MINUTES
Graduate & Professional Student Assembly
GPSA Discussion Meeting
Monday, October 15th, 2012
Bache Auditorium, Malott Hall
5:30–7:00 P.M.

I. Welcome and Introductions (0:00:18.5)

A. Introduction of Voting Members

M. Paine called the fourth meeting of the Graduate and Professional Student Assembly to order at 5:32p.m. M. Paine then took attendance and introduced the presenters for the evening.

Present: N. Baran, A. Black, E. Cortens, G. Danies Turano, J. Drews, D. Evensen, T. Gandhi, J. Hill, M. Holden, W. Kreuser, H. Liu, R. Moore, E. Newbury, M. Paine, E. Rager, E. Smith,

Absent: A. Enders, M. Tootill, X. Zhao

Also Attending: L. Majini, A. O’Donnell, M. Rauker, S. Riley, D. Thompson

B. Presentation and Guided Discussion on Graduate and Professional Student Housing (0:02:26.5)

C. On Campus Housing- Linda Majini (0:03:57.0)

L. Majini explained that there are currently eight hundred graduate students who live in on campus housing. This, however, is a problem since there are over 6,000 graduate students at Cornell. She stated that at Hasbrouck Apartments there are 361 students, at Maple Wood there are 362 contract holders, Thurston has twenty single student only contract holders, and Hughes Apartments house forty-six students. In each of the housing locations, the population of inhabitants is quite diverse ranging from single students to families. L. Majini said that as the residential programs it is their responsibility to ensure that there are activities for the students and their families as well as ensuring their safety and security. M. Paine clarified that about 12% of graduate students live in on-campus housing. The floor was then open for questions.

D. Off Campus Housing- Denise Thompson (0:06:10.5)

D. Thompson explained the set up of her office for off campus residents. The office goes through the NYC State laws to help residents with their leases and once a lease is signed how to deal with issues regarding their landlords. If people have issues or concerns, they are encouraged to bring them to the office and receive assistance. She also explained that the office sends out biweekly newsletters via email, which are sent to all Cornell Students who do not have a current housing contract with Cornell.

M. Paine stated that the rental commission for the city helps to advise the mayor regarding rentals in Ithaca. The Ithaca community is made up of about seventy percent rental facilities and thus this is a very large issue for the city. He explained that the prices in Ithaca are extremely high due to a number of factors, but mainly due to the vacancy rates. Normal vacancy rates are about 10% which means that landlords have to search for tenants; however, in Collegetown the vacancy rate is about 0.5% and thus the landlords do not have to search for tenants.

The GPSA then broke out into discussion groups. One group focused on on-campus housing while the two other groups focused on off-campus housing. At the end of the break out session the notes from each of the groups were collected and the information will be compiled and sent to the appropriate groups.

II. Approval of the Minutes (0:13:45.6)

A. September 24, 2012

M. Paine asked for any amendments to the minutes. He then called for any objections to the approval of the minutes. Upon hearing none, the minutes from September 24, 2012 were approved.

III. Report of Officers and Standing Committees

A. Executive Committee- M. Paine (0:14:20.2)

M. Paine said that he was contacted by someone from the Right to Research group, which helps to make journals and information available to graduate students. He asked that is any GPSA members are interested in becoming involved in this group to please contact him. E. Smith reminded the GPSA that there are still positions on committees that need to be filled and to email him if members are interested.

B. Appropriations- W. Kreuser (0:16:06.7)

B. Kreuser told the GPSA that if they still have receipts to bring them into him. He also explained that the Byline Funding Committees will begin meeting this semester and it is currently looking for one more member. Any GPSA members who are interested in serving on the committee should contact W. Kreuser for more information.

C. Communications- M. Cerroni (0:16:40.6)

M. Cerroni asked that if anyone has any information they would like added to The Buzz to please email him.

D. Finance Commission- V. Pagay(0:16:53.5)

V. Pagay stated that the finance commission has met twice this semester and have already approved over seventy budget requests. The money will be available by the end of the week of October 15–19th. He also said that emails have been sent out informing the groups who applied before September 28th about their funding. The next round of consideration for funding will be at the November 1, 2012 meeting.

E. Graduate and Professional Student Programming Board- K. Roosa and G. Danies Turano (0:17:46.5)

D. Danies Turano stated there is a mixer on Thursday, October 18th between the Law School and the Physical Science School; however, all graduate and professional students are invited. They will also be having a “nerd” night during the week of October 22nd.

F. Student Advocacy- Y. Izrayelit (0:18:50.4)

The group had their first meeting and has decided to host a town hall meeting. Currently, the group has reserved the Willard Straight Memorial Room for November 15th from 7:00–9:00pm. Y. Izrayelit asked for the GPSA members’ help in brainstorming themes that students would want to discuss at this forum. The top goal of the forum is to create a space where students can voice concerns. Y. Izrayelit is hoping that there will be four to five themes that can be discussed and he presented a couple of different ideas such as: inclusion, community, and health. If any members have more ideas or would like to help with the forum please email Y. Izrayelit.

IV. Old Business (0:21:24.2)

A. Resolution 6- V. Pagay(0:21:30.2)

M. Paine explained that this resolution was proposed at the prior GPSA meeting and that the newly amended version is now up for discussion and a vote. He then opened the floor for discussion on resolution six. E. Cortens explained that the change in language reflects the way the GPSA has been handling these issues for years now. It is not a radical shift but more of a change that reflects what has been occurring for years. W. Kreuser called to question. The call to question was seconded. The GPSA members voted by placard and by a vote of 14:0 the resolution was adopted.

V. New Business (0:25:04.7)

A. Resolution 7: Approval of Edits to the Graduate and Professional Student Programming Board Charter- K. Roosa and G. Danies Turano (0:15:07.0)

G. Danies Turano explained that the changes made to the charter include changing the language so that it no longer stated that there were a maximum number of people. They also amended the number of people who have to remain for two years from four to two people, since it was difficult for four people to committee for this amount of time. M. Paine then opened the floor for discussion.

E. Cortens proposed a few small amendments. He proposed that the nomenclature remain the same throughout the entire resolution, using Charter instead of Resolution or Constitution. He also proposed the following amendment to line 3 of the resolution so that it would read “that the charter be amended.” His final amendment was to line ten, he suggested that the language be modified so that the charter should be adopted indefinitely; therefore, the GPSA does not have to re-vote on the issue every year. N. Baran made a motion to approve the amendments to the resolution. G. Danies Turano seconded the motion and the amendments were approved.

There was no further discussion on the amendment. M. Paine asked the voting members to vote by placard. Resolution 7 was adopted by a vote of 14:0.

B. Resolution 8: Creation of the Space Utilization Study Ad Hoc Committee- M. Paine (0:35:00.8)

M. Paine said that the space utilization group has asked for the GPSA’s help to create input sessions. In response to this, the GPSA has decided to create an ad hoc committee to help the group with this task. He explained that the time commitment would be minimal for the committee members. M. Paine then opened the floor for discussion.

E. Cortens asked about the second resolved clause regarding one person being able to represent two groups. M. Paine explained that the only case that the clause would cover is for the members of the executive committee who are also able to represent their college. N. Baran clarified that if people vote on this resolution that some members will be expected to serve on this committee. She also said that one of the roles of people on the committee will be to provide tours of their representative areas.

H. Lieu said that the Law School has a Dean who is in charge of space utilization in the Law School. He asked if there are other schools that have this and whether this committee is necessary. M. Paine explained that this Space Utilization study is for the entire campus.

The resolution was then moved to a vote. Resolution 8 passed with a vote of 14:0. People interested in serving on the committee will be receiving an email.

VI. Open Forum (0:43:36.7)

There was no open forum for this meeting.

VII. Adjournment (0:43:51.8)

M. Paine asked if there was any opposition to adjourning the meeting. Hearing none, the Graduate and Professional Student meeting of October 15, 2012 was adjourned at 6:53pm.

Respectfully submitted,

Claire Lender

Assembly Clerk