.00

$5.75 $3.05 $4.00 $1.00 $0.70 $17.50 $6.00 $1.05 $3.30

$0.65 $9.00 $5.75 $3.05 $4.50 $1.50 $1.05 $16.00 $6.00 $1.05 $3.45

$0.65 $2.00

$0.50 $0.50 $0.35 -$1.50

$0.15

29%

13% 50% 50% -9%

5%

$9.00

$5.75 $3.05 $4.25 $1.00 $0.80 $15.00 $6.00 $1.05 $3.45

$0.65 $2.00

$0..25

$0.10 -$2.50

$0.15

29%

6%

14% -14%

5%

Total $50.00 $52.00 $2.00 4% $50.00 0.00 0%

G. Hurley proceeded to explain the chart. He noted these are proposed recommendations and the amounts are still in transition. It will be discussed more at the next COR meeting but he wanted to share the progress with the GPSA thus far. He pointed out that the Cornell Concert Commission and CUPB have not asked for an increase in funding. The Big Red Barn asked for a $0.50 increase to help expand their programming and the FPC is recommending a partial increase of $0.25. CUEMS was discussed earlier in the meeting and the FPC is exploring the idea of giving them a gift from GPSA funds rather than raising the activity fee to accommodate their request. The ISPB would like to improve its speaker program, but the FPC feels more co-sponsorship can be done and is therefore recommending a $0.10 increase to $0.80.

V. Augusta asked what the cost of the ambulance was.

G. Hurley replied it would be $120,000. EMS currently has $50,000 saved. The FPC is considering giving $2,500 per year for 5 years, to total $12,500. Whether to give that money all at once or in one-year increments is still to be decided.

G. Hurley continued that the GPSA, Athletics, and the GPSA Orientation Program would stay at their current funding allocation. Club insurance has asked for a 5% increase and the FPC felt this reasonable.

J. Siegel asked what the total amount that is under control of the GPSAFC.

G. Hurley replied they have a $180,000 surplus.

G. Hurley announced the FPC proposed budget is still in transition. He will send proposals to be discussed next meeting.

V. Augusta asked what was the cost of the ambulance?

G. Hurley responded $120,000, but CUEMS already has $50,000.

G. Hurley stated the FPC supports Cornell Cinema. After much consideration, they are recommending that the GPSA give more from the activity fee and keep the ticket prices lower.

B. Krishnamachari remarked that the GPSAFC still has such a large surplus that they could consider reducing the activity fee allocation to $13.00.

K. Hueffer replied that he didn’t think the GPSA should reduce the allocation further.

D. Toomey asked P.Carr if he spoke with athletics. He wanted to know if the requested $6.00 allocation was flexible.

P. Carr replied that athletics was non-committal.

V. Augusta commented she was concerned about the ambulance. She said she felt the GPSA should seriously consider establishing an endowment so benefits are long-term.

K. Hueffer remarked that the athletics allocation was cut by the GPSA the last time the activity fee was set and he thinks it fair to leave as is.

J. Moriarty agreed with V. Augusta, saying using money for the ambulance would be a good expenditure.

V. Augusta explained she had no problem giving them money for the ambulance but she was concerned about how that money gets distributed. Perhaps instead of giving them money directly from the $100,000 they could establish an endowment and give money from interest earned.

A. Saathoff stated the issue might not rise in the future because they’ve been handling depreciation.

P. Carr said that as of now EMS doesn’t have an ambulance.

J. Moriarty asked for a clarification. Does the GPSA giving this amount allow EMS to purchase an ambulance earlier?

J. Siegel asked if the endowment amount would decline.

P. Carr recommended a diverse portfolio.

E. Salas said the decision of allocating $100,000 from the GPSAFC to the GPSA affects how the FPC will reach their activity fee recommendations.

P. Carr asked if there were any problems with the FPC funding recommendations for these groups.

There were none.

P. Carr asked if members wanted to keep the graduate and professional student activity fee total at $50.00.

They agreed they did want this.

K. Hueffer questioned if people felt Cornell Cinema should raise their ticket prices or if the activity fee allocation should rise.

G. Hurley stated Cornell Cinema is asking for the same amount from both undergraduates and graduates. He is under the impression that the undergrads will be deciding to only fund them $8.00 instead of the requested $9.00.

B. Krishnamachari motioned to allow the increase of $2.00 to total $9.00 allotted to Cornell Cinema.

V. Augusta asked how long the Cornell Cinema’s deficit has been accumulating.

G. Hurley replied one year.

J. Sebastian commented bad films are their reasoning for last years problems. He noted this is a problem that won’t necessarily go away though they project future profits. He stated the GPSA is bailing them out and they can’t keep doing things the way they have in the past. He felt they should be encouraged to seek planning help.

A. Saathoff asked if the cinema realized they had problems.

P. Carr noted one example, which was that Cornell Cinema said they had to charge an even dollar amount for admission because it was too hard for them to make change with quarters. They apparently predicted they would keep running out of change.

S. Adam told members that the FPC should be applauded for their intensive work in this activity fee setting process.

A. Saathoff stated he felt the GPSA needed to allot enough discussion time for this at their next meeting.

K Hueffer said they could not vote on this tonight.

G. Hurley said he would email the groups requesting by-line funding to say they have general GPSA approval on the recommendations presented at this meeting. He said he would invite them to attend the next COR meeting if a group disagrees.

P. Carr announced another option, saying they could give EMS their requested $1.50 and offset that by reducing the GPSA allocation by $0.50.

A. Saathoff moved to adjourn.

This was seconded.

VII. Adjournment P. Carr adjourned the meeting at 7:03 p.m.

Respectfully Submitted, Margaret Heavey Office of the Assemblies