Graduate Center, CUNY
Doctoral Students’ Council
Plenary Minutes

November 21, 2008—6pm

Members and Voting Alternates Present:

Anthropology: Christine Pinnock (by proxy: Mariya Radeva)
Art History: Monica Steinberg, Whitney Thompson
Biochemistry: Richard Able
Biology: Kathleen Schanaars Uvino, Samantha Sheppard
Chemistry: Yu Zhao
Classics: Jared Simard
Comparative Literature: Anick Boyd, Anna Finkelstern
Computer Science: Jeremy Seideman, Suzanne Tamang
Criminal Justice: Julie Viollaz
Engineering Chemical: Mehrdad Kheiripour
Engineering Civil: Rouzbeh Nazari
English: Jill Belli, Allyson Foster, Amanda Springs
Hispanic and Luso-Brazilian Lit: Efrain Cardenas
Music DMA: H. Roz Woll
Music PhD: Rachel Lumsden
Philosophy: Kyle Ferguson, Chris Sula
Political Science: Patricia Stapleton
Psychology: Bio: Preston Foerder
Psychology: Cog, Brain, Beh: Justin Ostrovsky
Psychology: Environmental: Stephanie Domenici Cabonargi
Psychology: Learning Processes: Matthew Taylor
Psychology: Neurology: Olga Nikelshpur
Psychology: Social Personality: Stephanie Anderson
Social Welfare: Larry Iannotti
Theatre: Frank Episale
Urban Education: Shana Henry, Liza Pappas

At-large Reps: Karyn Collie, Boris Daussa Pastor, Gregory Donovan, Rob Faunce, Ian Foster, Philip Kopp, Armin Lahiji (proxy: B. Andino), Linda Neiberg, Pamela Proscia, Denise Torres, Brenda Vollman

Members Absent:
Anthropology: Andrew Brooks (excused)
Biology: Oren Tzfadia
Chemistry: Tony Perri (excused)
Criminal Justice: Tasha Youstin (excused)
Engineering Biomedical: Xiang (Ian) Gu (excused)
French: Chong Wojtkowski (excused)
Hispanic and Luso-Brazilian Lit: Teresa Berenice Darwich
History: Igor Draskovic, Anton Masterovoy (excused)
Linguistics: Elizabeth Pratt (excused)
Political Science: Aaron Ibur
Psychology: Dev: Vicky Barrios
Psychology: Forensic: Marsha Brown
Psychology: Industrial and Organizational: Kimberly Iaffaldano (excused)
Public Health: Princess Fortin
Sociology: Colin Ashley
Speech & Hearing Sciences: Carol Tessel (excused)

At-Large Reps: Robert Azzarello, Ericka Calton, John DeCarlo, Taylor Kennamer, Lauren Klein (excused), Charles Lieberman (excused), Neil Meyer (excused), Rachel Meyer, Shawn Rice (excused)
Members Present: 45; Members Absent: 26

Chair: Chris Sula
Minutes: Jill Belli
Meeting Called to Order: 6:29pm

I. Approval of Agenda
Chris Sula (CS) asks for additions to the agenda. There are none. Gregory
Donovan (GD) motions to approve the agenda; Amanda Springs (AS) seconds the
motion; the agenda is approved by unanimous consent.

II. Old Minutes
CS asks for corrections to draft of October 24, 2008 minutes. Chong Wojtkowski
(CW) would like to clarify III (c) – “Printer and Server Problems”: while
she was aware of the problems with printing PDF files, she was not the one
actually printing them. Rob Faunce (RF) announces that he has already made the
change in the minutes. GD motions to approve the minutes; Philip Kopp
(PK) seconds the motion; the minutes are approved by unanimous consent.

III. Old Business

a. Student Survey

GD reports that since the Provost’s office has already sent out a survey to students, the DSC will hold off the distribution of its survey until after Thanksgiving break (to avoid overlap). Jeremy (JS) inquires whether overlap is a concern (whether students will be more responsive to DSC than administration). JS also inquires whether parking issues are on the DSC survey. JS wants to know if we could break up our many concerns/questions into different surveys. GD responds that if people have further questions, they should e-mail him or other DSC Steering Committee members

b. Health Insurance

NYSHIP enrollment opened about two weeks ago. A discussion about
problems/questions ensues. Kit Uvino (KU) announces that, though she
had signed up online a while ago, she has not received anything in the mail
yet. CS summarizes the steps for enrollment (go to NYSHIP website; create
username and password, request activation code, once it mailed to you, log on
again and enter code). Patricia Stapleton (PS) said that she had contact with
Anne Ellis about her situation. Conversation ensues about the deadline for
enrollment. In order to have deductions taken out of your December
paycheck, you must complete the enrollment process by 11/25 (extended from
11/21). In response to whether there is an end date for open enrollment, CS
states that the DSC will follow up with HR. RF states that Teena Costabile
in HR is the point-person for administering this new policy. After a comment
about the lack of response from the NYSHIP benefits office, GD advises
students to go to Teena Costabile if NYSHIP does not respond.

c. Medicare and SS Exemption for Adjuncts

CS reports that most college HR departments have been receptive to requests
for this fiscal year; to receive retroactive compensation for previous years you
must go through IRS. There is information on both the DSC and Adjunct
Project websites about this issue. CS clarifies that any full-time graduate
student working at a CUNY should be eligible for this exemption.

IV. New Business

a. Printing Task Force

CS announces that he volunteered at the most recent Student Tech Fee
meeting to create this task force to help improve the printing situation at the
GC. While IT is aware of several options they can pursue, they want more
input from students before they proceed. The goal of this short-term task
force is to summarize options and circulate them in January. Email CS, GD,
or Jill Belli (JB) with questions, concerns, or input.

b. Program Standing Committees & Student Attendance

The pink form (distributed at plenary and also on the DSC website) outlining
“Program Standing Committee Attendance” and “Governance of the Graduate
Schools” is summarized by CS. Suzanne Tamang (ST) reports that all EO’s
will be asked whether meetings are complying with these policies, and DSC
reps should follow up on this as well.

V. Student Affairs Report (GD)

a. Chartered Org Rosters

After Thanksgiving break, electronic rosters will be available for those
chartered organizations that would like to use them. If this trial period is
successful, electronic rosters will be adopted for the Spring 2009 semester.
These electronic rosters are conducted with the DSC’s e-Ballot system
(used for voting).

b. OpenCUNY.org

~10 groups (chartered orgs and Adjunct Project) are currently using this new system (blogging service), which is on track to be open to all students in Spring 2009.

VI. Communications Report (RF)

RF had to leave early, so the plenary is directed to the statement he printed and
distributed to those present. Attention is drawn to paragraphs 2 and 3 (mention of
the travel fund’s quick depletion – Student Affairs is backed up with requests, so
submit soon). JS inquires about the article submission fee mentioned in
paragraph 2. Stephanie Domenici (SD) remarks that it would be useful if DSC
reps could get announcements stating when Grad Council meetings are coming
up (since they are alternates). CS announces the next meeting is Thursday,
December 11th (refreshments served at 2:30pm, meeting starts at 3pm). March
2009 will also be an important meeting. It is urged that DSC reps be vigilant about corresponding with their departmental Grad Council reps to make sure that students are well-represented at these important meetings.

VII. Business Report (CS)

a. DSC Submit

E-submit is working (CS refers the white handout distributed for instructions
on how to log in to DSC Submit). Department reps can use this system for
department allocations. JS inquires whether the receipts can be scanned in
and submitted electronically; CS clarifies that original receipts (hard copies)
must be submitted still. CS reminds everyone that Friday, December 12th is
the last day to submit check requests if you would like to receive your
checks before the holidays. GD also reminds everyone to get their rosters in
for chartered organizations. CS concludes with the reminder that you can still
use paper copies for submission if you are having problems with the online
system.

VIII. USS Report (Allyson Foster, AF)

There is nothing new to report since last month. There is a meeting this Sunday,
so she will have more to report next plenary.

IX. Committee Reports

-CS reports on behalf of the Student Tech Fee committee. At the most recent
meeting, the committee approved a budget. There were surplus funds (from
software that we didn’t purchase and leftover printing consumables – not from
the recent student tech fee increase), which the committee re-allocated to new
initiatives; these include duplex printing for all program offices at the GC, one
Mac for each program office at the GC, computers/printers for Criminal Justice
and Business locations (housed at John Jay and Baruch, respectively), assistive
technology improvements for the library, and additional scanners for library (with
document feeders). Full minutes for the meeting (and the budget) are on the IT
website.

-JB reports on behalf of the Health Issues Committee. She follows up on the e-
mail she previously sent out to the DSC Google Group asking for members to join
the committee. She clarifies that members do not need to be DSC reps. A sign-
up sheet is passed around for those interested in joining. CS reads people on list
(JS, Mariya Radeva, Samantha Sheppard, ST, Frank Episale, AF); KU motions
Top approve those listed; PK seconds the motion; motion approved by unanimous
consent. JB thanks those who have volunteered and announces she will be in
touch through e-mail about the next meeting (which will take place before the
semester ends).

X. Announcements

JS reminds the plenary about his concern about lack of student parking around the
GC. He encourages others to respond to his Google Group posting about this
issue. GD explains how to sign up for the Google Group through the DSC
website. GD suggests that we think about why student parking options are a good
idea (he wonders how people get to school, and suggests framing the concern in the context of a larger commuting issue in order to gather support for this initiative). JS, KU, Denise Torres (DT), and JB speak in support of extending commuting options/cost-effectiveness to drivers as well as those who take public transportation into the city. Discussion of Transit Benefit (tax free metro card) ensues: you sign up for this program through the HR department where you work. JB points out that this does not apply to the LIRR and PATH. CS suggests DSC reps take polls of their departments to assess the commuting situation and then proceed from there (this could be a resource for later committee meetings). JS points out that it is not only students who are affected.

XI. Adjournment

AS motions to adjourn the meeting; PK seconds the motion; motion to adjourn unanimously approved. Meeting adjourned at 7:10pm.

Respectfully submitted by Jill Belli