CUNY Graduate Center
Doctoral Students Council
Health Issues Committee, Meeting Minutes

May 1, 2009

Members Present:
Jill Belli (JB), Frank Episale (FE), Allyson Foster (AF), Jeremy Seideman (JS), Samantha Sheppard (SS), Suzanne Tamang (ST)

Members Absent:
Mariya Radeva, Denise Torres

The meeting was called to order at 3:14pm

I. The agenda was approved by unanimous consent
The minutes of the previous meeting were approved. Motion was made by AF, seconded by SS.
Old Business
1. Wellness fair. JB reports on the details of the upcoming Wellness Fair, The Wellness Fair will be held on May 6, 2009, from 10am – 4pm on the Concourse level. Fliers have been distributed and circulated in the various departments. A $1,000 allocation was recommended to the Steering committee for the purchase of door prizes for students only. The Wellness Center student liaison will be informed of the student suggestions. Suggestions included Amazon.com gift cards. Other options were discussed (such as a larger prize of higher value). Problems in the past have included a problem getting in touch with winners. For this reason, students should provide their name, phone number, email, and program to facilitate contact.
2. Electronic Records for the Health Center. ST reports on the NYCDOH grant for free a EHR systems that include training and support that was recommended to the Wellness Center. Mentions that Baruch currently has the grant, but implementation has been delayed due to compliance issues. ST notes that the initial interest in a Wellness Center EHR appears to be gone, and that electronic records may be rolled in to a CUNY wide EHR adoption in the future. The committee discussed ways that CUNY tracks data, and how the existing EHR systems adhere to standards so that information can be exported from one and into another. JB gave the background on the DSC involvement with the EHR system. The committee would like to keep pressing this issue because it is something that we would like to see implemented.
3. Blog. It currently lacks content, and we should begin to add content. All committee members should be registered on OpenCUNY.org in order to post (after registering for an account, contact JB to be added to the appropriate user groups).
a) Content. Content ideas were discussed. ST and AF said that a disclaimer should be posted so that the responsibility for posts is not something that the DSC has to bear. JB said that a NYSHIP website is in the works, and that information should be posted to the blog, or at the very least linked from the blog to the website. Other information could include codes and instructions for NYSHIP that are difficult to find, clarifications of policy rules, links to the wellness center, links to health insurance options, PDF copies of brochures, e-mail reminders of upcoming events, and FAQs.
b) Student interaction. Discussion followed on whether students would be able to comment on posts. There could be a static and informative blog (without comments) or one with dynamic conversation (which brings up the issue of who is responsible for the information posted), or some sort of standard area for comments. Since the system allows for a combination of the two, we can set up some static pages while also having some pages that invite student comments. Additionally, we can post information on behalf of the students. It was also suggested that students could have a section where they can post their own experiences related to health issues.
c) Categories. FE emphasized the need for categorization and tagging capabilities, so that posts can be grouped by subject. Suggested starting posts and categories included sliding scale clinics, health insurance, nicotine patch/gum programs, swine flu information, HR information, lists and documents, and any obscure information that was difficult to find (such as ways to sign up for NYSHIP). JB requested links and information about subjects such as these to be emailed to her. Every member should submit something, such as a sentence or two, with a link to an official resource for more information.
4. Distinction between NYSHIP services and Wellness Center's services. GC administration has suggested that students should use the wellness center for certain services, requiring the students to pay a fee. The DSC loses money on these services. We need to see why this is beneficial. JS suggested that the administration wants to see student use to help justify the costs. One of the services available is that the wellness center provides referrals, which would avoid students having to use one of their limited doctor's office visits just to get one. ST asked if this was cost effective, and suggested a summer survey. JB said that we need to see how the wellness center can best benefit the students.
II. New Business
1. Blog. We should keep students up to date on the negotiations that SUNY is having regarding health insurance, as that could prove relevant to GC students as well Continuing Education classes. Many of the classes that are given could be beneficial to the students, especially regarding health. We should support these programs and try to encourage student involvement.
III. Announcements
1. The National Health Insurance Reform talk on publicly funded, single payer health insurance was discussed. While the presentation lacked the fine-grain details of how the program would be implemented, there is definitely a need for this type of program, especially for the uninsured and under-insured. ST will write something up to post in the blog.
2. Within the next week, committee members should send ideas to the member list, including content and links. Committee members should sign up for OpenCUNY.org If possible, members should attend the wellness fair.
3. Maintaining continuity would be beneficial, so if members are interested in continuing to serve on this committee, they need only to be approved by the DSC plenary (they do not need to be a seated representative).
IV. Adjournment
By unanimous consent, the meeting was adjourned at 4:01pm.

Submitted by Jeremy Seideman