MINUTES
Graduate & Professional Student Assembly
GPSA Discussion Meeting
Monday, February 4th, 2013
Bache Auditorium, Malott Hall
5:30–7:00 P.M.

I. Welcome and Introductions

The meeting was called to order at 5:33 pm.

1. Introduction of voting members, 1 min.

Voting members present: N. Baran, D. Bunck, G. Danies Turano, J. Drewes, M. Dumas, A. Enders, T. Gandhi, J. Hill, M. Holden, A. Moore, R. Moore, E. Newbury, M. Paine, E. Smith, M. Tootill, C. Yao

Voting members absent: B. Kreuser, H. Liu, E. Rager

II. Approval of the Minutes

1. January 21st, 2012, 1 min.

There was a motion to correct G. Danies Turano’s name. Seeing no further corrections, the minutes were approved.

III. Presentations

1. Charles Walcott, Ph.D., University Ombudsman (15 min)

C. Walcott discussed the duties of the University Ombudsman. The Office of the Ombudsman is an independent office that reports directly to the University as a whole. The office is neutral, informal, and confidential. However, if you propose to do harm to yourself or others or if the office is required by a court of law to testify, this promise of confidentiality can be overridden. The office sees about 300 people each year and sees more graduate students than undergraduate students. Ombudsmen deal with a variety of issues including tenure, fellowships, and problems between graduate students and their advisors.

T. Ghandi asked about what the office offers as advice when a student comes in with a problem.

C. Walcott says they offer tools and strategies to deal with their problems, but they do not mediate these issues.

2. Ulysses Smith, Student Assembly, Vice President for Diversity and Inclusion (10 min)

U. Smith stopped by the GPSA to make sure that all university assemblies are in communication on issues of diversity and inclusion at Cornell.

One of the initiatives the Student Assembly came up with last semester was a resolution to increase minority representation on the Student Assembly. Another initiative was to develop administrative mechanisms to record, recognize, and motivate engagement in diversity efforts. The SA is also seeking to strengthen academic, co-curricular, and professional development initiatives promoting diversity engagement across campus. Finally, they are trying to increase the effectiveness of communication on issues of diversity, and support and increase educational, personal, academic, or professional achievement for a target area or constituency.

The Student Assembly Diversity Affairs Coalition’s goals are to examine and analyze the actions, decisions, and initiatives of the University Diversity Council, discuss strategies for the implementation of these initiatives across the schools/colleges, monitor the progress of the implementation strategies through goal-setting and benchmarking, assist in coordinating the initiatives of the various diversity councils, and devising strategies for consistent diversity education and improvement.

Y. Izrayelit asked how long U. Smith has been in his current position.

U. Smith said he has been the Vice President for Diversity and Inclusion since October.

E. Cortens asked about particular initiatives for graduate and undergraduate students to work together.

U. Smith said he would be more than happy to sit down with the GPSA to discuss his ideas.

T. Gandhi said that in order to increase collaboration between graduates and undergraduates, they could focus on diversity training programs for both graduates and undergraduates alike.

M. Paine asked for GPSA volunteers to attend diversity council meetings.

IV. GCI Topic Area Breakout Sessions, 45 min.

1. Family Services

N. Baran said the struggles and hardships that students with families face often makes it difficult to complete their personal and academic goals. In order to investigate these issues, she held a roundtable discussion at Hasbrouck, attended a meeting on graduate student spouse support, and spoke to fellow graduate and professional students with families.

The four main objectives of the GCI family services initiative are to: 1) Improve access to information for students with families. 2) Continue to improve access to affordable childcare options for students. 3) Foster a supportive campus climate for graduate and professional students with families. 4) Increase support for and inclusion of student partners and spouses.

2. Career Services

E. Cortens said there was a Student Advocacy Committee Town Hall meeting in November and he has also met with a number of career services and graduate school administrators to discuss career services issues.

The four draft career services objectives of the GCI are to: 1) Support graduate students who choose to pursue non-academic careers. 2) Continue to make Cornell Career Services more accessible to and valuable for graduate and professional students. 3) Support the development of transferable professional skills. 4) Increase the level of data collection, both regarding current students and alumni.

At this point, attendees divided into two break out sessions led by Baran and Cortens to discuss these issues.

V. Reports of Officers and Standing Committee, 15 min.

1. Executive Committee (M. Paine)

M. Paine said he visited Cornell NYC Tech last Thursday and met with 8 new Master of Computer Science students. He also met with student leaders from Weill Cornell Medical College and they are interested in partnerships.

NAGPS Legislative Action Days are March 2nd through 4th and Cornell Student Lobby Day is March 5th.

N. Evensen, Student Trustee, said that the Board of Trustees recently decided on a variety of tuition increases for graduate and professional programs. They also discussed Massive Open Online Courses and changed a bylaw to allow for four credit courses to be offered through eCornell. Very shortly, Cornell will likely be joining one of the major MOOC consortiums. The next Board of Trustees meeting is March 27th or 28th. Those interested in attending should notify him.

E. Smith said the Bursar, Registrar, and Financial Aid offices are going to be starting a student services advisory board, including graduate students. They will meet twice a semester and discuss ways to better serve students.

2. Appropriations (W. Kreuser)

3. Communications (M. Cerroni)

M. Paine said the communications committee is interested in reaching out to more members of the campus rather than just GPSA members and graduate and professional students.

4. Finance Commission (V. Pagay)

5. Graduate & Professional Student Programming Board (K. Roosa & G. Danies Turano)

G. Danies Turano said there will be several more grads night out events this semester. There will also be a mixer that will be open to the whole university. They are also hosting a DJ competition to advertise the Grad Ball. The theme for Grad Ball is Under the Stars. In May, there will be a graduating grad students party.

6. Student Advocacy (Y. Izrayelit)

The second annual Dine and Discuss will be held on Wednesday, February 27th at 7:00pm. The theme of the event is Sense of Community. Please spread the word among members of your fields.

7. Award Committee (P. Mahanti)

P. Mahanti is requesting more members for his committee.

VI. Open Forum, 3 min.

The meeting was adjourned at 7:03pm.

Respectfully submitted,

Allison Bazinet