GPSA Council of Representatives Meeting Minutes
February 10, 2003

I. Call to Order

G. Hurley called the meeting to order at 5:30pm.

II. Open Forum

R. Willer said that the GPSAFC meeting will be held afterwards.

III. Announcements and Reports

GPSA Update G. Hurley said that J. Moriarty couldn’t make it to the meeting but asked him to address the members. He said that at the last GPSA meeting, they spent of the time discussing the Pay and Benefits committee’s accomplishments, which he will let L. Mangiola and C. Taylor discuss. The meeting also discussed the possibility of extending meeting times, especially for the GPSA. They are asking for comments and solutions for staffing (i.e. Tammy and Tyng, who would have to stay longer past 6:30pm). The suggested meeting time will be extended to 90 minutes. Last meeting they also spoke about Dspace, a project that Robert Cook presented to the GPSA. Dspace would allow graduate students the option of voluntarily posting their dissertations online.

V. Augusta asked if Robert Cook is working with the Thesis Office on this?

S. Adam said yes.

Pay and Benefits Committee L. Mangiola thanked the committee members for their input, and introduced the members. She said that they meet on a weekly basis, starting about a month ago. They wanted to survey and petition graduate students about vision and dental insurance needs.

C. Taylor said that at the next COR meeting they will implement the plan that they’ve been devising. They want grad students to take anonymous surveys and petition to ask Cornell to cover premiums and offer a buy-in plan. CASE will help with manpower. At the next meeting they will pass out packets that will include a fact sheet, which has price comparisons and comparisons of Cornell to other schools. A gift certificate of $50 will be offered to the person who did the most work as motivation incentive. Then a data analysis will be done when the survey and petitioning is over. Last week the GPSA authorized a $2000 budget to help with data entry. They are asking for as much participation as possible.

A student asked why are they not doing a web based survey?

L. Mangiola replied that there were too many complications and time restraint.

C. Taylor said that they want to talk to people face to face so that they can get the COR/GPSA name out.

D. Marques said that he has issues with CASE people participating in the survey because certain departments have an animosity towards the association and he doesn’t want the integrity of the project to be compromised.

C. Taylor said that CASE’s intentions are nothing but good.

D. Marques said he doesn’t want CASE to misrepresent GPSA.

A student said that the names of the GPSA and CASE/UAW were taken off the petition and survey.

T. McConnochie wanted to stress the importance of separating the survey and petition in people’s minds.

A. Schpak said that larger groups (like the Law School) will need people’s help and CASE is important in that respect.

D. Marques said that might weaken what this group is trying to accomplish.

S. Adam asked what is the threshold to allow the GPSA to make the resolution? What kind of outcomes are necessary? Will the survey influence what kind of resolution is made?

C. Taylor said they are looking for about 2000 responses.

A student said that the question will be answered by the petition. The survey reinforces the concept of students’ needs and gets background info as to what they really want.

V. Augusta asked who is the health benefits person in COR and are they involved?

L. Mangiola said no.

V. Augusta asked if they are on the agenda for the next health benefits meeting?

L. Mangiola said she doesn’t know.

V. Augusta said that they should be in tune with them.

C. Taylor said that they have been in touch.

H. Wynder said that she feels this is an exciting time right now because the GPSA is showing that they are active and she encouraged volunteers.

A student asked if there will be a box on the survey that asks “Other coverage”?

C. Taylor said that they have reworded the question asking about dental and vision.

G. Hall said that the survey asks how much are they willing to pay, and if they put 0, that will come out in the analysis.

C. Jirsa asked is it evidence that it’s from the GPSA?

L. Mangiola said that GPSA is written at the top of the survey.

A student asked will COR see the survey before circulation?

C. Taylor said that it was circulated at the last GPSA meeting.

Work and Family Advisory Council V. Augusta said that they talked about potential ways that students can benefit from services. “Life cycle” programs are currently being offered and they are looking at having 3 or 4 to be there next year. Childcare is a much larger and longer project. They are exploring using the daycare center near the airport but are confronted with issues such as how much it will cost, etc. In regards to the Parent Network, that is another piece they are working on. The Office of Workforce Diversity has an advisory committee and they are looking for a grad student to be on the committee. They meet Thursdays once a month at around lunchtime in Day Hall..

Other Updates G. Hurley said that it is trustee election season and the position usually goes to an undergrad but it would be nice to have a grad student run and win the seat.

H. Wynder said she ran 2 years ago and it was a phenomenal experience and to talk to her about what she did right and wrong.

V. Blodgett from the Division of Student Affairs said that they are changing the pricing structure on buildings and they will no longer be charging each other for usage. Now if you are part of a student group, you will not be charged for the usage of building space.

A student asked how will they be rationing the space?

Victoria said it will be first come first serve probably.

IV. Business of the Day

Iraq G. Hurley said that they will not be able to pass this resolution at this meeting and the earliest date to pass it will be the next GPSA meeting 2 weeks from now. M. McGuire and A. Levine introduced the resolution, and then G. Hurley said he will see what he can do to speed things up.

M. McGuire said that the resolution is short and clear and he is asking for feedback. It will be good for the GPSA to show their presence and solidarity on campus. He read parts in the resolution that tell how war will affect Cornell.

A. Levine said that the language of the resolution is almost verbatim of what the SA passed 2 weeks ago. They need speed in passing this resolution because President Bush said that if they are going to be at war, it will most probably be by the end of this month. She will also circulate a petition supporting the resolution for the GPSA.

A student said that the resolution might be more acceptable if they strike the 5th whereas clause.

C. Jirsa asked what is the next step if the resolution passes?

A. Levine said that they plan to follow what other schools are doing. It is symbolic action and they are making their voices clear that they don’t support the war.

A. Schpak asked if this was within the scope of the GPSA? Education seems to be the only part related. Everything else can be dealt with by talking to our own Congressional representatives.

M. McGuire said that the war will affect our daily lives.

A. Levine said that students have made it clear that they want this, i.e. the SA has passed the resolution.

R. Willer said that the GPSA should consider a short press release to spread the word. In regards to appropriateness, they have passed similar resolutions before and the war will affect us.

T. McConnochie said that the 2nd resolve clause appears to condemn all military action and he is unclear if that’s the meaning.

S. Flaxman said that “unilateral” is moot so they better specify what it means. He surveyed his department in the past when the issue first came up and there is overwhelming support in the appropriateness of this and views.

C. McGowan said that he couldn’t vote yes because his constituency is well divided and there is no clear voice whether they are for or against the war.

M. McGuire asked if they would be willing to take the resolution back to their departments?

A. Schpak asked if they are supposed to tally yes and no’s?

M. McGuire said that it would be use to have a count and send it to him. G. Hurley can send out the resolution as a word document. Please email Mark at mpm24@cornell.edu for comments.

B. Holmes is concerned about the rush procedure. He is concerned about setting a precedent for the GPSA to pass resolutions about national and international issues. He is concerned that the discussion might be one-sided. He made a case for going against the resolution.

D. Raik proposed that they go back to survey their department because last time people were overwhelmingly against the GPSA passing such a resolution.

D. Marques said that he is concerned with the language.

A. Levine said that the current language is what people were most comfortable with.

V. Blodgett said that it might be helpful to include how the war will affect graduate studies. The resolution should focus more on the impact for grad students.

V. Augusta said that they should be specific about the header in the email because she just wants to hit forward on her computer.

T. Malchi said that there is national media attention being given to the SA after they passed the resolution so these issues do matter. He recommended the GPSA pass the resolution as soon as possible and not get caught up in bureaucracy.

B. Preston said that he does not want anything new in the resolution at the next GPSA meeting.

A student asked if are they asking if it’s appropriate for the GPSA to vote, or if they’re for the resolution?

G. Hurley said both.

TGIF in Summer T. McConnochie said he has been talking to the director of the Big Red Barn about the feasibility of having it open in the summer. He wants to have TGIF over the summer. There are 2 reactions: Nobody’s here so they shouldn’t have it, and everybody’s here so they should have it. He asked people to please respond to his email so he can know what everybody wants. They will be spending about $1500 in keeping it open so he needs some form of justification. G. Hurley says that there is $11,000 in their account. They need to hire a summer manager for 10 hours a week at $12 an hour.

C. McGowan asked if there is any way to do a test run, for example for the first few weeks?

T. McConnochie said that they would still need to hire a manager.

C. McGowan said that he understands that it would only cost $.30 a student in their activity fee but lots of people don’t go to TGIF so they should just raise beer prices to make it more equitable.

A. Schpak said that for people aren’t here during the summer, they wouldn’t want to be funding something so exclusive to people who are here.

B. Preston asked if there is any way to give the manager flexibility in marketing and helping in reach out to beyond grad students to attend TGIF?

A student said that the problem is that most grad students who are here during the summer aren’t on campus most of the time.

H. Wynder said that TGIF is 3 hours a week, so what is the manager doing the other 7 hours?

T. McConnochie said he is looking into that.

H. Wynder suggested taking advantage of free building rentals and holding TGIF ourselves?

V. Blodgett said that would be too complicated because they would need to get a liquor license, insurance, and a lot of other issues.

V. Adjournment

G. Hurley adjourned the meeting at 6:35.

Respectfully submitted,

Tyng Tsuei Office of the Assemblies