MINUTES
Graduate & Professional Student Assembly
March 30th, 1998
Big Red Barn Graduate & Professional Student Center Greenhouse
5:00 P.M.

I. Attendance:

97–98 GPSA Members  9/22, 10/27, 11/24, 1/26, 2/23, 3/30, 4/27

Matthew Abramovitz, Sumit Aggarwal, Todd Callaway, Michael Cosh, Kevin DeBorde, Katrina Ellis, Nick Goldin, Stefan Hames, Gary Hartz, Cheryl Heinz, Sergey Kiselev, Yvonne Lamar,Larissa Minicucci, Mark Parsons, Yogesh Potdar, John Schwarz, Linda Yannone,

Others Present: Hilary Ford, Philip McPheron, Bonnie Bailey, Cristen Gardner, and Stephanie Tinsley

II. Call to Order

The meeting was called to order at 5:10 PM by President R.Gary Hartz.

III. Open Forum

G.Hartz reminded members to RSVP for the presidential reception by April 15 if they plan to attend.

IV. Announcements

A) Welcome to Nick Goldin and Stefan Hames

G.Hartz announced that the two empty seats on the GPSA had been filled by Nick Goldin, Law, and Stefan Hames, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. He cordially welcomed both new members to the GPSA.

B) Annual Report

G.Hartz stated that the writing of the GPSA annual report will start shortly. The purpose of this annual report is to summarize the actions of the GPSA during this year and outline items for the following year. G.Hartz noted that one of the items for the 1998–99 GPSA to consider is the problem of the International Student Program Board and clubs “double-dipping.”

G.Hartz requested that all active committees write a paragraph detailing their status. He will send out a request for these paragraphs by e-mail.

C) RA/TA Committee progress report

S.Hames stated that there was an open forum meeting last Thursday, 3/26/98, at which graduate students could voice their concerns over various TA/RA issues. Unfortunately, only three students showed up. S.Hames noted, however, that these students had several serious items to address, such as the banking of hours, in which a professor requires a TA to work more hours towards the end of the semester because of little or no work done during the beginning of the semester.

John Schwarz, Government, noted that they have received about twelve e-mails from graduate students. These e-mails were fairly informative and covered a variety of pertinent issues.

S.Hames stated that both he and J.Schwarz have spoken with their constituents on this issue. The last TA/RA committee meeting took place immediately before the current GPSA meeting. S.Hames reported that the committee first went over a summary of the last meeting, and decided that work is needed to improve communication, clarity, and timeliness(CCT). TA/RA’s need to be informed of the conditions of their work early on. The committee believes that better communication between TA/RA’s and departments will help improve the situation.

J.Schwarz concurred, stating that communication is considered an important issue by the committee. One way they are trying to improve communication is to work on standardizing drafts of admission letters. Currently, there is a huge range in the quality of the admissions letters from different departments. J.Schwarz also noted that it is not always the department which is the cause of the problem. For example; some TA/RAs do not fulfill the conditions of work (e.g.- do not attend sections).

J.Schwarz stated that another item of concern is the grievance policy. They have received some information from various students on this topic. For example, one TA had an especially hard time with the grievance policy. Ultimately, the student went to the Ombudsmen for help; however, since the professor refused to participate, nothing was resolved. J.Schwarz stated that this problem needs to be fixed and asked that members send any information on the topic that they may have.

S.Hames noted that the committee is supportive of such concerns. The committee plans to come up with a set of minimum standards.

J.Schwarz stated, however, that the committee has a focused agenda. They have received e-mails from students asking to address items such as health and pension plans. J.Schwarz stated that these types of items are not on this committee’s agenda and requested that members let their constituents know this fact.

G.Hartz requested that all such concerns be forward to him, instead of J.Schwarz and S.Hames.

D) NAGPS Insurance progress report

Linda Yannone, Floriculture and Ornamental Horticulture, stated that the information on the NAGPS health insurance policy has just been received. The 1997–98 prices are available and a list of them was passed around the table. Among the various issues that need to be addressed is the fact that there are no dental providers in the area.

J.Schwarz stated that there are some differences between the New York plan and plans for other states. Cornell must follow the New York guidelines. There is a meeting in May at which the New York plan will be discussed. Hopefully, a Cornell representative will be able to attend this meeting.

Cheryl Heinz, Vice President, suggested that graduate students who are going to a dentist, ask that dentist if it would be possible to accept the NAGPS plan.

J.Schwarz stated that the provider will also be contacted to ask for input regarding how the committee should go about trying to find providers for the dental insurance. The committee plans to compare the NAGPS plan to the Cornell plan, and also plans to address non-qualitative issues, such as transition.

In response to questions by GPSA members, J.Schwarz noted that Cornell probably will not endorse the NAGPS plan or the Cornell plan. Graduate and professional students will need to be aware that the NAGPS plan exists and can be an alternative to the Cornell plan.

IV. Minutes

The approval of the February 23, 1998 minutes was postponed for the next meeting, pending the addition of the attendance sheet.

V. Business of the Day

A) Career Services for Graduate Students

G.Hartz introduced James Rosberg, who is in charge of Professional, Development/Career Services for graduate students. This program will help identify jobs for graduate students.

J.Rosberg stated that this is a new program to assist students in finding jobs. The program is only three weeks old and he is still in the information-gathering phase. J.Rosberg stated that he would like to involve students in developing this program, and so therefore would like to know how the student body can be polled in this matter.

J.Rosberg stated that some of the services offered are review of resumes, skill assessments, and job interview coaching. Also, next week there will be a panel discussion with PhDs who found jobs in business, which is open to students. J.Rosberg stated that he hopes to gather an alumni network, and perhaps involve alumni in a mentorship program.

In response to questions by members, J.Rosberg stated that it would be useful to know where certain fields look for job positions. He would appreciate any information of this type. Also, he would like to know of any PhDs who are following non-traditional tracks to positions. He noted that this program was created in order to give support to students who currently do not have any career-support services.

Members suggested that J.Rosberg offer workshops geared toward individual fields because there are some that would be quite interested in such a service.

V. New Business

A) Proposed GPSA Charter Amendment

G.Hartz stated that the UA is presently considering an amendment to its charter which would clarify membership issues. Therefore, he believes that the GPSA charter should consider amending its language in order to comply with the amendments the UA may make. G.Hartz distributed a proposed GPSA Charter amendment he’d written with the proposed UA amendment in mind.

G.Hartz noted that the proposed UA resolution states there must be one representative selected specifically from the GPSA. Two other graduate/professional representatives may be selected, with the priority being: Council of Representatives, then the graduate/professional student body at-large. The GPSA amendment would go into effect if the proposed UA resolution is passed. Consequently, if the UA resolution fails, no GPSA amendments will be made. G.Hartz noted that one of the purposes of the resolution is to open up membership on the UA.

In response to members’ questions, C.Heinz clarified that the GPSA can have a maximum of three representatives on the UA. This is stated elsewhere in the UA charter. The minimum number of representatives must come from the constituent assemblies; for the GPSA, the minimum is one representative. The only requirement for the other two representatives is that they are graduate or professional students.

Cristen Gardner, Director of the Office of Assemblies, noted that currently no GPSA members are required to serve on the UA. This resolution was written to help improve communication between the UA and its constituent assemblies.

Members were asked if they have any amendments to the proposed GPSA resolution.

C.Heinz stated that the word “elect” should be struck from the first sentence of section 5.5.

G.Hartz said that the last sentence, in that same section, that begins with “Members” should also be struck.

C.Gardner stated that there should be parentheses around the “s” in “members” in the last sentence of section 2.14.

A vote was taken on the resolution to amend to GPSA charter. The resolution passed, 11–0. It was agreed that the resolution would go into effect only if the UA passed their proposed Charter amendments.

VI. Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned at 5:50 PM.

Respectfully submitted, Stephanie Tinsley, student clerk