Graduate Center, CUNY
Doctoral Students’ Council
Plenary Minutes

April 24, 2009—6pm

Members and Voting Alternates Present:

Anthropology: Andrew Brooks, Christine Pinnock
Biochemistry: Richard Able
Chemistry: Yu Zhao
Classics: Jared Simard
Comparative Literature: Anick Boyd
Computer Science: Jeremy Seideman
Criminal Justice: Tasha Youstin
Earth and Environmental Sciences: Katie Gill
Engineering Biomedical: Xiang (Ian) Gu
English: Jill Belli, Taylor Kennamer
French: Chong Wojtkowski
Hispanic and Luso-Brazilian Lit: Teresa Berenice Darwich
History: Igor Draskovic, Anton Masterovoy
Linguistics: Elizabeth Pratt
Music DMA: H. Roz Woll
Philosophy: Kyle Ferguson, Chris Sula
Psychology: Dev: Vicky Barrios
Psychology: Neurology: Olga Nikelshpur
Speech & Hearing Sciences: Carol Tessel
Urban Education: Liza Pappas (proxy: S. Allen)

At-large Reps: Sari Altschuler, Kate Broad, Boris Daussa Pastor, Gregory Donovan, Rob Faunce, Ian Foster, Lindsey Freer, Renee McGarry, Neil Meyer, Linda Neiberg, Alison Powell, Pamela Proscia, Shawn Rice, Denise Torres , Brenda Vollman (proxy: E. Laine)

Members Absent:
Art History: Monica Steinberg (excused), Whitney Thompson
Biology: Armin Lahiji, Kathleen Schanaars Uvino, Samantha Sheppard
Chemistry: Tony Perri
Comparative Literature: Anna Finkelstern (excused)
Computer Science: Suzanne Tamang (excused)
Criminal Justice: Julie Viollaz (excused)
Economics: Junnan Zhao
Engineering Chemical: Mehrdad Kheiripour
English: Allyson Foster (excused)
Music PhD: Rachel Lumsden (excused)
Political Science: Aaron Ibur, Patricia Stapleton (excused)
Psychology: Bio: Preston Foerder (excused)
Psychology: Cog, Brain, Beh: Justin Ostrovsky
Psychology: Environmental: Stephanie Domenici Cabonargi
Psychology: Forensic: Marsha Brown
Psychology: Industrial and Organizational: Kimberly Iaffaldano
Psychology: Learning Processes: Matthew Taylor (excused)
Public Health: Princess Fortin
Social Welfare: Larry Iannotti
Sociology: Colin Ashley
Theatre: Frank Episale (excused)
Urban Education: Shana Henry

At-Large Reps: Ericka Calton (excused), Karyn Collie, John DeCarlo, Jesse Goldstein (excused), Malav Kanuga, Lauren Klein, Philip Kopp, Charles Lieberman (excused),

Members Present: 37; Members Absent: 34

Chair: Gregory Donovan (GD) [GD is delayed, so Rob Faunce (RF) chaired meeting until GD arrived]
Minutes: Tasha Youstin (TY)
Meeting called to order: 6:37

I. Approval of Agenda
RF asked for additions to the agenda. There are none. RF altered order of agenda to move the business report to #5 and the student activities report to #7. Denise Torres (DT) motioned to approve the agenda. Jill Belli (JB) seconded the motion. Motion passed with unanimous consent.

II. Approval of old minutes
Chong Wojtkowski (CW) requested the minutes be edited. RF noted that, generally, edits for style are at the discretion of the meeting scecretary, and referred any reconsideration back to Allyson Foster (AF). Lindsey Freer motioned to approve minutes. DT seconded the motion. Motion passed with unanimous consent.

III. Old Business
a. Financial Aid- Chris Sula (CS) notified the plenary that there will be changes coming in the disbursement structure for financial aid for students who currently get lump sums every semester. The new structure will disburse funds throughout the year.
b. Bylaws- CS discussed the issue of revising Bylaw 8 from the current allocation for departments of $180 or $3 per student to the new amount of $200 or $5 per student. Christine Pinnock (CP) motioned to approve revision of Bylaw 8. Andrew Brooks seconded the motion. Motion passed with unanimous consent.

GD arrived at 6:45pm and began chairing meeting.

b. Bylaws (cont)- Discussion of revising Bylaw 15 in accordance with last month’s meeting to increase the stipend for the USS rep from $250 to $500. CW suggested that the DSC discuss the future of the relationship between the USS and the DSC. CS motioned to approve the revision of Bylaw 15. RF seconded the motion. Motion passed with unanimous consent.

IV. New Business
a. DSC Elections- RF announced that there was 1 more week of elections. Currently the response was at 3%, but historically most participants vote in the first or last week of the elections, so the response is anticipated to be comparable to last year. RF suggested plenary members send a message to students encouraging them to vote and to take advantage of the write in voting procedure. GD said it would be helpful to explain to people why they should vote and what they are voting for, and suggested that students are directed to the CUNYDSC.ORG/VOTE page which contains details about elected positions.

V. Business Report
a. Surplus Funds- CS presented proposals for usage of the DSC surplus funds, including monies for Emergency Loan Fund, Travel and Research Fund, and dissertation-year fellowships to be distributed equally among program clusters. CS explained that the Emergency Loan Fund would be handled by the Director of Financial Aid. CW suggested the Student Affairs Committee be in charge of appeals. CS discussed what to do about students who don’t work at CUNY when establishing repayment mechanisms. In regards to the travel and research grants, RF suggested there be an agreement between the president and the DSC that after 3 years of the supplementary DSC money, that the university agrees to provide the necessary funding to provide travel and research grants to all students who need them. CW suggested, since the travel and research grants program does not have enough money provide funds for the entire year, and monies in the proposal be shifted from fellowships to travel and research grants as well. CS responded that although the money for travel and research expired in April this year, money for next year’s travel and research grants begins in the summer, so it is only 1 ½ months that have no funding this year. CS suggested to shift $20,000 from the dissertation grants to travel and research. CS suggested striking money for the Wellness Center EMR system from the proposal, but that the money could be allocated at a later date. DT motioned to Provisionally commit $25,000 from Special Allocations to Emergency Loan Fund administered by Financial Aid (with restrictions such as an advisory system), to place $58,124 from Capital Reserves fund in a restricted fund for DSC Dissertation Fellowships, and to provisionally commit surplus funds in cash accounts to DSC Dissertation Fellowships and Travel & Research Funds. Shawn Rice seconded the motions. Motions passed with no opposition and 1 abstention.
b. Budget- CS said to strike Bylaw 8 from the footnote (6) of the budget. RF motioned to pass the proposed budget for 2009/2010. DT seconded the motion. Motion passed with unanimous consent.

VI. Communications Report
RF suggested that all full time students who would like a refund on any Medicare or Social Security money that has been withheld from their paycheck go to their adjunct school’s Human Resources (full time students are exempt from paying those taxes). Human Resources will need confirmation that you were a full time student for each semester you would like to be reimbursed for. CS discussed resources now available in the library.

VII. Student Affairs
a. Chartered Organizations- GD discussed 3 organizations that would like to be chartered: Graduate Center Student Union (GCSU); Mise En Scène (MES); Graduate Center Colombian Studies Group (GCCSG). GD said to hold the discussion of the GCSU as no representatives were present. Representatives for MES said their group would provide a space for exploring scholarly work while also focusing on artistic issues. Representatives for GCCSG said the Colombian community is growing in the GC population, and even though there are currently chartered organizations that represent Latin American countries, there are no groups specifically about Colombia. GD asked the plenary to consider these groups with regard to the three points listed under Bylaw 2, Section 2.3 for the Chartering Process. There were no objections to MES and GCCSG continuing on in the chartering process, so GD announced they would be placed on the agenda for the next plenary meeting.
b. OPENCUNY.ORG- GD said OPENCUNY.ORG is up and running and to go visit the site.

VIII. USS Report
RF reported that there was no new report, but that there was a meeting this coming Sunday that would be attended by AF.

IX. Committee Reports
a. Health Committee- DT reported for JB that the Wellness Festival will be May 6th and encouraged all students to attend. Additionally, DT announced an upcoming lecture by Dr. Oliver Fein regarding national health insurance at the GC on Tuesday, April 28.
b. Community Building- TY solicited new members for the Community Building Committee.
c. CS asked for students to make suggestions ideas on using the surplus tech funds. Additionally, GD commented that as the student fees pay for the Mac labs, that students should be able to reserve those room and receive priority over faculty.

X. Announcements
There were no announcements.

XI. Adjournment
CP motioned to adjourn the meeting. DT seconded the motion. Motion was passed with unanimous consent.

Meeting adjourned at 7:54pm.

Minutes respectfully submitted by Tasha Youstin