Graduate and Professional Student Assembly Meeting

Monday, September 23, 2024

• Term:
  2024-2025
• Assembly/Committee: Graduate and Professional Student Assembly
• Date & Time:
  Mon, Sep 23, 2024 - 5:00pm
  to
  6:30pm
• Location:
  401 Physical Sciences Building/Zoom
• Agenda:
• Meeting Packet:
• Audio Recording:
  GPSA-09232024.MP3 (64.18 MB)
• Minutes:

  I. Call to Order
  a. O. Karim called the meeting to order at 5:07 p.m.
  i. Members Present (21): F. Aclan, N. Brennan, D.A. Browne, C. Chappel, J.
  Chobirko, C. Douglas, I. Gatimi, D. Ghimire, M. James, S.K. Karaikal, O.
  Karim, A. Koyyada, A. LaGressa, Z. Liu, Z. Lynch, S. Matan, T. Nguyen, K.
  Patel, A. Puder, C. Wang, Y. Wu
  ii. Members Absent (9): S. Bluhm, A. Garcia-Ortiz, E. Gatz, A. George, S.
  Hampi, A. Kapoor, C. Meffert, S. Sepp, I. Yaya
  iii. Also Present: K. Boor, J. Withers, A. Lando
  II. Approval of the September 9th Meeting Minutes
  a. N. Brennan 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 the Appropriations Committee is looking for new
  members and a new vice chair.
  ii. N. Brennan stated that Dean Colleen Barry will present at the GPSA’s next
  meeting on the Expressive Activity Policy. He added that the committee
  reviewing the policy will take GPSA members’ feedback into account and
  that the GPSA will formalize a response to the policy in a draft resolution.
  iii. N. Brennan stated that the GPSA’s internal budget will be presented at the
  next meeting.
  iv. Y. Wu asked about the relationship between the policy and the associated
  report. N. Brennan and O. Karim stated that they do not yet have the entire
  policy or report, but that the report adds context to and describes the goals
  of the policy.
  b. Operations and Staffing
  i. Z. Lynch stated that committee assignments are done, but that the external
  committees still need people.
  ii. Z. Lynch stated that the Operations and Staffing Committee is in the
  process of revising its bylaws.
  c. Appropriations
  i. None.
  d. Communications
  i. None.
  e. Finance
  i. A. Koyyada stated that the Finance Committee finished initial allocations
  and resolved appeals.
  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 wrote that the committee plans to vote on a guiding document
  for the year. She added that the committee met with the Office of Global
  Learning to define a yearlong partnership.
  h. Programming
  i. None.
  i. Faculty Teaching, Advising, and Mentorship Award
  i. J. Chobirko stated that the committee is meeting soon.
  j. Graduate School
  i. K. Boor first encouraged members to consider joining the General
  Committee. She then highlighted the Center for Teaching Innovation’s
  programs to help students develop teaching portfolios.
  IV. Voting Member Vacancies
  a. ILR Masters Representative
  i. A. Lando was elected ILR Masters Representative by unanimous consent.
  V. External Committee Vacancies
  a. General Committee
  i. I. Gatimi was elected representative to the General Committee, 15-2-2.
  b. Coalition on Mental Health Committee
  i. N. Brennan asked about the length of an external committee appointment. J.
  Withers stated that terms are one year long.
  ii. No nominations.
  c. Student Health Benefits Advisory Committee
  i. M. James was elected representative to the Student Health Benefits Advisory
  Committee by unanimous consent.
  d. Liaison to the Faculty Senate
  i. A. Puder was elected Liaison to the Faculty Senate by unanimous consent.
  VI. New Business
  a. On Resolutions 2 and 3, not included in the meeting agenda, O. Karim stated that
  members could vote to decide on whether the GPSA would vote on the resolutions
  after an initial reading. Should this first vote fall short of two-thirds, the body would
  table voting on the resolutions for the next meeting.
  b. O. Karim gave D.A. Browne one minute to introduce the budget and Resolution 2.
  In a voice vote, the GPSA decided to consider Resolution 2, 19-0-1.
  c. O. Karim gave D.A. Browne five more minutes to further introduce Resolution 2.
  d. Z. Lynch asked about the resolutions under consideration. D.A. Browne stated that
  two resolutions, Resolutions 2 and 3, are under consideration. However, Resolution
  3 was not uploaded to Box.
  e. In the question-and-answer period, N. Brennan asked about the Executive
  Committee’s minimum budget allocation. D.A. Browne stated that he exceeded the
  members’ requests.
  f. T. Nguyen asked about the difference between Resolutions 2 and 3. D.A. Browne
  stated that passing Resolution 2 adopts the budget and that Resolution 3 contains
  revised guidelines, including increased committee budgets. J. Withers clarified that
  Resolution 3 is unavailable and not up for a vote at this meeting, but that it is a set
  of funding guidelines for GPSAFC and Resolution 2 is the GPSA’s internal budget.
  g. M. James asked if tabling the resolution might cause delays to funding. D.A. Browne
  stated that funding is already happening, but that the resolution updates the
  guidelines to reflect approved changes.
  h. O. Karim moved on to a brief discussion period.
  i. N. Brennan moved to close discussion. The motion passed by unanimous consent.
  j. With the sponsor’s agreement, N. Brennan moved to amend Resolution 2 to add a
  clause after the first “resolved” clause, “Be it therefore resolved, the aforementioned
  budget be approved by the GPSA for the FY2025 fiscal year.” The motion to
  amend passed by unanimous consent.
  k. N. Brennan moved to the previous question. Seeing dissent, O. Karim allowed N.
  Brennan to call for a division of house. In dissent, M. James stated that he still has
  questions about the budget and Resolution 2. N. Brennan retracted his motion.
  l. M. James moved to open a three-minute question-and-answer period. The motion
  passed by unanimous consent. M. James asked about constraints to the discretionary
  allocation. D.A. Browne stated that the discretionary account is meant mostly for
  byline organizations, but open to others. He also stated that GPSAFC draws from a
  separate budget, but that both budgets go into the same system.
  m. Z. Lynch moved to table Resolution 2. The motion passed by unanimous consent.
  VII. General Announcements
  a. Upcoming comment period on draft Expressive Activity Policy.
  VIII. Open Forum
  a. A. Lando reminded members to be aware of the significance of the GPSA
  discussing the draft Expressive Activity Policy at its October 7th meeting and to be
  very respectful of one another. O. Karim stated that the GPSA chose the October
  7th meeting date for scheduling reasons and that the Executive Committee was
  sensitive to the issue. He reiterated A. Lando’s calls for respectful and sensitive
  discussion at the meeting. N. Brennan stated that the Executive Committee made a
  difficult decision in planning the meeting, but that it took steps to avoid news of the
  policy breaking on the day.
  The meeting was adjourned at 6:20 p.m.
  Respectfully Submitted,
  Anthony Wang
  Clerk of the Assembly

  GPSA-Minutes-September23.pdf (199.38 KB)