MINUTES
Graduate & Professional Student Assembly
September 28th, 1998
Big Red Barn Graduate & Professional Student Center Greenhouse
5:00 P.M.

I. Attendance:

98–99 GPSA Members 9/28 Matt Abramovitz P Dennis Carlson P Amy Carroll P Michael Cosh P Deidra Suwanee Dees P Wendy Fleischman P Stefan Hames P Sergey Kiselev P David McCusker P Purnima Menon P Yogesh Potdar P Lauren Russell P John Schwarz P A. Ramon Thomas P Linda Yannone E

Others Present: Philip McPheron, Michael Johnson, Suzanne Lynch, R.Gary Hartz, Bonnie Bailey, and Stephanie Tinsley

II. Call to Order

The meeting was called to order by John Schwarz, President, at 5:04 PM.

III. Open Forum

Michael Johnson, undergraduate student, stated that in spite of suicide rates, Cornell has limited the number of psychological visits to twelve per semester. He noted Cornell already has the lowest counselor to student ratio out of all the Ivy League Schools. Roughly one-half of Cornell students will use these facilities before graduating. M.Johnson stated Cornell is limiting the number of visits in order to cut costs. He noted there are students who cannot afford to pay for additional services should they surpass the number of visits allowed. M.Johnson asked for the GPSA’s support in either passing or co-sponsoring a resolution for an unlimited number of psychological visits per semester, and noted the Student Assembly is currently working on such a resolution.

In response to members’ questions, M.Johnson stated these cutbacks started this year. A new counselor had been requested in order to help with the overflow problem. Instead, Cornell decided to save money by limiting the number of visits per semester. M.Johnson stated the SA resolution is still being worked on, and that he will forward it to the GPSA as soon as it finished.

Stefan Hames, Vice President, stated that because he is currently teaching a blind student, he has become more aware of the low support for disabled students at Cornell. S.Hames stated that at his alma mater of UCSC, more services to disabled students were provided. However, at Cornell, support is limited to just two people for the approximately 600 disabled students on campus. Cornell is at the low end of universities in terms of money spent to accommodate disabled students. S.Hames stated he will bring up this topic at the next Assemblies’ Leadership meeting and requested that members e-mail him (rsh5@cornell.edu) with any concerns they may have.

Deidra Suwanee Dees, Secretary, invited members to come to the pre-Columbus Day weekend sponsored by the American Indian Program, at which they will debate the doctrine of discovery. There will also be an all-female Native American singing group at the Statler Auditorium October 3rd. D.Dees asked that members inform their departments about these events either through e-mail or by putting up a poster. D.Dees supplied a number of posters to those assembled and said anyone else who would like a poster could contact her at dld15@cornell.edu.

Ramon Thomas, JGSM, stated he recently received an e-mail from an anonymous person claiming that the budgets for the African-American Studies and Latino Studies will be cut. He stated he would find more information about this topic and e-mail it to members.

IV. Minutes

The minutes of the 1997–98 GPSA meeting on April 27, 1998 were approved as submitted.

The minutes of the 1998–99 GPSA meeting on April 27, 1998 were approved as submitted.

V. Business of the Day

A) Alcohol Policy Review

S.Hames stated that Jan Talbot, community health educator, came to the September 16 COR meeting to speak about the proposed revisions to Cornell’s alcohol policy. Evidently, a committee has been preparing this document for the past year and it is expected to be presented to the University Assembly for a vote on September 30.

S.Hames noted that J.Talbot attended the meeting to ask the GPSA for help in rewriting a portion of the proposed policy which would restrict the ability of graduate student organizations funded by the GPSAFC to purchase alcohol. S.Hames stated he does not think such a restriction would be appropriate.

Michael Cosh, Civil Engineering, stated that all the proper University forms must be filled out for social events. However, there are no formal restrictions currently followed by the GPSAFC for organizations wishing to buy and serve alcohol at an event.

S.Hames noted J.Talbot as saying that professors who are hosting a social event at which alcohol is being served should inform their department heads about said events. Additionally, events that are attended by students’ children should not serve alcohol. S.Hames stated he does not feel comfortable with this proposed policy. The GPSA should be the one to decide how events serving alcohol should be funded. Also, more time is needed for the GPSA to review this policy and its implications.

Dennis Carlson, Statistics, stated that he wanted to postpone the vote at the September 30 UA meeting. He felt it important that he and the other GPSA representatives to the UA have concrete information and suggestions for improvement to bring before the UA at a later date and suggested forming an ad-hoc committee in order to review this policy carefully.

S.Hames stressed he is very concerned with this policy. For example, the phrasing used by J.Talbot could be construed to mean that a celebration held after an A exam may require notification of the department head. He stated he would have preferred more advance notice of this policy. Also, it appears that J.Talbot considers GPSAFC funds to be University funds, and he does not agree with this definition.

M.Cosh stated that under the current rules, the GPSAFC decides whether or not to let an organization buy alcohol for a funded event. Alcohol is not funded freely, and there is a process that an organization must go through in order to receive such funding.

J.Schwarz noted that a problem may be with the definition of a University event. At the meeting, J.Talbot implied that off-campus events can still be considered University events.

Matt Abramovitz, History, asked how this policy will be enforced, and who will do so.

J.Schwarz stated that J.Talbot was very vague on this issue. He noted that one of the problems facing the University in such matters is how a court of law will interpret a certain event. In other words, Cornell is trying to protect itself from potential lawsuits.

R.Thomas agreed, noting that this issue sounds similar to the club insurance policy last year. This policy was passed last year, perhaps in part because Cornell was trying to guard against lawsuits.

S.Hames stated that while he can understand why Cornell would want to protect itself from lawsuits, he still wants more time to review the policy.

Amy Carroll, Microbiology, noted that by law, Cornell is required to periodically review the policy. Because this has not been done recently, there may be more emphasis placed on getting the policy passed quickly.

R.Thomas stated that he will add his voice to postponement of the vote at the UA meeting. He stated he is also willing to work with the ad-hoc committee to review this policy.

D.Carlson stated that if possible, he would like Linda Yannone, Floriculture, to attend the September 30 UA meeting so the GPSA representatives can present a united front against voting for the proposed policy. This would make a postponement more likely. He noted the Faculty members may not like this policy either and may also support a motion to postpone the vote for a month.

J.Schwarz asked that an update on this matter be given after the UA meeting. He also asked for volunteers to the ad-hoc committee to review the policy changes.

Gary Hartz, Education, suggested that the GPSA pass an action so the GPSA representatives to the UA will have that much more to take to the UA meeting.

S.Hames agreed with G.Hartz, and proposed such an action.

A vote was taken to resolve that the GPSA would like to postpone the UA vote on the alcohol policy for another month in order to allow for a committee of the GPSA to examine the proposed policy further.

This action passed unanimously.

B) Structural Organization

J.Schwarz stated that he had some ideas on how to improve the structure of the GPSA so it is more formally organized. He saw three primary areas of concern to address. The first is the problem of time and the number of meetings per month. There are two types of meetings. The first type is the business meeting, at which votes can be taken. The second is the general meeting, at which there can be no votes taken, and only discussion is allowed. He suggested that the GPSA may want to look at the frequency of its meetings and consider whether enough meeting time is being allotted to effectively represent the graduate and professional community.

J.Schwarz stated communication as another area of concern. There needs to be communication from the graduate community and the COR to let the GPSA know what matters are currently of interest. Also, the GPSA needs to communicate to the COR and the graduate community to let them know what is being done on relevant issues. Finally, information needs to be sent out the general public in a systematic way.

J.Schwarz stated he also wants to increase the accountability of committee representatives. Currently, the GPSA does not know what appointees are doing on their various committees. Committee members are not independent agents, and the GPSA should hear from them periodically. More COR involvement is needed in this area, and people need to receive a list of their duties.

J.Schwarz distributed a draft handout to help illustrate his structural ideas. Subject areas such as legislative issues, operating finances, educational finances, work issues, transportation, and housing were some subject examples cited. He proposed a hierarchical structure, which would have GPSA members be responsible for one of the defined subject areas. He would then like to see COR members work with committee members and be responsible for regularly reporting any information to the GPSA member responsible for that particular subject area. Each month, a summary would be required about developments in a particular area. He stated this concept is better defined and makes accountability clearer for all involved.

J.Schwarz explained there are five University Assemblies: the GPSA, the Student Assembly, the Employee Assembly, the Faculty Senate, and the University Assembly. He noted the UA is formed from the other constituent Assemblies. Each Assembly may form its own committees. Depending on the focus of a given committee, it may or may not have representation comprised from one or more of the other Assemblies.

J.Schwarz stated he would also like to start a GPSA newsletter with the intent to promote and gain higher visibility for the GPSA. This would be separate from the graduate newsletter.

G.Hartz stated J.Schwarz had created a rather good list, as it has perennial GPSA issues. He asked what would happen as new issues arise. G.Hartz also noted a person may have to oversee a topic that is of no particular interest to them.

J.Schwarz stated the list is not absolute, and as issues arise, they will be assigned to a subject area. He noted that he assumes people joined the GPSA because they wanted to get more involved. He stated that it is very important to assign responsibility.

A.Carroll asked how the proposed method differs from the current method.

J.Schwarz responded to say there are approximately 40 grad./professional students appointed to serve on SA, EA, and UA committees. However, there is no formal mechanism in place for reporting back to the GPSA. Under the proposed system a regular summary would be required to keep the GPSA informed.

R.Thomas asked if there is a procedure in place for removing a person from a committee in case they do not want to give such reports.

J.Schwarz stated there is no such procedure currently in place. However, committee members serve with the approval of the GPSA. All of these members had been appointed by the GPSA, and they all serve at the behest of the GPSA.

D.Dees stated there was a very careful process in choosing who to appoint to what committee(s). Applicants’ priorities were considered and quite a bit of time was spent in assigning applicants to committees in which they indicated interest.

J.Schwarz noted that some positions were more competitive than others, but no one was assigned without either having indicated interest on the committee application, or by asking the individual for their agreement to serve on a particular committee. Because there is not enough time at meetings to have presentations from every committee, it is very important to have written reports.

D.Carlson asked how people could be made more aware of campus governance.

J.Schwarz stated this can be done, in part, by a GPSA newsletter. He noted there are a lot of departments which do not send a representative to the COR. He stated he wants COR members to become involved with this process, but that he does not want to pressure anyone.

S.Hames stated there is a list of committee positions which need to be filled. He stated that if no one volunteers for a committee that he would prefer to assign someone to the vacancy. The alternative is to have no graduate/professional student representation on a given committee and that is undesirable.

Wendy Fleischman, Vet Med, stated that vet students have limited time. If they are forced to take on additional responsibilities in the COR, there is a possibility that they may not come at all. She stated she believes minimal representation on the COR is better than no representation at all.

M.Abramovitz re-stated there are two distinct issues. The first is getting more information to the general public about the GPSA and trying to get more people interested in it. The second is determining whether or not the people involved in campus governance are truly participating. He stated the GPSA should determine which is more important, and focus on that first.

R.Thomas stated the GPSA needs to market itself better. As an example, R.Thomas noted the Class of ‘98 at JGSM claimed credit for the club insurance policy last year when it was actually the GPSA who decided to fund it. He stated it is important to let the community know about the accomplishments of the GPSA.

A.Carroll suggested the GPSA start by increasing the marketing of itself and of campus governance. She noted that requiring participation right away in the suggested fashion may upset some COR members.

S.Hames agreed, stating the GPSA needs to publicize itself more. He suggested a compromise position in which three or four standing committees would be set up. People would be placed on these committees, and would be required to report back. However, no one would be forced to take a committee assignment.

J.Schwarz stated that non-COR members also work on a specific subject area they are interested in. However, he noted that since GPSA members have already decided to join and participate in campus governance, it is only logical to start by placing them first. J.Schwarz also noted there are funds which can be used to start a newsletter.

David McCusker, Law, asked how many committees exist and whether or not all of them are necessary.

J.Schwarz stated there are many committees that are under the other Assemblies. There are committees on virtually everything on campus, though the GPSA did not create most of these.

D.Dees stated she is in favor of increasing the communication with the community and starting a newsletter to facilitate this.

J.Schwarz stated he wants to have more discussion on the topic of organization. He stated it is important to ensure that everything is organized so time is not wasted on unimportant items, such as the phone cards last year.

M.Abramovitz stated that if the issue is important to the community, then the time spent talking on that issue is not wasted.

J.Schwarz replied that if information was written down and organized better, then less actual meeting time would have been needed to discuss it. He stated he would like to continue this discussion, and requested that members e-mail him at jms60@cornell.edu regarding any concerns on this topic. He stated he would also like to hold a meeting before the next GPSA meeting, and that he would send out an e-mail regarding this.

VI. Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned by J. Schwarz at 6:25 PM.

Respectfully Submitted, Stephanie Tinsley, Student Clerk