Graduate and Professional Student Assembly Meeting

Monday, March 9, 2026

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Term:
2025-2026
Assembly/Committee: Graduate and Professional Student Assembly
Date & Time:
Mon, Mar 9, 2026 - 5:00pm
to
6:30pm
Location:
401 Physical Sciences Building/Zoom
Agenda:

Call to Order
II. Roll Call
III. Approval of the February 23rd, 2026 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 Chairperson
f. Student Advocacy Committee (SAC)
g. Programming Board
h. Faculty Advising, Teaching, and Mentorship Award Committee (FATMAC)
i. Diversity & International Students Committee (DISC)
j. Graduate School
V. Nominations & Appointments
a. Barn Manager Search Committee (2 seats)
VI. New Business
VII. Open Forum
VIII. Adjournment
Meeting Packet:
Audio Recording:

GPSAMeetingRecordingMarch92026.m4a (15.06 MB)
Minutes:

I. Call to Order
a. N. Brennan called the meeting to order at 5:03 PM.
b. Members Present: N. Brennan, A. Cardenas, P. Caruso, C. Chappel, J. Chobirko,A. Coogan, D. Freeman, A. Garcia-Ortiz, I. Gatimi, M. Hassler, D. Hwang, C. King,Z. Liu, Z. Lynch, C. Meffert, T. Nguyen, S. Sepp, I. Smith, Y. Wu
c. Members Absent: L. Alshameh, J. Alzayer, V. Baruah, B. Candelaria, I. Di Tomassi, K. Ellis, E.R. Gallant, M. James, Y. Khaled, M. Ortiz, R. Prude,K. Rohrbaugh, J. Wan, H. Zhang
d. Also Present: J. Lamey

II. Approval of the February 23rd Meeting Minutes
a. S. Sepp motioned to correct the spelling of names in 4(b)(i) and 4(b)(ii). The motion passed with unanimous consent.
b. J. Chobirko motioned to change “FATMA” in 3(g)(i) to “FATMAC.” The motion passed with unanimous consent.
c. Z. Lynch motioned to adopt the minutes. The meeting minutes are adopted with unanimous consent.

III. Reports of Officers and Committee Updates
a. Executive Committeei. A. Cardenas reported that elections are coming up after spring break.
b. Operations and Staffing Committeei. Z. Lynch mentioned the need to fill the barn manager search committee and the intention to do so at this meeting.
c. Appropriations Committee
i. S. Sepp updated that the committee had been working on getting the special grants out.
d. Communications Committee
i. No report.
e. Finance Commission Chairperson
i. No report.
f. Student Advocacy Committee (SAC)
i. I. Gatimi reported that the committee has completed their anonymous questionnaire that was sent out in the community group chat. The questionnaire will also be coming out in the communique. In addition, the town hall is on March 25th and will address some of the questions and concerns submitted via the questionnaire.
g. Programming Board
i. P. Caruso gave updates on the gala and hoped the assembly can spread the word to promote the gala.
h. Faculty Advising, Teaching, and Mentorship Award Committee (FATMAC)
i. J. Chobirko announced that the award ceremony is on April 30th. The committee plans to host the ceremony during the afternoon at Boyce Thompson. Once all details are settled, more information will be shared in the communique. In addition, the speaker reminded everyone to submit nominations before the survey closes soon.
i. Diversity & International Students Committee (DISC)
i. D. Hwang mentioned that the Cultural Festival is planned for around May as a collaboration with the IGSA, which the committee plans to meet with in the following week.
j. Graduate School
i. The Graduate School representative gave updates on the orientation process for admitted doctoral students. Admission offers are still being sent out.

IV. Nominations & Appointments
a. Barn Manager Search Committee (2 Seats)
i. J. Lamey provided a brief description of the position and gave an estimated 8-10 hours of time commitment. Z. Lynch added on that the barn manager is generally in charge of scheduling events and works with the programming board to order décor and various things for the gala.
ii. A. Garcia-Ortiz motioned to open the floor for nominations. The floor opened with unanimous consent.
1. J. Lamey noted that the search to fill the manager position ends on May 1st, with hopes that someone will be in the position by June 1st.
2. Z. Lynch nominated M. Hassler. M. Hassler accepted the nomination
3. A. Garcia-Ortiz nominated Z. Lynch. Z. Lynch accepted the nomination.
4. J. Chobirko motioned to close the floor. The floor for nominations closed with unanimous consent.
5. M. Hassler and Z. Lynch have been named Big Red Barn Manager Search Committee representatives.

V. New Business
a. None.

VI. Open Forum
a. Z. Lynch addressed S. Sepp’s question regarding GPSA socials.
b. Y. Wu spoke about how the CDPC is collaborating with graduate student groups, ASAP and VaCS, to host a workshop on how to address misinformation. A. Garcia-Ortiz added on that the workshop was on March 19th from 6:00 PM to 7:15 PM.
c. P. Caruso reminded the assembly that the Cornell Negotiation Student Society is hosting an Interpersonal Skills of Negotiation workshop on March 11th at 5:00 PM in MVR 4301 with Professor Katrina Nobles. The speaker also mentioned the importance of promoting giving day for the financial health of many programs.
d. S. Sepp said that the Appropriations Committee is looking into renewing data for the GPSA and looking for commentary from the assembly.
e. J. Chobirko reminded the assembly that revisions for the student code of conduct had been emailed out and are awaiting input.

VII. Adjournment
a. J. Chobirko motioned to adjourn the meeting. The meeting was adjourned with unanimous consent. The meeting was adjourned at 5:30 PM.

GPSAMeetingMinutesMarch92026.pdf (127.42 KB)