Graduate and Professional Student Assembly Minutes

Big Red Barn Greenhouse April 22, 2002 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 E P P P P Virginia Augusta P P P P P P P P P Pat Carr P P P P P P P P P Rob Chesley A A P A A A A A A Tyrell Haberkorn P E P P P P E A A Karsten Hueffer P P P P P P P P P Gavin Hurley P P P P P P P P P Bhaskar Krishnamachari A A P P E E P P P Joan Moriarty P P P P P P P P P Aaron Saathoff P P P P A P P P P Elisa Salas P P A P A P P P P Outi Salminen P E P P P P P P P John Sebastian P P P P P P P P P Jeff Siegel A A A P A A A A A David Toomey P P P P P P P P P Others Present: Phil McPheron, Lauren Mangiola, Margaret Heavey, and Bonnie Bailey

I. Call to Order P. Carr, president of the 2001–2002 GPSA, called the meeting to order at 5:30 p.m.

II. Open Forum A. Saathoff questioned how the new election process of GPSA members went.

P. Carr responded it seemed to go well.

K. Hueffer said he thought it helped to have an outgoing member facilitate the process. It was more organized.

P. Carr announced the Presidential search committee is holding a forum next Tuesday. Ads will be posted to alert the public.

G. Hurley questioned if grads will be on the search committee.

P. Carr responded yes and noted he is currently serving in that capacity.

P. Carr announced the GPSA is consulted about the University Academic. They have been asked to review the years of 2005/06–2006/07. He clarified the GPSA is asked to review the calendar and can ask that dates be reconsidered if they disagree with something, but the GPSA can’t actually change the calendar as they are being consulted in an advisory capacity.

A member noted the 2005/2006 academic year starts earlier in August than earlier years.

P. Carr replied it’s the way the calendar year falls; it’ll work out differently the following year.

A. Saathoff moved to approve the calendar and another member seconded.

The GPSA approved the 2005/06–2006/07 University Academic Calendar by a vote of 8–0.

III. Approval of March 25, 2002 GPSA Minutes The minutes were approved as amended.

IV. Committee Reports This item was not discussed.

V. Business of the Day A. GPSA Endowment S. Adam asked members to refer to their handouts and noted this issue was taken to the last COR meeting for feedback. A straw poll was taken to try to gauge opinion. Investing the money in a short-term account received 17 votes and investing the money in a long-term account received 11.

P. Carr asked what the committee recommended.

S. Adam asked members to refer to appendix 1 from the handout (below) and summarized the different options.

INVESTMENT OPTIONS FOR GPSA’s $100,000.00

SHORT-TERM INVESTMENT LONG-TERM INVESTMENT

� $50,000.00 minimum to set up account � no minimum required to set up account � $50,000.00 average balance required � money expected to stay in investment It acts as a Funds functioning as Endowment account. (Money should be left alone.) � works like a savings account � works like a mutual fund � receives interest once annually (June) � receives interest once annually (June) � interest is based on the average balance. 2002 interest is 4% � interest for 2002 is $2.70 per share. The current market value is approx. $47.00-$48.00 per share. � There are no penalties for withdrawal. Since this account is set up as a savings account, money can be withdrawn as needed, or bills can paid from it. It would be similar to the current GPSA operating account. � money invested is supposed to be left alone. The spendable portions would be the interest earned, although there would be ways to touch the principle investments if absolutely needed. � money “safer” since it’s similar to a savings account � money fluctuates with the market. There could be losses. There are also higher gains when the market is good.

V. Augusta commented she thought it absurd that someone thought they could throw a big party with the money. She favored investing it long-term.

J. Moriarty said she favored short-term, but acknowledged the market historically does better over the long-term.

G. Hurley said he also favored the short-term option; they could implement this now and change it to long-term later if they wanted. He felt they’ve had limited consultation with their constituents and suggested moving it to a short-term investment account now and revisit the issue next year.

A. Saathoff questioned what types of things people are thinking of doing with the money. He noted some people have mentioned using it for capital projects.

G. Hurley replied that Cornell Cinema had already approached him.

K. Hueffer said he favored long-term; he is concerned with how money will be spent. He’s heard a number of grads talk of spending the money and he’s concerned this will happen and then the money would be gone. Additionally, a long-term account earns more interest.

V. Augusta commented she didn’t feel the $100,000.00 is “our money.” However, the GPSA should be entitled to spend the interest earned. She noted she had a hard time thinking of capital projects without also thinking of maintenance. She encouraged members to think of the interest, not the overall amount.

D. Toomey said he favored long-term investment; stocks always do better than bonds.

A. Saathoff said he agreed with Virginia, if this group decided to go with short-term, it should have very clear guidelines.

K. Hueffer responded to G. Hurley’s point of about revisiting the issue. He noted this topic had already been considered for half the year and felt that delaying a decision even longer wouldn’t help.

S. Adam added he didn’t think long-term investing would completely lock the money up.

G. Hurley said he saw the money as more of a short-term investment option. He reiterated they haven’t sought enough input. He suggested adding a clause to revisit this issue if the group didn’t agree.

J. Moriarty said she agrees with Gavin.

P. Carr asked if there was more discussion.

There was no further discussion.

A vote was taken to determine which option the GPSA preferred. Investing the $100,000 in a long-term investment account received 5 votes and investing it in a short-term account received 4 votes.

A move was made to vote on the resolution as a whole.

V. Augusta recommended that the next GPSA form a group at the start of next year to consider ways to spend this money.

K. Hueffer stated he and P. Carr would write a letter to the President providing the necessary details to move the money.

P. McPheron commented it sounded as if the GPSA should specify guidelines for spending the money.

V. Augusta said what made the difference for her to vote in favor of the long-term investment was that the GPSA would use only the interest earned instead of delving into the principle.

The resolution passed by a vote of 7–2. It reads: R.8

Resolution to Invest GPSAFC Excess Balance

WHEREAS, the GPSA recently resolved to transfer the GPSAFC excess budget of $100,000 to the GPSA account;

WHEREAS, these funds are currently not receiving any interest;

BE IT THEREFORE RESOLVED that these funds be invested in a long term Funds functioning as Endowment account;

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that all returns on the above investment shall be used to pay for activities and programs that benefit the Cornell Community.

Respectfully submitted,

Gavin Hurley, Karsten Hueffer, Shaffique Adam, Virginia Augusta

B. Travel Grant S. Adam noted that O. Salminen’s name should be added to the list of sponsors in the resolution.

K. Hueffer questioned if the overall amount of the grant is fixed. Is there an overall cap per location?

S. Adam replied yes, the allotment is broken down by area.

G. Hurley said he understood the last clause, but didn’t like the word “discontinue”.

A member asked if some grads have gotten turned down when requesting a travel grant.

S. Adam noted the grad school hasn’t judged incoming requests and there has been a 100% acceptance rate.

A. Saathoff recommended amending the language to read, “allow only one award per person” instead of, “discontinue.”

J. Moriarty suggested changing, “discontinue” to “prioritize first time.”

P. Carr said they couldn’t really do that.

V. Augusta questioned if they could drop the clause.

J. Sebastian said Sarah Hale really wanted the last clause included.

G. Hurley questioned if the grant award amounts would increase.

J. Sebastian said the grant amounts wouldn’t increase, however there would be more flexibility in spending the allocated money.

V. Augusta suggested changing the wording to, “one grant per grad per year.”

A. Saathoff inquired how many students get a second grant.

J. Sebastian estimated about 50 students out of 550.

J. Sebastian said he would be willing to give up a second grant to allow more spending flexibility for the first grant.

P. McPheron questioned if unspent money reverts back to the travel fund. If it reverts, does this mean more people are able to get travel grants? He wondered if having more flexibility with spending the money would result in people spending more of their allotted grant money and therefore fewer grants would be awarded overall.

J. Sebastian replied S. Hale seemed to think not.

P. McPheron asked if, “single academic year” referred to two semester or if summers were included.

Members couldn’t remember the deadline dates associated with travel grants.

J. Sebastian said they would presume the calendar would stay the same and suggested they strike, “academic” from the last clause. It was also pointed out that they should reverse the words, “further” and “therefore” in the third and fourth clauses.

The GPSA unanimously voted to pass the resolution as amended. It reads: R.9

Resolution on Increasing the Flexibility of the Graduate School Travel Grant

WHEREAS, the Graduate School has a fund of $240,000 that is disbursed each year to cover travel costs for graduate students attending conferences; and

WHEREAS, the GPSA is cognizant that travel is not the only expense that inhibits graduate students from attending conferences,

BE IT THEREFORE RESOLVED, that the GPSA request the Graduate School to expand the covered expenses to include travel, conference fees, lodging and meals.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the GPSA request the Graduate School to discontinue providing a second award to the same student in a single year.

Respectfully Submitted,

Shaffique Adam GPSA Arts & Sciences, Physical Sciences Representative

John Sebastian Outi Salminen GPSA At-large Representative GPSA Vice President

C. GPSA Charter Amendment A. Saathoff said the idea behind amending Article 3.1.3 is to provide some mechanism to ensure notice for resolutions one meeting in advance.

K. Hueffer inquired how would this work.

P. Carr said previous notice meant it has to be in previous scope.

K. Hueffer noted they would have run into trouble with the GPSA reorganization process.

A. Saathoff said there would always be gray areas. This resolution provides a formal way to obtain COR input.

J. Moriarty moved to vote and this was seconded.

P. Carr noted a 2/3 vote was needed to pass this resolution as this would result an amendment to the Charter.

The GPSA unanimously voted to pass the resolution as presented. It reads: R.7

Resolution to amend Article 3 of the GPSA Charter

WHEREAS, changes to the GPSA Charter and Bylaws are of an important nature and deserve adequate prior notice for meaningful discussion and consideration, and

WHEREAS, the GPSA Charter currently lacks a mechanism to ensure prior notice for Charter and Bylaw amendments;

BE IT THEREFORE RESOLVED that the following section be added to Article 3 of the GPSA Charter:

3.1.3 Any Charter or Bylaw amendment must be presented in writing to all GPSA members at least one regularly scheduled GPSA meeting prior to the meeting where the amendment will be considered.

Respectfully Submitted,

Aaron J. Saathoff GPSA CALS Biological Sciences Representative

D. Contribution to BRB Picnic O. Salminen announced that plans for the end-of-year grad. barbecue have been moving forward. The GPSA needed to decide how much money to allocate for this event. She summarized the options, which included having more food, free beer, and a DJ. One proposal extended the 4–7 p.m. BRB barbecue into a GPSA party lasting until midnight. She asked for comments.

P. Carr inquired what O. Salminen’s recommendations were.

A. Saathoff questioned how many people usually attend.

O. Salminen replied 300–400 people.

A member asked what the projected increase on attendance would be if they extended the hours.

This wasn’t known.

S. Adam questioned the maximum amount of money that could be spent.

P. Carr responded the maximum allocation is $2400.

S. Adam said he would prefer allocating the money differently.

J. Moriarty asked if S. Adam was volunteering to be on the planning committee?

S. Adam questioned what the BRB is spending.

O. Salminen replied $800.

A. Saathoff inquired if there would be free beer throughout the event. He expressed concern about responsibility and liability.

P. McPheron noted the GPSA might have to supply alcohol monitors.

K. Hueffer said he didn’t feel comfortable with the idea of unlimited free beer. He suggested limiting the amount per person if it would be free.

V. Augusta said one way to control this would be to shorten the time, perhaps from 5–8 p.m.

G. Hurley inquired if there was a way to check if participant’s were grads.

P. McPheron said the BRB would be responsible for checking id’s.

A. Saathoff suggested 1–2 free beers, or stamping a limit.

V. Augusta suggested amending the amount allotted to $1500.

J. Sebastian replied if they pay for food and entertainment there would not be much money left for beer.

D. Toomey suggested amending the amount to $1800.

P. Carr asked if there were objections.

No objections were raised and the GPSA approved allocating $1,800 to co-sponsor the BRB end of year barbecue.

E. Standing Rules P. Carr summarized changes made to the document and noted it differed slightly from what he’d originally sent. Section 1.1 changed the word “under” to “up to…” He had first tried to specify the meeting days and months in 2.1 but realized there are often exceptions due to breaks that made being too specific more difficult.

P. Carr noted section 4 would need previous notice and majority.

D. Toomey expressed concern with “majority voting.” He felt it doesn’t reflect diversity.

A. Saathoff said similarities in areas would still exist.

J. Moriarty moved to vote on the standing rules and this was seconded.

The GPSA voted to approve the standing rules by a vote of 8–0. They read:

Standing Rules and Special Rules of Order Graduate and Professional Student Assembly

Section 1: Financial 1.1. Financial requests of the GPSA up to $500 shall be dispensed with by the Funding Policy Committee (FPC). 1.2. Financial requests over $500 shall be brought to the GPSA by the FPC chair with a recommendation from the FPC.

Section 2: Meetings 2.1. Meetings of the GPSA shall be from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. 2.2. The organizational meeting for next year’s COR and GPSA shall be following the COR and GPSA meetings in April. 2.3. GPSA-L shall carry discussions related to the activities of the GPSA/COR and issues of campus governance relevant to graduate and professional students at Cornell University. Please limit posts to plain text.

Section 3: Election of the GPSA 3.1. At the organizational COR meeting, the COR shall retire to their caucuses to elect the GPSA. These sessions shall be run by previously-selected moderators who will preferably be retiring GPSA members. 3.2. Election of GPSA members from their COR areas shall require majority. 3.3. COR members shall cast one ballot, listing m candidates where m is the number of GPSA seats available. 3.4. Once a candidate achieves a majority, he/she shall be declared elected. 3.5. If m candidates are not chosen on the first ballot, repeat ballots shall be taken. The lowest candidate shall not be dropped from contention in subsequent ballots. 3.6. The professional schools shall select their GPSA representatives by what-ever means they choose. It is recommended that it be by election by students or their representatives.

Section 4: Amendment and Suspension 4.1. Rules in this document that are in the nature of rules of order may be suspended by a 2/3 vote. 4.2. Special rules of order may be adopted or amended by a 2/3 vote. 4.3. Rules in the document which are standing rules may be suspended by majority vote. 4.4. Standing rules may be adopted or amended by majority vote.

As passed by the Graduate and Professional Student Assembly by a vote of 8–0 on 04/22/02.

VI. Adjournment The meeting was adjourned at 6:53 p.m.

Respectfully Submitted, Margaret Heavey Office of the Assemblies