Graduate and Professional Student Assembly
Minutes
Big Red Barn
August 30, 2004
5:30–7:00 p.m.

Attendance:

Present: Ken Bedell, Anne Beggs, Harley Etienne, Sara Hernandez, Brian Holmes, Michelle Leinfelder, Tim McConnochie, Joshua Nelson, Kevin O’Neill, Anne Poduska, Amanda Soule

Excused:Ruchira Bhattamishra, Kathy Crowley, Amanda Felkey

Unexcused: Jennifer Awrey, Geeta Bhadauria, Sara Gomez-Ibanez, Carol Harbison

Others present: T. Bishop, Y. Tsuei, V. Blodgett, K. White, D. Nowak

I. Call to Order

B. Holmes called the meeting to order at 5:34pm.

II. Introductions

We went around the room and everybody introduced themselves.

III. Announcements and Updates

A. Gearing up for 2004–05 — B. Holmes, H. Etienne, T. McConnochie

B. Holmes mentioned that this year there was an orientation for new grad students, which included a resource fair in Trillium. He was able to pass our many flyers and try to get people to get involved in GPSA.

B. Holmes said that there are 10 fields that do not have representatives and that we should get them to attend the meetings. He said that we need a new room for council meetings. The first one will be held on September 13th in G10 Biotech. Then the memorial room is reserved for the rest of the meetings, except for the first day.

B. Holmes said “COR” will no longer be used as an abbreviation because outsiders do not know what it stands for. Therefore the new nickname will be “council.” B. Holmes said that attendance will be important for both council and GPSA meetings; if unable to go, contact B. Holmes.

H. Etienne said to check out the new website because it was redone and reorganized and contains a lot of useful information. The members need to pass on this information to the constituents. T. McConnochie said that the website can be used to apply for assemblies. There is currently a vacancy in the General Committee and the spot needs to be filled up this week. It’s a 2 year commitment.

T. McConnochie said that every committee needs to be kept track of better than it was in the past by appointing one person for every committee to the international operations committee. Also if people bring up issues, they should follow up on it.

B. Council elections update — J. Nelson

J. Nelson said that elections need to be held by September 8th and if there are areas that do not have elections, he needs to be contacted about it. The website elections page has more information.

H. Etienne added that people should look at the representative fields in each grad school area to make sure all of the empty seats are filled up.

C. Events Planning Committee update — M. Leinfelder

A BBQ is trying to be planned for assembly members so they could bond. GPSA will sponsor the meat and attendees should bring drinks/side dishes (alcohol is allowed). The members voted on times to have the BBQ, possible times are on Friday or Sunday afternoon.

D. Other Updates

There were none.

IV. Open Forum

Victoria said that the child peer grant is available up to $5000 per person/per family for grad and undergrad, which is on the grad school website. Career services will see grad students except students from the arts colleges.

B. Holmes mentioned that 2 blue line buses were cancelled and that TCAT did not notify the school. Something should be done about it.

V. Business of the Day

A. R. 1, Resolution Regarding Pay and Benefits Priorities — A. Poduska and B. Holmes

A. Poduska discussed R. 1, Resolution Regarding Pay and Benefits Priorities. She added that the dollar amount of how much is invested in grad students should be compared to other schools. The amount of insurance and the actual price should be compared with actual figures.

B. Holmes wanted to start the resolution now and wanted assembly/officers to set agendas.

The motion was carried.

B. Funding request — NAGPS Membership — K. O’Neill

K. O’Neill discussed the funding request and how it has changed. The assembly members asked about tangible benefits to being part of NAGPS, which is the discount to their conference and the prestige.

C. Priority Setting for 2004–05

H. Etienne gave an overview of the GPSA Issues and Campaigns.

B. Holmes mentioned the issues and campaigns that were external (Academic Integrity, Career Counseling for Ph.D. students pursuing academic careers, Health Center Resources, Mental health resources, and Transportation). Three issues agreed upon to discuss during the retreat are International graduate and professional students, Diversity (there are no GPSA members on the direct council), Transportation, and Health Center Resources.

VI. Adjournment

B. Holmes adjourned the meeting at 7:02.

Respectfully submitted,
YuhLi Tsuei
Office of the Assemblies