Graduate Center, CUNY Doctoral Students’ Council Plenary Minutes
April 27, 2007 Members and Voting Alternates Present:
Audiology: Allison Shapiro (by proxy: Y. Cho) Biochemistry: Avalon Garcia Biology: Jillian De Gezelle (by proxy: Elizabeth Alsop), Adam Kavalier (by proxy: K. ___) Chemistry: Marie Thomas Classics: Michael Broder Comparative Literature: Alexander Moudrov (by proxy: Lisa Offringa) Criminal Justice: David Caspi (by proxy: Crystal Rodriguez), Charles Lieberman Educational Psychology: Leslie Craigo (by proxy: Rachel Meyer) Engineering, Electrical: Rex Wong English: Rob Faunce, Tina Meyerhoff French: Chong Wojtkowski History: David Golland Linguistics: Ji Young Shim Mathematics: Brooke Orosz (by proxy: D. Canela) Music DMA: Barbara Podgursky (by proxy: _____) Philosophy: Christopher Sula Political Science: Jen Gaboury, Zeeshan Suhail Psychology, Learning Processes: Adrienne Robek Social Welfare: Denise Torres Sociology: Binh Pok Theatre: Kate Wilson At-large: Ericka Calton, Gregory Donovan, Lee Hachadoorian, James Hoff, Patrina Huff, James Lyles, Tina Lee, Frank Muscara, Dion Powell, Pamela Proscia, Brenda Vollman
Members Absent:
Anthropology: Kate Griffiths, Martha Lincoln Art History: Tara Burk Business: Cary Lange Comparative Literature: Kai Kreinke Computer Science: Hassan Adekoya, Mohamed Saad Earth/Environmental Science: Angelos Lampousis Economics: Andrew Bossie
Engineering, Biomedical: Veronica Lopez Engineering, Chemical: Mehrdad Kheiripour (excused) Engineering, Civil: Rouzbeh Nazari (excused) English: Louise Geddes Hispanic/Luso-Brazilian Lang. & Lit: Hyon Kim History: Jameel Haque (excused) Liberal Studies: Nazreen Bacchus
Music Ph.D.: Inessa Bazayev, Jason Hooper Political Science: Patrizia Nobbe Psychology, Clinical: Nora Goudsmit Psychology, Cognitive Neuro.: Dominique Jones Psychology, Environmental: Stephanie Domenici (excused) Psychology, Forensic: Ryan Copple
Psychology, Indust/Org: Lauren Mondo Psychology, Neuro.: Robyn Powers (excused) Psychology, Social Personality: Elizabeth Velilla Urban Education: Lynda Kennedy At-large: Celia Braxton (excused), Valerie Futch, Amber Hui, Ian Jones, Lindsay Krasnoff, Amy Meyers, Tieuvi Nguyen, Vincenzo Sainato, Farishta Satari
Guests Present:
Matthew Schoengood, Sharon Lerner Total Members and Voting Alternates Present: 36
Total Members Absent: 36 Chair: Michael Broder
Minutes: Chong Wojtkowski Meeting Called to Order at 6:05 p.m. -- D R A F T --
I. Invited Speaker: William Kelly spoke about the Graduate Center rankings, the new financial aid packages for incoming students, fundraising, the proposed graduate student housing in Long Island City, and security procedures in light of the Virginia Tech tragedy.
II. Approval of Agenda and Old Minutes. Motion Approved with Unanimous Consent.
III. Old Business A. Film Studies Group Charter. Motion to Charter the Film Studies Group as a
Chartered Organization of the DSC. Motion Approved with Unanimous Consent. B. Ericka reported that the GC administration had agreed to hold Grant Writing workshops 1 in the fall, 2 in the spring. Kate Wilson suggested that the GC publicize these events with a room number so we know where to direct students.
IV. New Business A. Auxiliary Enterprise Board. Chong informed the plenary that the AEB was meeting on Monday to discuss Restaurant Associate’s contract.
B. Proposed Bylaw Changes. Ericka proposed a change to bylaw #4. She explained that under the current bylaw, the DSC shall reduce the representations of programs who fail to nominate representatives during DSC elections. She proposed changing the language of the bylaw from “shall” to “may” as well as correcting a spelling error. She explained that this will help us reach quorum by eliminating seats for departments
where no one comes forward or agrees to serve as a rep. Michael Broder states that this would codify the existing practice. Denise Torres asked if there is a standard is for removing reps and how whether this new bylaw be applied fairly. Greg Donovan asked what the current process is for filling open seats and Ericka explained the process. Brenda Vollman stated that this currently applies only to 2 or 3 departments. The next proposed bylaw change was read (bylaws #1 and #15), which would extend the Advocate Editor-in-Chief’s term from January to January to June 1st to May 30th. Brenda Vollman suggested we amend this proposal, stating that the EIC should run from July 1st to June 30th, which is the fiscal year.
C. GC logo for merchandise. Dion Powell suggested that the DSC look into finding a way to use the GC logo to put on merchandise such as t-shirts and pens.
V. Co-Chair for Student Affairs Report – Chong (10 min.) A. I have created a new chartered organization newsletter, students are invited to
take a look at it online. B. DSC Elections have finished, we will be contacting people as soon as we find out
the election results.
VI. Co-Chair for Communications Report – Ericka A. Media Board Report- Ericka informed the DSC that the Media Board decided to rehire both the EIC of the Advocate and the webmaster of the DSC. B. Google Groups Page- Ericka asked the plenary to ask students in their departments to sign up for our google groups age instead of forwarding the messages.
VII. Co-ChairforBusinessManagementReport–Brenda A. Department Allocations and Deadline for Check Requests- Brenda distributed a document showing how much money each department has left to spend this year. Chong asked what the deadline for check requests was; the deadline is May 15th. B. Budget Discussion- Brenda presented the DSC budget; several questions were raised regarding movie ticket sales, the professional development funds, and postage for the elections.
VIII. USS Report – Dave Golland for Rouzbeh. A. There have been 2 meetings since the last plenary. The USS is pushing for the fee increase and the GC voted against this proposal. It did not come up at the last meeting.
IX. Adjunct Project Report – Brenda for Carl. A. A new co-coordinating committee was planned to meet Friday May 4th in the Conference Room (7pm). There are plans to set up a teaching/pedagogy roundtable.
X. DSC Standing Committee Reports A. Health Issues – Denise. The HIC is writing a series of articles for the Advocate
that deal with student health concerns. The HIC also plans on reaching new students next semester for orientation. The GC is having its health fair on May 8th. Rachel asked that the wellness center’s website be updated to reflect its current hours and services.
B. Community Building – Patrina for Charles. Patrina informed the DSC that the CB committee purchased an ipod for use at student parties and events. They are currently researching options for an end of the year community building party at Kingsborough College or somewhere near the beach.
C. Library Committee- Rob stated that copy card refunds were being instituted. Also, a letter went out to Provost Edwards protesting the sudden decrease in borrowing time for graduate students. Pam Proscia stated that borrowing periods and amount of renewals are unequal all over CUNY. Also, the DSC should inform students ot the many services that the library
XI. DSC Ad Hoc Committee Reports (varied/as necessary) A. Scholarship Development Committee. The committee has finished developing the paratmeters of the scholarship which will be about 1 thousand dollars and will be awarded to six students, two from each cluster.
XII. Grad Council Committee Reports (varied/as necessary) A. Student Services Committee- Chong asked the DSC what issues she should bring to the Student Services committee. Jen brought up bike space for students; Zeeshan brought up the high cost of food for events held in common areas.
B. Tech Fee Committee- Lee and Gregory. Lee and Gregory reported on some of the issues the Tech Fee Committee is dealing with: the availability of duplex printing, the print management software, perhaps putting a cap on printing. Patrina asked about better cell phone reception in the building.
XIII. Announcements XIV. Adjournment Motion to Adjourn at 8:10 pm, Unanimous Consent.