R.3 Regarding Communication with Graduate and Professional Students

Whereas the Graduate and Professional Student Assembly (GPSA), by virtue of its charter, is concerned with those matters directly affecting graduate and professional students at Cornell University; and

Whereas the GPSA has the responsibility to recommend the Graduate Student Fee, subject to approval of the President of Cornell University; and

Whereas the GPSA has the obligation to outreach and communicate with all graduate and professional students the setting and use of the Graduate Student Fee, advocacy issues, event related information, and opportunities for involvement; and

Whereas GPSA’s Graduate Community Initiative expresses concerns with the lack of infrastructure to support exchanges among graduate and professional students including communication; and

Whereas the gpsainfo listserve represents the main mode of communication with graduate and professional students; and

Whereas the GPSA understands that it must responsibly use its listserve by strictly limiting its use to GPSA business; and

Whereas the GPSA takes steps to honor a graduate student’s expressed desire to be removed from its listserve and has done so since the inception of the gpsainfo listserve;

Whereas the gpsainfo listserve represents an environmentally-friendly, low-cost method of communicating with its constituents;

Be it therefore resolved that the GPSA requests access to all graduate and professional student emails on a yearly basis in order to communicate with its constituency through its gpsainfo listserve.

Be it finally resolved that this resolution be sent to Susan Murphy, Vice President of Student and Academic Services and Ellen Gainor, Interim Dean of the Graduate School.

Respectfully submitted,
Mario Guerrero
Humanities Representative (Cornell Institute for Public Affairs)
Executive Vice President, GPSA