Graduate and Professional Student Assembly Meeting

Monday, September 9, 2024

• Term:
  2024-2025
• Assembly/Committee: Graduate and Professional Student Assembly
• Date & Time:
  Mon, Sep 9, 2024 - 5:00pm
  to
  6:30pm
• Location:
  401 Physical Sciences Building/Zoom
• Agenda:
  GPSA Agenda 9.9.2024 (2).pdf (59.46 KB)
• Meeting Packet:
  GPSA Meeting Packet 9.9.2024 (2).pdf (411.19 KB)
• Audio Recording:
  GPSA-09092024.mp3 (28.61 MB)

  GPSA-09092024.MP3 (27.69 MB)
• Minutes:

  I. Call to Order
  a. O. Karim called the meeting to order at 5:04 p.m.
  i. Members Present: F. Aclan, S. Bluhm, N. Brennan, C. Chappel, J. Chobirko, C.
  Douglas, Y. Wu, A. Garcia-Ortiz, I. Gatimi, A. George, D. Ghimire, S.
  Hampi, M. James, A. Kapoor, S.K. Karaikal, O. Karim, A. Koyyada, A.
  LaGressa, Z. Liu, Z. Lynch, S. Matan, C. Meffert, T. Nguyen, K. Patel, C.
  Wang
  ii. Members Absent: D.A. Browne, E. Gatz, A. Puder, S. Sepp, I. Yaya
  iii. Also Present: K. Boor, J. Withers
  II. Approval of the August 26th, 2024 Meeting Minutes
  a. N. Brennan moved to approve the minutes. The motion passed by unanimous
  consent.
  b. N. Brennan moved to amend the minutes to correct misspellings of Y. Wu’s name.
  The motion passed by unanimous consent.
  c. M. James moved to amend the minutes to correct misspellings of his name. The
  motion passed by unanimous consent.
  d. O. Karim moved to approve the minutes. The motion passed by unanimous
  consent.
  III. Reports of Officers and Committee Updates
  a. Executive Committee
  i. N. Brennan stated that all committee chairs attended the Executive
  Committee’s meeting, marking the first time the Executive Committee
  invited committee chairs to attend. He also stated that the Executive
  Committee plans to continue to invite committee chairs.
  ii. N. Brennan stated that the GPSA will discuss the Interim Expressive
  Activity Policy during its October 7th meeting. He stated that the Executive
  Committee understands the significance of that date and wanted to give
  advance warning before the meeting. He also stated that a representative
  from the Graduate School will present on the policy during the meeting.
  iii. N. Brennan stated that the Executive Committee wants to gauge interest for
  a crash course or retreat event to introduce the GPSA to newcomers.
  b. Operations and Staffing
  i. Z. Lynch requested that new voting members complete a committee interest
  form to staff committees as soon as possible. He also stated that J. Withers
  would post external position appointment opportunities soon.
  ii. Z. Lynch stated that members might be staffed on their less-preferred but
  under-staffed committees. However, members can still attend other
  committees’ meetings.
  c. Appropriations
  i. None.
  d. Communications
  i. A. Garcia-Ortiz stated that she recently received pictures from last
  semester’s gala. She also stated that weekly communiques with a new look
  will go out soon, pending finalization from the registrar.
  e. Finance
  i. A. Koyyada stated that the Finance Committee is in the appeal stage for
  clubs seeking more funding and that applications for second semester
  funding are open.
  f. Student Advocacy
  i. S. Hampi asked members interested in organizing talks or participating in
  the committee to reach out to her.
  g. Diversity and International Students
  i. A. Kapoor stated that DISC is recruiting new members.
  h. Programming
  i. A. LaGressa stated that she sent last semester’s gala photos to A. Garcia-
  Ortiz and that she is in the process of booking Barton Hall for this year’s
  gala. The Programming Committee is also recruiting.
  i. Faculty Teaching, Advising, and Mentorship Award
  i. J. Chobirko stated that the committee is also recruiting.
  j. Graduate School
  i. K. Boor urged members to get involved in committees to make a difference
  for graduate and professional students. K. Boor also gave updates on
  renovations and accessibility improvements to the Big Red Barn.
  IV. Business
  a. O. Karim relinquished the chair to N. Brennan to present on Resolution 1: Joint
  Committee on Cornell University’s Corporate Social Responsibility and ESG
  Policies, a resolution he sponsored.
  b. O. Karim introduced the joint committee and gave context on last term’s ad hoc
  committee to ask questions about the university’s investments and divestment. He
  stated that the GPSA sent representatives to the ad hoc committee in the past.
  c. Z. Lynch moved to extend the presentation time by two minutes. The motion
  passed by unanimous consent.
  d. O. Karim stated that the GPSA’s role would be to send a representative to a similar,
  new joint committee. O. Karim stated that although the university’s previous
  president was unreceptive to last term’s committee’s demands, there is hope that the
  university’s interim president might be. He stated that the Student Assembly plans
  to introduce a resolution to restart last term’s committee and that Resolution 1
  would create a GPSA representative to that new committee on standby.
  e. Y. Wu asked if the GPSA would take a stance on the issue. O. Karim stated that the
  GPSA and other assemblies never gave an official stance, but that the GPSA could
  do so if its members decide to.
  f. S. Hampi asked about the proposed committee’s focus on corporate social
  responsibility and ESG, and if the name of the resolution should be changed to
  reflect its emphasis. O. Karim stated that the committee would also focus on those
  issues, but that his presentation focused the resolution’s primary focus on oncampus
  tensions surrounding the War in Gaza. He also stated that last term’s ad hoc
  committee only gave representation to undergraduate students and that the need
  arose for a joint committee including all of the assemblies.
  g. M. James asked about the amount of GPSA representation on the committee
  relative to the other assemblies. O. Karim stated that the focus of the resolution and
  the makeup of the new committee would be less on even representation between the
  assemblies and more on representation of the entire university.
  h. S. Hampi asked about the likelihood that a resolution passes, given that last year’s
  resolution did not. O. Karim stated that although he is uncertain, there is optimism
  among members of the Student Assembly that the university’s interim president will
  be more receptive.
  i. C. Meffert asked about the selection process for the GPSA’s representative to a new
  committee. O. Karim stated that last year, the sponsor of the GPSA’s resolution to
  send a representative became the GPSA’s representative to committee meetings, but
  that this year the process would be similar to the process by which the GPSA
  appoints members to other committees.
  j. N. Brennan asked for con speeches against Resolution 1. There were no con
  speeches.
  k. N. Brennan moved on to voting procedure. Resolution 1 passed, 19-0-2.
  l. O. Karim resumed the chair position.
  V. General Announcements
  a. Graduate representative openings on university committees
  i. Committee on Music
  1. O. Karim introduced the university’s Committee on Music and asked
  interested members to reach out to him.
  VI. Open Forum
  a. None.
  The meeting was adjourned at 5:35 p.m.
  Respectfully Submitted,
  Anthony Wang
  Clerk of the Assembly

  GPSA-Minutes-September9.pdf (199.39 KB)