MINUTES
Graduate & Professional Student Assembly
GPSA Discussion Meeting
Monday, March 4th, 2013
Bache Auditorium, Malott Hall
5:30–7:00 P.M.

I. Welcome and Introductions

1. Introduction of voting members, 1 min.

M. Paine called the meeting to order at 5:30 pm.

Voting members present: N. Baran, G. Danies Turano, J. Drewes, M. Dumas, T. Gandhi, M. Holden, W. Kreuser, H. Liu, A. Moore, R. Moore, M. Paine, M. Tootill, C. Yao

Voting members absent: E. Rager, A. Enders, J. Hill

II. Guests, 30 min.

1. David Skorton, President

2. Susan Murphy, Vice President of Student & Academic Services

VP Murphy said she is excited to read about GCI updates and discuss these issues with the GPSA.

President Skorton said he wanted to talk about the budget sequestration that went into effect in Congress last Friday. He said he is focusing on research funding problems that could arise from budget cuts and he urges graduate students to be vocal against cutting research budgets.

The theme of the discussion with President Skorton and VP Murphy was “the future of graduate education,” so the proposed discussion topics were:

• the future of humanities
• the changing landscape of non-academic careers
• federal and state funding
• graying of faculty

E. Cortens asked about the access movement. How can Cornell encourage senior faculty to publish their research in public, rather than for-profit journals? Will Cornell take a stand against these for-profit academic enterprises?

President Skorton said these companies take work from tax-dollar funded research projects and then charge a fee for the public to access this information. He said he tried to start a boycott of this practice several years ago but was stopped by faculty and graduate students who thought that a boycott would prevent research from being published altogether.

A. Moore asked how the administration will use the GCI update. How did the old GCI initiate changes in the first place?

S. Murphy said the old GCI focused administrative attention on improving career services and mental health services. That document also created a focus of conversation various sensitive issues. As a result, more attention was given to reaching out to the graduate community with university services.

Y. Izrayelit asked about the role of grad students inn the post-sequester environment.

President Skorton said M. Paine and other GPSA members have done a great job of taking their personal stories to Congress to persuade legislators not to cut funding for their programs. He then suggested graduate students do the following:

1. Form organized advocacy groups to make your case heard. Show how hard it is to get grants today. Real-life examples are really important.
2. Don’t lose confidence in the future. There are many powerful people and industries lined up on your side, including the high-tech industry.
3. Keep yourself informed. Make administrators work for you. March 27th is a Congressional vote on budget cuts, so that will be a critical date.

As words of encouragement, President Skorton noted how current job placement and grant rates are high and he has confidence that they will continue to be high.

E. Newbury asked about the impact of the new Cornell budget model on graduate students and the connection between this budget model and the push for Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs).

President Skorton said Cornell is in the first stage of implementing MOOCs. In terms of the new budget model, he doesn’t think it will have a lot of negative effects on graduate education and MOOCs.

S. Murphy said Provost Fuchs knows these issues best so this question would be more appropriate for him to answer.

President Skorton said graduate education is a large component of the budget model. One of the intents of the new budget is to make the university more sustainable. After a period of deficit a few years ago, the budget is now balanced and the new budget model has been designed to prevent future deficits.

M. Paine said if anyone has further questions for President Skorton or VP Murphy, send them his way.

III. Approval of the Minutes

1. February 18th, 2013, 1 min.

The minutes were approved with no dissent.

IV. New Business

1. Resolution 13, A Resolution Calling for a Responsible Endowment, 10 min.

R. Moore described the resolution as a plan for divesting the university’s money from fossil fuels by 2050. Rather than investing its endowment in “socially responsible investments” rather than “negative investments.” The Student Assembly recently passed a similar resolution, calling for complete divestment by 2020. Passing Resolution 13 will send a statement to the Board of Trustees that carbon neutrality should include distancing the endowment from investments in fossil fuels.

M. Paine said this resolution is pegged to the Climate Action Plan.

E. Cortens asked what percentage of the endowment is invested in fossil fuels.

M. Paine said it is is about 10–14% of the indexed fund, which is a large portion of the endowment.

D. Evensen said the percentage might be close to 9% of the endowment, including owning shares directly in mines and oil reserves.

D. Bunck asked what sectors would be better t invest in to get an equivalent return on investments.

A. Powell said there are examples of indexes of socially responsible companies that could be looked to.

A. Moore said he isn’t sure of the mechanics of divesting Cornell’s 5 billion dollar endowment over the next 37 years. A broader-sensed resolution may be more pragmatic.

B. Kreuser said there may be a number of resolutions within this one resolution. As it stands now, he would re-word the resolution entirely.

T. Gandhi motioned to table the resolution until the next meeting.

There was no objection. The resolution was tabled.

V. GCI Topic Area Breakout Sessions, 35 min.

1. Transportation

M. Paine introduced this discussion topic.

2. Diversity and International Students

Y. Izrayelit said the objective of the discussion is to increase diversity and representation within the GPSA.

3. Sense of Community

N. Baran introduced this discussion topic.

M. Paine then divided the meeting into discussion groups and each group began their discussion of these topics.

VI. Reports of Officers and Standing Committee, 10 min.

1. Executive Committee (M. Paine)

No announcement.

2. Appropriations (W. Kreuser)

No announcement.

3. Communications (M. Cerroni)

No announcement.

4. Finance Commission (V. Pagay)

No announcement.

5. Graduate & Professional Student Programming Board (K. Roosa & G. Danies Turano)

G. Danies Turano said there would be a mixer and speed friending events coming up soon.

6. Student Advocacy (Y. Izrayelit)

Y. Izrayelit said the 2nd Annual Dine and Discuss was really successful and had an excellent turnout. Additionally, the Student Advocacy Committee will host a Grad School Town Hall Meeting on Wednesday, March 6th.

7. Award Committee (P. Mahanti)

P. Mahanti said the nominating process will begin on March 8th and the deadline for nominations is April 8th.

VII. Open Forum, 3 min.

E. Smith said he’s looking for volunteers to serve on the Student Services Advisory Board. The Board is looking for was to streamline student services websites. There will be one or two hour-long meetings held each semester. Contact him if you are interested.

A. Powell said he attended the GPSA National Conference last weekend in Washington, D.C. He came back with lots of ideas for how to improve the graduate student experience and is excited to share them with the group.

M. Paine adjourned the meeting at 7:16 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Allison Bazinet