Graduate and Professional Student Assembly
Council of Representatives
November 12, 2007
Memorial Room, Willard Straight Hall
5:30–7:00pm

I. Welcome and Introductions

M. Leinfelder called the meeting to order at 5:34pm.

Council members introduced each other.

II. Open Forum

L. Diaz said on Nov 30 there is a live auction. She said it is usually a formal event and it is $10 which includes drinks, a silent auction, snacks, and an open auction. L. Diaz said it starts at 6pm and last year it ended around 12am. She said it will be held at the VET school.

III. Executive Updates

Y. Yu said our major event last week was the Ivy Summit. This year it was hosted by Brown University from Nov 2–4th. Y. Yu said the attendance from the Ithaca campus was the executive board and T. Pardo. She said the president of student government from the Weill Medical school attended as well. Y. Yu said there were major components discussed at the Ivy Summit such as the State of the Eight for each school. She said each school gave a presentation of their student government including how it functions and events they were working on. There were also some discussion sessions on healthcare.

Y. Yu said leadership training was also brought up, and how it is a beneficial way to train student government leaders. They also discussed their relationship w/slope day and how there was a change in attitude.

Y. Yu gave a news update: in 2009 the Ivy Summit will happen in Cornell. She said the Graduate School promised to help with funding it.

A. Richter said there are still a few committees that are open. She said to let her know if people are interested in serving in them. A. Richter passed out a sheet to get people to sign up for them.

M. Leinfelder said if anyone has suggestions for the GPSAINFO to let her know. She also requested that members make every effort to attend the December 10 CoR meeting because Dean Sunny Power will be a special guest.

IV. Election of At-Large Assembly Seat

M. Leinfelder described the CoR and GPSA.

M. Guerrero nominated J. Kupferschmidt.

C. Mansfeldt nominated himself.

M. Leinfelder asked for a motion to close nominations. R. Harbison made a motion. M. Walsh seconded.

Nominees said a little bit about themselves.

J. Kupferschmidt now holds the at-large assembly seat.

V. Annual Reports from Activity Fee Byline-Funded Organizations

a. Cornell Cinema: Mary Fessenden & Chris Riley

M. Fessenden provided a comprehensive background of Cornell Cinema.

Y. Yu asked whether or not they plan on cutting services. M. Fessenden said they do not and explained what they have been doing (such as having 5 calendars rather than 7).

Assembly members asked questions and M. Fessenden and C. Riley answered them.

b. International Students Programming Board: Elise Gonzales and Wesley Tillu

M. Leinfelder asked for motion to amend the agenda to discuss the GPSA first. M. Walsh seconded. (See part e.)

E. Gonzales and the president W. Tillu gave an overview of the organization. The ISPB funds other groups’ events as well as holds their own events. E. Gonzales passed out their 2004–2005 budget/financial statements.

Assembly members said that they appreciate the budget sheet, it is very clear.

A. Cowan said he is curious about why the budget fluctuates so much. The ISPB President replied that each year different groups ask for different amounts for funding.

M. Leinfelder wanted to clarify the ISPB budget sheet and that the ISPB is requesting money from the GPSA, not the GPSAFC because the GPSAFC is another by-line funded group.

c. CU Programming Board: Tara Tavernia and Halley Lauer

T. Tavernia gave an overview of the CU Programming Board and the events that they hosted. She said the price of the events varies according to the performers and the programming board tries to have the cheapest price possible. T. Tavernia said the shows are subsidized for the students.

A. Richter asked how many shows are hosted. T. Tavernia said it just depends on who is available.

A. Richter asked what is the difference between the CU Programming Board and the Concert Commission. T. Tavernia said the Programming Board brings speakers/dance shows and the Concert Commission brings music.

J. Kupferschmidt asked if they don’t have by-line funding, how much would it change the ticket price. T. Tavernia replied it depends on who the performer is.

J. Kupferschmidt asked how many people attended shows hosted by the Programming Board this semester. T. Tavernia said it was 12,000 people and about 10,000 people went to see Steven Colbert.

M. Leinfelder mentioned it is great that the Programming Board has been notifying the graduate students of their events.

T. Tavernia and colleague asked for suggestions on how to get more graduate student participation. An assembly member suggested maybe they should go to the graduate student orientation.

d. Cornell Concert Commission: Liz Rapoport and Pat Maloney

L. Rapoport and P. Maloney (the executive director of the concert commission) gave an overview of the concert commission and past events hosted. They said their general goal is to try and have 2 Barton shows next year. They also explained where their money goes.

M. Guerrero said they don’t know the number of graduates who have participated. L. Rapoport said they are trying to work on ways to keep track of how many undergraduates/graduates go to the events.

e. GPSA: Shawn Kong

S. Kong listed how much money is spent on items for the GPSA and the rationale behind some of it. He talked about the GPSA budget.

M. Leinfelder mentioned a lot of the funding for groups is for food. She said the GPSA funds for the finance commission to meet.

f. GPSAFC: Leon Chen

L. Chen and colleague introduced what the GPSAFC does and how they work. They mentioned that groups could ask the GPSAFC for special funding if they’re hosting an event.

M. Guerrero asked if the budget could be published. Y. Yu said if you are curious, you could go to the Office of Assemblies to ask about how much is left in account. M. Guerrero said he wanted to know how much and where the money is allocated. Y. Yu said it depends on the scale of the event. She said it can be up to $3,000 or whether or not groups give enough justification in which sometimes they are given nothing.

M. Leinfelder asked how much money the GPSAFC is requesting in the next Activity Fee. L. Chen said about $25.

VI. Adjournment

M. Walsh made a motion to adjourn the meeting. R. Harbison seconded

M. Leinfelder adjourned the meeting at 6:55pm.

Respectfully submitted,
YuhLi Tsuei
Office of the Assemblies