Secretary's Report to the Council of Graduate Students

19 Nov 2004

December 3rd, 2004

Vice President Baack updated the committee regarding delegate recruitment. There are currently 68 certified delegates, We still need delegates in Education (1/9 in Ed. T & L and 1/7 in Ed P & L).

Chair Cunningham suggests that more attention should be paid to the graduate student experience. While this is discussed quite a bit for undergrad students, it’s largely ignored for graduate students – need to acknowledge that there is life outside the classroom and need to bring this to the administration. Note: this may include a student bill of rights, which we already have some information on.

Treasurer Hodak suggests that while the benefits and compensation issues receive a lot of attention, maybe we need to focus more on student affairs issues, including various quality of life things.

It also may be problematic to decide what the graduate student experience should be. May require surveys of students. Committee Reports

Academic and HR Policy: Chair Evans The review of the G-QUE is ongoing. Chair Evans needs delegates to send her feedback that can be incorporated as they work on the new G-QUE – things that have improved as a result of it, issues mentioned in the G-QUE that are not resolved, things the G-QUE missed, etc.

Events: Chair Cunningham The International New Year’s Eve Party is coming up. Though CGS didn’t start this event, the first one wouldn’t have happened without our assistance. The committee is also looking for a downtown event in the winter. This could include COSI after dark. In addition, there might be a ski trip in the future, or some kind of event with ARC – what can we do to advertise, get people to utilize, etc.

Diversity: Chair Fout They now have a copy of the survey and they’ll be fine-tuning it. They are also considering an advisory evaluation. This evaluation would cover not just time spent working with students but also the quality of the advising relationship.

Governmental Relations: Chair Pierce They have shifted their focus from a summit to hosting a senate hearing. They will need to figure out the budget, timing and feasibility of such a budget. Chair Pierce has meetings set up with University Staff to answer these questions. This hearing will require a lot of assistance from Exec, from the delegates and even from students at other Universities.

Outreach and Engagement: Chair Gray The Jingle Bell Run is this Sunday. There will also be events in the Winter with the Clintonville Resource Center and with WOSU.

Student Affairs: Chair Depelteau Chair will contact Jones Council resident regarding her complaints about the building and will be attending their meetings with the administration. Officers Reports

Treasurer Hodak: The accounts have been updated and the only area of concern is the line for office supplies. We are slightly over budget there. This may be because there was a surplus of office supplies from previous administrations that we’ve now depleted. We already have over 30 Ray Award applications. Finally, Treasurer Hodak met with Faculty Council regarding the Faculty Advisor certification process.

Vice President Baack: Attended NAGS. AT the meeting, the regional coordinators were nominated. Also voted to increase dues – lots of different systems for dues were discussed.

The committee approved who would be attending NAGS. Attendees will include Governmental Relations Chair Pierce, President Pletz, Vice President Baack (Midwest Regional Coordinator) and Treasurer Hodak.

Finally, the committee unanimously approved the agenda for the next Delegate Meeting. Because of the large number of resolutions and the guest speakers at the next meeting, the Committee did a walk-through of procedure. They also discussed ways to manage the debate time to ensure that everyone gets to speak. The Committee agreed that a debate clock should be purchased or borrowed to formally keep track of time. Finally, the resolution regarding bike paths was also referred to Student Affairs Committee. The author, in consultation with Chair Gray and possibly President Elect Depelteau, will improve on this motion.

An emergency Executive Committee Meeting to discuss the Dean’s resignation and the Freeman Report was held on December 13, 2004.

In attendance were: Vice President Baack, Senate Whip Crivella, Chair Cunningham, Chair Daniels, Chair Depelteau, Chair Evans, Chair Gray, Chair Pearson, President Pletz, and Secretary Scott At this meeting the issues were discussed in some depth. The committee agreed that the faculty should be on our side in this debate as we teach many of the undergraduates and getting rid of us will mean getting rid of entire departments. In addition, any cuts in TAs can be framed as attempts to circumvent the Univeristy’s dissolution rules. This report does have important implications for adding new programs – would need either an MOU stating that the department will cover the expenses, or will have to convince another department to give up some of their budget.

President Pletz announced that President Holrbook has agreed to come speak at delegate meeting. She wants to have the questions that she’ll be asked in advance. Due to the timing of this, President Holbrook will have to either come on January 14th without the questions in advance or she can come later with questions (if delegates are so obliged).

President Pletz has removed Chair Bedekar from Diversity Committee due to attendance issues. She has also asked for his resignation as Senator. President Pletz expressed concern about CGS attendance at University-wide committees. She stressed the importance of such attendance both for our own interests and to maintain a voice.

Vice President Baack noted that we still need 4 delegates from Engineering. Chair Cunningham knows a Dean in Engineering and will try to contact them to recruit more delegates.

Chair Pearson raised a potential concern for International Students. Recent export controls prohibit certain types of material being used in research that involve international students. The University may have very little control here – provisions are often included in funding contracts.

The committee asked President Pletz to invite Bill Shikurdi or Elaine Parsons to a meeting in the Winter to talk about budgeting. This has been a concern for delegates for a while.

The committee briefly discussed the Wellness program presented at the last meeting. The feedback on the program was mixed. This turned to a discussion of how speakers are chosen, whether they should be at every meeting, etc.

The committee also revisited the 260 credit hour limit. This limit is imposed by the state. Therefore, it might be something for Governmental Relations to work on. In addition, it may be only really problematic for Deans who don’t know how to handle it yet. However, there are real implications for students who become lecturers (student loans come due, they are not eligible to participate in research forums and the Ray Award competition). In addition, it may result in a bias against Domestic Students; due to visa concerns, foreign students can’t become lecturers. We also have to keep in mind that we are making GAs more expensive. More benefits means more money. Secretary Scott will check with Lamar again regarding this issue sometime in January.

Respectfully submitted,
Amanda L. Scott