Graduate and Professional Student Assembly Meeting

Monday, March 23, 2026

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Term:
2025-2026
Assembly/Committee: Graduate and Professional Student Assembly
Date & Time:
Mon, Mar 23, 2026 - 5:00pm
to
6:30pm
Location:
401 Physical Sciences Building/Zoom
Agenda:

I. Call to Order

II. Roll Call

III. Approval of the March 9th, 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. Presentation I
a. Cornell Graduate Student United
i. Ewa Niżałowska, President of CGSU

VI. Presentation II
a. Updating Appendix A and B of GPSA
i. Siim Sepp, Vice President of Finance
VII. Presentation III
a. Review of Election Process and Timeline
i. Anafernanda Cardenas, Executive Vice President

VIII. New Business

IX. Open Forum

X. Adjournment
Meeting Packet:
Audio Recording:

GPSA March 23rd 2026.mp3 (92.95 MB)
Minutes:

I. Call to Order
a. N. Brennan called the meeting to order at 5:04 PM.
b. Members Present: N. Brennan, A. Cardenas, P. Caruso, J. Chobirko, I. Di Tomassi, E.R. Gallant, A. Garcia-Ortiz, I. Gatimi, D. Hwang, C. King, Z. Liu, Z. Lynch, T. Nguyen, R. Prude, S. Sepp, I. Smith, Y. Wu
c. Members Absent: L. Alshameh, J. Alzayer, V. Baruah, B. Candelaria, C. Chappel, A. Coogan, K. Ellis, D. Freeman, M. Hassler, M. James, Y. Khaled, C. Meffert, M. Ortiz, K. Rohrbaugh, J. Wan, H. Zhang
d. Also Present: E. Niżałowska, G. Sekeres, S. Wagner, M. Fan, J. Marvin, D. Chowdhury, M. van Leerdam

II. Approval of the March 9th Meeting Minutes
a. S. Sepp motioned to amend “renewing data” in 6(d) to “renew Appendices A and B.” The motion passed with unanimous consent.
b. D. Hwang motioned to amend “IGSA” in 3(i)(i) to “IGPS.” The motion passed with unanimous consent.
c. J. Chobirko motioned to approve the meeting minutes. The meeting minutes were approved by unanimous consent.

III. Reports of Officers and Committee Updates
a. Executive Committee
i. A. Cardenas reminded the assembly of the elections after spring break.
b. Operations and Staffing Committee
i. Z. Lynch emphasized that the upcoming elections are not only for executive board positions but also for every voting member position.
c. Appropriations Committee
i. S. Sepp said that the committee’s main goal is getting the special grants out.
d. Communications Committee
i. No report.
e. Finance Commission Chairperson
i. C. King mentioned that the committee had been working on FC guidelines and that there is a meeting to discuss these guidelines on March 24th.
f. Student Advocacy Committee (SAC)
i. I. Gatimi reported that the town hall happened on March 25th at the Big Red Barn from 6:00 PM to 7:30 PM. The town hall addressed questions from the anonymous Qualtrics form and the event.
g. Programming Board
i. P. Caruso noted that the second drop of gala tickets happened on March 23rd and that the links and relevant materials were in the communique. In addition, the board is also collaborating with the Big Red Barn to host a Masquerade themed event in early April.
h. Faculty Advising, Teaching, and Mentorship Award Committee (FATMAC)
i. J. Chobirko stated that the awards ceremony is planned for April 30th. All awardees had been selected at the March 24th FATMAC meeting.
i. Diversity & International Students Committee (DISC)
i. D. Hwang said the committee had been working on the Cultural Festival.
j. Graduate School
i. T. Lewis mentioned the Student Progress Reports (SPRs) for doctoral students in years 2+ and how they are a great opportunity to check in with advisors. In addition, the Graduate School had also been actively engaged in the graduate and professional student admissions process.

IV. Presentations
a. Presentation I: Cornell Graduate Students United from E. Niżałowska, President of the CGSU, G. Sekeres, Vice President for Membership, S. Wagner, Region 4 Steward, M. Fan, Region 6 Lead Steward, J. Marvin, Campus Head Steward, and D. Chowdhury, Recording Secretary
i. E. Niżałowska provided a brief introduction of the Cornell Graduate Students United, a union that represents Cornell’s graduate student workers. The organization aims to advocate for the working conditions and needs of graduate workers. The union will soon bargain for a second contract and is collecting input from Cornell’s graduate students through a survey at my.cgsu.org. The speaker encouraged the assembly to get involved by filling out the survey and joining the union or Contract Action Team (CAT).
ii. The CGSU representatives addressed questions from the assembly regarding main points for expansion in the second contract bargain, the role of the steward for graduate students, utilization and transparency of the union’s funds, visions for collaboration between the GPSA and CGSU, and more.
b. Presentation II: Updating Appendices A and B in the GPSA Charter from S. Sepp, Vice President of Finance
i. S. Sepp proposed the various edits for Appendices A and B, such as removing the words “final” and “primary” as it pertains to applications, removing the contract with Cornell Cinema, changing the funding application criteria for organizations, and replacing International Student Association (ISA) with International Graduate and Professional Student Organization (IGPS). N. Brennan noted that the byline revisions for Appendices A and B will be voted on at the next meeting.
ii. The assembly discussed Appendix B’s change in evidence of engagement rate from 10% to 5% and whether organizations should submit event promotions to the communique as an additional obligation along with advertising on Campus Group.
iii. P. Caurso reminded the assembly of the distinction between the Cornell University Programming Board and the GPSA Programming Board, which is important when going through revisions.
iv. N. Brennan closed the discussion floor and moved onto Presentation III.
c. Presentation III: Review of Election Timeline for the Spring 2026 Election from A. Cardenas, Executive Vice President
i. A. Cardenas spoke on the positions that are up for re-election, the election timeline during April after spring break (from solicitation of candidates to result announcements), and new things happening this election (such as decreasing the amount of info sessions and candidate town halls).
ii. A. Cardenas answered questions from the assembly about the amount of candidate town halls, measures taken to increase graduate student engagement, and specific promotional content for different fields.

V. New Business
a. None.

VI. Open Forum
a. S. Sepp noted that the Graduate Student Veteran Association’s Baby Brigade event on March 21st was one of the first events funded through the special grants. The event served over 180 families and distributed more than $65,000 in baby supplies.
b. J. Chobirko emphasized the duty of assembly members to maintain the livelihood and dedication of the GPSA in making a difference at Cornell.
c. Meike van Leerdam, Vice President of the Animal Science Graduate Student Association, noted lags in requesting event funds through Campus Groups to receiving funds.

VII. Adjournment
a. I. Gatimi motioned to adjourn the meeting. The meeting had been adjourned with unanimous consent.

Mar 23 GPSA Meeting Minutes.pdf (155.41 KB)