GPSA Student Advocacy Committee

In Attendance:

• Brian Forster, Chair, GPSA Student Advocacy Committee
• Briony Horgan, Student Advocacy Committee Member
• Jay Worley, Student Advocacy Committee Member
• Melissa Hardstone, Transportation Advisory Committee Member
• Amy Richter, Child Care Sub-committee Member
• Marques Zak, JA Financial Aid Review Committee Member
• Martha Wilfahrt, Student Advocacy Committee Member / Safe-Ride Committee Member
• Michael Genkin, Graduate Student, Dept. of Sociology

Meeting Began at 5:30

New Business:

Mike Genkin brought an academic concern regarding physical education courses on a graduate student’s transcript before the committee, which is outside of the committee Working Procedure. Mike was directed to the appropriate committee. B. Forster said he would follow up Mike’s concerns with VP Susan Murphy.

No new business was on the agenda.

Old Business:

SAGES Visit. Schedule: B. Forster communicated that SAGES would like to visit on Friday, the 2nd of April. A consensus schedule was arrived at. The visit will officially begin with a trip to TGIF at approximately 6pm, then continue to dinner in Collegetown. After dinner, any continuation will be non-official.

Size of Party: A consensus was reached on 5 SAGES members and 5 Advocacy members.

Cost: A consensus was reached on 12 dollars per person ($120 total) as a reasonable budget. If the trip cannot be fully funded, advocacy may pay for its own meals.

The details of the visit are dependent on SAGES acceptance.

Town Hall Meeting The planning for the Town Hall Meeting was broken down into 4 sections: Floor Plan and Booth Setup, Food, Prize, Advertisement.

Survey Results: The results survey that was planned at the meeting previous were shared with the committee by M. Hardstone.

            75 Responses
            Female:Male ratio was approximately 50:50
            Most respondants are students here for less than 1 year
            60% knew of the Student Advocacy Committee existence
            50% of respondents are Ph.D. track
            60% though March 26th would be appropriate, no consistent alternative was present in those for whom this 	
	time was inappropriate.

Child-care was the number one concern, published materials on healthcare was second, followed by a mix of transportation, library access, and technical resources. The least of the concerns were healthcare, insurance, and housing. There were no recurring themes from the additional issues on the responses.

Floor Plan and Booth Setup: A consensus was reached on each of 6 stations and persons to be responsible for their content, and to man the stations. Child Care and Family Services: Amy Richter and Mario Roman Health Care Insurance and Mental Health: Betsy Romero and Andrew Davis Transportation, Housing, and Parking: Melissa Hardstone and Martha Wilfahrt Campus Teaching and Research Resources: Jay Worley, Professor Barbara Crawford was suggested Diversity and International Students: Mario Guerrero, Marques Zak GPSA Information Booth, Sign in table: Floating members

Booth Organization: A consensus was reached on an overall booth design. A poster will be present at each station using poster-board and printed items. Topics will include what has been done on the issue, what is being done, and an open space for input (likely in the form of a legal pad). A box will be present at all booths for anonymous submission. There will be two people at each booth to answer questions and take suggestions.

Prize: A consensus was reached on the details of prizes to be awarded. A raffle will be held. To enter, students must register at the info booth to receive and fill out a follow up survey to measure the Town-Hall’s efficacy. There will be several prizes. All prizes will be donations solicited on and off campus. Suggested places include: The Cornell Store, Cornell Cinema, the Dairy Bar, Manndible Caf�, Cornell Orchards, and Local Businesses.

Advertisement: J. Worley presented a new advertisement design. The overall layout was accepted with changes to wording. The most noteworthy of the small changes was the title of the meeting on the advertisement, which is now, “Graduate and Professional Open Forum.” The tagline was changed from, “Come voice your concerns to GPSA members” to, “Come voice your concerns.”

Food: $150 has been set aside for food costs. The Big Red Barn rules for food must be followed, meaning no food may be home-made, and the kitchen of the BRB is not available for food preparation. A consensus was reached that snack food and candy are the best options. Candy, plates, and eating utensils can be obtained to place at each booth from a local dollar store. The source of snack food was left un-resolved. Suggestions included veggie and fruit platters from Wegmans, and to investigate where the International Coffee Hour obtains its snack food.

Meeting adjourned at 7:00pm.

Respectively Submitted,

GPSA Student Advocacy Committee 2008–2009