Graduate and Professional Student Assembly Meeting

Monday, November 24, 2025

• Term:
  2025-2026
• Assembly/Committee: Graduate and Professional Student Assembly
• Date & Time:
  Mon, Nov 24, 2025 - 5:00pm
  to
  6:30pm
• Location:
  401 Physical Sciences Building/Zoom
• Agenda:

  I. Call to Order
  II. Roll Call
  III. Approval of the November 10, 2025 meeting minutes
  IV. 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 (SAC)
            g. Programming Board
            h. Diversity & International Students Committee (DISC)
            i. Faculty Advising, Teaching, and Mentorship Award Committee (FATMAC)
            j. Special Grants Committee
            k. Graduate School
  V. Presentation I
            i. Michael I. Kotlikoff, President of Cornell University
           ii. Ryan Lombardi, Vice President for Student and Campus Life
  VI. Presentation II
            a. Big Red Barn
                      i. Janna S. Lamey, Associate Dean for Graduate Student Life
  VII. Legislation
            a. Resolution 4: On Graduate and Professional Student Representation on the Student Code of Conduct Review Board
                      i. Sponsors:
                                 1. Michelle Heeney, Counsel to the Assembly
                                 2. Irene Gatimi, Student Advocacy Committee Chairperson
            b. Resolution 5: On Temporary Suspension, Due Process, and Student Conduct Reform
                        i. Sponsors:
                                  1. Irene Gatimi, Student Advocacy Committee Chairperson
                                  2. Claire King, Physical Sciences Representative
                                  3. Alessandra Coogan, Master of Industrial and Labor Relations Representative
                                  4. Michelle Heeney, Counsel to the Assembly
            c. Resolution 6: Recommendation for the Graduate and Professional Student Activity Fee for 2026-2028
                        i. Sponsor: Siim Sepp, Vice President of Finance
  VIII. Appointments and Nominations
            a. Committee on Academic Freedom and Professional Status of the Faculty (AFPSF)
            b. Committee on Music (CoM)
            c. Educational Policy Committee (EPC)
            d. Faculty Advisory Committee on Athletics and Physical Education (FACAPE)
            e. Generative AI in Education Working Group
  IX. New Business
  X. Open Forum
  XI. Adjournment
  

  GPSA Agenda November 24 2025 (1).pdf (232.34 KB)
• 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, A. George, M. Hassler, Y. Khaled,C. King, Z. Liu, Z. Lynch, C. Meffert, T. Nguyen, M. Ortiz, K. Rohrbaugh,S. Sepp, I. Smith, Y. Wu
       ii. Members Absent: B. Candelaria, M. James, A. Koyyada, S. Raimondi
       iii. Also Present: T.A. Lewis, M. Love, J. Withers
  
  II. Reports of Officers and Committee Updates
       a. Executive Committee
            i. A. Cardenas reminded the GPSA of the upcoming special meeting on theStudent Code of Conduct Review
       b. Operations and Staffing
            i. None
       c. Appropriations
            i. None
       d. Communications
            i. None
       e. Finance
            i. None
       f. Student Advocacy
            i. I. Gatimi shared that the committee prepared Resolutions 4 and 5 to be considered at today’s meeting
       g. Programming
            i. P. Caruso polled the room on two gala options: Barton Hall on April 19 and the Statler on May 8. In response to members’ questions, P. Caruso clarified that Barton would increase capacity by about 400 and that Cornell Catering and the Statler, respectively, would cater the two venues. More hands raised for Barton
       h. Diversity and International Students
            i. A. George updated the body on the DISC Thanksgiving event, where DISC collected data on student experience to be shared with the Office of Global Learning to improve student support
            ii. A. George clarified that meetings are on every other Friday at 3:00pm inBaker 132
       i. Faculty Advising, Teaching, and Mentorship Award
            i. On behalf of J. Chobirko, N. Brennan promoted the FATMAC recognition submission portal
       j. Special Grants
            i. Again, on behalf of J. Chobirko, N. Brennan announced that the committee is reviewing 58 received proposals and will present results and recommendations in January 2026
       k. Graduate School
            i. A Graduate School administration representative shared on behalf of Dean Lewis that the administration continues to focus on the admissions cycle, with workshops on equitable admissions practices, and that end-of-semester support demand increases
       l. Because of President Kotlikoff’s expected arrival time to the meeting, A. Garcia-Ortiz motioned to hear Resolution 4 ahead of presentations. The motion passed by unanimous consent
  
  III. Resolution 4: On Graduate and Professional Student Representation on the Student Code of Conduct Review Board (Sponsors: Michelle Heeney, Counsel to the Assembly; Irene Gatimi, Student Advocacy Committee Chairperson)
       a. I. Gatimi introduced the resolution, arguing for more proportionate representation on the board
       b. I. Gatimi proposed amending the resolution to fix clerical mistakes, removing a place holder “x” from “4x” and correcting a date to be November 17
       c. In the Q-and-A period, I. Gatimi answered questions on the status quo review board, as well as code reviews and the temporary suspension process in general
       d. Resolution 4 passed with clerical amendments, 20-0-1
       e. I. Gatimi motioned to move to Resolution 5, ahead of schedule. The motion passed by unanimous consent 
  
  IV. Resolution 5: On Temporary Suspension, Due Process, and Student Conduct Reform(Sponsors: Irene Gatimi, Student Advocacy Committee Chairperson; Claire King, Physical Sciences Representative; Alessandra Coogan, Master of Industrial and Labor Relations Representative; Michelle Heeney, Counsel to the Assembly)
       a. Sponsors introduced Resolution 5, meant to communicate the GPSA’s recommendations to the Student Code of Conduct Review Board against temporary suspensions, protection of due process, and dangers to student well-being, i.e. loss of funding, insurance, housing. Resolution 5 proposed to introduce more transparent criteria and maximum duration for temporary suspensions, plus line-by-line recommendations for procedure 
       b. I. Gatimi made another clerical amendment, correcting “Appendix B” to “Appendix1”
       c. Z. Lynch motioned to table Resolution 5 to later in the meeting. The motion passed by unanimous consent
  
  V. Presentations
       a. Presentation I by Michael I. Kotlikoff, President of Cornell University; Ryan Lombardi, Vice President for Student and Campus Life
            i. President Kotlikoff delivered remarks to the GPSA on the University’s federal settlement agreement, stating that Cornell negotiated the settlement to restore withheld federal grants and to protect institutional autonomy and academic freedom, without changing hiring or admissions policies, permitting federal oversight of harassment cases, or adopting DOJ guidelines as binding policy 
            ii. President Kotlikoff and VP Lombardi answered questions from members of the GPSA on the implications of paying $30mm, impacts of DOJ materials on marginalized students, definitions of academic freedom, the campus environment for Muslim students, budget cuts, inter-university solidarity, student representation in policy decisions, and more 
       b. Presentation II on Big Red Barn by Janna S. Lamey, Associate Dean for Graduate Student Life
            i. J. Lamey overviewed BRB’s important role on campus, with 500 events and 10,000+ students served annually. Lamey then outlined reflection points: student needs and programming (who’s using the barn? Do programs meet graduate student needs?), social atmosphere (cost to operate one-dollar drinks, if barn is too beer-centric), budget and barn prioritization (generalrising costs, staffing constraints, and operational inefficiencies), and collaboration with GPSA (Barn interest in graduate student feedback on long-term direction)
            ii. J. Lamey took questions and ideas from members, with interest in more non-alcoholic offerings, concerns about too many undergraduates, staffing and operations improvements, and more
  
  VI. Legislation
       a. Resolution 5 (continued): On Temporary Suspension, Due Process, and Student Conduct Reform (Sponsors: Irene Gatimi, Student Advocacy Committee Chairperson; Claire King, Physical Sciences Representative; Alessandra Coogan, Master of Industrial and Labor Relations Representative; Michelle Heeney, Counsel to the Assembly)
            i. Carrying on in the questioning period, hearing no more questions, A.Garcia-Ortiz motioned to close the floor for questions. The motion passed by unanimous consent 
            ii. In the commenting period, C. King shared experiences from peers hurt byexisting procedures
            iii. M. Hassler asked about the relationship between Resolutions 4 and 5;sponsors responded that the former addresses representation while the latter gives policy recommendations 
            iv. Resolution 5 passed with a clerical amendment, 16-0-4
       b. Resolution 6: Recommendation for the Graduate and Professional Student Activity Fee for 2026-2028 (Sponsor: Siim Sepp, Vice President of Finance)
            i. S. Sepp motioned to increase his two-minute presentation time to ten minutes. The motion passed by unanimous consent
            ii. S. Sepp presented on Resolution 6, describing his rationale for each recommendation. Resolution 6 leaves funding to Cornell Athletics and Emergency Services unchanged, increases funding to Big Red Barn, GPSA Programming Board, and IGPS, and decreases funding to Cornell Concert Commission, University Programming Board, Finance Commission, AIF(defunded), International Student Union (defunded), and Cornell Cinema. A2017 funding agreement between GPSA and Cornell Cinema required decreasing fee allocations each cycle, but S. Sepp recommended increasing that decreased allocation from $3 to $5
            iii. In the questioning and commenting periods, members asked about the GPSA Programming Board holding more events, procedures for organizations to apply for byline funding, and more 
            iv. N. Brennan noted that Resolution 6, as written, requires a separate vote to amend Cornell Cinema’s fee schedule in the bylaws to be $5. Prior to the vote, Y. Wu asked about the process of landing on $5, and S. Sepp described the public hearings before reaching recommendations and the moderation of a smaller cut. After a roll call vote, the motion to modify the fee schedule passed, 18-0-2
            v. Lacking the two-thirds of the GPSA required to pass Resolution 6, Z. Lynch motioned to table Resolution 6 to the final meeting of the semester. Instead, to avoid a delay to the vote, P. Caruso motioned for a two-minute recess togather more members. The motion passed
       vi. Z. Lynch motioned to extend the meeting to 7:15pm. The motion passed by unanimous consent 
       vii. Resolution 6 passed, 23-0-2
       viii. K. Rohrbaugh motioned to adjourn the meeting. Seeing an objection, the motion failed
  
  VII. Appointments and Nominations
       a. Committee on Academic Freedom and Professional Status of the Faculty (AFPSF)
       b. Committee on Music (CoM)
       c. Educational Policy Committee (EPC)
       d. Faculty Advisory Committee on Athletics and Physical Education (FACAPE)
            i. A. Garcia-Ortiz motioned to open the floor for nominations. The motion passed by unanimous consent
            ii. Z. Lynch nominated A. Garcia-Ortiz to be FACAPE representative. A.Garcia-Ortiz accepted the nomination
            iii. Seeing no other nominations, N. Brennan closed the floor. A. Garcia-Ortiz became FACAPE representative
       e. Generative AI in Education Working Group
  
  VIII. New Business
       a. None
  
  IX. Open Forum
       a. None
   

  The meeting was adjourned at 7:17p.m.

  
  
  
  
   

  GPSA-Minutes-112425.pdf (207.37 KB)