Graduate Center, CUNY - Doctoral Students’ Council Plenary Minutes – November 17, 2006
Members and Voting Alternates Present:
Anthropology: Kate Griffiths (by proxy: Regina Chaudhry), Martha Lincoln (by proxy: Michelle C. Kettner) Audiology: Allison Shapiro Biochemistry: Avalon Garcia
Biology: Adam Kavalier Classics: Michael Broder (by proxy: Paul McBreen) Comparative Literature: Alexander Moudrov Computer Science: Mohamed Saad Criminal Justice: David Caspi, Charles Lieberman Earth and Environmental Science: Angelos Lampoussis Engineering Chemical: Makonnen Payne (alt.) Engineering, Civil: Rouzbeh Nazari English: Louise Geddes, Tina Meyerhoff French: Chong Wojtkowski Hispanic/Luso Brazilian Languages and Literatures: Hyon Kim History: David Golland, Jameel Haque (by proxy: Mounira Keghida) Linguistics: Ji Young Shim Mathematics: Brooke Orosz Music PhD: Jason Hooper Political Science: Jen Gaboury (by proxy: Douglas Medina), Aaron, Ibur, Zeeshan Suhail Psychology, Environmental: Stephanie Domenici Cabonargi Psychology, Learning Processes: Adrienne Robek (by proxy: Joseph Sramek) Psychology, Neuro: Robyn Powers Social Welfare: Denise Torres Sociology: Binh Pok Urban Education: Lynda Kennedy At-Large: Dave Aliano, Ericka Calton, Lee Hachadoorian, James Hoff, Patrina Huff, Amber Hui, Ian Jones, Lindsay Krasnoff, James Lyles, Tina Mee, Amy Meyers, Frank Muscara, Tieuvi Nguyen, Dion Powell, Pamela Proscia, Brenda Vollman
Members Absent:
Art History: Tara Burk Biology: Jillian De Gezelle Chemistry: Marie Thomas Comparative Literature: Kai Kreinke Computer Science: Hassan Adekoya Economics: Andrew Bossie (excused) Engineering, Chemical: Mehrdad Kheiripour Engineering, Electrical: Rex Wong
English: Rob Faunce (excused) Liberal Studies: Nazreen Bacchus (excused) Music DMA: Barbara Podgursky
Music PhD: Inessa Bazayev Psychology, Clinical: Nora Goudsmit Psychology, Forensic: Ryan Copple Psychology, Industrial/Organizational: Lauren Mondo Psychology, Social Personality: Elizabeth Velilla Theater: Kate Wilson (excused) At-Large: Celia Braxton (excused), Gregory Donovan (excused), Valerie Futch, Vincenzo Sainato, Farishta Satari
Guests Present:
Robert Ramos (USS Chair), Shelly-Ann Quilty (USS Vice Chair for Graduate Affairs)
Total Members and Voting Alternates Present: 47 Total Members Absent: 22 Sufficient quorum to conduct business
Chair: D. Golland Minutes: E. Calton
Meeting Called to Order at 6:11 p.m.
I. Invited Speakers: Robert Ramos, USS Chair and CUNY Trustee Ex-Officio and Ms. Shelly- Anne Quilty, USS Vice Chair for Graduate Affairs.
II. Approval of Agenda and Old Minutes
Moved by C. Lieberman to approve the agenda and September and October minutes by unanimous consent; seconded by C. Wojtkowski. Approved without objection.
III. Old Business A. Chartered Organization The Luso-Brazilian group presented their Constitution for approval by the DSC. C.L. asked what their goal is and Regina responded that Portugese is again active on campuses.
Moved by C. Wojtkowski to charter the Luso-Brazilian Studies Group by unanimous consent; seconded by C. Lieberman. Approved without objection.
B. E-mail Communications C.L. asked the plenary if they had any issues with attachments not being included in emails sent by the Co-chair for Communications. E.C. said that attachments may include viruses. C.L. said we may want pdf documents. T.L. said that students can individually ask for attachments if they want them. D.G. said that’s the policy. L.K. likes having D.G. send formatted (digest) emails; her mailbox gets full easily. P.H. said maybe we could have a DSC list-serv. C.L. said we should think about that before the next plenary.
IV. Co-chair for Student Affairs Report - Chong A. Campus Visit to Lehman – We want to do more visits, perhaps Hunter College next. Please
let C.W. know if you want to suggest another campus.
B. Reinstatement of Chartered Organization – The ACM Chartered Organization lost their charter due to a paperwork technicality but they have been active.
Moved by C. Wojtkowski to reinstate the chartered status of the Association of Computer Machinery by unanimous consent; seconded by C. Lieberman. Approved without objection.
C. Departmental Involvement – C.W. wants to know if faculty committees at CUNY colleges bar student participation and if the faculty members get evaluations. D.G. thinks this is very important and there should be student involvement. Joe Sramek asks if this is a governance issue and maybe we should bring this up to the departments who may be violating their own bylaws. C.W. will make the list available to interested parties.
D. Business Cards – Department reps and at-large reps can be business cards through the DSC. If students in the various programs want business cards, the reps must get their information and use their departmental allocations for this. Send C.W. the information no later than the Wednesday after next.
E. Holiday Party – The holiday party will be on 12/8/06 after the plenary. V. Co-chair for Communications Report - Dave
A.
IDS Steering Committee—2 Students—Monthly Meetings. Provost Wrigley is “creating a new Interdisciplinary Studies Steering Committee to review IDS offerings and make decisions about resource allocations among concentrations, certificate programs, and ‘freestanding’ IDS courses (those proposed by faculty members outside of the concentrations or certificate programs). The committee will have an important job and will probably meet once a month. It will be a relatively small body, with seven members total.”
S. Domenici Cabonargi and P. Huff volunteered. Moved by D. Golland to nominate the two volunteers by unanimous consent; seconded by C. Lieberman. Approved without objection.
B. Spring meeting dates. The plenary will meet on the following Fridays in the spring: February 23, March 23, April 27, and May 11. The Steering Committee will meet on January 26, March 9, April 13, and May 18. The Media Board will meet on March 2 and May 4. Also please mark your calendars: the Steering Committee will be holding an envelope-stuffing pizza party on February 9 for the annual nominations ballots.
C. Board of Trustees Report. Coming down the pike is a new standard procedure for students to file complaints about professorial misconduct in academic settings. The chancellery has devised a fairly cut-and-dry procedure, in accordance with the law and union requirements, for the Board to consider. One issue that was raised at USS last month about this was
the fact that there is no student involvement at any point in the proposed procedure. While this may seem to be against the grain, given student involvement in college governance on everything from departmental committees at the Grad Center to voting membership on the Board of Trustees, in fact it may not be an issue. If we look at our own faculty membership committees, the standard is that students do not have a vote on matters related to the membership or discipline of individual faculty members. Nonetheless, we do have a voice on those committees, even though we don’t have a vote, and there may be an appropriate argument here that at least one student—perhaps the SGA president or a DSC co-chair or designee—should sit as a non-voting member of on any committee formed under this new procedure. The Board Committee which will be
considering this—the Committee on Academic Policy, Program, and Research, of which I am the student member—was slated to take the matter up last week, but the item was pulled at the last minute by the chancellery. The next scheduled meeting is January 2, and I will be meeting prior to then with the faculty member, Prof. Lenore Beaky, as well as the student trustee and faculty trustee, to discuss it.
D. Media Board Report. The Media Board held an exceptionally long meeting—four and a half hours—last Friday evening. As a result of that meeting we are recommending an amendment to the wage and stipend schedule bylaw—to take effect next year—increasing the maximum pay for the DSC Webmaster to $24.00 per hour. The Constitution and Bylaws Committee, chaired by Aaron Ibur, will take up that recommendation. It was also decided that the Constitution and Bylaws Committee would be asked to recommend some administrative changes to the Advocate bylaw. The Editor-in-Chief, James Hoff, and I will be working with Aaron to draft those proposed amendments. We would like to recommend one action item for your consideration tonight, an increase in the number of hours allocated to the DSC Webmaster for the remainder of this year by two per week, for a maximum cost of $1,000.00.
Moved by D. Golland to approve the recommendation of the Media Board that the Co- Chair for Business Management add $1,000 to the webmaster pay line of the budget for
additional hours to be worked this year by unanimous consent; seconded by C. Lieberman. Approved without objection.
And finally, the Co-Chair for Student Affairs informed me yesterday that the DSC Webmaster will resign effective November 30. The Media Board is now seeking applications for her replacement, who will be trained. If you or anyone you know would like to apply, please address your CV to me at dgolland@gmail.com by December 7. The Media Board will hold a special meeting to interview prospective applicants on December 15.
E. Special Announcement. As you know, I have been an officer of this organization for two and a half years, first as the University Student Senate Delegate (and USS Vice Chair for Graduate Affairs) and for the last year and a half as the Co-Chair for Communications. It has been a wonderful experience. As chair of the Wellness Center subcommittee, I worked with the administration and spearheaded our drive to pass a referendum to save the Wellness Center. I led two protests against graduate tuition increases. I served as first chair of the presidential search student interview committee that ultimately saw the appointment of Bill Kelly as the new President of the Graduate Center. I led a campaign to protect student rights and safeguard student representation on Graduate Council. And I took a DSC committee to Washington to rally in support of the people of Darfur, who unfortunately continue to suffer under an uncontrolled and brutal genocide. Now, however, due to pressing family concerns as well as the need to devote more time to my dissertation, I have decided that I must move on. And so I will resign my position as DSC Co-Chair for Communications, effective February 1. I will retain my membership in the organization for the rest of the term and will continue to serve as USS alternate and on my various committees of the Graduate Council. We will hold a special election at the December plenary to elect my replacement, who will take office upon the date of my resignation. If anyone would like to know more about the demands of the position, statutory or traditional, please feel free to ask me. I’ll be happy to get together to discuss it. And finally, I’d like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has played a role in helping me make the last two and a half years a productive experience, especially, Tina Lee, Stephanie Domenici Cabonargi, Paul McBreen, and although they could not be present here this evening, Celia Braxton and Moira Egan. Thanks!
VI. Co-Chair for Business Management Report - Brenda A. College Association – the first meeting of the College Association, which oversees the
VII.
spending of Student generated fees, took place on Wednesday, Nov 15th. The College Association approved the budget presented to and approved by the Plenary on Sept 15, 2006.
B. Fall Allocations [ packet] – Your departmental allocation found in packet. Please note that we want to spend all the money this year. That means we need to try to get reps for Unrepresented Programs (help in this effort!) so that every last allocated penny is spent. Receipt procedures: Please submit original receipts taped to sheet of paper and laid out and readable. Please make a copy of these receipts and submit with request. Please make certain all pertinent information is filled in.
C. Grants – please promote the grants programs. Go to www.cunydsc.org to download informational sheets or stop by our offices (5491, 5493, 5495, 5499). We typically get more applications for Cultural Affairs, but it would be useful to note that professional development can mean a number of things, from inviting guest lecturers, holding colloquia, or even arranging grant writing workshops or teaching workshops or other workshops that are skills based. To date Professional Development: Requested (2) - $1630 – Awarded (2) - $740 –
D. Movie Tickets [example]- will be available for sale after the December Plenary – and at that time we will make them available for check OR cash and we will waive the 10 ticket limit. [EXAMPLE - gift envelopes & ticket] Will make great gifts for the holidays!!!!!!!
E. Budget Allocations [packet]– if you have suggestions for the ways in which the budget should be allocated differently, please submit your ideas to me or anyone of the members of the steering committee. I would be happy to schedule a meeting with any student or group of students who have ideas. One suggestion I made at the last meeting is to look in to increasing the amount allocated for departments by increasing the baseline amount and the per student allocation. I have included a copy of this year’s budget (revisions approved 9/15/06). This includes spending to date.
Adjunct Project Coordinator Report A. Adjunct Project Meeting. The first Adjunct Project meeting of the year was held on
November 7th. At the meeting Graduate Center student-workers discussed the results of the recently completed survey. The survey revealed, not surprisingly, that wages and benefits (particularly health insurance), are the issues that most urgently need to be addressed according to adjuncts, GAs, and fellows at the Graduate Center. Meeting participants discussed possible ways to recruit and activate graduate student workers, and considered ways to increase our collective power in the next round of contract negotiations. Proposals included establishing an individual in each department to organize students around adjunct issues, writing an open letter to the administration from our student-worker committee advancing a list of demands, and reaching out to full-time faculty to forge a more powerful movement. It is my hope that the meeting on the seventh will be the beginning of a productive campaign to improve the status of GC student-workers.
B. Advocate Article. An ongoing campaign of the Adjunct Project is to draw attention to labor issues in the academy. My most recent attempt to do so will appear in the form of an article in the forthcoming issue of The Advocate. My goal is to focus attention on the crisis in academic labor and to point out that we can find solutions to this crisis by looking at the history of the labor movement in the U.S.
C. Assistance with retroactive pay. Earlier this semester adjuncts in the CUNY system received the retroactive pay to which they were entitled under the new contract. However, some adjuncts have been unable to get this pay. In the past few weeks the Adjunct Project has helped resolve problems with the retroactive pay, and I hope to continue to make the A.P. available as resource in this way.
D. Outreach and Adjunct Project promotion. Another ongoing campaign is to promote the
existence of the Adjunct Project and encourage GC student-workers to take advantage of
the resources it offers. To continue this campaign the Adjunct Project joined other
members of the DSC in a campus outreach visit to Lehman College on Friday, November 10th.
E. Solidarity Action. Finally, the Adjunct Project is committed to the goal of supporting workers’ struggles on behalf of the DSC and GC student-workers. On Monday, November 13th I joined a protest called by the Professional Staff Congress in front of the Mexican consulate. This action aimed to demonstrate solidarity with striking teachers in Oaxaca, Mexico who have been the target of a brutal campaign of repression. It is our hope that actions like the protest on Monday will help apply pressure to the Mexican government to end the violence against the teachers and to recognize their demands.
VIII. USS Report. D. Golland reported for Z. Suhail that the last meeting of USS did not attain quorum and so there is nothing official to report.
IX. Honorary Membership for Joseph Sramek. Whereas Dr. Joseph Sramek served as proxy for Mr. Kevin McGruder, a representative of the History PhD program to the Doctoral and Graduate Students’ Council (DSC) at a meeting of the plenary held on February 10, 2006; Wherease Dr. Sramek served as proxy for Ms. Barbara Podgursky, the representative of the Music DMA program to the DSC, at a meeting of the plenary held on October 20, 2006; Whereas Dr. Sramek served as proxy for Mr. David Aliano, a member of the Doctoral and Graduate Students’ Organization Media Board elected by the DSC, at a meeting of the board held on November 10, 2006, which lasted more than four hours, and Whereas Dr. Sramek served as proxy for Ms. Adrienne Robek, the representative of the Psychology PhD Learning Processes sub-program to the DSC, at a meeting of the plenary held on November 17, 2006; Now, therefore, in recognition for outstanding and exceptional services performed on behalf of the students of the college, be it resolved that Dr. Joseph Sramek is an honorary member of the Doctoral and Graduate Students’ Council, the Graduate School and University Center, the City University of New York, for the year two thousand and six. Addendum: There are no additional rights or responsibilities associates with this resolution.
Moved by D. Aliano to approve the resolution by unanimous consent; seconded by C. Lieberman. Approved by acclamation.
X. DSC Standing Committee Reports A. Health Issues – Ericka Calton
Please volunteer to serve on the Health Issues Committee so that we can become more involved with the health fair in April. We are also working on supplementing the number of flu shots that are available for students, since the GC runs out quickly. B. Constitution and Bylaws
1. Proposed Amendments to Constitution Article IV. Article IV. DOCTORAL AND GRADUATE STUDENTS' COUNCIL (DSC) ... Section 4.0 Election of Officers ... C) Tenure and Vacancies of Offices. The tenure of officeholders shall be one (1) year, commencing seven days after spring commencement, except that the Co-Chair for Business Management shall take office at the start of the fiscal year on July 1. Vacancies shall be filled by the DSC within one (1) month.
Moved by A. Ibur to send the proposed amendments to the DSO by unanimous consent; seconded by C. Lieberman.
Approved without objection.
2. Proposed Amendments to Bylaws 12-17 [BYLAW #12: STEERING COMMITTEE COORDINATOR POSITIONS (Approved by the DSC on May 13, 2005) Section 12.1 Name and Job Description
The Doctoral Students’ Council Steering Committee is made up of six members plus three co- chairs. Of the six members that are not co-chairs, four of these positions shall also carry a coordinator’s title including: Coordinator for Campus Outreach, Coordinator for International Students, Coordinator for Students with Disabilities and Coordinator for Office Management. The other two Steering Committee positions that do not specifically carry coordinator titles can carry yearly coordinator titles as designated and agreed upon by the Steering Committee.
Section 12.2 Designating Steering Committee Coordinator Titles The Steering Committee coordinator titles can be designated at the time of election. If not all coordinator titles are filled during the election, any remaining needing to be filled will be agreed upon at the transitional Steering Committee meeting and approved at the next plenary. Section 12.3 DSC Steering Committee Coordinator Duties
The Coordinator for Campus Outreach shall be in charge of organizing outreach efforts to CUNY Graduate School campuses other than the Graduate Center; the Coordinator for International Students shall be in charge of organizing outreach efforts for international students and be a liaison between the DSC oand the Office of International Students; the Coordinator for Students with Disabilities shall be responsible with helping maintain access for students with disabilities, will act as a liaison with the Office for Students with Disabilities, including learning to use the Braille embosser and any other relevant technology and teach others of the DSC Steering Committee as needed; the Coordinator for Office Management shall be responsible for maintaining functions of the DSC Steering Committee office as determined by the current DSC Steering Committee.]
[BYLAW #13:] BYLAW #12: MANDATORY WELLNESS CENTER EXPENDITURE ... [BYLAW #14:] BYLAW #13: HEALTH ISSUES COMMITTEE (Following a resolution passed by the DSC plenary on September 10, 2004; submitted for review to the plenary on November 18, 2005; approved by the plenary on December 9, 2005.) Section [14.1] 13.1 Name and Purpose
The name of the committee shall be the Standing Committee on Health Issues. Issues relating (but not limited) to student health services at the Wellness Center, inoculations programs, and student health insurance shall fall under the purview of the committee. It will be the responsibility of the committee to advocate improvements in student health. Section [14.2] 13.2 Chairperson The Steering Committee shall appoint from among its members a chairperson of the Standing Committee on Health Issues, subject to approval by the plenary. The Steering Committee may appoint two co-chairpersons, also subject to plenary approval. Section [14.3] 13.3 Membership The plenary shall appoint no fewer than three and no greater than nine members, not including the Chairperson(s). In the event that there are two co-chairpersons, the maximum number of members appointed by the plenary shall be eight. One DSC co-chair shall serve as a non-voting ex-officio member. The membership need not consist of DSC members. Section [14.4] 13.4 Term of Office Members of the Health Issues Committee shall serve until the expiration of the term of office of the plenary that appointed them. Section [14.5] 13.5 Secretary The chairperson shall appoint a secretary of the committee from among the committee members. The chairperson may ask that secretarial duties be rotated among the membership. Section [14.6] 13.6 Subcommittees The committee may name subcommittees for investigation, advocacy and recommendations pertaining to particular issues within the purview of the committee. Membership in subcommittees shall be limited to the members of the committee. The chairperson of the committee shall appoint a subcommittee chair from among the members of each subcommittee. The committee chair shall serve as a non-voting ex-officio member of each subcommittee. All subcommittees shall expire on June 30th of each year unless renewed. Subcommittees and their members shall be subject to all other provisions of this bylaw. Section [14.7] 13.7 Meetings [§14.7.1] §13.7.1 Schedule The committee chairperson shall schedule at least one meeting of the committee per semester, in consultation with the membership, and shall notify the membership at least one week in advance of each meeting. Subcommittees shall not have a minimum number of meetings. [§14.7.2] §13.7.2 Presiding Officer The Chairperson shall preside over committee meetings and shall not vote except in the case of a tie. In the event that there are co-chairpersons, they shall rotate presiding officer duties. At each such meeting, the co-chair not chairing shall serve as a voting member of the committee. [§14.7.3] §13.7.3 Quorum Quorum shall consist of at least half of the current membership, including the chairperson or co-chairs, not including ex-officio members. [§14.7.4] §13.7.4 Records All approved agendas and minutes of all committee and subcommittee meetings shall be deposited with the office of the DSC Co-Chair for Communications by the chairperson or secretary no later than June 30th of each year. Section [14.8] 13.8 Annual Reports [§14.8.1] §13.8.1 Committee Reports
The chairperson or secretary of the committee shall submit an annual report on the activities of the committee no later than the May DSC plenary meeting of each year. Such report shall be deposited with the office of the DSC Co-Chair for Communications by the chairperson or secretary no later than June 30th. [§14.8.2] §13.8.2 Subcommittee Reports Subcommittees are not required to submit reports. When subcommittees have reports, they are to be submitted to the committee—not the plenary—by the subcommittee chairman. Such reports shall be deposited with the office of the DSC Co-Chair for Communications by the committee chairperson or secretary no later than June 30th. [§14.8.3] §13.8.3 Substitutions. In the event that one subcommittee handles the majority of the committee’s work for any given year, the report of that subcommittee may be substituted for the committee report at the discretion of the committee chairperson. Section [14.9] 13.9 Removal from Office Any member, chairperson, or co-chair of the Health Committee may be removed by two- thirds vote of the plenary, provided that they have been sent notification via certified mail at least two weeks before the meeting at which the vote takes place. Section [14.10] 13.10 Absenteeism All voting members of the Health Issues Committee must inform the chairperson of any impending meeting absence. When the chairperson shall be absent, he/she shall appoint and inform a deputy chairperson from among the membership. When there are two co-chairs, one need only inform the other of impending absence. No excuse need be given. Such action shall deem the absence “excused.” In the event of two unexcused absences, a member or chairperson shall be understood to have resigned from the committee. Excused absences can also be declared retroactively by the committee. [BYLAW # 15:] BYLAW #14: CONFERENCES, PUBLICATIONS, AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT GRANTS (Submitted to the plenary March 24, 2006; approved by the plenary April 28, 2006.) Section [3.1] 14.1 Membership The Steering Committee shall appoint to the Professional Development Committee at least three (3) matriculated students at the Graduate School & University Center of the City University of New York. The Members of the Professional Development Committee shall include students registered in at least three (3) different programs at the City University Graduate School & University Center. The Professional Development Committee shall include the Co-Chair for Business Management and one member of the Steering Committee. The Co-Chair shall be responsible for setting meetings of the committee and for processing requests for funding in a timely manner. Section [3.2] 14.2 Term of Office Members of the Professional Development Committee shall serve until the expiration of the term of office of the Steering Committee that appointed them. Section [3.3] 14.3 Removal from Office Members of the Professional Development Committee may be removed by two-thirds vote of the Steering Committee, provided that they have been sent notification (via certified mall at least two weeks before the meeting at which the vote takes place) that such a vote will take place. Section [3.4] 14.4 Funding The Professional Development Committee shall administer an annual allocation set as part of
C.
the DSC budgetary process. Funds not allocated by the end of the Professional Development Committee term of office shall revert to the DSC general fund. Section [3.5] 14.5 Appeal Decisions of the Professional Development Committee may be appealed in writing to the Steering Committee. Section [3.6] 14.6 Grants The Professional Development Committee shall grant monies to individual students registered at the Graduate School and University Center, to departmental organizations, to Chartered Organizations, and to ad hoc groups of students registered at the Graduate School & University Center. Such grants shall be made solely for the purposes of holding conferences, publishing academic materials or conducting professional development events open to all students at the Graduate School & University Center. No individual, ad hoc group, chartered organization or department organization shall receive grants in one Professional Development Committee term totaling more than ten percent (10%) of the annual allocation, except in extraordinary circumstances as defined below. All events must be publicized at the Graduate School & University Center at east fourteen (14) days in advance of the event to be eligible to receive grants from the Professional Development Committee.
The DSO shall set aside each year at least 2% of the annual income of the DSC to be spent specifically on Professional Development grants. Extraordinary Circumstances: Any proposal to exceed the 10% limit for a Professional Development grant must meet the following qualifications for disbursement:
1) The proposal must show significant educational or professional benefit for students. 2) The proposal sponsors must provide persuasive evidence that the grant money is unavailable elsewhere. 3) Disbursement of the requested amount would not deny adequate funding for other eligible proposals the Committee is considering at that time.
4) The proposal must then pass a majority vote of the Professional Development Committee, who may approve all or part of the requested amount. 5) Disbursement of the money approved by the Professional Development Committee will be allowed after a majority vote in the plenary.
[BYLAW #16:] BYLAW #15: DSO WAGE AND STIPENDS SCHEDULE ... [BYLAW #17:] BYLAW #16: DSC ALTERNATE DELEGATES TO GRADUATE COUNCIL ...
Moved by A. Ibur to approve the proposed amendments by unanimous consent; seconded by C. Lieberman Approved without objection.
Community Building
XI. DSC Ad Hoc Committee Reports A. Darfur Support Committee – This committee will need a new person as its chair after D.G.
resigns.
XII. Grad Council Committee Reports A. Student Services Committee – Chong
C.W. Spoke about technology, laptop borrowing, and healthcare information during the last Plenary. Please contact C.W. if there are any questions about these issues. The next meeting is on 11/30.
B. Structure and Executive Committees – Restructuring of the Hard Sciences D.G. mentioned that the Structure Committee and Grad Council are working on proposed changes in the sciences. In December, D.G. will have more information regarding this issue
XIII.New Business
A.
B.
Scholarship Committee – Brenda Given that we have set aside a large sum of money ($50,000), part of which comes from unspent Departmental and Chartered Organization Allocations, There is a need for a Scholarship Development Committee. I am seeking 3 – 5 volunteers to help develop ideas about the requirements of such a scholarship, how much, how many, and suggestions for timelines for nominations OR applications, reviewing applications and awards.
The scholarships may not yet be available for the 2007 – 2008 School Year, but it would be helpful to have the ideas in a format that allows for proper review. If we are able to get the ball rolling, we may be able to have our first scholarships awarded by Spring of 2008, but only if folks join the committee.
I am taking names now, and after the meeting I can get your email. I believe we will meet possibly 2 – 3 times over the rest of the school year, and many discussions could take place via email.
L. Kennedy, E. Calton, C. Wojtkowski, and M. Saad volunteered to serve on this committee.
RF Issues – Stephanie The Research Grants program wants feedback. GC students and professors rank 5th CUNY-wide in grant writing; questions – 1) How can students become more involved in the grant writing process? We don’t have the resources to do this on our own. 2) What are the available resources? None. 3) What does the plenary think is an issue? T.L.: the Anthropology Department has a 4-credit course that is excellent and it can be used as a model. The course should be within each department. Pam: the course should be hands-on.
XIV. Announcements
XV. Adjournment
Motion to adjourn by C. Wojtkowski by unanimous consent; seconded by C. Lieberman. Approved without objection.
Meeting adjourned at 8:33 p.m. Respectfully submitted, E. Calton.