Graduate and Professional Student Assembly
Minutes
Big Red Barn
October 27, 2003
5:30–7:00 p.m.

Attendance:

Present: Larry Boyd, Sam Flaxman, Gavin Hurley, Curtis Jirsa, Dan Marques, Kurt Massey, Anne McNeil, Joan Moriarty, David Schmale III, Susannah Schmid, Cate Taylor, Ariana Vigil, Farbod Raiszadeh, Karen Trainor

Excused: Timothy McConnochie

Unexcused:, Mark McGuire

Others present: T. Bishop, T. Tsuei, P. McPheron, V. Blodgett, S. Munro, F. Ponce, E. Suarez, H. O’Neil, M. Leinfelder. S. Perez, M. Casaus, M. Patrick, J. Kadlec, H. Etienne, E. Henry, K. Couvson, R. Bhattamishra, D. Nowak, B. Smith

I. Call to Order

G. Hurley called the meeting to order at 5:35pm.

II. Open Forum

R. Bhattamishra, COR rep from economics, had something to say about the Student Health Insurance Plan (SHIP). She said that AETNA’s staff is only available to talk to on the phone from 8AM - 6PM on weekdays. There is nobody to call for information outside those hours which could lead to critical consequences.

K. Massey said that there is a window of 48 hours afterwards to call and students won’t be denied coverage.

A student said that international students are unaware of the legalities of SHIP.

III. Approval of Minutes

The minutes for August 25, 2003 and September 29, 2003 were unanimously approved.

IV. Announcements & Updates

A) COR Update
D. Schmale said that at the last meeting, the focus was on the student activity fee and issues with the investment account.

B) Students with families
G. Hurley spoke on behalf of Virginia Augusta. He said that she had been working on this for a while and it has no university backing. She is working on a parents network and a student run child care co-op is a potential program. Her email is VLA2 if anybody is interested.

C) Willard Straight Gaming Room
G. Hurley said that the Dean of Students (DOS) wants to put a Kinko’s in the pool room of WSH. This was discussed at the SA. He expressed that he thinks it’s a bad idea in a letter to Dean Hubbell. Dean Hubbell said he is interested in meeting with grad students to discuss the best use of that space.

D) General Committee
C. Jirsa said that they changed the name of Agricultural Econ, but he forgot the exact title. They approved a minor in Systems Engineering. The biggest issue being discussed was family leave. It wouldn’t be a paid leave, but would just be a way of stopping the clock in case of an emergency. They are looking for 12 months leave because that is what employees have. The biggest issue would be maintaining student status while on leave, which would especially be a benefit for international students. Penn State has 12 week paid leave and peer institutions don’t have any policy.

J. Moriarty said that the university does not have paid leave.

S. Flaxman said this would be good to pursue because there are lots of fellowships that don’t come with tuition waivers. This happens to many students and they are forced to choose between going on absentia and losing library privileges or pay tuition and use fellowship money to pay for tuition.

UA
K. Massey said that they had an organizational meeting that included goal setting. He described the function of the UA. They talked about resolutions from other assemblies. They voted on changes to the Cornell judicial code. The vote failed for underage drinking charges to go on a disciplinary report for repeat offenses. The marketing of transportation committee gave a presentation which include parking fees that will be based on the CPI.

D. Schmale said that on October 21st, they had Partnering for Success, which was a meeting of all the assemblies with President Lehman. A portion of the meeting was spent collaborating with the other assemblies. The UA wants to collectively work with other assemblies on larger issues on campus.

G. Hurley introduced Karen Trainor from the Vet School as a new GPSA representative.

V. Business of the Day

There was a motion to switch the order on the agenda.

B) Funding Policy Committee Activity Fee Recommendation
G. Hurley said the finance committee (FC) makes a recommendation on the student activity fee and then the GPSA votes on it line by line. Then the GPSA collectively votes and changes can still be made at that vote. Groups can present their case for reconsideration.

L. Boyd said that the GPSAFC has been underfunded for some time and the items in bold are different from what groups have asked (referring to the line by line list included with the agenda). EMS is the emergency medical service. They respond first, then call Bangs. CUPB brings speakers to Cornell and BRB includes the end of the year barbecue and summer TGIF.

There was a motion to adopt the Funding Policy Committee’s recommendation to allocate $9 for Cornell Cinema, $5.75 for the Cornell Concert Commission, $1.00 for Emergency Medical Service, $3.05 for Cornell University Programming Board, $0.65 for Graduate Orientation, $5.00 for the Big Red Barn, $0.99 for the International Students Programming Board and $4.75 for Club Insurance and it passed.

Grad students are concerned about Athletics because they don’t feel like they are getting their $6 worth. The money goes towards free tickets to athletic events and reduced hockey tickets.

B. Holmes said there are no statistics for how grad students benefit from Athletics.

S. Flaxman asked what happens if the GPSA decides not to fund Athletics at all?

L. Boyd said that grad students will have to pay for events and undergrad will get in for free. The FC wants to discuss with Athletics why they’re asking for so much. Cutting funding completely would be inappropriate because people may actually be attending these events.

J. Moriarty said there is stuff in the binders about Athletics prices.

L. Boyd said that to defend Athletics, the Cornell Cinema gets money and not every grad goes to see a movie.

There was a motion for $4 and it passed.

L. Boyd said next is the GPSA. $3 out of the $5 was for the investment account but he decided to drop it. They went from $2 to $1.50 because they no longer needed to finance the BRB. $1.50 will cover all the expenses. It doesn’t include the income from the investment account.

F. Raiszadeh asked what is the rationale for $3?

L. Boyd said he requested it as a high end. The SA has an endowment account and is looking to use it to get rid of their student activity fee in the future.

D. Schmale asked if it would be possible to make the investment account optional? Or any part of the student activity fee optional?

G. Hurley said that the university is against that for obvious reasons.

Victoria said that lots of people complain about how the student activity fee is set and would love to have a check-off system.

B. Holmes said those people should be coming to the meeting.

There was a motion for $1.50 and it passed.

L. Boyd said he increased the recommended number from the requested number to make the student activity fee a round number.

He explained the graph in the agenda, showing income, surplus and estimated expenditures and what would happen if the investment account is liquidated. The graph dramatizes how much overspending is taking place and the different options to take. The committee wanted to set the recommended amount so that it would match expenditures. It is very difficult in projecting estimates.

B. Holmes said the money allocated to groups is marked for them until the end of the school year. The FC can’t touch the money that’s not spent during the year until the end of the year. They need a cushion and it is difficult to project the amount of money because they don’t know what’s going on with the groups’ accounts. They need to maximize the efficiency to the system.

A student asked how can we make projections about the future for GPSAFC expenditures?

L. Boyd said he used current numbers and averages to project.

G. Hurley said to keep things simple, the question is whether we should match expenditures to revenues.

A student said they are surprised to see the student activity is so low and that a lot of students would be willing to pay more.

A motion was made for $24.31 and it passed.

A) R. 2, Resolution on the GPSA Investment Account

B. Holmes explained the rationale for having a long term investment account. He clarified that it is not an endowment account and it is actually funds acting as an endowment account. They should investigate short term investment account options. He emphasized that it is not a savings account and options are liquidating it now or not touching it.

L. Boyd introduced his amendment. He said it would be a good opportunity to set a lasting legacy. He wants to liquidate part of the account and is not sure how much yet because if a cushion is made then it is not necessary to liquidate all of it. He emphasized good stewardship. Liquidating the account takes away options of what can be done with it and they need to figure out how to get the money for the account. There will be a lot of questions and unclear rules about a short term account and its functions so he is uncomfortable with having one.

B. Holmes said his resolution charges the FC in making a recommendation on whether or not to invest in a short term account.

C. Taylor asked how do the amendment and resolution go together?

L. Boyd said he wrote his resolution as it would look if his amendment were included.

J. Moriarty said she supports Brian’s resolution because they need to be careful about the language — it is not an endowment because endowment has different implications. They should take the opportunity touch the money and she is comfortable with a short term plan but not long term because the money was never intended to be locked up in a long term investment account.

C. Jirsa asked is the principle preserved in a short term account?

B. Holmes said yes, if $50,000 is put into it.

C. Jirsa asked can we take out part of the long term account?

L. Boyd said yes.

B. Holmes said he didn’t want to push it because they are technically not supposed to touch the principle for 3 years.

D. Schmale said he is confused about the “endowment” term.

J. Moriarty said the difference is the intention of the money.

B. Holmes said the endowment means Cornell has control on the money.

D. Schmale said he concerned about the means of how the money is allocated to groups because the process isn’t as competitive as how he thinks it should be. He feels groups who put the most effort into their budget requests should be granted money as opposed to groups with shanty proposals. He wants to see the liquidation occur when the allocation funding cyclic system problem is solved. Groups are taking money from other groups who work hard to get their money and he doesn’t favor full liquidation because the money will be squandered. He supports Larry’s resolution.

A student representing the American Indian grad students said that he is for putting money in an account for future grad students coming in but not at the expense of current students. They need to find which way helps current students but helps future students too. They need to consider how cuts made will affect and hurt the current students.

F. Raiszadeh said he supports Larry’s resolution. It is nicely balanced between the 2 extremes of liquidating and not. The issue not raised is the image of how the GPSA conducts business, i.e. consistency, long term planning, how they value past resolutions that have been passed. Letting the FC decide on how the investment account is distributed is the best way.

A. Vigill said that she is opposed to the account because they are not a corporation and it is outside the GPSA’s charge. It would be irresponsible of them because students didn’t know their money was going into an account.

C. Taylor said students that she talked to were unhappy with the idea of a long term investment account. They are not comfortable with their money in the stock market. She wants to amend Larry’s amendment and keep only the 3rd resolve clause.

D. Marques said that they shouldn’t have a primary concern with consistency. He asked how much needs to be settled now and in the future? He suggested leaving proper names out of Brian’s resolution and let the GPSA in the future decide how to fill in the blanks later.

L. Boyd said the idea for his resolution was that it was unnecessary to liquidate all of the investment account to get through the funding cycle. He is uncomfortable with a short term account because it accrues less interest and having too much of a surplus for cushion looks back too.

D. Marques said he feels they should leave the $100,000 there because the system is flawed right now.

Phil said that many non profit corporations without endowments wish they did and non profits with endowments are looking to make it better. Having funds exist for a long time may be beneficial because that exists in the real world.

There was a motion to vote and it was 2nded, then objected.

S. Flaxman said that he is objecting because the concept of partial liquidation was only introduced tonight.

The motion fails.

S. Flaxman said he is in favor of Brian’s resolution because it guarantees that it will help out student groups.

B. Holmes said if the resolution is amended then they can’t move on. If they liquidate the money they can access the money sooner.

A vote was made on Larry’s resolution and it failed, 7–7.

Adding the 3rd resolve clause of Larry’s resolution to Brian’s resolution was found friendly.

There was a motion to vote.

S. Flaxman proposed an amendment that the GPSAFC not use more than $50,000 from the liquidation in the spring in ‘04.

The amendment was 2nded and found friendly.

D. Marques introduced an amendment to charge the FC to recommend whether or not to liquidate.

The amendment was 2nded and found friendly.

D. Marques introduced an amendment that money not used in liquidation be put back into the account.

The amendment was found unfriendly and withdrawn.

There was a call to question and it was 2nded.

The resolution passed, 7–3−1.

VI. Adjournment

G. Hurley adjourned the meeting at 7:40.

Respectfully submitted,
Tyng Tsuei
Office of the Assemblies