CUNY Graduate Center
Doctoral Students’ Council
Steering Committee Minutes

October 7, 2005

Chairperson: David Golland
Minutes: Adriana C. Tomasino
Meeting called to order at 6:07 P.M.

Present were Steering Committee members Celia Braxton, Ericka Calton, Stephanie
Domenici, David Golland, Tina Lee, Charles Lieberman (non-voting ex-officio), Adriana
Tomasino and Brenda Vollman, with C. Lieberman acting as proxy for absent Steering
Committee member Lee Hachadoorian and E. Calton acting as proxy for absent Steering
Committee member Chong Wojtkowski. Quorum established to conduct business.

I. Approval of Agenda.
Motion to approve agenda (without amendments).
Moved by T. Lee; seconded by C. Lieberman.
Motion passed unanimously.

II. Approval of Old Minutes. Motion to approve the minutes of the Steering
Committee meeting of August 26, 2005 (without amendments).
Moved by D. Golland; seconded by C. Lieberman.
Motion passed unanimously.

III. Old Business.
a. Fall Party wrap-up (Tina, Stef). T. Lee spoke about our having spent $2700
for the Fall party, $700 over the amount allocated for this event. She suggests
having a smaller party the next time around. For all intents and purposes, the
event was a great success! S. Domenici mentioned having received many
compliments about the Fall party, with at least 10% of the student population
attending. She states that bottles are a problem, with C. Braxton adding that
kegs are no longer delivered. T. Lee can pick-up a keg in Brooklyn—if need
be, or have someone else with a car do so for future events. C. Braxton notes
that this issue should be mentioned at a future DSC plenary meeting. Rental
car for pick-up of liquor out of the question due to the DSC’s liability issues.
D. Golland introduced guest, Dwight Dunkley, former student body President
at College of Staten Island, now third year in Senate and candidate for
position of Chair.
b. Health Committee (Ericka, Celia). E. Calton informs the Steering Committee
that she has written an article about the Wellness Center for The Advocate that
will be sent to D. Golland. C. Braxton maintains that access hours to
Wellness Center be improved. She and E. Calton will be invited to a meeting
with S. Lerner regarding this. S. Domenici mentions sending out a survey, to
which B. Vollman adds students should be able to discuss their concerns. E.
2
Calton suggests retrieving information from a survey on the website. D.
Golland recognizes C. Braxton for her hard work with tabling for the
Wellness Center, and talks about having a large increase in student
participation overall.

IV. New Business.
a. Communications Report (Dave). D. Golland reported on several items,
including:
i. Public Representation. D. Golland informs the Steering
Committee that tone of speech with students is very important, as
repercussions may result if something is taken the wrong way, and
one item from the Media Board needs approval.
ii. Media Board Advocate Resolution. It states that half of all money
acquired by advertising in The Advocate go directly to The
Advocate rather than to the DSC. C. Braxton requests information
about coverage, and T. Lee makes several suggestions as to
utilization of funds: 1) Better software; 2) The process by which
papers are sent electronically; 3) Changes in printing costs.
Motion to approve Resolution.
Moved by D. Golland; seconded by T. Lee.
Motion passed unanimously.
iii. College Association Appointment(s). D. Golland mentions that
there are six positions to be occupied for the College Association,
not five as originally thought. At the moment, the three Co-Chairs,
S. Domenici, T. Lee and D. Golland are involved as are the
volunteers C. Braxton and Aleta Aslani Styers, with one vacancy.
C. Lieberman, as the non-voting ex-officio member of the Steering
Committee, volunteers to serve if no one else can do so.
iv. Curriculum and Degree Committee Appointment. D. Golland also
informs the Steering Committee that there is an opening on this
committee to which he is temporarily assigned.
v. Grad Council Update. Meeting is two Thursdays from now.
Thinking about installing a Nursing doctorate degree, and adding
“Ethics” as a course rather than a part of one.
vi. Board of Trustees Update. Otis Hill and Michael Solomon were
honored on the occasion of their retirement for thirty-five years of
service to the University. Hill retired as Vice-Chancellor of
Student Affairs and Enrollment Management Solomon as CUNY
Legal’s head of student issues.
b. Budget Report (Tina). T. Lee made a presentation on the budget, stating
that the DSC doesn’t receive money until the school does. $68,000 added
with 3,500 students, with an additional $35,000 as well. The DSC will have
additional organizations, possibly two or three, so we may go over-budget, but
that is not likely. C. Wojtkowski’s Cultural Affairs request has been receive
and needs to be voted upon. If the Wellness Referendum passes, then there
will be no charge for this year. Next year, however, another $27,000 must be
3
paid for the Nurse Practitioner. If everything else is spent, there will still be
an $11,000 surplus in the budget, and another $4,000 in the Discretionary
Fund. There was also a discussion about the Travel and Research Fund, and
whether or not the amount allotted should be raised from $250. T. Lee
mentions that there appears to be no budget deficit, which is a welcome
departure from last year.
c. Student Affairs Report (Stef). S. Domenici makes a presentation on the
following:
i. Business Cards/Magnets. S. Domenici informs the Steering
Committee that the expenditures for these items must be
approved, especially since we are in need of both. Motion to
approve Resolution for funding of no more than $400 for
business cards and magnets.
Moved by S. Domenici; seconded by D. Golland.
Motion passed unanimously.
One more issue came up regarding T. Lee’s extra work as Co-
Chair for at least a month before formally becoming Business
Co-Chair. The Steering Committee decided that the only way
to repay T. Lee for her work is to use money from the
Discretionary Fund. Motion to approve payment of $700 to T.
Lee from the Discretionary Fund.
Moved by D. Golland; seconded by C. Braxton.
T. Lee recused herself.
Motion passed unanimously.

(C. Braxton had to leave meeting early and requested that T.
Lee act as her proxy for the rest of the meeting.)

ii. Banner in 5414 ($250). S. Domenici notes that it would be
important for the Steering Committee to have a full-color
custom banner for events, and that the Steering Committee
could use funding from its Discretionary Fund for such a
purchase. Ray Ring would have to be contacted as well.
Motion to approve funding of $250 for such a banner.
Moved by S. Domenici; seconded by T. Lee.
Motion passed unanimously.
iii. Grants Program. S. Domenici states that department
representatives should make certain that Executive Officers
know that they are to collect six copies of all applications by
October 25th for the new Grants Program that has been
instituted at the Graduate Center. The Executive Officers
Committee (which will determine which candidates will
receive funding) will consist of those in the Sciences, Social
Sciences and the Humanities, with the largest group composed
of Social Science Executive Officers.
4
iv. Goals for The Advocate. S. Domenici mentions that Steering
Committee “Coordinator” job descriptions should be sent to
The Advocate to be included in the next issue.
d. USS Report (Charles). C. Lieberman noted that the USS will be
functional but that he would not be running for election on it. Dwight
Dunkley, tonight’s guest at the Steering Committee meeting, will be
running for election, and both C. Lieberman and D. Golland would be
present at the next meeting.
e. Flash Drives: How to Distribute Them? (Dave). D. Golland, working
with Paul McBreen, has found that the Flash drives seem to be ready for
distribution. The problem lies with the chosen method of distribution. A
discussion ensued about how involved or uninvolved the DSC should be
in the distribution of the available flash drives. Motion to table the
discussion until the next Steering Committee meeting.
Moved by D. Golland; seconded by B. Vollman.
Motion passed 8-0-1.
f. Coffee Hour—November? (Stef). S. Domenici believed that the most
effective way of negotiating a new contract would be to gather everyone
together earlier in the semester—before negotiations began, and suggested
that the Steering Committee move Coffee Hour into the month of
November, rather than December. It was decided that Coffee Hour would
take place on Thursday, November 10th from 1:30-4:30 P.M. in the DSC’s
own space—Room 5414. C. Braxton volunteered E. Calton for the
survey. B. Vollman would order coffee; A. Tomasino would create flyers,
and other Steering Committee members will work on other aspects of the
day, and request that other volunteers help as well.
g. Adriana’s New Full-Time Job. A. Tomasino informed the Steering
Committee about her new job at St. John’s University. She presented the
Steering Committee with a new schedule of her Steering Committee
Office hours, which would change as a result.

V. Other New Business. (Stef). S. Domenici requested that other Steering
Committee members join her at an event on October 23rd in Flushing for
Bernard Schwartz (the Vice-President for Sponsored Research), and for which
ten people were needed. It appeared that no one present was available.

VI. Announcements. (Stef). S. Domenici reported that Bernard Schwartz wishes
to have Open Mike Nights (with a bar) on Mondays at the Graduate Center in
the 365 Express space, with each week having a different theme.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:24 P.M.

Respectfully submitted,
Adriana Tomasino