GPSA Council of Representatives
Monday, September 8, 2008
Memorial Room, Willard Straight Hall
5:30–7:00pm

I. Welcome and Introductions (10 min.)

a. GPSA Introductions

M. Guerrero called the meeting to order at 5:34 p.m. and welcomed the group. He introduced himself, M. Leinfelder, D. Rose from the GPSA and Ellen Gainor from the Graduate School. E. Gainor introduced herself and explained that Dean Power will be on sabbatic this fall, so she will be Acting Dean of the Graduate School. She asked everyone to bring their concerns to the GPSA officers since they will be meeting with her in Dean Powers’ absence. E. Gainor then introduced some of her colleagues; Terry Plater, Sarah Hale, and Brenda Wickes. B. Wickes made an announcement about an event that will be held at the Big Red Barn on September 11th from 6–8 p.m. J. Kupferschmidt asked what the main issues were this year? E. Gainor replied they were going to continue responding to the GCI and they planed to raise and enhance the mentorship program.

M. Guerrero then invited the student elected trustees (SET) to introduce themselves. Mike Walsh introduced himself as the newly elected student trustee, and explained how there have always been student elected trustees, but it was only last year there became one grad and one undergrad student trustee. Kate Duch then introduced herself as the senior SET and told people to feel free to contact her if anyone has graduate student related issues.

b. Introductions of the Office of Assemblies staff and others

M. Guerrero introduced Amy O’Donnell and Elly Shin from the Office of the Assemblies and then introduced Vincent Andrews, this years’ liaison from the Student Assembly.

II. Background of the GPSA and Council of Representatives (5 min.)

M. Guerrero briefly explained the difference between the GPSA and the Council of Representatives. He noted the GPSA was currently looking for representatives from many fields and asked members to pass the word to others in their department.

III. Open Forum (10 min.)

N. Brideau introduced himself and explained he is the grad representative to the University Neighborhood Council (UNC). He said another member on the UNC is on the Board for “Ithaca Carshare.” He said it was an idea that is in practice now where people pay to become members so they can borrow cars or trucks regularly or as needed. He explained the membership fee is being subsidized by Cornell, and there is a special price for those who enroll by September 15.

S. Pardo said there was a call to form the Academic Integrity committee again at the last UA meeting. The UA is looking for a grad representative to this committee, and he encouraged members to e-mail him if they were interested.

M. Leinfelder handed out flyers for “Grad Nite Out” and asked people to post them around their buildings. She then noted that President Skorton and VP Murphy were coming to the GPSA meeting on September 22nd and encouraged members to come if they could.

IV. Executive Updates (10 min.)

a. President (Michelle Leinfelder)

i. Retreat

M. Leinfelder announced the GPSA assembly members had held a retreat for voting members on September 7th to discuss goals for the coming year. She asked people to feel free to talk to any of the assembly members if they were interested in learning more about what was discussed. She said she also plans to send the list of goals around over e-mail.

ii. Geneva visit

M. Leinfelder also announced the GPSA members had visited Geneva at the end of August in order to better connect graduate students between the Ithaca and Geneva campuses. The Ithaca members decided it was important to find out more about the Geneva students’ concerns. They also met with the Student Association of the Geneva Experiment Station (SAGES).

iii. Provost Committee

M. Leinfelder explained that the university was in a transition period. She said the university was in the process of selecting a new provost and wanted input from graduate students, so she is serving on the selection committee. The acting provost is David Harris.

b. Vice President of Operations (Deondra Rose)

i. Committee Sign-ups

D. Rose explained that one of her responsibilities was to get graduate student representatives on committees. She said there are currently openings on several committees, and encouraged people to consider serving on at least one. She asked people to go to the GPSA website and sign up with their contact information. She then introduced the chairs of each committee.

ii. Events Chair Election

D. Rose said the GPSA needs someone to serve as the Events committee chair. M. Guerrero announced the election for this position will be at the first GPSA meeting on September 22nd.

c. Executive Vice President (Mario Guerrero)

i. GPSA Info

M. Guerrero had a report from the GPSA Communications committee. The GPSA regular newsletter would go out to every graduate student who signed up for the list-serve. However, the first one will go out to all graduate students because it is important for graduate students to know what the GPSA was working on as well as how their student activity fees were used. Students can opt out of the list-serve after that if they wish. The first newsletter is scheduled to go out September 15th. He said if anyone was willing to help with this to talk to him after the meeting.

ii. Orientation Recap

M. Guererro said that during the graduate student orientation, M. Leinfelder attended many events in order to present what GPSA was doing.

V. Committee Reports (10 min.)

a. Advocacy Committee (Brian Forster)

B. Forster introduced himself and B. Horgan and gave the members a bit of background on the Advocacy Committee. He explained last year there was a resolution proposed to rename the Pay and Benefits Committee to the Student Advocacy Committee. He briefly went through the composition of the committee and then discussed what activities and concerns they had met about over the summer. As for concerns relating to Geneva Health Care Insurance, he said going to Gannett Health Center was not convenient for Geneva grad students. B. Horgan discussed the lack of mental health care and the new parental accommodation policy for grad students. She said there is a contact and information sheet in process now, and it would be posted on the website when it was finished.

VI. Other Reports (25 min.)

a. Office of workforce Diversity, Equity and Life Quality: Presentation by Andrea Haenlin-Mott and Katherine Fahey (handout)

K. Fahey introduced herself and said she and A. Heanlin-Mott were here to talk about Cornell University Comprehensive Strategic Framework for Disability Access Management on the Ithaca campus, Faculty, Staff and Students. K. Fahey said the project started a couple of years ago with a disability task force and a website, but before that efforts were scattered.

A. Heanlin-Mott said this issued includes more than wheelchairs and allergies. There is also law compliance, audits and other problems. She said people did not usually think about disability in the context of diversity but it was important to implement that. K. Fahey said incorporating disability issues into the university diversity initiative was important and educating the whole university about disability issues was a big part. The Cornell community and the Ithaca community need to know about access in order to build better relationships. For example, graduate students with disabilities were eligible to ask for accommodation, employment, etc. so they have the same access to every program and recreational activity. She then explained the six priority areas of the project; physical access, educational programs, technology, communication, employment and emergency preparedness. She said they are getting feedback on the six priority areas as their next step, and implementation should be in July 2009. She said she would welcome feedback on any aspect of the priority areas.

J. Kupferschmidt asked where to find the information on website. K. Fahey gave the webpage address and their e-mail addresses. M. Leinfelder explained this attachment was circulated earlier by email, and there were a few extra copies available to share.

M. Leinfelder asked if there was a better transportation plan than CU Lift for students with disabilities. She said last year there was a grad student who got injured and CU Lift’s would not go downtown to pick her up. K. Fahey answered that CU Lift was only designed to move people around campus, but new transportation systems for both students and employees is part of the plan. M. Leinfelder asked where the funding for these plans came from. A. Heanlin-Mott said there was no budget, that they were trying to incorporate changes based on their priority into existing construction projects. She also noted there had been a significant increase in the number of faculty, employees and students who need accommodation recently.

M. Guerrero thanked K. Fahey and A. Heanlin-Mott for coming. He then asked the members to sign the sign-in sheet so he could update the list-serve. He reminded the attendees to contact him if they wanted to be added to list-serve.

VII. Election of two Assembly Seats (20 min.)

a. Two Master’s degree seats

M. Leinfelder explained the purpose of these seats. She said there were originally 17 seats, most of which were filled by PhD students. The GPSA felt they were not representing Masters students well and amended the charter to make two new seats specifically for Masters students. One of them was specifically for an MEng (Master’s of Engineering) student and the other seat would be elected from any field. Those who were to be elected would become one of the 19 voting members. M. Guerrero opened the floor for nominations. He nominated Mario Roman. Sasikrishnan Subramanian nominated himself.

M. Guerrero asked for a motion to close nominations. M. Leinfelder made a motion to close nominations. B. Forster seconded.

M. Guerrero then asked the candidates to give a 1–2 minute statement. S. Subramanian introduced himself as an MEng student in chemical engineering. M. Roman introduced himself as a student of fiber science and apparel design. J. Kupferschmidt then asked the candidates to identify a priority issue for GPSA. M. Roman said it was the accessibility of mental health and S. Subramanian said it was budget and funding opportunities for master’s degree students.

M. Guerrero then asked the members to vote by acclamation. J. Kupferschmidt made a motion to approve both candidates by acclamation. M. Leinfelder seconded. There were 26 yes, 0 opposed and 0 abstentions.

M. Guerrero asked people to review the Graduate Community Initiative on the GPSA website to learn more about the GPSA’s goals. He then reminded everyone there was a list of meetings available to pick up, and they are welcome to attend the next GPSA meeting on September 22nd.

VIII. Motion to Adjournment

M. Guerrero asked for a motion to adjourn the meeting. B. Forster made a motion to adjourn the meeting. C. Mansfeldt seconded.

M. Guerrero adjourned the meeting at 6:54 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,
Elly Shin
Office of the Assemblies