MINUTES
Graduate & Professional Student Assembly Council of Representatives
October 5th, 1998
Big Red Barn Graduate & Professional Student Center Greenhouse
5:00 P.M.

I. Call to Order

The meeting was called to order at 5:02 PM by Stefan Hames, Vice President of the 1998–99 GPSA.

II. Open Forum

Jeannine Morrone, Human Development, noted there is currently an idea to pay for health insurance for graduate students by lowering stipend increases for several years. In regards to this, one of her constituents asked whether or not students would still be able to buy into the plan, and whether or not they could add dependents to this plan.

S.Hames stated that these types of questions on the health insurance proposals need to be compiled, and given to Dean Cohen.

Lauren Russell, Public Affairs, stated she is interested in getting graduate students to volunteer more. She stated that members could contact her at lkr4@cornell.edu if they are interested in volunteering or in arranging a volunteering event.

III. Announcements and Reports

A) Alcohol Policy Update

Dennis Carlson, Statistics, stated the proposed alcohol policy must be voted on by the University Assembly. At the September 28, 1998 GPSA meeting, a vote was taken to ask the UA to postpone the vote to allow the GPSA more time to review the policy. He stated the UA did agree to postpone their vote for another month. Because constructive changes must be presented at the next UA vote, an ad hoc GPSA committee is being formed to examine this policy.

S.Hames stated that interested members could e-mail him at rsh5@cornell.edu. He noted that Jan Talbot, Community Health Educator, is very interested in getting this policy passed and is willing to meeting with graduate students in order to discuss any concerns they may have with the proposed alcohol policy. Also, she would like to have graduate/professional student help in drafting the section on page 12 of the proposed policy which discusses buying alcohol with GPSAFC funds. S.Hames stated he would like the ad hoc committee to meet first as a group to look over the policy, and then meet with J.Talbot to present their concerns.

In response to members’ questions, S.Hames stated the problem with asking for the opinions of their constituents in this matter is the fact that not many people have had time to read the policy. He noted that the two main issues this policy addresses is underage drinking on campus and limiting the University’s liability. It seems the club insurance policy would cover clubs serving alcohol. He stated that it appeared J.Talbot was not really familiar with the club insurance policy.

B) TA/RA Committee

S.Hames stated this committee was formed approximately one year ago by Dean Cohen to examine TA/RA issues. He noted that both he and John Schwarz, GPSA President, were appointed to this committee and that they sought to get feedback from the graduate community at large. S.Hames stated that the input they received was placed into a list of concerns and observations, and this list was presented to the committee. The committee has recently developed a draft set of guidelines to govern teaching and research assistantships.

J.Schwarz stated the draft of these guidelines had been submitted, and already some recommendations had been made. After these recommendations have been incorporated into the draft, it will be sent out to graduate students for more feedback. When this process is finished, it will be established as a set of minimal guidelines governing assistantships. He noted the committee would like to finish the feedback process by the end of this month and that the drafts will probably be sent out via e-mail.

S.Hames stated the guidelines will govern the terms of assistantships, which include clarifying when they start, when they end, and how many hours of work per week the individual may expect to work, among other items. He noted that faculty and staff serving on the committee are supportive of the guidelines laid out and that this is the first time the University will have clearly stated guidelines about this issue.

IV. Business of the Day

A) COR Selection Process

S.Hames stated that recently concerns have been raised about how COR representatives have been chosen from their various departments. Because of this, it is important to know how all the representatives present have been selected.

J.Schwarz stated the COR and the GPSA are supposed to be student driven, and hopefully all members present want to be on the COR. Departments receive an e-mail asking for the names of their COR representatives, and this e-mail should be passed on to the students. He asked that all members describe how they joined the COR.

J.Schwarz stated that he is from the Government Department, which elects four representatives each year from its graduate students. Amongst these four students, responsibilities are divided up, including who will be the COR representative.

S.Hames requested that members also state any issues or concerns they may have.

Deidra Dees, Secretary, stated she is from the Education Department. She became interested in serving on the COR because last year’s representative had spoken to her about it. She stated she didn’t receive an e-mail from her department about the position. D.Dees stated she communicates with her constituents through e-mail, and that currently, she and her constituents are concerned about the proposed changes to the Cornell alcohol policy.

Linda Yannone, Floriculture, stated that her department holds monthly meetings and also has elections for various positions. However, she noted that turnout for elections are low. She stated she is currently interested in trying to meld social science with natural science issues.

Michael Cosh, Civil Engineering, stated his department fills the COR position by asking if any graduate students are willing to take the position. He stated he is currently trying to reorganize this structure so actual elections are held.

Yogesh Potdar, Theoretical and Applied Mechanics, stated he received an e-mail last year asking for a volunteer to be COR representative. He inquired about the post, and was informed that he could take it.

Christophe Darnault, ABEN, stated he also took the position as the COR representative by learning about it through an e-mail message. He stated he would like discussions to be finished within one meeting. He noted the discussion on the proposed changes to the alcohol policy were cut short at the last meeting.

Members noted it is important to keep the meetings short so they fit into representatives’ schedules. An ad hoc committee has been formed to further review the proposed changes to the alcohol policy. Interested people can join the ad hoc committee, as it needs to be discussed in more depth and cannot be properly addressed at a COR meeting alone.

Heinrich Hock, City and Regional Planning, stated his department does have a student government amongst its graduate students. However, he joined the COR because he was asked by last year’s COR representative to join take the position. H.Hock stated he is interested in the existence of graduate student government with departments, and how information flows to the constituencies.

Ana Cordova, Natural Resources, stated there is no selection process in her department. The COR position goes to whoever wants it, and people accept whoever is in the position because there is no real competition for the position. A.Cordova stated she communicates with her constituencies through e-mail.

Suzanne Lynch, Math, stated that each fall her department holds a meeting at which people volunteer to take on various responsibilities, among which one is the COR position. She stated she is interested in there being language reading courses, such as Japanese and Russian.

Sarah Heidt, English, stated her department has a Graduate Program Coordinating Committee which is representative of the department. She noted that as COR representative, she has no relationship to this committee, and that she plans to work on this issue. She stated she joined the COR because she was asked by last year’s representative to take the post. She noted the whole department listserv was informed about the position, but no one else was interested.

Larissa Minicucci, Vet Med, said there is a student governing body, called the Student Chapter of the American Veterinary Medical Association, which consists of roughly twenty officers. The three Vet. COR seats are elected positions, and terms are served for two years. The senior member of the elected group will serve on the GPSA in their second year. L.Minicucci noted that issues of concern to professional students are usually different from those of graduate students. She stated that some of the general issues that are also of concern to Vet students are transportation, club insurance, and financial aid.

Lynette Millett, Computer Science, stated that, to her knowledge, her department had not had a COR representative before she decided to join. There is not a lot of interest in student governance and there was no election process for the position. She stated she communicates with her constituents through e-mail and that she has a web page on which she posts summaries of COR meetings. She stated she is interested in formal student governments and how these are supported by the faculty. In addition to this, she said she is interested in how women and minorities are represented at Cornell and noted this under representation is a problem, especially for the Engineering School.

Jessica Baker, Immunology, noted that her department is still very small. She stated the last representative sent out e-mails about the position, and made personal appeals when no one volunteered. She noted the field is apathetic about many of the common graduate issues because there is no teaching requirement and because the department is secluded from the University. She stated she would like more timely notice about decreases in funding in legislature. She noted the e-mails are currently very last minute, and the information needs to be sent out faster.

S.Hames stated these e-mails are sent out by NAGPS, who perceives these situations as emergencies. He noted that Bonnie Bailey, from the Office of Assemblies, forwards these e-mails as soon as she receives them, and that more timely notification is needed from NAGPS.

Rachel Kleban, Astronomy, stated there was no election held for the position, and that the position had been empty for several years. An e-mail was sent out requesting that someone join the COR. Because no one replied at the deadline, she decided to take the position. She stated she e-mails her constituents with summaries of the meetings, but noted she has not received much response. She stated she is also interested in the representation of minorities and women at Cornell.

J.Morrone, Human Development, stated there is a governing body in her department that is separate from the COR position. She stated that the last representative had informed her of the position, and asked her to take it. She noted that at the end of last year, she sent out an e-mail inquiring whether or not anyone wanted to take the position, but received no response. She stated she communicates with her constituents through e-mail, but does not get many responses.

Traci Battle, Environmental Toxicology, stated there is a governing student body, and these positions are elected. She noted the COR position is not elected, and each year an e-mail is sent out asking for someone to volunteer to take the position. She stated she sends out a summary of what happens once a semester, and also periodic surveys. She stated she has been on the medical waste committee and that she wants to continue working on this committee.

Jessica Butler, Communications, stated her department has a graduate program committee. However, in the last couple of years, there was not much contact with the GPSA, and no one really knew about its existence. An e-mail was sent out requesting a representative, and she was the only person who volunteered for the position. She stated she is concerned with informing her department about the GPSA. She is also interested in financial aid and funding opportunities for graduate students. She said she recently has been appointed to the Joint Assemblies Committee on Financial Aid, and discovered that they concentrated on undergraduate issues. She stated her immediate goal is to establish graduate student representation on this committee.

Matt Abramovitz, History, stated that decisions made in his department are very informal. Issues he is interested in are marketing the GPSA and NAGPS and because students do not really know much about either. He is also interested in the TA/RA report because if enrollment drops this means that there will be an increased need for Tas and there is already a lot asked of TA/RA’s.

Shuiyuan Luo, Textiles, stated there is an energized general club in his department. He stated the issue he is concerned with is raising stipends for those in his department since it is lower than the minimum set by Cornell.

Julio Villarreal, Biometry, stated he was asked by last year’s representative to join the COR. He stated the topic he is most interested in is insurance and the coverage of the dependents of graduate students.

Hilary Ford, Assistant Dean of the Graduate School, stated she is at the meeting to act as a liaison from the graduate school.

Sarah Larson, Hotel, stated there has been no representative in recent memory from her department. She stated she would like to have her graduate school to be reclassified in the professional realm since they are currently classified as “Other.” She would also like to ensure that her department continue to be involved in the COR.

Amy Carroll, Microbiology, stated she was asked by the last year’s representative to join the COR. Her department does have a graduate student organization, but it chiefly invites speakers to events on campus. She stated she is interested in health insurance.

Andrew Skol, Animal Breeding, stated that he received an e-mail asking if anyone was interested in being the COR representative. He noted that e-mails have been sent out by Dale Porter, Animal Science, who may not be here anymore and therefore, he will look into this issue. He stated he is currently on the Communications Committee and the Campus Store Committee.

Purnima Menon, Nutritional Sciences, stated that her department has two representatives because of its size. She stated that she and Krista Mowry, the other representative from her department, send out e-mails regularly to their listserv. She stated she is interested in concerns about health insurance.

Sergey Kiselev, Physics, stated he had received a letter two years ago asking for volunteers to join the COR, and he volunteered to fill the position. He stated that he communicates with his constituents by sending e-mails to the department secretary, who sends it out to all the graduate students in the department. He stated he is interested in the issue of insurance inclusion into the stipend.

D.Carlson, Statistics, stated there is no governance system within his department. He stated he chose to take the position rather than filling another. He noted that he is also the Vice Chair of the UA. D.Carlson stated that he is very interested in campus governance and how the various communities of the University communicate amongst each other. He stated he is concerned with the decline of downtown Ithaca and is interested in helping to reverse this process.

L.Russell, Public Affairs, stated that her department is very active and the COR representative is an elected position. These elections started this year, and are very competitive. She stated she is concerned with the inclusion of international students.

S.Hames stated he is from Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, which holds an annual meeting at which officers are elected. Also, other assignments are dealt out to volunteers. S.Hames stated he volunteered to be on the COR a couple years ago. He noted that although he requested someone else be the COR member this year, no one agreed to take the position.

S.Hames stated the information received tonight will be compiled, and members will receive it. He noted that all members appear to be self-selected and are trying to communicate in some manner with their constituents. He said it appears that many constituents do not know about the COR and what it does. S.Hames stated this needs to improve and that better marketing of this body is needed.

V. Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned by S.Hames at 6:02 PM.