MINUTES
Graduate & Professional Student Assembly
GPSA Discussion Meeting
Monday, October 29, 2012
Bache Auditorium, Malott Hall
5:30—7:00 P.M.

I. Welcome, Guests and Introductions (0:0:14)

M. Paine called the meeting to order at 5:33 pm.

1. Introduction of voting members, 1 min. (0:0:41)

Voting members present: N. Baran, A. Black, G. Danies Turano, J. Drews, T. Gandhi, J. Hill, M. Holden, W. Kreuser, R. Moore, E. Newbury, M. Paine, M. Tootill
Voting members absent: H. Liu, A. Moore, E. Rager, E. Smith, X. Zhao.

2. Barbara Knuth, Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School & Jan Allen, Associate Dean of Student & Academic Affairs, 25 min. (0:1:57)

Jan Allen was unfortunately unable to attend the meeting due to Hurricane Sandy.

Barbara Knuth came to speak about progress that has been made with the Graduate Community Initiative. She became the Dean of the graduate school in 2010, so progress has been made by a variety of staff members since the GCI was first implemented. Knuth began her presentation by mentioning the various new graduate school staff members and how their work ties in to the goals of the GCI.

Jan Allen is the new Associate Dean of Student & Academic Affairs. She has been helping to improve academic programs, dissertation support, and research support, among other ways to support the academic skill sets of students.

Jana Lamey is the new Assistant Dean of Student Life and she has been focusing on the aspects of graduate life that are more related to personal matters, rather than academic matters. Her work has included budgeting workshops and career-finding workshops for spouses of graduate and professional students. She will also be working with the GPSA Student Advocacy Committee to talk about the support structures available for graduate students.

Finally, Sheri Notaro, the Associate Dean for Inclusion and Professional Development, offers workshops and seminars for the benefit of the graduate community.

Together, these people and numerous other staff members are working to bring about a better picture of the opportunities available to graduate and professional students.

Additionally, Cornell has recently joined CU-CIRTL (Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching, and Learning), a consortium of 25 nationwide institutions that provides teaching professional development for graduate students through online and on-campus events.

B. Knuth said that the GPSA’s efforts to update the GCI are in fact getting the attention of upper level administrators like President Skorton. The first major theme of the GCI is to provide a centralized space specifically for graduate students. However, right now, the graduate school is trying to make use of what they have- the Big Red Barn. Knuth said she doesn’t think there will be a brand new space built for the graduate community within her lifetime. As such, the graduate school has formed a Big Red Barn Advisory Board to help shape the vision for the Big Red Barn.

B. Knuth also talked about how The Center for Teaching Excellence has expanded its options for students within the graduate school. Another achievement for the GCI is the fact that the graduate school now sends all registered graduate students weekly announcements about the variety of events and activities available to them. If anyone has input about these announcements, these comments should be conveyed to the GPSA.

Another goal of the GCI is to create more space for graduate school activities. B. Knuth noted how Caldwell Hall now has shared office space for various graduate organizations, including the GPSA where student leaders together in one place. This office includes shared desks and file spaces that groups can use. Knuth is also working with those involved in the University Space Utilization Study to assess graduate and community spaces across campus.

Knuth then discussed how the graduate school is working to enhance graduate and professional student identity on campus. The graduate student weekly email announcements are one aspect of this process. Knuth has also begun to mail out personal congratulations letters to all students who complete their A or B exams. These letters include practical information about research/dissertation resources and career services resources.

Knuth also discussed the implementation of a series of four surveys for graduate and professional students. In the summer, there was an admitted student survey sent out to target why some people chose not to come to Cornell. There was also a new student survey in September, and there will be student experience and exit surveys as well.

Another major goal of the GCI is improved career services for graduate and professional students. As a result, Anne Poduska was hired to help out with career services for international students. Additionally, for those with partners who live in Ithaca as well, Cornell Human Resources is now offering workshops for student partners to learn about regional job search strategies. Jana Lamey has spearheaded these efforts and there will be more workshops to come in January.

Finally, in order to increase graduate student involvement with the community and improve graduate student mental health issues, the graduate school has developed programs with ClearPoint, a non-profit, personal financial management firm. ClearPoint will assist graduate students who need to plan on how to make their dollars stretch over the course of a semester.

Y. Izrayelit asked about the various surveys mentioned by Knuth and how to access survey information.

B. Knuth said survey results would be posted online and reports would be posted as well.

M. Paine said that several individuals on the GPSA would be interested in helping to compile these reports.

T. Gandhi asked about resources and programming within the graduate school that is specifically geared towards women who are interested in going into academic fields.

B. Knuth said that the Office of Postdoctoral Studies is open to all students but she will ask them about resources that are specific to women.

A. Poduska said the Association for Women in Science has these types of programs for women.

P. Ross asked about for more information on how to gain assistance from ClearPoint.

B. Knuth said this information has already been posted online and is accessible to all students.

Y. Izrayelit asked what B. Knuth would like to see happen in order to make the GCI a more credible document.

B. Knuth said she would like the GPSA to have substantive and in-depth discussions with students across the university. There should be thoughtful involvement and analysis of the initiatives that have been put forward thus far.

3. Anne Poduska, Graduate & International Career Advisor, 10 min. (0:28:34)

Anne Poduska said she is a former member of the Cornell GPSA. She now serves as the Graduate and International Student Career Advisor and her office is located within Cornell Career Services (103 Barnes Hall). She has developed a handout to guide students about where to go for career services. Her target communities include graduate students interested in careers outside of academia, international students, and graduate and undergraduate students interested in international careers. Her main focus areas include career perspectives, community building, skill building, and career options and alumni panels. In order to assist her students, she has put together a variety of workshops and panels concerning these focus areas. For this year, she would like to have a Career Coffee Hour and other programs to help people deciding on careers outside of academia. Poduska said she thinks that discussion and networking events could build a stronger sense of community on campus.

In order to incorporate the goals of the GCI into her work, Poduska has increased career services programming for graduate students. For example, there will be seven non-academic-oriented career programs provided this fall. She has also worked to inform students about resources like VersatilePhD and OptimalResume.

Other tasks Poduska is working on include:

• Advising domestic and international students on where to go for legal advice concerning Visa issues, etc.
• Expanding the “CornellTrack” website, which currently focuses on undergraduates, to include more information for PhD and Master’s students.
• Maximizing career-matching and conducting a career surveys, exit surveys, and other evaluations.
• Expanding information sources and online matching services for temporary and summer internship positions for graduate students.
• Hosting career fairs and online career fairs.

E. Cortens asked whether students should be advocating for more attention or funding for Poduska’s office.

B. Knuth said the GCI has had an impact on drawing greater attention to focusing on the types of careers that Poduska counsels students on. However, student input is helpful for deciding whether or not more attention should be placed on these areas.

M. Holden asked about career counseling resources available to those who have already graduated from Cornell.

A. Poduska said she has spoken on the phone and on Skype with some graduates but there are no staff members dedicated to dealing exclusively with alumni.

A. Poduska encouraged students to contact her at ap284@cornell.edu or to call her office to schedule a counseling appointment.

4. Presentation on IT Strategic Plan, Steve Schuster, Associate Chief Information Officer (CIO), 15 min. (0:47:22)

S. Schuster said he is in the process of bringing out some of the first drafts of the IT Strategic Plan. This year, they are reaching out directly to the users on campus- students, professors, and others. If done correctly, this plan will hit some high level aspirational goals. The purpose of the plan is to be the first IT Strategic Plan created with broad user input. The plan should take between three and five years to complete and it will hopefully drive investment and strategic decisions.

In order to achieve their goals, Cornell IT will reach out to those most directly impacted by technology on campus. IT’s specific focus areas are student experience, teaching and learning, research, service excellence, and IT career framework. There is also work being done with administrative systems like Course enroll, and to fix the lack of integration among various sites.

Schuster asked the GPSA to consider the following questions:

• What is currently working well for you?
• What are some things Cornell could consider doing better?
• Are there services or needs that are not being met?

A question was asked about wireless connectivity on campus.

S. Schuster said that Cornell IT is working towards moving up to 10 gigabytes and this process will be finished in about two years.

E. Cortens asked about bandwidth access.

S. Schuster said that bandwidth must be preserved for research, teaching, and administration. As more things are moving onto the Internet, you use up much more bandwidth. Every year, IT revisits its bandwidth policy. They have to decide each year what a necessary use of bandwidth is and what discretionary use is.

M. Paine said that those interested in participating in a focus group for Cornell IT should email either him or Steve Schuster at sjs74@cornell.edu.

II. Break Out Sessions, led by members of the GPSA Student Advocacy Committee, 15 min. (1:00:00)

Y. Izrayelit said the GPSA is holding a town hall meeting on November 15th and the questions that will be discussed at the meeting include:

1. What are the most urgent needs of graduate and professional students in your field or school?
2. Can you prioritize the areas that need most improvement for your field or school?

• Graduate Student Center
• Career Resources
• Sense of Community
• Housing
• Transportation
• Family Services
• Mental & Physical Health & Well Being
• Issues of Diversity & Support for International Students

III. Approval of the Minutes (1:00:14)

1. October 15th, 2012, 1 min.

R. Moore said he was not absent for this meeting and M. Tootill said that she was absent, although the minutes say she was present. Both of these amendments were passed without opposition.

The minutes were passed with no dissent.

IV. Reports of Officers and Standing Committees, 10 min. (1:01:18)

1. Executive Committee (M. Paine)

1. Ivy+ Summit & NAGPS conferences (1:01:18)

• M. Paine said that both of these events would take place over the weekend. Those attending these events will report back to the GPSA about what they learned. Paine also noted that the Space Utilization Study Ad Hoc Committee meeting on Wednesday would be cancelled due to the weather.

2. Finance Commission (V. Pagay) (1:02:52)

V. Pagay said the Finance Commission’s second meeting is this Thursday. Applications for funding will be reviewed at the next meeting in December. More than half of the budget has been allocated already.

3. Graduate & Professional Student Programming Board (K. Roosa & G. Danies Turano) (1:03:22)

G. Danies Turano said the next graduate student mixer would be held on November 15th.

4. Student Advocacy (Y. Izrayelit). (1:03:40)

Y. Izrayelit said the Town Hall Meeting is on November 15th from 7:30–9:30 in the Willard Straight Memorial Room. You are encouraged to attend for at least a little bit and then go attend the Programming Board mixer, which is scheduled at the same time.

V. New Business (1:04:21)

1. Resolution 9, GPSA Faculty Teaching, Advising, and Mentorship Award Committee (N.Baran), 5 min.

N. Baran said the resolution creates a committee that would meet at least once a semester to choose a faculty member recipient for the Mentorship Award.

M. Paine proposed an amendment to add Joe Burns, the Dean of Faculty, to the list of people to send the resolution to.

This amendment was passed, with no dissent.

E. Cortens said he fully supports this resolution and it should be passed.

There was a call to question. The resolution passed by a vote of 11–0.

VI. Open Forum, 8 min. (1:08:16)

1. Lauren Ritter, Bears Den, 5 min

L. Ritter said the Bears Den is a new, central place for programming on campus, located in the Ivy Room in Willard Straight Hall. Groups can host mixers there. This is the only place on campus that you can get Cornell’s official brew. The hours are Wednesday and Thursday from 4–11. On Friday and Saturday, the Bear’s Den is opened from 4–1. You can host events with 30–300 people there. The Bears Den can fully staff events and there is a stage and a sound system. If interested in hosting an event here, send an email indicating what you would like to do and when you would like to do it.

T. Gandhi mentioned that if anyone would like to work on improving resources for women interested in academic careers, they should come see her after the meeting.

M. Paine adjourned the meeting at 7:03 pm.

Respectfully submitted,

Allison Bazinet