GPSA Student Advocacy Committee

Graduate and Professional Student Assembly
Student Advocacy Committee Planning Meeting & Summer Updates MINUTES
Planning Meeting: July 10, 2008: Mann Library, 3:30pm — 4:30pm

In attendance:

• Brian M. Forster, Chair
• Briony Horgan, Committee Member
• Brenda Wickes, Assistant Dean: Cornell Graduate School

Meeting began @ 3:30pm

I. Cornell University Parental Accommodation Policy:

1. The policy currently available & implemented is the finalized version. Amendments can be made to the policy.
2. The following items were discussed with Brenda Wickes:
   • Parental Accommodation Request Form: a form similar to the one faculty/staff use.
   • # of lactation locations on campus
   • Length of leave time should be coordinated with child care centers & the earliest they can accept newborns
   • Procedure from going from childbirth/newborn care to acute child health care with same child
   • Student entering Cornell already pregnant�in which case the individual fields of study handles this.
   • The appropriateness of the term “reduced load” and the use of “accommodation” as opposed to “leave”
   • A statement was discussed: “Students may request one reduced load parental accommodation per child”. Committee felt this statement needed further clarification… (i.e. what happens if you have twins?)
   • Financial aspects of the policy should be discussed with Dean Hale

B. Wickes informed the committee she would go back to Dean Hale & the graduate school to discuss with them both the reduced load clause and ask for clarification of the per child statement and would report back to us.

II. Update to the GPSA Website

B. Forster emailed the Assemblies office as to revise the old Pay/Benefits website. The committee looked at the current Pay/Benefits website and began to discuss what to change (add, delete, move) on the website to make it more informative of what we are currently looking into. The introduction statement posted at the top of the website was re-written. It was suggested having a section of the advocacy website link to list of contacts for students needs. An anonymous form for students to contact us was also discussed. B. Forster offered to try to locate said site &/or contact the graduate school regarding adding this to the site.

III. Publicity Ideas & Working Procedure & Ideas for GPSA Meetings

1. Traveling:
   • B. Horgan will be attending the 2008 Ivy Summit being held at Harvard University, representing the GPSA Advocacy committee.
   • B. Forster, B. Horgan & B. Romero will be traveling to Cornell Geneva Agricultural Experiment Station in August with other GPSA members to speak with the graduate students. Specifically, we would like to determine if there are any issues that the advocacy committee should be aware of / look into at the Geneva Agricultural Experiment Station.
2. Publicity:
   • Once the Advocacy committee website is made available, it will be linked off the Graduate School Website (next to all links to the Graduate Community Initiative).
   • Additional ideas discussed to increase publicity of the committee, including having a section on the GPSA-INFO and maybe something to pass around at the first CoR meeting in September.
   • Have the committee join the GPSA members at Orientation events in August-September 2008.
3. Working Procedure & Ideas for GPSA meetings:
   • Throughout the fall semester, the committee will be coming up with a working plan of how the committee will function. One idea suggested was a public forum (or town-hall meeting) night open to all graduate students to bring up ideas and issues. Rather than have it each month, have one in the middle of each semester (i.e. November & April). In the event of a “hot-topic”, a special forum (town-hall meeting) will be held then. Following this forum, the advocacy committee meets with both the GPSA executive board and possibly university administration to discuss the results/comments of the forum.
   • Invite Dean Hale & any other members of the Graduate School office to speak to the CoR and/or Assembly members re: the Parental Accommodation Policy.
   • A recent survey was done by the Graduate School on graduate student life. The committee thought of inviting the Graduate School to speak regarding the results of said survey later in the semester once all the data has been analyzed.
   • B. Forster will meet with Bethsabe Romero to discuss mental health issues and what the committee will need to look into regarding this matter.

Meeting adjourned @ 4:30pm

IV. Items Post-Meeting

The following actions were taken by the committee following the planning meeting:

1. Meeting with Bethsabe Romero re: Improvement of Mental Health Services for Graduate/Professional Students
   Important issues for graduate students/professional students include:
   • Extended care for graduate/professional students
   • Availability of counselors & appointments for graduate/professional students
   • Using EARS as a program for graduate/professional students to speak to other students. Suggestion was made last year to try to have more graduate students participate in the program so a graduate student who comes to EARS can speak to a graduate student, rather than an undergraduate student.
   • Off-campus care?
     B. Romero will again sign up for the Cornell University Council on Mental Health and Welfare as a GPSA Representative.
2. Additional Items brought to Advocacy Committee as potential items to look into for the Fall, 2008 semester:
   • Graduate On-Campus Housing & Undergraduate Housing at Hasbrouck Apartments & any other immediate housing issues not already being discussed by the GPSA GCI Working group.
   • 401K/403b accounts for graduate students (brought to the committee by D. Appler, GPSA At-Large Representative)
     • These issues, along with financial aid, will be continually monitored and looked into through the summer and fall semester with the additional committee members that may join in the Fall. Should anything need to be done, the advocacy committee will handle it)
3. Post-Meeting Follow-Ups & Plans
   • The Cornell Graduate School was contacted re: information as to the contact list for specific student needs (something similar to the contact listing shown on Page 4 of the Parental Accommodation Policy). They pulled the sheet off the internet to make revisions. They will let us know when it has been re-posted.
   • In August, when the Cornell Assemblies Office re-opens, the committee will try to work with the office to get the Pay/Benefits website down and the new advocacy committee website up and running, with the items and layout discussed during the meeting.
   • On August 25th, the advocacy committee will join the GPSA tabling at the Graduate Student Orientation.
   • The committee will be contacting Gannett Health Center to obtain data on how many graduate/professional students request mental health care (this is something they already have collected and have on file). In addition, the committee will be contacting EARS as a follow-up to their establishing a graduate/professional student branch.

Submitted,
GPSA Student Advocacy Committee
2008–2009