Doctoral Students’ Council Steering Committee
minutes of meeting held on 4 March 2005

page: 1 of 4
Chair:
Minutes:
Members present:

Absent:
Tina Lee
Eric Doviak and Celia Braxton
Paul McBreen, Stephanie Domenici-Carbonargi, Aleta Styers, Camille Tipton,
Celia Braxton, Moira Egan, Tina Lee, David Hamilton Golland (non-voting)
and Eric Doviak
Tomoaki Imamichi

T. Lee called the meeting called to order at 6:00 pm.

The agenda was approved.

The minutes of the December meeting were approved as amended. The minutes of the January meeting
were approved as amended.

Old Business

Constitutional Convention: C. Tipton reported that any by-law changes must be submitted at the
upcoming March plenary so that they can be approved at the April plenary.
P. McBreen proposed that the positions of DSC webmaster and Advocate webmaster be defined.
D. Hamilton Golland proposed that some steering committee officers should have specific
portfolios, such as advocate for students with disabilities, advocate for Graduate Center students who are
based at campuses other than the GSUC, advocate for international students and an office manager.
Concerns were raised about implementation, but it was generally agreed such a structure would ensure
that projects get accomplished.
D. Hamilton Golland proposed that the constitution should make the USS delegate an ex-officio
member of the Steering Committee and Executive Committee.
D. Hamilton Golland proposed that duty of alternate USS delegate fall to the co-chair for student
affairs if no other is found.

Health Services: D. Hamilton Golland reported on a proposal that the Graduate Center would
contract with DOCS to put a nurse practitioner at the Graduate Center. The administration and the DSC
would split the cost evenly. The proposal would require an $11 increase in the student activity fee per
semester.

USS Report: D. Hamilton Golland reported that there are some problems at USS.

Election Processes: P. McBreen reported that the ballots were mailed out and that DSC now
needs to encourage students to run. He also suggested that the proposed constitutional amendments should
be sent out with the __?__.

Travel Fund: S. Domenici-Carbonargi discussed the difficulties some students have in obtaining
funds to attend conferences in the spring. Ways of dividing the academic year so as to disburse the travel
fund more equitably were discussed.

pending approval
Doctoral Students’ Council Steering Committee
minutes of meeting held on 4 March 2005

page: 2 of 4
Logo Contest: It has been decided that entries are due on April 15th. The prize for the chosen
logo is $150.

New Business

Accessibility Issues: M. Egan and E. Doviak led a discussion regarding accessibility issues for
disabled students. A Resolution regarding this issue will be written.

Request for Software: Adobe Acrobat 6.0 makes PDF files Jaws-compatible. It cannot be put on
a network, only on individual computers. Purchase of several copies of this program is under
consideration.

Adjunct Project Night: Stef and Celia reported briefly on the Adjunct Project Night, which was
successful for a first event.

IR Nominees Community Interviews: Stef reported low student turnout for Gloria Barlow’s
interview, which was the only one she had been able to attend.

Office Hours: Celia requested that people consult their schedules and adjust their office hours to
reflect their ability to be in the office. She reminded people that the office hours are for the convenience
of our constituents, and when we are not in the office during the hours stated, it is a disservice to them.

Student Affairs Committee: The committee met under leadership of James Trimarco, Chair.

Report from the Co-Chair for Student Affairs

Chartered Organizations Fair: Stephanie suggested that instead of holding a Fair as last year
(which was the first), she help them schedule a Tabling day for organizations that are interested in this.
The sense of the meeting was that the Steering Committee concurred with this use of her time.

Business Cards: All but six representatives had picked up their business cards.

Banner for 5414 and Plaques: The type of banner available from Kinko’s is paper and is not
large enough. In addition, Stephanie brought up the idea of a plaque for President Horowitz, and another
to go next to Charlotte Frick’s painting, which has been hung in 5414. Paul and Moira will price these
out.

Mid-level student funding: A small victory has been made. The administration has promised
one million dollars for tuition remission for midlevel students who meet the following qualifications:
• Providing service to the University
• Are within the first five years of their doctoral studies
• Are not already a recipient of one of the new five-year packages
• Are not an incoming student – with or without one of the above packages
Doctoral Students’ Council Steering Committee
minutes of meeting held on 4 March 2005

page: 3 of 4

Report from the Co-Chair for Communications

Hiring: Paul McBreen reported that the positions of Advocate editor, DSC Webmaster and
Adjunct Project coordinator are open for hiring for next year.

Midlevel student funding: He suggested a resolution on midlevel student funding be written, as
the CUNY Graduate Center is still looking for parity with SUNY graduate schools.

Report from the Co-Chair for Business

Issues concering the Advocate:
• Aleta Styers reported that at a recent Media Board meeting, specific new procedures and forms
for check requisition for the Advocate were discussed and these will be developed.
Requisitions will be on a per issue basis.
• Andrew Kennis has signed a document stating that he will not bill or ask for any money
having to do with any issues of the Advocate previous to a date stipulated in that document. In
return he is to be paid $160.00 as payment in full for all such previous bills. This money is to
be paid by a special roll call vote of the Steering Committee as follows:

Erik Doviak: yes
Stephanie Domenici: yes
Camille Tipton: yes
Tina Lee: yes
Paul McBreen: yes
Moira Egan: no
Aleta Styers: abstain
Celia Braxton: no

Other old business:
• Only a little over $300.00 has been spent from the Discretionary Fund.
• With regard to paid assistance for the Co-Chair for Business, records show that Jose did not
pay his assistant out of his own pocket as previously reported. He paid her out of budgeted
funds for office help.
• We have not received any further check request forms from the Travel and Research fund.

Encouraging use of funds: Department Allocations are behind in utilization, as is usage of
Chartered Organization funds and Cultural Affairs grants. Use of these funds needs to be encouraged.

2005-06 Budget Meetings: Aleta explained the process of “zero-based budgeting,” suggesting
that the DSC budget should grow out of the desires of the group, rather than the ideas of one person or as
an adjusted copy of previous years’ budgets, as has been traditional. This process requires a group of
Steering Committee members to form a budget committee which would meet up to four (4) times in order
to prepare the budget for presentation to the May plenary. Those who are willing to be on this committee
must commit to being at the first meetings; members may drop out, but cannot drop in after the first
meeting. Voting in favor of this process does not require the presence of the voting member at any
meetings. After discussion, a vote was taken as follows:
Doctoral Students’ Council Steering Committee
minutes of meeting held on 4 March 2005

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• In favor of the budget committee and new process: 4
• In favor of the traditional budget preparation by the Co-Chair for Business only: 3

Tina will poll SC members by email to determine availability for the budget meetings, and Aleta will
schedule the meetings.

The meeting adjourned at 8:36 pm.