[an error occurred while processing this directive]

Minutes - 9 April 2004

In attendence were:

Absences:

Speakers

Barbara Snyder, Interim Executive Vice President and Provost
Larry Lewellen, Associate Vice President for Human Resources
Susan Huntington, Vice Provost for Graduate Studies and Dean of the Graduate School
J. Briggs Cormier, Chair, Ad Hoc Graduate Compensation and Benefits Committee

See CGS web site for powerpoint presentation about new Graduate Compensation and Benefits

Questions from the floor:

Delegate Pepper: Last night representatives from student unions from other schools talked. At the University of Michigan they receive a $1600 minimum stipend and 100% subsidy of heath insurance. Do you see these being met by OSU? V.P. Lewellen: University of Michigan has a much higher pay rate for faculty and staff, and it is not the best benchmark school to compare us to. Their state legislature funds them much higher than ours does us. Dean Hunington: At University of Michigan they also receive their tuition package money up front and have to pay taxes on it. Here we don’t.

Chair Pletz: Is there any plan to increase the coverage of our SHI for prescription drug plan? V.P. Lewellen: That is a separate committee that is responsible for the actual plan. You would be able to purchase the faculty plan if the SHI plan does not meet your needs.

Delegate Fraser: Where did that money to fund this come from? I met with you as a GESO representative and we were told there wasn’t any money available. Is there more money available to increase the minimum stipend, as $1000 still isn’t much for someone who is qualified? V.P. Lewellen: It was a hard sell to the Deans to get them to pledge to come up with this and there is no central pool that this money came from.

Delegate ???: Are the colleges that pledged this going to have to cut GA positions to cover for the money that is being pledged? Dean Hunnington: The colleges will have to reallocate money from their budgets and we are not going to dictate how they go about this.

Delegate ???: Is there any plan to reduce the cost for non-funded students? V.P.Lewellen: That is something for the Student Health Insurance Committee to decide if there should be a separate plan for non-funded students.

Delegate ???: What was the most compelling reason for this to go through so quickly? V.P. Lewellen: The provost pushed for this to bring us up to standard with benchmark universities. V.P. Snyder: I went to a meeting of provosts and realized how far behind we were in comparison to other benchmark schools and determined that in order to remain competitive we need to move faster on this. The G-CUE showed us what you wanted and needed.

Delegate Clark: Where are we now compared to benchmark schools? V.P. Lewellen: We are not up to the median yet, but we are higher than we were. Dean Huntington: This is a blended look though, and we may be higher in some areas, such as chemistry, and lower than in other areas such as humanities. Also, while some schools subsidize 100% of student health insurance, they may have a large deductible. We have one of the best SHI programs available. V.P. Snyder: We won’t know how we compare next year until the reports come out from other schools. That report will be made available to students.

Delegate ???: Is there any thing in the works to decrease the stipend on some of the higher end groups? Dean Hunnington: There isn’t any thing written up to change stipend levels across the board, other than the minimum, but there are ways to get increases in stipend as you gain seniority and this will be more knowledgeable to students .

Delegate ???: If SHI continues to increase, with a percentage being paid, students will still have to pay more each year. Any thoughts on this? V.P. Lewellen: I don’t know how we can change the rising cost of health insurance. Hopefully, this will only rise the 18% we are expecting it to rise due to inflation.

Delegate Fraser: Why haven’t we been given the chance to vote on what this minimum stipend would be? Dean Hunnington: We have a Research and Graduate Council that governs these changes and you have 12 graduate students on this committee. Also, the resolution that CGS passed in October 2003 shows the democratic process in work for you.

Delegate ???: Has GESO influenced this decision in any way? V.P. Lewellen: GESO is a small number of GA’s and not representative of all GA’s, but we did take into consideration that they were interested in compensation and benefits. The formation of the Graduate Compensation and Benefit Committee will help to make sure that the rest of what was called for in the Oct 03 resolution is being continually looked at. Senator Cormier: The formation of the GCBC and its work in conjunction to the Oct 03 resolution is explained in a powerpoint presentation that will be available on the CGS website

Delegate Clark: What is the composition of the committee? What is the FCBC composition? Are we looking to allow non-funded students to serve? Pres. Depelteau: We are proposing that GCBC consist of 10 members: 1 GTA, 1 GRA, 1 GAA, 1 University Fellow, 2 other GA’s, 1 graduate faculty member, and 3 administrators (the Dean of the Graduate School and Vice Provost for graduate studies, the Associate VP for human resources, and the senior VP for research). Senator Briggs: the FCBC has faculty, staff, and administration Pres. Depelteau: the administrators will be ex officioto and thus non-voting.

Delegate Lucus: When the next phase starts, are we going to write up a new 5 year plan and since we only got 5% of what we wanted, can we plan on only asking for 50% of what we want? Senator Cormier: The university has 5 years to meet our requests, and they have come a long way in meeting these requests. They have made progress on all 8 requests, and we are in the middle of a budget crunch.

Delegate ???: How much did our state budget get cut? Senator Cormier: I don’t have the exact amounts, there was a 4% cut, but it was line items that got cut.

Delegate Pepper: What is the university doing to fight the repeal of the 1% sales tax? Senator Cormier: The legislature does not want this repealed, and we continue to reaffirm to them to that we support it staying off the ballot. It is set to expire, so the next biannual budget has a huge question mark in terms of higher education.

Delegate Fraser: Why not poll students to see if $1000 minimum stipend is enough? Why not show how this amount was reached? Senator Cormier: The G-CUE polled students and is available to anyone who would like a copy in the CGS office.

I. Call to Order

Meeting was called to order at 5:00pm by Pres. Depelteau.

II. Approval of Minutes for 5 March 2004

Approved by unanimous vote.

III. Officer Reports

A. President - Jamie Depelteau

Written report submitted.

B. Vice President - Kerry Hodak

Please sign up to volunteer for forum; we still need a business judge

C. Treasurer - Ann Farrelly

No questions or comments.

IV. Old Business

V. New Business

A. Act 0304-SP-019: An Act Establishing a Standing Rule on the CGS Distinguished Service Awards

V.P. Hodak: Every year since 1970 we have given out this award. In the past it has been an ad hoc process and the executive committee makes the decision. We want to open this up to the body and make it more of an honor. Debate: Senator Cormier- amendment: strike line 2 under recipient; Replace with “individuals shall be eligible again for consideration five years after receiving an award.” Second by Chair. Cunningham. Delegate Kushins- Doesn’t making a 5-year rule undo the intent of this? By only giving 3 per year, the pool is smaller and would decrease the chance of getting selected again for the award. Objection by consent, motion carries.

Fraser: Motion to amend: Strike “No voting member of the executive committee may receive”; to read, “no current or former member of the executive committee may receive. Delegate Gray: Does this mean that if someone on the executive committee who becomes faculty could never get the award? Delegate Fraser: Yes. Delegate ???: Don’t you think that a grad student who is politically active after serving on the executive committee should be able to receive this? Debate: Delegate Clark: I am for this amendment, since there are other awards that students can be given. V.P. Hodak: I feel that someone who has served on the executive committee and no longer serves should be eligible in another time. Senator Cormier: Having been on this committee for a long time, I feel that any one on the current committee should not be given this award, but should be allowed in the future. Vote: motion failed. 16 for 22 against

Vote to approve as amended: approved by unanimous vote

B. Act 0304-SP-020: An Act Establishing a Standing Rule on Co-Sponsorship of Events

This is to establish a standing rule on dealing with groups coming to CGS for funding assistance. It provides an applying organization with guidelines on getting funding from CGS.

How do we do this now? I don’t think we have done a very good job at assessment of events thus far, and this rule provides for an assessment piece. This provides a way for groups to know what we fund, by having to go to a specific committee.

Is there a guide on when to apply for funding? Since CGS has to have opportunity for planning, it is inherent that we be involved early in the planning.

Senator Cormier: Amendment: add final bulleted line to Application requirements: anticipated number of graduate student participants at the event. How will you be able to determine ahead of time how many grad students will participate? They should have an idea of how many they might expect to have. Delegate Fraser: Why have a number, if there are no limitations? Since there is no limit, it will be up to the committees to make the decision that the numbers are worth funding. Vote on amendment: approved by unanimous vote

Original motion vote: approved by unanimous vote.

VI. Officer Nominations

Chair Daniels: nominate Kerry Hodak for position of treasurer.

Chair Pletz: nominate Cathy Baack for VP

VP Hodak: nominate Meade Eggleston for secretary

VII. Delegate Issues and Concerns

VIII. Announcements

IX. Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned at 5:37pm.

Respectfully Submitted,
Cathy Baack (baack.4@osu.edu) [an error occurred while processing this directive]