Minutes for Wednesday October 10 2007 GSG assembly meeting
Supplements:
Introduction to the GSG (pdf)
Shin-Yi Lin's Chair's Report (txt)
Attendance List
Agenda
I.
Call to Order and Assembly Business
A.
Seating of New Assembly Members - Shin-Yi Lin
B.
Approval of Minutes (July, Sep) -- Marina Paul
C. Assembly Introduction -- Dan Raburn
II.
New Business
III.
Reports
A.
Department Reports -- PSY, HOS, CLA
IV. Decision Items
A. Events Board -- Alex Ntelekos
B. Events Board Elections -- Alex Ntelekos
C. Campus Club Advisory Board Elections -- Shin-Yi Lin
D. 2007-2008 Budget -- Alex Ntelekos
V. Chair’s Report –Shin Yi Lin
VI. Adjournment
(Next meeting November 14, 2007 at 6pm in
Frist 309)
I. Call to
Order and Assembly Business
The October meeting took place in Room 228 in the Frist
Campus Center Room 228. The
meeting began at 6:06 pm.
A. Seating of New Assembly Members - Shin-Yi Lin
Shin-Yi Lin (Chair) asked the new Department representatives to introduce themselves to the rest of Assembly.
The German Studies rep, Asdis Hermanowicz, is a first year
student, who claimed to be appointed because of being the only incoming
student.
The Psychology (PSY) representative is Hilary Bergsieker, a
second-year graduate student. According to Hilary, she was the only person who
volunteered to do this.
The new Religious Studies (REL) representative is David Jorgensen,
a first-year graduate student. David said that he volunteered, and it’s good way
to get to know the university and student government.
The new Economics (ECO) department rep is Giri Parameswaran,
a first year graduate student. He said he was volunteered, and he had been
involved in student government in his previous institution.
The new Electrical Engineering representative (Ilias
Tagkopoulos) was not present.
B. Status of July and September Minutes -- Marina Paul
The official voting results on the Summer Letter Writing
Campaign need to be added to the July minutes, after which a draft of the
minutes will be sent to Assembly.
The September minutes are still being edited.
C. Assembly Introduction -- Dan Raburn
Dan Raburn gave assembly an introduction
to the GSG Government and Assembly (see gsg intro handout 2007_10_10_1602.doc)
Quorum is met at an assembly meeting if half of the active reps attend the meeting. Out of 31 current active representatives, we need 16 attendees to meet quorum at a meeting. If quorum is not met, we can discuss items but cannot make decisions.
An assembly member asked how we get a topic onto the agenda. Shin-Yi Lin (Chair) responded that one should email her since she decides on the agenda of assembly meetings. A request should be sent to gsg@. She added that notice would be needed, preferably a month in advance.
The assembly member asked how Shin-Yi decided on the agenda of an upcoming assembly meeting. Shin-Yi replied that usually Exec has a good idea of what we want to discuss based on what people are telling us, and the administration is telling us. This includes not only the voting reps (dept reps (Voters), special interest groups (Voters) but also Tara McCartney and Lisa Schreyer (Grad school reps), CPUC reps, and a few graduate students that are interested in GSG.
Items on the agenda always include seating of new Assembly members, approval of minutes, and time for new business.
II. New Business
Issues about dining services costs at Frist Campus Center - Yaron Ayalon (NES)
Yaron Ayalon (NES) brought up that food prices at Frist have gone up more in the past three years, at a rate significantly more than the inflation rate. He felt that while this may be okay with increased budgets of Undergraduate students’ families, this is not feasible for graduate students. Yaron told assembly that he was interested in getting a discussion group together, and talking to the administration along with a GSG rep.
Kevin Collins (POL) felt that he did not feel that the GSG
seal of approval needs to be brought in until we are aware of this group’s
agenda.
Shin-Yi Lin (Chair) interjected that an open discussion
needs to be there between students and administrators, for them to communicate
what is the reasoning behind the current policies. Current policy changes don’t
have to be made immediately and is not made necessary by the existence of a
discussion group.
IV. Reports
A. Department Reports -- PSY, HOS, CLA
1. History of Science (HOS) – Robert MacGregor
A departmental report from the HOS rep Bob MacGregor is
postponed, as a report was given fairly recently.
2. Psychology (PSY) – Hilary Bergsieker
45 graduate students in the department. Most graduate within the degree time
specified
- (75% in 06-07; 50% in 05-06; 60% in 04-05)
- Median Time-to-Degree as of 2005-06 was 5.0 years,
exactly on target
After getting their PhD's most grad students get placed
in academia, either in post-doc or assistant faculty positions.
Issues that psychology grad students face include:
- Delays due to the new shuttle schedule/route/signage
- Lack of weekend shuttles
- Limited conference/travel funding - 1000 for entire
tenure here -
- Need for better housing options for fifth-year
students – we are prob. Not hit as hard as other students.
- Software – psychologists use special software, and would like
something along the software packages that other students have, like math
packages.
3. Classics
John-Paul Young is the student representative for the Classics Department.
There are 16 department members. The department is located in East Pyne.
One-fourth or more of the students are in their sixth
year or beyond. At end of the
third year, students take their general exams.
Of particular concern to Classics students are the possible
changes to Firestone Library, where classics study rooms are located –these
rooms may disappear with creation of lounge space. Books will go to ABC floors, and the study rooms will be
dispersed.
The department is undergoing transition – some core
faculty members are moving, and there are several new hires. Also, undergraduate enrollment is way
up in the last few years.
To conclude, morale in grad students is high.
Shin-Yi Lin (Chair) asked if morale has increased amongst more senior students. John Paul replied that problems are caused by allowing students to linger, resulting in financial issues.
Continuing with concerns about Firestone renovation - it seems inconvenient to bring books all the way to the top floor lounge anyway. “There is no reason to take our candy away”.
Kevin Collins (POL) interjected, “yes there is reason to take your candy away – if the space is distributed in a more equitable fashion across the departments.” He added that our department would love to have a lounge space with food.
Yaron Ayalon (NES) added that there would be no food allowed in the top floor lounge.
The Completion time is 6.5 years. There are a lot more students in the 7th year. The new expected time is 5.5 years.
Shin-Yi added that a discussion about the recent New York Times (NYT) article – may be held in November.
IV. Decision Items
A. Events Board -- Alex Ntelekos
B. Events Board Elections -- Alex Ntelekos
The following students are interested in running for the
Events Board:
Konstantinos
Aisopos (ENG)
Emmanouil
Koukoumidis (ENG)
Raja Chahal (SCI)
Nickolas Jiang (ENG)
Ideally, we would have all four divisions (Social Sciences,
Engineering, Natural Sciences, and Humanities) of the graduate school
represented on the Events Board. All
four are not represented amongst the students running.
Alex Ntelekos (Treasurer) said there were 15 people who expressed
interest in running. We have contacted them twice, and they haven’t
responded. Today’s turnout is no
different from last meeting’s showing.
Rob Harron (MAT) asked how many positions are open. Alex replied that all four are free.
Chris Crutchfield (CHM) asked whether the student body was equally distributed across the four divisions of the graduate school. Alex replied it is not.
Giri Parameswaran (ECO) pointed out that there are no women amongst the group of interested candidates.
Alex mentioned the option of voting or appointing Jenny He (Social Chair), in addition to the four spots. This move would be especially relevant because of her position as Social Chair, and her involvement with the Events Board is necessary.
Jenny He chose not to run due to timing constraints and was thus not voted in.
Kevin Collins (POL) made the motion to approve to vote them in. The motion was passed with no nays or abstains.
C. Campus Club Advisory Board Elections -- Shin-Yi Lin
According to Shin-Yi Lin (Chair), there probably need to hold rolling elections, since at this time there are not a lot of people who have announced they would like to run.
Grace (CPUC) asked when the terms begin. Shin-Yi replied that the terms would start now – before the next November assembly meeting. The terms should last 1.5 years, according to Tara. Critical to the Advisory Board positions would be getting involved in the University and interacting more with University community, especially the undergrads.
D. Approval of the 2007-2008 Budget -- Alex Ntelekos
Shin-Yi (Chair) Lin reminded Assembly that the GSG budget goes from November to end of October of the next year.
Alex Ntelekos (Treasurer) showed Assembly the budget sheet (see for itemized budget, see Budget 2007-2008.pdf). Individual costs/expenses were budget items were listed for the following:
Kevin Collins (POL) asked who sets the annual fee. Shin-Yi replied that it is in the GSG constitution - an amendment to the constitution is made in order to change the fee.
What did we get, 325, we actually got 429, proposed 500 for next year.
Valentines Day:
Last year – 4000 - events board we took money from the events board and brought it back, because we had given the 4k money to the events board, thinking that we were getting an extra 4k.
2000 took money from GSG, 4000 total from other sources.
Hilary Bergsieker (PSY) asked what are the events funded and their attendance levels. According to Shin-Yi Lin (Chair), the major GSG-sponsored events are the following:
1. The Wine and Cheese is the fall social event
2. Valentine’s Day party – usually held in Frist – 300 people
3. Summer social on lawn of Frist, 300-500 including non-graduate students
The highest costs for the Valentine’s Day party are the DJ and lighting.
Alcohol and music are major expenses for the Wine and Cheese and for the Valentine’s Day party.
Alex felt that the money spent is representative of the attendance levels of each event, because we are able to anticipate expenditure based on the previous events.
Questions from Assembly:
Giri Parameswaran (ECO) asked if the events board is a subcommittee of the GSG. If so, why is there a separation between the two? Shin-Yi Lin replied that the events board is a subcommittee of the GSG, but the events board also receives money from other sources other than the GSG. Alex added that there are two (financial) accounts; each tells us where the money comes from.
Kevin Collins (POL) asked why we are not budgeting for the endowment this year. Alex replied that we don’t budget in advance for it.
Robert Harron (MAT) asked what is the NAGPS cost. Alex replied that we are not going to do it, the last two years we anticipated budgeting membership fees. Jeff Dwoskin (Facilities) added that we originally joined NAGPS a number of years ago to get access to their dental (and maybe vision) plans, which the University now offers. They also offer discounts for car insurance (with GEICO).
Marina Paul asked whether this would affect Princeton’s participation in the NAGPS doctoral survey. Jeff (Facilities) was not aware of how the membership is related to the doctoral survey
Phone/internet fees listed on the expense sheet include GSG office internet and phone charges for 12 months.
Refreshments and operating expenses include food purchased for discussions over dinner or lunch – including meetings for events board and campus center proposals.
Praveena Joseph-de-Saram (MOL) asked what the costs under discretionary fund were.
Alex replied that it includes food refreshments for hours Exec met. Shin-Yi Lin added that food is the compensation for the work done by Exec members. (Housing lottery and parking privileges are also given to Exec members). Compare this to other schools, where students are paid for their participation in the student government. The $600 funded over 20 meetings.
Kevin Collins (POL) asked if we get reports about events
board’s allocations. Alex Ntelekos
said you get reports for each semester.
Shin-Yi pointed out that compared to other universities,
Princeton ranks in the middle to the bottom regarding what we have to spend - other
universities receive more funds or charge more fees.
Giri Parameswaran (ECO) pointed out that food and refreshments seem add up to a large chunk of the money: $1800 + $400 + $800 add up to 20% of the annual fee. He stated, “We are volunteers, in fact”.
Kevin Collins replied that there are few incentives to be here and there are few volunteers. Pride of being here is not substantial. The power that comes with being involved in the GSG is little more than being than being in a better position to ask for things.
Kelly Kearney (GEO) asked if there have there been budget constraints that resulted in events not being held. Shin-Yi replied that this hasn’t happened, because we have been pretty good about anticipating the budget.
Relating to the proportion of the GSG budget spent on food, Clara Tuan (EAS) pointed out that it’s customary of University-wide meetings held ~6-8pm to provide meals, and the attendees generally expect food.
Alex’s final point was that a surplus of $3392.96 is available beginning balance of 11/1/07, and we will not budget it away.
David Jorgensen (REL) noted that the presentation of the proposed budget is great, but asked whether Assembly has had input into this. His concern was that if not, Assembly would just be rubber stamping an approval. Alex Ntelekos replied that Assembly was already given this information. As an assembly member you would have been given this information one week ago, but it depends on whether you were added to Assembly recently and added as a member by that date.
Motion to approve “as is” was made by Hilary (PSY).
Chris Crutchfeld (CHM) asked whether anything has really been changed from the previous one. Alex replied that changes have been made, based on last year’s budget.
Giri (ECO) asked whether there are there non-covered areas, aside from social and administrative things, that we could become involved in. Shin-Yi replied that there are more student leadership conferences that we could attend, but that would require us to increase the budget significantly.
Rob Harron (MAT) noted that $900 is allocated for Taskforce and counseling refreshments. This encourages students to attend town meetings, administrative meetings, etc.
Shin-Yi mentioned that our budget was doubled recently.
The motion to approve the budget “as is” was passed (21 yeses, 1 abstain, 0 nays)
V. Chair’s report - Shin-Yi Lin
Exec has met twice since the last Assembly meeting. We have mainly been busy with beginning of the year planning -- getting the new budget in order and planning various meetings with administrators. Jeff Dwoskin, Donna Sy, and Kevin Collins helped interview the candidates for the Shuttle Director position. Jeff Dwoskin and Donna Sy helped represent graduate students at the Labyrinth Advisory meeting. They are discussing the kinds of discounts they will offer for students. There will be a basic 10% discount, but they are considering a larger discount for people who spend more money at the bookstore. I attended a Frist Advisory Board meeting and have something I need feedback on: Frist is considering closing for the entire weekend, only being open for Monday to Friday. Next summer, they are hoping to complete the Café Vivian renovation which would allow Café Vivian to be open separate from the rest of Frist. But they were only planning on keeping Café Vivian open from 5-8pm on weekdays. I also wanted to publicize the CPUC Priorities Committee open meeting: Monday Nov 12 - 7:30pm in McCosh 28. Please publicize this opportunity for graduate students to bring up their issues.
Jeff Dwoskin (Facilities) mentioned discounts on textbooks being offered by Labyrinth to undergraduates may not be so applicable to graduate students. We (the GSG) could come up with ideas for the types of discounts that would be beneficial to grad students. Please include this in the reports to your respective departments.
Shin-Yi asked for more feedback about the usefulness of Frist /Café Vivian –
Regarding the recent discussions about changes in hours for Café Vivian/Frist, Yaron Ayalon (NES) mentioned that he uses Frist on the weekend if he is here on campus.
However, other members of the University community, such as research assistants, use it all the time.
Shin-Yi asked if evenings were more important than weekends. Both Hilary Bergsieker (PSY) and Kevin Collins (POL) felt that was true for them.
Kevin also mentioned the possibility of using that preference as a bargaining chip.
Rob Harron (MAT) added that he also felt that weekends are not important. However, the sciences are very close to Frist, and the weekend hours are more important to science students.
Shin-Yi stressed the importance of the Pri-Comm open meeting to Assembly. The Provost is here to listen to students, and the provost has more money available than the Pri-Comm. Anything you say is being listened to by top of the university administrators. Any concerns, like funding, fellowship, study space, transportation services, the provost is the person who allocates the money in the end. This is a forum to tell the administration and the Provost and Pri-Comm what you want – and the Provost is listening!
Shin-Yi reminded Assembly that is evident, from our attendance at Ivy summit meetings, that graduate students have a lot of say here at Princeton. While the administration may not respond immediately, they are very responsive here.
Shin-Yi sent out an email that included the recent New York Times (NYT) article and the suggested recommendations for speeding up time to degree. These involved time to generals, mentoring, and teaching requirements. Shin-Yi requested a two- to three-hour time commitment from each rep to put a report together about his or her department. This information should include how active is the GSG rep, the grad student dept. committee, and the generals exam format.
Our discussion will include shortening time to PhD. An email will be sent out soon to Assembly with more details.
VI. Adjournment
The meeting adjourned at
7:42pm. The next meeting will be
held on Wednesday, November 14, 2007 at 6pm in Frist 309.