Graduate and Professional Student Assembly Meeting

Monday, September 8, 2025

• Term:
  2025-2026
• Assembly/Committee: Graduate and Professional Student Assembly
• Date & Time:
  Mon, Sep 8, 2025 - 5:00pm
  to
  6:30pm
• Location:
  401 Physical Sciences Building/Zoom
• Agenda:

  I. Call to Order

  II. Roll Call

  III. IV. Approval of the April 28, 2025 Meeting Minutes

  Reports of Officers and Committee Updates

  a. Executive Committee

  b. Operations and Staffing Committee

  c. Appropriations Committee

  d. Communications Committee

  e. Finance Commission

  f. Student Advocacy Committee

  g. Programming Board

  h. Faculty Advising, Teaching, and Mentorship Award Committee

  i. Special Grants Committee

  j. Graduate School

  V. Presentation

  a. Presentation — Cornell Office of Civil Rights

  i. Katie King, Associate Vice President

  VI. Appointments and Nominations

  a. Call for nominations for Voting Member Vacancies

  i. Master of Engineering Representative (one seat)

  ii. Master of Industrial and Labor Relations Representative (one seat)

  iii. Arts and Humanities Representative (one seat)

  iv. Physical Sciences Representative (three seats)

  v. Social Sciences Representative (one seat)

  vi. Samuel Curtis Johnson School of Business Representative (four seats)

  vii. Cornell Law School Representative (three seats)

  viii. College of Veterinary Medicine Representative (two seats)

  b. Call for nominations for Committee Chair Vacancies

  i. Diversity and International Students Committee

  ii. Special Grants Committee

  c. Call for nominations for External Vacancies

  i. Faculty Senate Representative

  ii. Dining SA Committee Representative

  iii. Library Student Advisory Representative

  VII. Resolutions

  a. Resolution 1: Universal TCAT Access for Cornell Graduate and

  Professional Students

  i. Sponsor:

  1. Thien Nguyen, Arts & Humanities Representative

  VIII. New Business

  a. Resolution 2: Proposed FY26 Budget (Vote scheduled for September 29)

  i. Sponsor:

  1. Siim Samuel Sepp, Vice President of Finance and Appropriations

  IX. Open Forum

  X. Adjournment

  Prepared by AnaFernanda Cardenas, GPSA Executive Vice President

  FINAL GPSA Agenda_Sept 8-combined.pdf (915.44 KB)
• Meeting Packet:
• Audio Recording:
  GPSA0908-001.MP3 (18.33 MB)
• Minutes:

  Cornell Graduate and Professional Student Assembly

  Minutes of the September 8th, 2025 Meeting

  5:00 PM – 6:30 PM

  Room 401, Physical Sciences Building| Zoom

  I. Call to Order

      a. N. Brennan called the meeting to order at 5:05 p.m.

          i. Members Present: N. Brennan, B. Candelaria, A. Cardenas, P. Caruso, C. Chappel, J. Chobirko, I. Gatimi, M. James, C. King, A. Koyyada, Z. Liu, Z. Lynch, C. Meffert, T. Nguyen, K. Rohrbaugh, S. Sepp, A. Basquiat, S. Raimondi

          ii. Members Absent: V. Baruah, A. Garcia-Ortiz, Y. Khaled, M. Ortiz

          iii. Also Present: T.A. Lewis, J. Withers

  II. Announcement from N. Brennan

      a. N. Brennan asked those attending as field representatives to email the Office of the Assemblies (assemblies@cornell.edu) to confirm attendance.

  III. Approval of the April 28th, Meeting Minutes

      a. Z. Lynch moved to approve the minutes. The motion passed by unanimous consent.

  IV. Reports of Officers and Committee Updates

      a. Executive Committee

          i. None

      b. Operations and Staffing Committee

          i. Z. Lynch announced a goal for the term to review and update all internal GPSA document. Z. Lynch also encouraged members to consider joining the Operations committee and to contact the committee with any attendance or staffing questions

      c. Appropriations Committee

          i. S. Sepp noted that applications for funding for byline organizations are now open and that Appropriations is working with Finance on budget allocations.

      d. Communications

          i. None

      e. Finance Commission

          i. A. Koyyada announced that organizations received initial allocations by tier and can appeal funding decisions. The Commission also returned to field funding bonuses of $750.

      f. Student Advocacy Committee

          i. I. Gatimi announced that the Committee is workshopping Resolution 1: Universal TCAT Access for Cornell Graduate and Professional Students, and is still seeking more student perspectives.

      g. Programming Board

          i. P. Caruso asked that the Programming Board is seeking volunteers for the annual Gala event.

      h. Faculty Advising, Teaching, and Mentorship Award Committee

          i. J. Chobirko announced that FATMAC is taking nominations for spring teaching awards.

      i. Special Grants Committee

          i. Interim Chair J. Chobirko presented on the new Special Grants Committee, its purpose, and its criteria for awarding grants, before encouraging members to get involved in the new committee.

      j. Graduate School

          i. New Graduate School Dean T.A. (Tal) Lewis introduced himself and praised the value of the GPSA and the Cornell graduate and professional student community—in particular, the Big Red Barn. Tal also acknowledged ongoing TCAT access issues and stated that the issue would be resolved quickly.

  V. Presentation by Katie King, Associate Vice President of the Cornell Office of Civil Rights

      a. K. King presented on the renaming of the Office of Civil Rights, the office's scope, and different protected statuses and rights at Cornell and the office's reporting processes.

      b. K. King fielded questions from members.
  VI. Appointments and Nominations

      a. Arts and Humanities Representatives (1 vacancy): Z. Lynch nominated Ian Smith. Ian Smith was elected by unanimous consent.

      b. Physical Sciences Representative (3 vacancies): Yuqing Wu and Malte Hassler were elected by unanimous consent. Note: after the third meeting of the fall semester, any graduate or professional student, regardless of division, can fill the remaining vacancy.

      c. Social Sciences Representative (1 vacancy): C. Chappel nominated Emma Rose Gallant. Emma Rose Gallant was elected by unanimous consent.

      d. Diversity and International Students Committee Chair: as last term's chair, Alicia George introduced the position and described its responsibilities. Z. Lynch nominated Alicia George, Alicia George was elected by unanimous consent.

      e. Special Grants Committee Chair: A. Cardenas nominated Bhagvat Patel and Z. Lynch nominated J. Chobirko. Hearing two nominations, N. Brennan opened the floor to both candidates to speak, before again opening the floor to the GPSA to comment on both candidates.

  GPSA-Minutes-090825Updated.pdf (197.82 KB)