Graduate Center, CUNY
Doctoral Students’ Council
Plenary Minutes

May 8, 2009—6pm

Members and Voting Alternates Present:

Anthropology: Christine Pinnock, Mariya Radeva Art History: Annie Dell’Aria, Whitney Thompson Biology: Karyn Collie, Carlos Penaloza
Classics: Jared Simard
Comparative Literature: Anick Boyd
Computer Science: Suzanne Tamang
English: Jill Belli, Allyson Foster, Lindsey Freer
French: Lauren Donaldson
History: Anton Masterovoy
Linguistics: Jeremy Rafal
Philosophy: Kyle Ferguson, Chris Sula
Political Science: Jeffrey Broxmeyer, Patricia Stapleton Psychology: Environmental: Gregory Donovan Sociology: Colin Ashley, Christina Nadler
Theatre: Eero Laine
Urban Education: Shana Henry

At-large Reps: Carolina Barrera Tobon, Kate Broad, Boris Daussa Pastor, Edwin Demper, Stephanie Domenici, Anne Donlon, Ian Foster (proxy: Rob Faunce), Maggie Galvan, Kim Libman, William Mangold, Ben Miller, Linda Neiberg, Shawn Rice, Jason Schneiderman, Jeremy Seideman, Ji Hyon (Kayla) Yuh

Members Absent:
Biochemistry: Richard Able
Biology: Samantha Sheppard (excused) Chemistry: Tony Perri
Computer Science: Mohamed Saad (excused)
Criminal Justice: Nicole Hanson (excused), Tarra Jackson (excused)
Earth and Environmental Sciences: Katie Gill (excused)
Engineering Chemical: Mehrdad Kheiripour
Hispanic and Luso-Brazilian Lit: Zaida Godoy-Navarro, Astrid Roldan
History: Jennifer Jordan
Psychology: Dev: Vicky Barrios (excused) Psychology: Learning Processes: Amanda Mentzer Social Welfare: Larry Iannotti (excused)
Urban Education: Edwin Mayorga
At-Large Reps: Sari Altschuler, John DeCarlo, Armin Lahiji (excused), Claudia Pisano, Alison Powell (excused), Denise Torres

Members Present: 40; Members Absent: 21

Meeting called to order at 6:15pm. Gregory Donovan- Chair

I. Approval of Agenda
a. Note typo in minutes. It should be election of 2009-2010 officers, not
2008-2009 officers. Jill Belli (JB) motioned to approve agenda. Suzanne
Tamang (ST) seconded motion. Unanimous Consent. II. Welcome of New II. Delegates and Explanation of DSC (6:17pm)
a. Gregory Donovan (GD) explained the DSC as the voice of the students at the GC. GD explained various positions that would be elected. Chris Sula (CS) explained to the new delegates DSC funding, cultural affairs grants, and professional development grants and encouraged delegates to research the grants on the DSC website. CS alerted the new delegates that only the program representatives are authorized to spend the money allocated to their program. CS made note of the changes in monetary allocations for
the various programs for this upcoming year. Additionally, delegates were informed that program representatives are the alternates for Grad Council- the governing body of the GC.
III. Explanation of Elected DSC Positions and Election of 2009-2010 Officers 6:24pm (discussion of duties as identified in the minutes proceeded election for each position)
a. Co-Chair for Student Affairs: Rob Faunce (RF) nominated GD, GD declined nomination. JB nominated ST. ST accepted. RF motioned to close nominations and elect ST as Co-Chair for Student Affairs. CS seconded motion. Motion passed with 1 abstention and none opposed.
b. Co-Chair for Communications: GD nominated RF, RF declined nomination. RF nominated Shawn Rice (SR). SR accepted. CS motioned to close nominations and elect SR as Co-Chair for Communications. ST seconded the motion. Motion passed by unanimous consent.
c. Co-Chair of Business: GD nominated CS. CS accepted nomination. RF motioned to close nominations and elect CS as Co-Chair of Business. Lindsey Freer (LF) seconded the motion. Motion passed by unanimous consent.
d. University Student Senate (USS) Delegate: CS nominated Allison Foster (AF). AF accepted nomination. ST motioned to close nominations and elect AF as USS Delegate. Jeremy Seideman (JS) seconded motion. Motion passed with unanimous consent.
e. University Student Senate (USS) Alternate: SR nominated LF. LF
accepted nomination. JB motioned to close nominations and elect LF as USS Alternate. CS seconded motion. Motion passed with unanimous consent.
f. At Large Steering Committee Members: JS nominated JB, JB accepted nomination. ST nominated Christine Pinnock (CP), CP accepted nomination. SR nominated LF, LF accepted nomination. CS nominated Kyle Ferguson (KF), KF accepted nomination. Jeremy Rafal (JR) nominated Jared Simard (JS), JS accepted nomination. Kate Broad nominated Anick Boyd (AB), AB accepted nomination. ST nominated Tasha Youstin (TY), TY declined the nomination. GD nominated Kim Libman (KL), KL accepted the nomination. RF motioned to close nominations. CS seconded nomination. Candidates voluntarily discussed their positions as candidates. Vote was taken. JB, CP, KF, JS, AB, and KL were elected to the steering committee.

***sign up for grants committees was performed while votes were being counted for steering committee members***

g. Media Board: RF nominated LF, LF declined nomination. RF nominated Ben Miller (BM), BM declined nomination. CS nominated Ian Foster (IF), IF accepted nomination (through proxy RF). SD nominated Kate Broad (KB), KB declined nomination. RF nominated CP, CP accepted nomination. CS motioned to close nominations and elect IF and CP to the Media Board. JS seconded motion. Motion passed with unanimous consent.
h. Research Foundation Board Representative: RF nominated CS, CS accepted nomination. JS motioned to close nominations and elect CS as Research Foundation Board Representative. RF seconds motion. Motion passed with unanimous consent.
i. Graduate Center Tech Fee Committee: JS nominated JB, JB accepted nomination. SR nominated BM, BM accepted nomination. JB nominated JS, JS accepted nomination. CP nominated CS, CS accepted nomination. SD nominated GD, GD accepted nomination. CS withdrew nomination. RF motioned to close nominations and elect JB, BM, JS, and GD to the Graduate Center Tech Fee Committee. Anton Masterovov (AM) seconded motion. Motion passed with 1 abstention and none opposed.
j. DSC Cultural Affairs Committee: CS discussed committees and passed around a sign up sheet while votes were tallied for steering committee.
k. DSC Professional Development Committee: CS discussed committees and passed around a sign up sheet while votes were tallied for steering committee.
IV. Announcements 7:35pm
V. Adjournment 7:36pm
a. CS motioned to adjourn meeting. RF seconded the motion. Motion passed with unanimous consent.
Meeting adjourned at 7:36pm

Minutes respectfully submitted by Tasha Youstin