MINUTES
Graduate & Professional Student Assembly
November 23rd, 1998
Big Red Barn Graduate & Professional Student Center Greenhouse
5:00 P.M.

I. Attendance:

98–99 GPSA Members:

Matt Abramovitz Dennis Carlson Amy Carroll Michael Cosh Deidra Suwanee Dees Wendy Fleischman Stefan Hames Sergey Kiselev David McCusker Purnima Menon Yogesh Potdar Lauren Russell John Schwarz A. Ramon Thomas Linda Yannone

Others Present: Philip McPheron, Hilary Ford, Rogerio Basso, Suzanne Lynch, Christophe Darnault, Yuri Mansury, Bonnie Bailey, and Stephanie Tinsley

II. Call to Order

The meeting was called to order by John Schwarz, President, at 5:35 PM.

III.Minutes

The minutes of the October 26,1998 GPSA meeting were approved as submitted.

IV. Open Forum

Purnima Menon, Nutrition, stated she had recently heard from a constituent regarding a transportation issue. She noted this person may be interested in joining the Transportation Advisory Committee (TAC) if there are any vacancies. P.Menon stated this constituent was concerned about the overcrowding on the buses this year and the fact that graduate students have been left behind at bus stops because there was no room for them. The routes especially prone to this problem are routes 32, 33, and 34. P.Menon added that this constituent had attended a meeting of the TCAT board at which it was stated that increases in bus services are not planned until August.

Stefan Hames, Vice President, stated that transportation is a perennial concern. He noted that last year there were two very active graduate student members on the Transportation Advisory Committee who were able to get several changes made which were beneficial for graduate students. S.Hames stated he would like P.Menon to forward the e-mail to him at rsh5@cornell.edu so he can give it to Hank Dullea, Vice President of University Relations, and a member of the TCAT Board of Directors.

J.Schwarz confirmed there are currently two graduate/professional student vacancies on this committee. He asked for GPSA members to volunteer for the vacancies on the TAC. No one volunteered and members were then asked to spread the word to constituents to see if anyone might be interested in serving on this committee. He asked that individuals contact either himself at jms60@cornell.edu, or Bonnie Bailey at bab3@cornell.edu, Office of the Assemblies, if interested in serving on the Transportation Advisory committee.

Deidra Dees, Secretary, commented that if the seats are not filled within the next month, this may be because of finals. She remarked it may be easier to fill these positions in January.

S.Hames agreed, but noted it is best to fill the positions as soon as possible.

Matt Abramovitz, History, asked about the TAC meeting schedule.

B.Bailey replied that she believes meetings occur once a month for a couple hours. She said she would double check this information and post a message to gpsa-l regarding TAC related information which could then be forwarded to constituents.

D.Dees expressed interest in having pizza at the GPSA meetings as well as the COR meetings. She commented that it is nice to have something to eat at the meeting if one has been on campus all day before the meeting without a break for meals.

J.Schwarz stated he believes the reason why pizza was originally included at COR meetings was to entice members to attend.

S.Hames asked members whether there was any disagreement to having pizza at the GPSA meetings.

Suzanne Lynch, Mathematics, mentioned she would like to have an alternative food item, rather than always having pizza.

J.Schwarz requested that S.Lynch and D.Dees look into this issue and options to pizza.

Wendy Fleischman, Vet Med, stated that she had recently sent out an e-mail to her constituents regarding the Graduate Student Outreach Program and had received a lot of positive feedback from that message. She requested that members remember the Vet School and the other professional schools when such issues arise to make sure the information reaches the professional students in some fashion.

V. Announcements and Reports

A) Alcohol Policy

S.Hames reported that the alcohol policy committee had met last week with Jan Talbot, Community Health Educator, and Alan Bova, Director of Risk Management. A number of objections to the wording of the proposed alcohol policy were raised, and, among other things, it was agreed that language regarding graduate students living in graduate housing would be added to the document to note that they are exempt from the rules. He said that graduate organizations will be treated the same as departments, with the exception that graduate organizations will need to fill out a Use of University Property (UUP) form. J.Talbot and A.Bova also agreed that following the current procedures used by the GPSAFC for purchasing alcohol is fine. He noted the language in the document which was objectionable to the GPSA was examined and revised and the University Assembly will vote on the revised proposed alcohol policy on December 2. He added that they were supposed to get the final draft version of the policy detailing the changes made to the document to him prior to this meeting.

J.Schwarz asked if members would like to pass a resolution in support of the amended Cornell University Alcohol Policy.

S.Hames felt that because a written final draft version wasn’t available to present to members at this time that it presented a problem with regards to passing a resolution. He stated that it was his strong recommendation that the GPSA members serving on the UA approve the revised policy, based on his knowledge of the revisions.

J.Schwarz asked how members would like to handle this issue.

P.Menon replied that e-mail would be a good way to handle this issue.

J.Schwarz said he will e-mail members with relevant information.

In response to members’ questions, S.Hames replied that there is a caterer requirement when serving alcohol, in certain cases. It is a complex issue and has many variables which are used to determine the need for a caterer. S.Hames repeated that graduate organizations would be treated like departments, with the exception of a UUP form requirement.

B) Guidelines for Student Activity Fee

S.Hames announced he was recently appointed to a task force set up by the Board of Trustees to examine guidelines related to student activity fees. The task force has been asked to address five major points, and some subpoints. A codification of the whole process for funding organizations is also desired, including clarification of what constitutes a by-line funded organization. S.Hames noted the administration is concerned about making sure by-line funded groups receive fair proportions of these monies.

S.Hames stated the recommendations all seem to be very reasonable and an action will be brought to the GPSA in January regarding this issue. He noted the Board of Trustees currently gives President Rawlings the authority to disperse the funds garnished from the student activity fee, and he, in turn, allows to Student Assembly (SA) and the GPSA to distribute the money. This task force is working to codify this process and formalize the guidelines for the setting of the student activity fee.

Michael Cosh, Civil Engineering, agreed that the suggested changes seem to follow common sense. He noted one concern raised was that many more groups would want to become by-line funded organizations if a formal process is established. Another issue discussed was whether students should be allowed to check off a box should they not wish to fund a particular organization. The task force decided against this option because it would be very difficult to implement.

S.Hames added that there was also a related suggestion which would allow students to check off boxes of organizations they do want to fund. This idea was also discarded due to implementation concerns and also because it was thought that the funding process might become a popularity contest.

C) Selection of Associate Dean of Academic Affairs in the Graduate School

J.Schwarz stated there is a selection committee to select the a replacement for Eleanor Reynolds, Associate Dean of Academic Affairs in the Graduate School. Three GPSA representatives were asked to serve on this selection committee and they are composed of himself, S.Hames, and D.Dees.

D.Dees stated she attended a selection committee meeting earlier today which was student run. Students on the committee prepared questions to ask of the candidates which reflect student concerns. She noted the committee seems to want minority groups to be fairly represented in the selection process. This committee will interview candidates and follow-up with a recommendation.

J.Schwarz requested that members contact him should they have any concerns regarding this topic.

VI. Old Business

A) TA/RA Report

J.Schwarz stated the TA/RA committee recently submitted its report to Dean Cohen. He stated the GPSA may wish to make a resolution to comment on this report and make suggestions on the next step in the process. For example, the GPSA may want to suggest that workload guidelines be set.

M.Abramovitz stated that formal GPSA support of the report would be a good idea.

J.Schwarz stated he would like the GPSA to take a position on the various parts of the TA/RA report. He stated he intends to draft a resolution regarding this and have an electronic meeting to discuss this issue.

B) Biological Sciences

J.Schwarz stated the administration reported its decision regarding the Division of Biological Sciences last week.

S.Hames commented that he raised the question regarding how teaching assistantships would be affected by this decision at the last UA meeting. The administration did not have an answer at that time, but is currently looking into this subject and will report back. S.Hames noted that because assistantships go to departments, and not fields, the decision could have a profound affect on teaching assistantships in the Biological Sciences.

C) Committee Reporting

J.Schwarz asked that members submit a committee report if they have not yet done so.

D.Dees established that a GPSA newsletter is being developed and she would also appreciate hearing more information from the various committee members. She hopes to have a newsletter put together in the early part of next semester.

D) Communication between administration and assemblies

J.Schwarz stated he is currently working with members from the other assemblies to draft a letter to the administration to let them know the assemblies would like to improve communication.

VII. New Business

A) Resolution re: Use of stipend increase to fund health insurance

J.Schwarz stated there was a proposal last year by Dean Walter Cohen to look at including health insurance in the assistantship package. The funding would be brought in over several years, and done by allocating a portion of the per-year annual increase received by each student on an assistantship for the health care premium.

S.Hames stated that the annual increase is roughly 4% a year and inflation is currently about 2%. The concept is that half of the annual increase would be used to pay for the health insurance and that after three years, the annual increase would return to 4%. Therefore, graduate students with assistantships would not be actively paying for health insurance after the initial phase-in period.

J.Schwarz asked whether the GPSA is interested in having Dean Cohen look into this proposal.

S.Lynch asked if the coverage would be mandatory.

J.Schwarz replied that details would need to be worked out and the question of whether individuals could opt out has not been addressed. He clarified this coverage would only cover individual graduate students, not dependents.

S.Hames commented he believes it is unlikely that one would be able to opt out of the insurance coverage due to the structure of the plan. He noted this plan does not include professional students and would only affect graduate students receiving funding through assistantships, and possibly fellowships. S.Hames stated that when this proposal was introduced last year it was thought the insurance may be tax-deductible. It was learned, however, that because graduate students are not classified as employees, it cannot be tax-deductible. S.Hames stated there probably would not be alternative arrangements for individuals who wish to have outside insurance.

S.Lynch stated that in the circumstances described, she is against the proposal because she does not see any benefit to it.

S.Hames stated that the proposal would be more convenient for him because he would no longer have to make active payments in exchange for a negligible increase during the phase-in period.

David McCusker, Law, asked if this proposal means that an individual would not have to pay up front for insurance.

S.Lynch stated that currently one does not have to pay the insurance in full at the start of the academic year and that it can be paid in installments throughout the year.

J.Schwarz noted this plan would benefit the University in terms of recruiting students since Cornell could then say it pays health insurance for students receiving assistantships.

M.Abramovitz asked for clarification regarding what role grads have in this process and wondered why the GPSA needed to resolve to give Dean Cohen permission to look into this plan. He also asked if they were being asked to give support for the plan, but not necessarily input. He wanted to know how the process of getting input from the GPSA would be handled.

J.Schwarz replied that the GPSA will have continual input throughout the process. He stated that Dean Cohen first wants to know if graduate students are interested in exploring this plan before he approaches the administration.

B.Bailey asked if anything had been put in writing which might summarize the proposal.

J.Schwarz replied that everything has been verbal thus far.

Yogesh Potdar, Engineering, asked why Dean Cohen is making such a proposal.

S.Hames suggested that it might be because an increasing number of universities are offering health insurance in their assistantship packages.

Y.Potdar remarked that none of the engineering students in other universities he knows of offer health insurance in this way.

P.Menon stated she would like more information and feedback on what the administration plans to do since there are many variables and ways this plan may impact students.

M.Abramovitz suggested that further discussions be held on this topic.

P.Menon stated she does not feel secure in making a decision without more information.

J.Schwarz stated the proposal is still very general and the details must still be decided upon.

D.McCusker commented that a potential benefit for students might occur if the price of health insurance increases drastically after three years since the University may then have to bear the difference in cost.

S.Hames stated it would be more likely that if the price of insurance premiums increase that stipend increases would then decrease by a tiny amount.

J.Schwarz asked whether the GPSA is willing to let Dean Cohen examine this issue more fully.

S.Hames stated this plan would be more beneficial to future graduate students. He noted it would be more appealing overall if it were tax-deductible.

M.Cosh asked how this plan would affect those who have assistantships for only half a year. He agreed that the insurance is unlikely to be tax-deductible because graduate students are not classified as employees.

J.Schwarz was also of the opinion that this would not be considered a University benefit. He asked whether members are interested in this proposal and would like Dean Cohen to continue examining its feasibility.

M.Abramovitz suggested that a procedural outline be made which would detail consultation with the GPSA and methods for obtaining student feedback. He noted that it seems as though graduate students may be interested in this proposal.

J.Schwarz agreed that establishing a procedural outline would be helpful.

S.Hames stated Dean Cohen wants GPSA approval so he knows whether it is worth his time to pursue this proposal.

M.Abramovitz remarked that, in the end, Dean Cohen cannot be guaranteed that graduate students would approve the plan since it might turn out that graduate students would be opposed to the plan after getting more information. He stated the initial reduction in the stipend increases may be a big issue with graduate students. He added he would like to hear more from Dean Cohen on the procedures.

J.Schwarz agreed, and offered to invite Dean Cohen to the next COR meeting. He asked whether members would approve Dean Cohen taking this policy proposal to the next level.

A motion was made to recommend that Dean Cohen continue exploration into the health insurance proposal.

The motion passed by a vote of 10–1.

J.Schwarz stated he will get in touch with Dean Cohen and ask that he attend the next COR meeting.

B) Appropriate use of GPSA-l

J.Schwarz distributed a draft of a policy to those assembled regarding how GPSA-l should be used and said he would like to get it approved by the GPSA in order to make it a formal policy. He noted that all new members would get this policy included in their welcome message after subscribing to GPSA-L.

B.Bailey asked whether it would be appropriate to post questions on meeting times under this new policy.

J.Schwarz said that he would add a sentence to the policy which will state that general questions, such as the one described, should be sent to gpsa@cornell.edu.

S.Hames suggested using the language from the current welcome message which reads, “General questions about the GPSA (e.g. schedules, agendas,committees, etc.) should not be sent to this list but rather to the electronic mailbox, gpsa@cornell.edu, maintained by the Cornell University Office of the Assemblies”. He suggested including this language as a bullet point within the gpsa-l welcome message.

B.Bailey asked whether people can post messages about events.

S.Hames stated that posts about events should be avoided and that posts should be limited to those related to University policies or committees.

M.Abramovitz suggested that more work be done on this draft and volunteered to help.

J.Schwarz agreed and tabled the discussion.

VIII. Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned by J.Schwarz at 6:45 PM.

Respectfully Submitted, Stephanie Tinsley