Plenary - Minutes
October 28, 2011

Present:

Absent:

JS calls the meeting to order at 6:11 P.M.

I. Approval of Agenda
LM motions to approve the agenda with amendments to add under New Business V.1 add amendments to the Constitution; V.2, bylaws changes; V.3 resolution on OWS; V.4 resolution on NYPD-CUNY; V.5 resolution on BoT Bylaws; DF seconds. The motion passes.

II. Approval of Minutes of September 23rd, 2011
SJ [Jones] motions to approve the minutes; NH [Hanson] seconds. The motion passes.

III. Ratification of New Representatives
MW [Whitaker] motions to ratify two new representatives Cosim Sayed (Philosophy) and Megan Paslawski (At-large); SJ seconds. The motion was adopted.

IV. Executive Committee Reports
1. Co-¬?Chair for Student Affairs (Eero Laine)
EL reports that the BoT has proposed bylaws changes with potentially devastating effects for student governance, that put regulation of student organizations and extra-curricular activities in the hands of the college, and away from elected student representatives; the changes also insert the Henderson rules. EL reports on the Strategic Planning Council meeting; he advocated change in the language of “student-consumer;” expressed concern about internships that may be unpaid or lowpaid being made a program requirement; he also advocated the description of the Writing Center remove “faculty-run.” EL reports that at Grad Council the Grad D line was announced.

EL reports that Nurse Practitioner contract ends soon; and proposes an ad hoc committee to collect information around health issues including numbers of insured students, and nurse practitioner use. KL asks for clarification on the implied link between statistics on insured students and the discussion of the NP’s contract. EL reports that there have been questions about these two issues. KL comments that as an insured student, she makes use of the NP’s presence in the building. EL announces that the Adjunct Project is hiring for the Labor Relations positions.

EL announces there are two chartered organizations to present. No one is present to represent Disabilities Studies, so the presentation is postponed. Kristofer Petersen-Overton (KPO) presents the Critical Palestine Studies Association constitution. SJ recommends changing the name so it doesn’t end in “PSA.” KL asks KPO to clarify the difference between the proposed organization and Middle Eastern Studies Organization. CM [Madsen] asks why there is a concern about overlap in groups when there have been groups in the past that have overlapped with programs; EL reviews the guidelines set out in the bylaws, which include avoiding duplication of DSC-chartered organizations. CM moves to end discussion.

2. Co-¬?Chair for Communications (Jared Simard)
JS reports that the executive committee has met with several administrators, including with President Kelly, twice; Provost Robinson; Associate Provost Lennihan; Bob Campbell, the head of IT; Martin Gitterman, the Ombuds Officer; the Publications office; and Polly Thistlewaite, the Interim Chief Librarian. JS shares an email from the Provost Robinson to EOs regarding mid-career “at large” fellowships. CN [Nadler] reports that she is working in her program to develop criteria for how the fellowships are awarded in a transparent way that she will share in the future. JS reports that EC spoke with Associate Provost Lennihan about student representation on program standing committees, and she has volunteered to enforce this. Polly Thistlewaite provided information the pilot MARLI program. Publications reported that DSC events can be listed on the Graduate Center website’s calendar; JS reports that EL and JS are on the Career Planning Committee. JS reports on the Fundraising and Alumni Commission.

3. Co-¬?Chair for Business (Annie Dell’Aria)
ADA requests representatives follow proper procedure for check requests and to submit a memo on program allocations. ADA reports that there will be a one-time exemption per program and chartered organization by which room reservations can be made ahead of the normal 8-week period. The memo for check allocation will also apply for the room reservation exceptions. ADA reminds students that legal services are available. AB [Boyd] requests that ADA send a reminder email about the legal services.

4. USS Delegate (Christina Nadler)
CN reports on the USS election results; elections for an ethics committee should take place at their meeting November 20th. The USS budget for last year and this year are still not available. CN mentions forming an ad hoc committee on USS in the future, exploring their non-compliance. GD (Donovan) mentions that a former DSC steering member, whose first name was Charles, from Criminal Justice, might be able to provide some institutional history. KL suggests contacting Sharon Lerner.

5. UFS Liaison (Anne Donlon)
AD reports that the UFS plenary met October 18th, and discussed the upcoming budget, the CLA exam, and discussed a resolution against undercover NYPD on CUNY campuses. AD reports that DSC has been exploring GTF representation on UFS. Most recently, AD has been advised that GTFs should be represented on the campuses where they teach. AD reports that she has contacted UFS governance at various campuses, to inform them about the issue, that GTFs may not have been included in elections, and to ask for information on how elections are run on their campuses, and whether they include GTFs. AD will send an email to representatives to be forwarded to inform students who are teaching that the nomination period for UFS is in November.

V. New Business
1. Amendment to the Constitution V.2.1 and III.2.3
ADA motions to vote on the changed amendments; NH seconds. The motion passes.

2. Bylaws Changes to the DSC Bylaws 3,2 b, 3.2 c, 3.2 c, 3.2f
SJ motions to vote to adopt the bylaw changes; EM [Evan Meshula] seconds. 1 abstention (KL).
GD motions to vote to adopt 3.2f; AB seconds. The motion passes with one abstention (KL).

3. Resolution on Occupy Wall Street
EL presents resolution.
Resolution is emended to add “as stated in their declaration of intent” in the fourth and fifth “Whereas.” Resolution is emended to strike “opaque” to “control” and add “increasingly centralized, hierarchical, and less democratic, as duly elected faculty and student ...“ in third whereas. Last whereas and first resolved changed to name of school to “Graduate Center.” GD motions to approve with above emendations; second SR (Rice); 1 nay (CM); 6 abstentions: The motion was adopted.

4. Resolution Condemning NYPD Undercover Intelligence Gathering Activities on CUNY Campuses
PS presents resolution.
Second whereas amended to add “or threats to public safety.”
Final resolved amended to read “to end the NYPD’s surveillance activities targeting members of the CUNY community in our public university system and to conduct independent Investigations.”
TP motions to table discussion of this motion; CM seconds. 15 yeahs ; 4 abstentions. The motion does not carry.
GD motions to adopt the resolution; Christin Bolan seconds. The motion passes. (4 nays, 1 abstention.)

5. Resolution on Proposed CUNY Board of Trustees Bylaws Changes
The resolution is amended to add a further RESOLVED, “the DSC reaffirms its sovereignty over student activity funds and authority to regulate student organization and extracurricular activities.” KL motions to adopt the resolution; SR seconds. TP abstains. The motion passes.

VI. Steering Officer Reports
a. Officer for Funding (Colin Ashley)
CA reports that the November meeting that was approved with the bylaws change will take place, but because of other bylaws they will not be reviewing grants at that meeting; CA discusses the types of events that are eligible for Grants. 18 submitted; 2 start-up; 3 were rejected; 2 were incomplete and watlisted; 11 reviewed were ready for review. The total amount funded (including the start-ups) was $3,478 or 18.4 % of the yearly grant budget.

b. Officer for Governance & Membership (Christen N. Serrano Madsen II)
CM reports on the new members that were added. There are elections pending in Physics and MALS. CM requests that representatives log on to the website so that their programs can be added to the website’s list of represented programs.

c. Officer for Health & Wellness (Monique Whitaker)
MW reports on a meeting with Bob Hatcher, the Director of the Wellness Center, who is interested in student input on topics for workshops. The health blog is available at opencuny.org/healthdsc. MW plans to have an information event on NYSHIP; there is a preliminary amount of information available on the blog. MW reports that there is a short initial list of student recommended providers, and announcement of upcoming events on the blog. MW reports that the Wellness and Insurance Survey will be sent out in the second half of November. Suggestions and questions are welcome. MW plans to meet with Food Services next week, and invites input. MW reports there is also concern about the climate control in the building. Naomi comments that the music practice rooms are very stuffy. MW reports on efforts to reach out to the PSC to support the campaign to continue funding adjunct health insurance coverage, and Research Foundation and asks for students who are covered through NYSHIP through the Welfare Fund to contact her. Carolina reports that earlier in the semester she met with the president about health insurance coverage for students paid through the Research Foundation, and would like to follow up with DSC. AL [Licastro] asks about health concerns at other campuses and MW encourages her to send an email.

d. Officer for Outreach (Nicole Hanson)
NH reports that the outreach survey to explore how DSC services and activities are used will be launched Monday. GD asks whether the affiliates are included in the survey. NH reports that the survey only covers DSC services, not affiliates. NH reports that the Hunter College Silberman School event has been postponed, and a Brooklyn College Outreach Event is planned for November 22. The Program Student Association Workshop is being planned for Early December. NH is seeking people with experience with their PSAs to participate.

e. Officer for Student Life & Services (Sarah Jordan)
SaJ reports that the committee met; she invites representatives to join the committee. SaJ reports that a survey on housing will be forthcoming at the beginning of next semester. SH reports there will also be a general life & services survey. There has been some interest in offering new fitness classes. SaJ reports that there is some discussion of starting a tenants’ association at the dormitory; there are some security concerns about neighborhood safety.

f. Officer for Technology & Library (Patricia Stapleton)
PS reports on the meeting with Polly Thistlewaite who spoke about MARLI. PS reports that Bob Campbell said that new IT equipment will not be ordered this year, but they have equipment in store to replace machines that break. PS reports that the new book scanner should be installed in the library soon. AL [Licastro] announces that there is a Kentico training on November 7th. PS calls on Reethee Anthony who reports that the Mathlab available on citrix is insufficient because it can’t handle large files; Mathlab will now be available to students, starting with the Math program, and will be installed in individual programs as needed. PS solicits input from students about software needs. GD reports that the IT committee met and confirmed with IT that equipment will not be removed without programs being consulted. GD also reports that IT clarified that alumni email is not an official policy, but currently they don’t discontinue emails that are used.

VII. Announcements
JS announces that the party starts in two minutes.
SaJ announces that chairs should be brought into the next room.
MG announces that OpenCUNY board elections are taking place.

VIII. Adjournment
SR motions to adjourn; MW seconds.
The meeting adjourns at 8:30 P.M.

Submitted by Anne Donlon.