Graduate & Professional Student Assembly Meeting
Monday, October 20, 2008
Greenhouse, Big Red Barn
5:30–7:00pm

I. Welcome and Introductions

M. Leinfelder called the meeting to order at 5:37 p.m. She announced they had a new assembly member in attendance. David Koch-Weser introduced himself and said he would be representing the Law School this year.

II. Approval of Minutes

M. Guerrero asked for an addition to the minutes from September 22, 2008. M. Leinfelder then asked the members to approve the minutes as amended. R. Harbison made a motion to approve the minutes. C. Mansfeldt seconded. The minutes from September 22, 2008 were voted on and approved 10-in favor, 0-opposed and 2-abstentions.

III. Open Forum

M. Walsh said that in President Skorton’s “State of the University” address he said although the economy was still in trouble, CU is in a good position to come through better than some other universities.

M. Walsh also said there was a sustainability event coming up called, “Getting to Zero” on October 22, 2008 in Weill Hall, and he invited everyone to attend.

M. Leinfelder passed out fliers about a Dance Party to support the LGBTQ efforts that are on the November ballots. For more information, check with Patrick Ayscue (CoR member) or the Facebook Group.

IV. Old Business

1. Executive Updates

              Executive Committee

D. Rose said they were wrapping up committee assignments. She then read the list of committees that are still looking for members. She said they now have a new system for reporting to help streamline the process.

M. Guerrero gave a quick recap of the CoR meeting from October 6, 2008. He went on to say there were a number of issues the GPSA was looking into, which included the childcare grant, the newspaper machines on campus, and the LGBTQ Resource Center. He said a committee has been formed to advise on the hiring of the new director of the Resource Center, and he himself is a member. He closed by saying he will keep the GPSA updated on the committee’s progress and activities.

M. Leinfelder said the President announced the new Provost in his “State of the University” address, and there was also an article in the Cornell Sun. She said that Kent Fuchs was selected as the new Provost for Cornell. She asked that committees send in their meeting minutes to be posted on the GPSA website. She also said if they noticed errors or other updates, to please let the Executive Committee or the Office of the Assemblies know.

New Business M. Leinfelder was invited to the Student Life Board of Trustees meeting, where there was a comment made about an inadequate number of beds in undergraduate campus housing but vacancies in grad housing areas. She recapped a meeting held over the summer that she and D. Rose and attended with the Director of Residential Programs from Campus Life. At that meeting, they learned that there had been over-admission of undergraduate students, including transfer students, and there were not enough beds for them. The director suggested they house transfer students in Hasbrouck since there were vacancies there. M. Leinfelder said she could not support this idea since Hasbrouck was meant for graduate students and their families. M. Leinfelder suggested that Schuyler House might be a better option for transfer students, but that this option was still not ideal. The ideal solution would be to have all undergraduate students housed in undergraduate housing. She said she would like to see some kind of action from GPSA in terms of their stand on the housing situation. D. Rose proposed they write a resolution to present their comments.

M. Walsh said he and N. Brideau were on one of the Graduate Community Initiative (GCI) subcommittees, and they had been trying to take care of the vacancy problem at Hasbrouck, but explained there were significant financial issues. M. Walsh gave some history on this problem. M. Leinfelder said they should have a resolution for the next meeting and could possibly pass it since it was not a charter-altering resolution.

She also said that D. Rose pointed out the Campus Advisory Committee was seeking a graduate student rep. In addition to that, there will be a new committee within Campus Life looking at the Campus Life Master Plan. She asked anyone who was interested in serving as a representative on either of these committees to let her or D. Rose know.

2. Committee Reports and Discussion - Student Advocacy Committee and President’s Council on Alcohol and Other Drugs — Brian Forster and Mario Roman B. Forster said that last week a representative from the Student Health Insurance Office traveled to Geneva. He said Geneva students now have a clearer picture of what their health care is. He said the committee will stay on this issue and noted the minutes from the last Advocacy meeting were posted online. He said another representative from the committee will come to the next meeting to give an update on mental health. He said B. Wickes had an update on the Dental Plan, which is now posted on the Advocacy Committee webpage.

M. Roman gave an update on the “Amethyst Initiative” concerning lowering the legal drinking age from 21 to 18. He noted President Skorton has not signed this initiative. He then asked for people’s comments and suggestions. S. Pardo added this issue had come up in the last UA meeting as well, where the undergrads had taken the position that the president had been too swift to reject this. He said the SA had a panel discussion on this in October, but he believes they are not looking at the issue as a whole, and admitted he was concerned the SA was not taking an objective approach. M. Walsh said this was to create a discussion. The college presidents could sign this to encourage legislation to change it. He suggested they could bring in experts from Gannett and Campus Life to be better educated on the subject. B. Forster offered to have them come to a Student Advocacy Committee meeting. M. Leinfelder sent the matter back to the Advocacy Committee to discuss, saying that they have several options: they could draft a resolution, discuss it more at a CoR meeting, or take no action since it did not directly affect graduate students. She asked the committee to provide an update at a future meeting.

- Events Planning Committee: Grads’ Nite Out recap — Kate Capossela K. Capossela said that “Grads’ Nite Out” last Thursday went well. She said the Committee was meeting later tonight to talk about upcoming events including the Grad Ball. She will have more updates at the next meeting.

- Communications Committee — Mario Guerrero M. Guerrero said the committee had its first meeting before Fall Break. He said they are creating a budget now. He noted they were going to send a “GPSA Info” email to all graduate and professional students. C. Mansfeldt asked if this would be an actual allocated budget. M. Guerrero said in the past the committee was not required to submit a budget, but now they plan to, since it helps keep better track of spending.

- Funding Policy Committee: Hockey ticket price — Joern Kupferschmidt J. Kupferschmidt said they had their first meeting last week, and decided they wanted to review everything. By-line funding is considered to be coordinated with SA representatives. A. Richter gave a bit of history on this.

There was a recess due to a noise problem in the Big Red Barn. The meeting resumed at 6:36 p.m.

J. Kupferschmidt continued � hockey ticket cost has increased from last year: $9 to $13 per ticket. He inquired about this and Athletics said they would give us a $4 discount so the $13 price was the same for grads and undergrads. Joern said the price is reviewed every two years and this is the result. He suggested they express their displeasure to Athletics by a resolution. M. Walsh said they need a strong Funding Policy Chair in place to avoid this in the future. He then said this is a good area to work on with the SA.

3. Budget Review J. Kupferschmidt reviewed and explained the budget sheet in depth. He noted the “over budget” areas of GPSA meetings and copying & supplies. He said they needed further discussion on how to allocate special funds and on the budget for the Ivy Summit. He then took questions from the members.

M. Leinfelder noted they only had a few minutes left before the meeting was scheduled to end. A. Richter made a motion to extend the meeting until 7:10 p.m. J. Kupferschmidt seconded. The motion was voted on and approved.

C. Mansfeldt said he felt the budget should be net-zero, not showing a deficit. M. Leinfelder agreed and said the projected budget for 07–08 was only that — a projection — and not a reflection of actual spending, so she cautioned people against relying on it. She said showing the GPSA was acting responsibly with their money was a priority.

M. Roman asked when the committees would have to submit budgets. M. Leinfelder said the GPSA as an assembly would need to decide, but there were several options. J. Kupferschmidt said he would like to have a decision on that soon.

J. Kupferschmidt proposed they allocate $1,000 for the Ivy Summit coming up this weekend. A. Richter made a motion to approve. R. Harbison seconded. The motion was voted on and approved by a vote 11-in favor, 0-opposed, 1-abstention.

A. Richter asked if they should make any motions or vote on this. C. Mansfeldt said he felt they should not since many important members were absent. He continued by saying they should get a presentation from each committee chair to explain their budgets.

M. Leinfelder asked the members to review and send “dialogue” e-mails to each other so they could have business time rather than discussion time at the next meeting.

V. New Business

1. Ad-hoc Committee on Charter Review

             Executive Committee

M. Leinfelder asked committee chairs to designate someone from each committee to be on the Ad-hoc committee to review the Charter. She also asked for other assembly members to volunteer and said she would appoint people if needed. She closed by saying they will have the committee formed by the next meeting.

C. Mansfeldt made a motion to extend the next meeting until 7:30 p.m. A. Richter seconded. The motion was voted on and approved by a vote of 10-in favor, 0-opposed and 2-abstentions.

VI. Adjournment

M. Leinfelder adjourned the meeting at 7:13 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,
Elly Shin
Office of the Assemblies