Graduate and Professional Student Assembly Meeting

Monday, November 10, 2025

• Term:
  2025-2026
• Assembly/Committee: Graduate and Professional Student Assembly
• Date & Time:
  Mon, Nov 10, 2025 - 5:00pm
  to
  6:30pm
• Location:
  401 Physical Sciences Building/Zoom
• Agenda:
• Meeting Packet:
• Audio Recording:
• Minutes:

  I. Call to Order
       a. N. Brennan called the meeting to order at 5:07 p.m.
            i. Members Present: J. Alzayer, V. Baruah, A. Basquiat, N. Brennan, A. Cardenas,P. Caruso, C. Chappel, J. Chobirko, A. Coogan, I. Di Tomassi, D. Freeman,E.R. Gallant, A. Garcia-Ortiz, I. Gatimi, M. Hassler, M. James, Y. Khaled,C. King, A. Koyyada, Z. Liu, Z. Lynch, C. Meffert, T. Nguyen, M. Ortiz, S.Raimondi, K. Rohrbaugh, S. Sepp, I. Smith, Y. Wu
       ii. Members Absent: B. Candelaria, A. George
       iii. Also Present: D. Ghosh, T.A. Lewis, J. Withers
  
  II. Approval of the October 27th Meeting Minutes
       a. After clarification on name of organization named in minutes, J. Chobirko moved to approve the minutes. The motion passed by unanimous consent
  
  III. Reports of Officers and Committee Updates
       a. Executive Committee
            i. A. Cardenas announced that the upcoming GPSA meeting will feature President Kotlikoff and VP Lombardi and asked members to submit questions
            ii. C. King asked about the question selection process, and N. Brennan clarified that pre-submitted questions will be posed with live Q-and-A as time allows
       b. Operations and Staffing
            i. Z. Lynch noted that external vacancies remain and encouraged interested members to reach out
       c. Appropriations
            i. S. Sepp shared that byline hearings continue and that recommendations will be shared later in this meeting
       d. Communications
            i. A. Garcia-Ortiz asked members to look out for sections on the communique on question submissions for President Kotlikoff, appropriations funding, Special Grants proposals, FATMAC awards, and more
       e. Finance
            i. A. Koyyada announced that the University has begun a focus group for reviewing prospective new student organizations (undergraduate and graduate) and that the GPSA will send two representatives 
            ii. Y. Wu asked about the reason for the start of the group. A. Koyyada responded that it is more of a one-off group meant to prevent overreach in club scope and prevent duplicative organizations 
       f. Student Advocacy
            i. I. Gatimi shared that the committee met multiple times, made strong progress on draft resolutions, and plans to present on resolutions in future meetings
       g. Programming
            i. None
       h. Diversity and International Students
            i. None
       i. Faculty Advising, Teaching, and Mentorship Award
            i. J. Chobirko announced that FATMAC released a nominations survey and encouraged members to nominate people
       j. Special Grants
            i. J. Chobirko shared updates on the Special Grants review process, restating components of the application, proposal deadline, and also asked that anyone interested in aiding the review process reach out
       k. Graduate School
            i. Dean Lewis shared that he hears about interest in more effective feedback for graduate students. He also discussed the admissions cycle (finance capacity, new targets), and the Big Red Barn
            ii. Dean Lewis answered questions on revisions to the student feedback process, funding for field programs (noting that the Graduate School prioritizes supporting current students)
            iii. Z. Lynch motioned to move Cornell Dining’s presentation ahead of the Legislation. The motion passed by unanimous consent
  
  IV. Presentations
       a. Cornell Dining (Paul Muscente, Director of Cornell Dining Services; Meng-WeiHsu, Assistant Director of Retail Operations & Dining Recruitment; Evy Bosschem, Interim Associate Director of Enterprise Finance)
            i. Cornell Dining presented on Cornell’s dining system, Kosher and Halal services, staffing, renovations and sustainability programs, and challenges with rising food costs, labor sustainability, and also graduate meal plan usage and subsidies
            ii. The presenters fielded questions from members on Okenshields, hours at cafes on campus, and differences in usage between undergraduates and graduates
            iii. Z. Lynch motioned to move Future of the American University’s presentation ahead of the Legislation. The motion passed by unanimous consent 
       b. Future of the American University (Adam Smith, Associate Dean of the Faculty and FAU member; Praveen Sethupathy, FAU Co-chair)
          i. FAU presented on the FAU, a long-term strategy group examining loss of public trust in higher education, shifts in university-government relations, and the rapid pace of technological change. Presenters also discussed FAU mission subcommittees: undergraduate education, graduate education ,research & scholarship, and public impact & engagement. Challenges to graduate education include changes to public funding, technologies, recapturing trust, opportunities, pedagogy, and altered work environments. FAU’s wants to encourage community thought and to establish a GPSA advisory panel to give ongoing feedback to FAU 
          ii. Presenters answered questions from members on accountability of recommendations, community engagement for STEM vs. the humanities, and sustaining long-term community momentum
          iii. I. Gatimi motioned to extend the meeting by thirty minutes, for a new end time of 7:00pm. The motion passed by unanimous consent
  
  V. Legislation
      a. Resolution 3: Calling for Protection and Increased Support of Cornell University Library. Sponsor: Zander Lynch, Vice President of Operations
           i. Z. Lynch described recent Library funding cuts of about $7mm
           ii. Seeing no questions, N. Brennan moved the GPSA into a commenting period
           iii. In the commenting period, M. James asked for greater context in the resolution and changes to the resolution’s tone. Z. Lynch responded that President Kotlikoff needs no context and that the reasons for the cuts remain unclear and sprout more from rising materials costs than from new efficiencies
            iv. P. Caruso asked about the data in lines 29-33 on peer institutions’ libraries. Z. Lynch responded that the data is not cherry-picked and that peer funding information is often unavailable|
            v. In a roll call vote, Resolution 3 passed, 23-0-2
  
  VI. Consent Item – Approval of Special Meeting on December 1, 2025, on Student Code of Conduct Review
       a. N. Brennan introduced the purpose of the special meeting
       b. In a roll call vote, the GPSA approved adding the special meeting, 26-0-0
  
  VII. Updates – GPSA Byline Funding 2026-2027 Initial Recommendation by Siim Sepp, Vice-president of Finance 
       a. S. Sepp presented initial byline funding recommendations for next academic year. Keeping all else unchanged, S. Sepp recommended increasing funding to Big Red Barn by 3.2%, IGPS to $2.00 per allocation, and reducing funding to Cornell Concert Commission, Cornell Cinema, GPSA, GPSA Finance Committee, and Appropriations Initiative Funding (AIF)
       b. S. Sepp answered members’ questions on impacts on Cornell Cinema, AIF removal, changes to Programming Board funds, and documentation on recommendations
  
  VIII. New Business
       a. None
  
  IX. Open Forum
       a. A. Garcia-Ortiz shared an announcement from Anabel’s Grocery on reductions to prices of staples and new discounts in response to the federal shutdown 
  
  The meeting was adjourned at 7:07p.m.

  
  
  
   

  GPSA-Minutes-111025.pdf (201.63 KB)