Minutes for GSG Assembly meeting Wednesday September 19, 2007
Supplements:
Funding Request for Moon Festival Party (pdf)
Jeff Dwoskin's Presentation on Green Line Shuttle issues (pdf)
Paul Breitman's handouts on University Shuttle statistics (pdf)
Spring-Summer Events Board Report (pdf)
Campus Club Presentation to the CPUC (pdf)
The meeting for Wednesday September 19, 6pm was held in Frist Campus Center Room 304
Attendance
Agenda
I. Call to Order and Assembly Business
A. Seating of New Assembly Members - Shin-Yi Lin B. Approval of Minutes (April, May, August) -- Marina Paul II. New Business
III. Reports
A. Department Reports -- MOL, SOC, POL B. Chair - Shin-Yi Lin C. Wine and Cheese -- Raja Chahal D. Events Board -- Alex Ntelekos IV. Decision Items
A. Funding Requests -- Alex Ntelekos B. Events Board Elections -- Alex Ntelekos V. Discussion Items
A. Campus Club -- Kellam Conover B. PACA -- Anita Adhitya C. Shuttle -- Jeff Dwoskin VI. Adjournment
(Next meeting October 10, 2007 at 6pm in Frist 309)
Attendance
I. Call to Order and Assembly Business The meeting began at 6:05pm. A. Seating of New Assembly Members - Shin-Yi Lin Shin-Yi asked new Department reps to introduce themselves to the rest of Assembly. Asdis Hermanowicz is a graduate student in the German Studies department. Katya Ossorgin (MUSIC) is a fourth-year graduate student in the Music department. Katya introduced herself to Assembly, told them her focus is in Musicology, not Composition. She explained that she took this post because she felt that there has not been enough communication between the Music Department and the Graduate School, and the seat has been vacant for a couple of years.
Kelly Kearney (GEO) is a second-year graduate student in the Geosciences Department. John Paul-Young (CLASSICS) is a second-year graduate student. As his reason for joining Assembly, he told Assembly that he is here out with non classicists! LaTonya Trotter (SOC) initially participated in Assembly as a proxy for Bart, the previous department representative. She was able to see through the Summer Letter Writing that the GSG actually does things! Raghuveer K. Vinukollu (Civil and Environmental Engineering, or CEE) told Assembly that he had been involved in the student government as his previous Master’s institution, and he is interested in getting involved at Princeton. The following members of the audience at the meeting introduced themselves as guests: Emily and her friends Angelica and Aaron from Civil EngineeringGiri Parameswaran and Matt from EconomicsEmmanuel from Electrical EngineeringAndrew from Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences B. Approval of Minutes (April, May, August) -- Marina PaulMarina Paul explained that the minutes for April, May and August 2007 were sent to Assembly for comments. After receiving feedback from Assembly members, she incorporated a suggestion to elaborate on the recent changes to the birth control costs. Kevin Collins (POL) then motioned to approve all three minutes as one omnibus. The motion was unanimously approved. II. New Business There was no new business. III. Reports
A. Department Reports -- MOL, SOC, POL 1. Report from Molecular Biology (Praveena Joseph-de-Saram)
The Mol Bio PhD is a 5-year program. The graduate program has 141 students, 43 of whom are international students. The Generals requirement is 5 classes (3 core courses) and an oral exam. Out of the 23 who took generals last year, 2 failed and one retook and passed. The process in the event a student fails has been known to be a little arbitrary but this year there will be a standard set of guidelines issued to all students and advice for those who fail will be mailed with the decision letters.
The average time to degree completion is 5 ½ - 6 ½ years. We currently have 25 DCE students and 11 students in their 7th or later year.
Last year’s incoming class was 29 (8 International students). This year’s class was 25.
Issues – Fourth year students were asked to re-enroll as DCE status if they felt confident that they would complete their degrees by the end of their 5th year.
There were no questions or comments from Assembly following the report. 2. Report from Sociology (Bart Bonikowski)
According to last year’s stats, the Sociology department had 48 enrolled degree candidates, of whom 27 were women, 9 were minorities, and 4 were international students. With 24 full-time faculty members, our faculty-to-student ratio is 2:1. Our application rate has been increasing over the past few years (last year we had 214 applications, which is an increase of about 65% from 2000), and consequently our admission rate has been declining (8% last year). Of those admitted, between 50% and 75% typically accept their offers. Our median time to degree is around 6 years, which is consistent with most of the social science departments. Finally, as far as the job market is concerned, the majority (75%) of our graduates end up at academic institutions, either in post-doctoral programs or in faculty positions at research universities. The remaining 15% take non-academic jobs. The quality of our placement has been quite good over the past few years, with students taking jobs at universities like Harvard, UCLA, Michigan, Northwestern, University of Washington, and GW.
Our students have very few complaints about university policies or their implementation at the departmental-level. We have sufficient office and classroom space in Wallace Hall and our faculty are typically very supportive, both when it comes to intellectual and administrative issues. Of the problems that the GSG is currently tackling, the ones that are most crucial to our students are DCE funding and the shuttle service. The exclusion of second-year DCE students from graduate school fellowships and travel awards came as a great surprise to all of us, including our DGS. Although our time-to-degree is relatively short, many of those who take longer to graduate are doing qualitative research which requires extensive fieldwork. I’ll have more to say about the revised shuttle program during our discussion on that topic.
There were no questions or comments from Assembly following the report. 3. Report from Political Science (Kevin Collins) There have been several developments of note in the Politics department over the past year. First, the curriculum has continued to develop since the five year program was first instituted several years ago (previously it was a four year program). The incoming first year cohort will generally take two more courses than previous cohorts. As a result, the new convention will now be to take qualifying exams in the fifth semester rather than in the fourth. Our quantitative methods curriculum has also been updated, with the material that had been covered in two courses now spread out to three. This change puts us in line with most of our peer political science programs.
Recruiting has continued go well for the department. While our yield of matriculates is down slightly for this current incoming cohort (total: 18) when compared to the previous cohort (total: 23), we continue to do exceptionally well in particular subfields, notably political theory. In general, when compared to peer institutions we maintain both a relatively large graduate student population at around 100, but yet a relatively low faculty-to-student ratio.
The time to completion in our program seems to average around six years, though that does vary substantially by subfield. For instance, students of American politics tend to finish in around five years, while subfields like Comparative Politics that require more field work – often abroad – tend to take somewhat longer. This leads to a fairly low number of DCE students – the estimate I was given was about 5 or 6 in the department. There were no questions or comments from Assembly following the report. B. Chair - Shin-Yi Lin Jeff Dwoskin (Facilities) then updated Assembly on the Administration’s responses to this year’s summer letters:1. Travel awards were increased to $600
2. Poster awards are limited
Shin-Yi Lin mentioned to Assembly that Laurel Harvey, who oversees Public Safety, has been really responsive to us. Since the last meeting, the Executive Committee has been busy on three things: First, we were finishing up the summer letters. We sent all the letters out in mid-August. We will post the letters as a PDF with these minutes (PDF). We’re happy to say that we have already received positive responses to our letters (PDF). The second thing we have been working on is finalizing the formal proposal for a graduate student center for the University -- which is being prepared in collaboration with VP Dickerson’s Office and the Graduate School. The last big thing we’ve been working on is participating in all the beginning of the year events. Dan Raburn (Press Secretary) was our student representative to the Fall Alumni Council meeting; one of the business items of the meeting was to introduce the council to the new Whitman College. Alex Ntelekos (Treasurer) was our student representative to the Association of Princeton Graduate Alumni Board’s fall meeting and the dinner honoring this year’s graduate Honorific Fellows; he will talk about how the APGA has decided to put money into the Events Board. As for Orientation events: Exec members have tried to attend a bunch of the Orientation Events -- including the GSG-sponsored BBQ at the Graduate College and the Art Museum Reception. I was one of two students who spoke to all first years at this year’s Orientation meeting in Richardson Hall. All of Exec was present at student sign-in to hand out our GSG mugs and publicize the GSG. Alex hosted the GSG table at the Clubs Night at the GC Coffeehouse. And finally, we have been preparing for our annual Wine and Cheese which will happen tomorrow. I know that Dante is not one for self-promotion, so I will take over this role and tell everyone that Dante will be providing our musical entertainment. I encourage you all to attend. Since Exec has been working hard to publicize the GSG, we hope that you will come and take advantage of this opportunity to introduce yourselves to your new department-mates as the departmental GSG rep. I would like to thank Raja in advance for taking over for Jenny in Wine and Cheese duties while she is out of town this week. He’ll be giving you a more detailed report in a bit. I have a couple more logistical things to announce: We were also approached by the Undergraduate Student Government to switch student government offices with them. We are therefore switching our offices from 204D to 204B. The new office is off the main lobby and therefore more visible. It is a nicer office, it has a big window, and very visible among student offices. We also would like to give Assembly a heads up on two new additions to the administration: One is Karen Jackson-Weaver, the new Associate Dean of Academic Affairs. In addition to helping out Dean Redman with academic affairs, she will also be spearheading the diversity efforts of the Graduate School. She is the replacement for Dean Danielle Gray. The other new person is Reverend Alison Boden, the new Dean of Religious Life. She has asked us to help her learn more about and address the spiritual needs of graduate students. If you have any ideas, please tell us and we will pass them along. C. Wine and Cheese -- Raja ChahalTomorrow, starts at 8pm, help beforehand is very welcome. He said he would be there around from 5-6-ish to supervise “the team of peons”. Raja needs help cutting the cheese; in addition there are some things we are short on – plates, trash bags, need two corkscrews [Varsity liquors provides 2 with their delivery, and we will need more] D. Events Board -- Alex NtelekosThe events board is a funding agency that puts together funding for grad student agencies, started about 1 year ago. The Events Board Chair is Alex Ntelekos (GSG Treasurer), and he reports to Assembly once a semester. For Alex’s Report on Events Board for the spring and summer of 2007, see Events Board Sept 19 2007.PDF The report includes the following items: • Meetings and Participation
• Funded Events
• Budget
• Members
• Decision Items
During the Spring/Summer 2007 semesters, 9 Events Board meetings took place and 27 events were funded. The Board budgeted $12,380. Budget Summary 2006-2007Total Events Funded: 33 (1st 6 were from the previous semester, 27 for the current) Total Budgeted: $14,560 ($440/event)Remaining: $2,440Current Liabilities: $1760 (ACSS, GSG)Projected EOY (End-of-year) Balance: $ 0 Regarding the liabilities, The ACSS event (Moon festival) will be brought up later. The GSG summer BBQ went over budget Hopefully we will get more money next year, as AGPA is giving $1500 to the board, and hopefully grad school gives more. VP Dickerson gives us money for campus life (14K$)The increase from $5 to $10 in student fees - VP Dickerson agreed to partially match it last year, and she will do it again. Current Events Board Members 1. Alex Ntelekos (Chair/GSG TR/ENG)
2. Jenny He (GSG SC/ENG)
3. Lisa Schreyer (GS)
4. Tara McCartney (GS)
5. Raja Chahal (SCI)
6. vacant
7. vacant
Currently there are 2 vacant spots on the Events Board. Assembly should appoint 2 members. The largest commitment required for the members is attendance of the meetings. Dan Raburn asked Alex to clarify the motivations of having an Events Board, and whether the Board has been successful in its goals so far. Alex explained that the GSG deals with funding, but not of all graduate student events. Sometimes it is easier to get money from one centralized source as opposed to going to several different sources such as the grad school or AGPA for smaller amounts. In terms of being successful, 33 events have been funded by the Events Board so far. Also, groups can now go to a centralized group instead of getting money. Bart Bonikowski (SOC) pointed out that going to events board in cases where the timeline is short is more convenient than waiting for assembly to convene, but cap provides a check/balance. Alex said that we have been lenient for having the requirement of applying at least one week in advance because of getting more events funded, but that can be a deciding factor. Grace asked if a group requesting funding needs to itemize their purchases in their request. Alex responded that they do, and that guidelines are listed on website tip sheet. All money may not be granted. Alex reminded Assembly that all money may not be granted – the funding granted a group is not necessarily the same as the funding they requested. IV. Decision Items
A. Funding Requests – Alex Ntelekos 1. Request from ACSS to fund the Moon Festival Party For an explanation of the Moon Festival event, see Moon Festival party.doc.For the proposed budget for the Festival, see Budget for Moon Festival Party.doc ACSS (The Association of Chinese Students and Scholars of Princeton) includes 400 members. The ACSS President Arvid Wang and member Yi Sun addressed Assembly about the Moon Festival and their request to the Events Board. The ACSS-sponsored Moon Festival includes a fashion show, and scripts/skits performed by students. Last year, the party was funded by $900 from the GSG and $300 from the Grad College. This year, ACSS is asking for all of it from Events board this year. Giri asked what the guidelines are for acceptable requests. Shin-Yi responded that we would like to fund requests such that we spend all our money, especially when we get an increase in money. We cannot fund T-shirts, prizes, Unions, and events must be available and advertised to all students, and no political events. Alex recommended to Assembly that the Board fund the entire amount, because it is accounted for in our liabilities. Kevin asked if this is the last event that can be funded by the Board. Alex replied that the Board’s funding ends October 31, but we have already funded through October 15. Praveena Joseph-de-Saram (MOL) motioned to approve the funding request and Neven Fuckar (GC) seconded. The motion to approve the funding request passed. 2. Transfer of funds from the Events Board to the GSG to cover the Summer BarbequeAlex Ntelekos (Treasurer) recommended that Assembly approve the transfer of $560.82 from the GSG Events Board to GSG account to cover the amount over budget. Kevin Collins (POL) motioned to approve, Neven Fuckar (GC) seconded it, and the motion to approve the transfer the funds passed. B. Events Board Elections -- Alex NtelekosWe need 4 people to fill the Events Board vacancies. 15 people have expressed interest in running for the positions, but the majority was not present. Kevin Collins (POL) moved to table the election until next meeting and to invite them to the next one. Alex replied that the Events Board needs help now since the Board has a lot of events coming up and the Social Chair (Jenny He) is away. Meetings are Thursdays at 10am in Clio Hall. Dante Ricci (Butler) asked whether temporary membership can fill the gap in the interim According to Alex, responsibilities include 2-1hour meetings in next week. We request that 4 students, 1 from each discipline, be on the board. Kevin Collins (POL) motioned to remove the requirement (of each of the four being from a different discipline) for the provisional members. The motion to remove the requirement passed. The volunteers for provisional membership were Emmanouil Koukoumidis, 2nd year in ELE, Kostantinos Aisopos, 2nd year ELE, and Nick in EE
Shin-Yi Lin – motioned to approve these three members for now, Kevin Collins (POL) seconded. The motion was approve the provisional members passed. V. Discussion Items
A. Campus Club -- Kellam Conover (CPUC) (For the Campus Club mission statement and the basic structure of the proposed Campus Club administration boards see CampusClub.ppt.) The Princeton Campus Club will be housed in a former eating club that has become University property. The Campus club is designed to be a social space catering to the needs of undergraduate and graduate students. Kellam Conover updated assembly on the status of the plans for Campus Club: This is the result of about a year and a half’s worth of work by task force dedicated to developing a campus club. Thanks to Lisa Schreyer, Bart Bonikowski, Leslie X, and Kris Kulkarni for donating their time and effort towards this plan. The space includes 11,000 square feet and houses a large library, a meeting spot, a café in the basement with a bar, a room for showing movies. Essentially, there is so much social space we don’t know what to do with it. Both formal and informal events can be accommodated. The space accommodates flexible planning and can be used for wine-tasting, a banquet, a movie showing, or a lecture
The opening of the Club is anticipated for the fall of 2008. Undergraduate student groups are aware of this and are discussing their needs for the space. Suggestions so far have included meetings over coffee in open space, designating space for pool-playing. We hope the Club will become socially “full”. We are striving for proportional representation on the advisory board. Please ask if delegates are interested in getting involved. Advisory board membership could be an alternative to participation in the Events Board. The advisory board will include 6 undergraduates, 3 graduate students, and 3 ex-officio voting members (12 in total). Elections will be held in late October 2007. If you are interested, please come to our next meeting. Shin-Yi Lin will be sending a global email that advertises it. The Club program board will consist of 18 student members, 12 undergraduates and 6 graduate students. The terms in office of members for the two Boards will be staggered in order to promote institutional “memory”. Diane Spatafore was recently hired as Club manager, who will work with the Advisory and Program Boards and have responsibility for the general oversight of the Club. The Manager will be a part of the Office of the Dean of Undergraduate Students and will report to Dean Dunne. Shin-Yi Lin remarked that undergraduate student groups are very aware of the reopening and are already competing for space and time at the Club. On the other hand, very few grad students are aware. We want to make sure that 1) we start early in order to get our fair opportunities for events, etc and 2) grad students are aware and 3) grad students feel like we belong. Raja Chahal asked if there will there be “optional space”, and to which Kellam responded that the Club is designed to be both. Chris Crutchfeld (CHM) asked if events have to be open to everyone. Kellam said that private parties held in the Club of course will not be open to every one, but the mission of the Club is to embrace everyone. Lisa Schreyer gave the GSG-sponsored Wine and Cheese Social as and example, which is open only to students over 21 years of age B. Presidents Advisory Committee on Architecture (PACA) – Anita Adhitya Anita Aditya (PACA rep) updated Assembly on two of the current construction projects that are part of the Campus Plan: 1. In the next few years, a performing arts complex (Center for the Performing and Creative Arts) will be constructed around where McCarter Theatre is located. The plans may include a move of the Dinky train station to the garage near New South. There are two proposed buildings for the current Dinky space, to include spaces for performances, lectures, and a media center. The two buildings will be designed by different architects. A short list of architects was discussed at the last PACA meeting.
2. Raphael Moneo is the architect to design the Neuroscience & Psychology complex. There had been a debate around design versus lab space. Hopefully, space will actually be useful and the lab space will win out.
C. Shuttle Update- Jeff Dwoskin (Facilities)
Jeff Dwoskin gave a presentation to Assembly summarizing the recent changes to the Shuttle System. For the detailed presentation see Response to Shuttle Changes Sept.PPT. The Shuttle changes went into effect on September 4, 2007. Very few students were aware, and an email from the administration would have gone out after changes went into effect. In order to notify students as soon as possible, Exec sent out a GSG Global on September 3 (Labor Day). Since then, Exec has received many complaints. Jeff Dwoskin (Facilities) worked with Shuttle committee and asked Paul Breitman to attend, and he is here to hear what students have to say and to clarify issues with the new shuttle system. Paul Breitman thanked Assembly for inviting him to the meeting, and said that it was a pleasure to be here. Paul passed around 3 handouts to Assembly (see shuttleflyer3.pdf, Shuttle Handouts.PPT) Currently, there are three separate shuttle routes, and we are moving towards an integrated system. We won’t make the original deadlines (June 2007). Issues with RFP’s (Request for Proposal) have pushed the expected completion date to January 2008. Paul has been working with the graduate students for eight years. He said that it was not part of the plan to frustrate or aggravate students. Breitman felt that Jeff Dwoskin’s presentation was a fair representation of what students are feeling, given his email influx. The Green line was created as grad student shuttle. However, we are moving towards an integrated transit system. Staff faculty and undergrads are being provided transportation as well, and that must be put in context. What is the impetus? The ten-year campus plan is the source of the integrated system idea. The shuttle system is a direct result of the plan to respond to the changes in the 10year campus plan. The changes to the shuttle system are also a direct result of recent construction projects:1. Lost parking places from construction of chemistry building
2. Construction of the Neuroscience building– construction is being built in parking lot 20, and we lose those spaces
We are losing parking spaces for people who used to be able to walk to work from their parking lots, now are being supported by shuttle changes. University is becoming focused on sustainability. We are trying to interface with the town and the community, and components of the NJ public transportation system.1. The purpose of the move to a Nassau Street stop was to link blue and green to stops for NJ transit buses
2. Jitney program from borough – goes through Dinky, we need to coordinate with them too
We have formed focus groups consisting of student grad students, faculty, and staff. Overall, the non-integrating routes are the problem – we are trying to work on that. We started with A-1 Limousine, which is not at the level to deal with our capacity. We need a bus transportation company to accommodate a sophisticated transit system. We will contract through TMA to do this.We have an extended contract with A-1 Limousine to June 30 2008. We have had problems with A-1’s services, and communication with A-1 has been inefficient. We have had operator issues all along and communicated those issues, but they have not been resolved. We have concerns including drivers on cell phones, not stopping at stops. A new manager will be hired soon - quickly! The GSG is invited to participate, in hiring the Director of Parking and Transportation We hope that the GSG will provide 4 reps. The shuttle now goes to Nassau St., then on William, and it comes down through the center of campus via Washington Rd. Nassau St is an interim improvement, for linking up with New Jersey Transit buses. In the future, there will be loops for different directions – such as routes for westbound, eastbound, etc. Breitman felt that the Nassau Stop was an improvement to campus mobility. He said this change will bring more people to Nassau – opening Labyrinth books, bring more people to town. Second, the stop to Nassau Street stops in front of career services, esp. useful for under-grads. Third, there will be an increased frequency of buses to campus by going up and down Washington. Lot 21 assignments went up, so a stop at lot 21 was added to both blue and green line shuttles. Paul Breitman, who lives on Williams St, stated that he has no complaints about the shuttle through-traffic down Williams St. He understands that the five minute increase in time seems huge, but if we could get the transit system running more efficiently, this won’t seem so huge. He reminded everyone that this shuttle should have been changing along, and will probably change every year for the next ten years. Kellam Conover (CPUC) stated that the Woodrow Wilson school stop is essentially doubling shuttle traffic - have here been any traffic complaints from under-grads? Paul –Breitman replied that they are thrilled, and they share the suggestion for adding stop at Fisher with grad students. Shin-Yi Lin (Chair) asked if Paul could go through suggested solutions. Proposed Solutions (Jeff Dwoskin):1. Better data collection, audits of actual travel times
2. Additional lag time at route endpoints at certain times of day to avoid buildup
3. Admittedly this solution worsens route length problem
Bart Bonikowski (SOC) added that while the background is helpful and appreciated by the grad students, we are not coming from an isolated position. Our housing is very remote, and the time increases are inconvenient. Paul replied that the choice to add the Lot 21 stop is being examined, but this is from grad student perspective. The solutions are most likely #1 and #3. He also said that grad students need to be more flexible about transit times! Aryeh Ayalon (NES) asked why shuttle can’t go over through prospect down to lot 21, then come back up. Paul replied that we will look at that, but the idea is to bring people down to campus from Nassau St. Girl (SOC) clarified to Paul that the five min increase in time is actually much larger, and approaches the time it takes to walk, so many students are choosing to walk! Paul acknowledged that in inclement weather, this is especially becomes a problem, and we want this to work. Kevin Collins (POL) would like an audit of the shuttle system. Paul agrees, that A-1 records are incorrect. Stephanie Wang (ECO) said that the blue line is replicating the green line, no demand for there. Susan () added that it looks like blue and green are taking same route. Charles Butcosk (ART) said that an accurate schedule seems important regardless of whether we agree with the changes. Paul replied, “You know what the problem is – traffic, human issue, etc”. What he doesn’t want to do– stretch the time between stops out, sot that we’ll be on time, but rider times will be stretched. Anita Aditya (PACA) announced that she was a non-rider, but will it be possible to add something more eastbound, to Nassau and Harrison Streets? It’s really a stop, not going more East. Paul clarified, right on Harrison, down to Butler? For the Olden stop, EQUAD people would have to wait a half a block. Tara added that is was a tight space to turn at Harrison St. Alex Ntelekos said that grad students are living at the four corners of the map. Who is being accommodated based on rider-ship, by those changes? An assembly member asked whether Faculty and staff were even made aware that they are now able to take green shuttle. Paul replied that it sounds like from assembly that they are. If there is no demand, we won’t stop there Tara told Paul that the Butler schedules are out of date. Paul replied that this was fixed as of yesterday. Tara acknowledged that it was out of date, as of yesterday. Paul Breitman told Assembly, “like it or not, I am Transportation.” We manage 12 different components. We are sorry about the angst, the short notice. But we have worked too long with you guys to be OK with your feeling that your opinion is not valued Shin-Yi Lin (Chair) asked Paul if we could get deadlines for putting up correct, up-to-date signage. Paul replied that right now, there is no one to even do that. We are constantly asking for funding requests. Shin-Yi Lin announced that a global e-mail, approved by Transportation, will be sent out as soon as possible. If there are issues, double email – both GMTMA and the GSG! Paul added that we can copy him as well– but he won’t respond because GMTMA is expected to do that. Jeff added that David Beckman and Kevin helped with the presentation, thank you for your help and time. Shin-Yi Lin added, please give your input to GSG - don’t think it is part of the problem. With that, she thanked Paul Breitman for coming and staying. VI. Adjournment It was not noted when the meeting adjourned. The next meeting is on October 10, 2007 at 6pm in Frist 309.