Graduate and Professional Student Assembly Meeting

Monday, October 7, 2024

• Term:
  2024-2025
• Assembly/Committee: Graduate and Professional Student Assembly
• Date & Time:
  Mon, Oct 7, 2024 - 5:00pm
  to
  6:30pm
• Location:
  401 Physical Sciences Building/Zoom
• Agenda:
• Meeting Packet:
• Audio Recording:
  GPSA-10072024.MP3 (76.69 MB)
• Minutes:

  I. Call to Order
  a. O. Karim called the meeting to order at 5:03 p.m.
  i. Members Present: N. Brennan, D.A. Browne, C. Chappel, J. Chobirko, C.
  Douglas, A. Garcia-Ortiz, I. Gatimi, E. Gatz, A. George, D. Ghimire, S.
  Hampi, M. James, S.K. Karaikal, O. Karim, A. Koyyada, A. LaGressa, A.
  Lando, Z. Liu, Z. Lynch, C. Meffert, S. Matan, T. Nguyen, K. Patel, A.
  Puder, S. Sepp, C. Wang, Y. Wu, I. Yaya
  ii. Members Absent: F. Aclan, S. Bluhm, A. Kapoor
  iii. Also Present: K. Boor, J. Withers, I. Kashyap
  II. Approval of the September 23rd 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 presentation on the Draft Expressive Activity
  Policy has been delayed until the November 18th GPSA meeting.
  ii. N. Brennan also stated that he would release the committee attendance form
  and reminded voting members to communicate with their committee chairs.
  b. Operations and Staffing
  i. Z. Lynch stated that external committees still need members, highlighting
  the Cornell Cinema Student Advisory Board in particular.
  ii. Z. Lynch stated that bylaw revisions continue.
  c. Appropriations
  i. D. Browne stated that he will present on his rewritten Appendix B of the
  bylaws at the October 21st GPSA meeting.
  d. Communications
  i. A. Garcia-Ortiz highlighted two underutilized resources for low-income
  graduate students: Student Advocacy Funds and Student Care.
  e. Finance
  i. A. Koyyada stated that the QR code tracks GPSA meeting attendance.
  f. Student Advocacy
  i. S. Hampi stated that the committee is in the process of revising its bylaws
  and open to suggestions.
  g. Diversity and International Students
  i. I. Kashyap stated that the committee is working on a social media campaign.
  ii. She also stated that the committee plans to reach out to Cornell Dining, the
  alumni office, and the diversity and inclusion office for partnerships.
  h. Programming
  i. A. LaGressa promoted the feedback form for last year’s gala.
  i. Faculty Teaching, Advising, and Mentorship Award
  i. None.
  j. Graduate School
  i. K. Boor stated that the Graduate School is preparing for next year’s
  admissions cycle and planning workshops for faculty members involved in
  admissions.
  IV. Legislation
  a. Resolution 2: GPSA FY25 Internal Budget
  i. D. Browne stated that the proposed budget is largely unchanged, but that
  committee allocations would increase to $1.5K and $20K would roll over
  from last year’s discretionary account.
  ii. O. Karim moved on to a question-and-answer period.
  iii. Z. Lynch asked who Jonathan Hart is. D. Browne responded that he is an
  administrator in charge of accounting for campus organizations. Z. Lynch
  asked about the wording in line 24 about determining fees “later in the Fall
  term.” D. Browne responded that the university withholds 5% of the annual
  budget at the start of the year in case of unexpected changes to enrollment.
  iv. M. James asked about the additional $40K for expansion. D. Browne stated
  that he did not reflect that money in the budget because of Appendix B,
  stating that the GPSAFC byline and the GPSA budget cannot mix. D.
  Browne stated that he plans to change Appendix B for expanded GPSA
  discretionary spending or to move that money to the GPSAFC reserve.
  v. O. Karim moved on to a discussion period.
  vi. M. James stated that the GPSA wait until the resolution to amend Appendix
  B comes out before voting on Resolution 2. D. Browne stated that
  Appendix B is relatively minor and that the GPSA generally wants to
  approve the budget early in the semester.
  vii. Y. Wu asked about how the Cornell Cinema spends the money it gets from
  the GPSA. Z. Lynch stated that in exchange for funding Cornell Cinema,
  graduate and professional students receive discounted tickets. Y. Wu asked if
  there is data on the amount that graduate and professional students visit the
  Cornell Cinema.
  viii. J. Withers clarified the difference between Appendix B and the Resolution 2,
  the internal budget. She stated that Appendix B concerns byline funding,
  while the GPSA charter states that the internal budget should be passed by
  the second meeting of the term.
  ix. A. George asked about the breakdown of the budget. J. Withers and A.
  Garcia-Ortiz explained the internal budget and byline funding process. A.
  George asked about how D. Browne decided on the amounts for each
  committee. D. Browne stated that he used past spending records and the
  requests of each committee chair.
  x. A. Garcia-Ortiz moved to the previous question. Resolution 2 passed, 20-0-
  0.
  b. Resolution 3: A resolution to update the student organization funding process
  i. D. Browne introduced Resolution 3, which would update the nominal
  amounts for each funding tier, revise the alcohol section, and expand tier
  one as an alternative to defunding groups.
  ii. O. Karim moved on to a question-and-answer period.
  iii. J. Chobirko stated that there are repeated typos in Section 6A.
  iv. J. Chobirko asked about the funding tier exception for field organizations,
  passed by last term’s GPSA. D. Browne responded that the exemption is for
  AIF, or additional initiative funding. Z. Lynch pointed out that the
  exemption is for field groups. D. Browne stated that there are no
  organizations receiving field funding.
  v. O. Karim moved on to discussion period.
  vi. Z. Lynch stated that last term’s GPSA passed an amendment of GPSAFC
  funding guidelines to exempt field groups from membership requirements.
  He proposed docketing or amending Resolution 3 to reflect those changes.
  vii. D. Browne stated that Campus Groups lacks the resources to administrate
  field funding and that groups have not applied for field funding.
  viii. O. Karim asked about the decision to get rid of field funding. D. Browne
  stated that it fell out of existence on its own, and that he mistakenly included
  it in last year’s guidelines.
  ix. A. Koyyada asked about the number of groups that have received field
  funding. D. Browne stated that the last instance of field funding was three
  years ago for the Native American Law Student Association. D. Browne
  explained the lack of funding, stating that groups did not apply for field
  funding and that it was too difficult for administrators to allocate small, nonstandard
  amounts, prompting a shift to AIF.
  x. A. LaGressa clarified the reason for last year’s amendment exempting field
  groups from membership requirements and making them similar to affinity
  groups for funding purposes.
  xi. N. Brennan asked if there are existing clauses in the GPSAFC funding
  guidelines explicitly prohibiting funding for field organizations. D. Browne
  responded that no, and that there is no definition of a field group.
  xii. A. Koyyada asked for an estimated number of field groups. D. Browne
  stated that there might be about one per faculty.
  xiii. N. Brennan stated that he found a definition of field and field-funded
  organizations from the 2020-2022 GPSA guidelines on Google. D. Browne
  asked N. Brennan to read it, and N. Brennan did so. D. Browne then stated
  that the definition shows that field funding creates large amounts of work
  for administrators and students.
  xiv. Z. Lynch moved to table Resolution 3. Hearing a second and seeing no
  dissent, O. Karim tabled the resolution to the October 21st meeting.
  V. External Committee Vacancies
  a. Coalition on Mental Health
  i. A. George was elected representative to the Coalition on Mental Health by
  unanimous consent.
  b. Student Health Benefits Advisory Council
  i. No nominations.
  c. Student Library Council
  i. Z. Lynch stated that the committee’s meetings conflict with the GPSA’s, but
  that absences from GPSA meetings would be excused.
  ii. No nominations.
  d. Transportation Hearing and Appeals Board
  i. No nominations.
  e. Cornell Cinema Student Advisory Board
  i. M. James and A. Koyyada were elected representatives to the Cornell
  Cinema Student Advisory Board by unanimous consent.
  VI. New Business
  a. None.
  VII. General Announcements
  a. Draft Interim Expressive Activity Policy delayed.
  VIII. Open Forum
  a. M. James stated that he and I. Gatimi met with two students concerned about the
  Momodou Taal suspension. He and I. Gatimi asked for members to reach out with
  suggestions for drafting a resolution.
  b. O. Karim encouraged members to draft resolutions to address issues they care
  about. N. Brennan described the process of getting a resolution to the GPSA.
  c. Y. Wu asked about the authority of the graduate student union and the GPSA. A.
  Garcia-Ortiz and Z. Lynch described the roles of each.
  d. Z. Liu asked about the process of receiving reimbursements for travel to
  conferences. K. Boor answered and recommended reaching out to one’s graduate
  field assistant.
  The meeting was adjourned at 6:20 p.m.
  Respectfully Submitted,
  Anthony Wang
  Clerk of the Assembly

  GPSA-Minutes-October7.pdf (206.13 KB)