Minutes for the February 7, 2001 GSG Assembly meeting Index: 0 Call to Order 1 Approval of Minutes 2 Guest Speaker: VP Tom Wright 3 Treasurer Report 4 Social Chair Report 5 Short Term Housing Committee Update 6 Election Committee Update 7 CPUC Update 8 Graduate Student Life Initiative Updates 9 APGA Update 10 Communiversity 11 Campus-Wide Departmental Survey 12 New Business 13 Adjournment Item 0: GSG Chair Lauren Hale called the meeting to order at 6:00pm. Item 1: Minutes The minutes from the January meeting of the GSG Assembly were approved. The minutes from the extraordinary meeting held on February 29, 2000 also were approved. Item 2: VP Tom Wright Tom Wright, the Vice President and Secretary of the Corporation, spoke to the Assembly about the plans to build a sixth residential college. Mr. Wright chaired the committee that decided "what sort of" a new residential college should be built now that the Board of Trustees approved the plan to expand the undergraduate enrollment by 125 students per class. The five existing residential colleges are currently at capacity. The necessity of building an additional residential college provides the opportunity for the creation of a "different" type of residential college. This new college could include many third and fourth year undergraduates, include some graduate students, and be a themed college. The committee chaired by Mr. Wright consisted of five faculty members, five administrators familiar with graduate students and housing, four undergraduates, and one graduate student. The interim report of the committee was made accessible on the web on February 7, 2001, and the committee hopes for one month of "extensive dialogue" with the university community. Mr. Wright planned to talk about the proposal for a while and ascertain how much interest the GSG has in the issue and the report of the committee. Several models are being considered for the new residential college, and none of the models is definitive. The idea of creating another college similar to the five existing colleges was essentially rejected by the committee. One idea is to create in 1-3 of the 6 colleges an opportunity for undergraduates to be members of the college for four years. A college based on this model would have about 380 first and second-year undergraduate members, 100 third and fourth year members, and six to ten graduate student members. The intent of this idea is to create a continuous community for undergraduates with an intellectual and topical focus and provide the opportunity for arts and literary programming, along with more interactions between undergraduate students and faculty. Mr. Wright wanted to determine if about 30 graduate students would be interested in such an option. He mentioned that the politics of the idea constitutes a "very critical aspect" and stated that nothing is being taken away from current housing options. He then reiterated that the committee is protecting existing housing possibilities and adding additional options. Nathan Marsh asked if graduate students would be just residents or whether they would have to serve some function similar to the current Assistant Master role. Mr. Wright said that there would be no formal responsibility for the graduate students living in this type of residential college, but the graduate students would be given better facilities that include private rooms, common rooms, etc. He then mentioned that the committee would like to have graduate students from different fields (i.e., engineering, science, and humanities) to provide the undergraduates in the college with some guidance and realistic examples of what graduate studies in these fields requires. Mr. Wright was then asked by Karthick Ramakrishnan how the committee arrived at the number of 6-10 graduate students and how rigid that number is. His response was that the number was "really chosen out of the air." Six was thought to be the lower bound required for "minimum coverage," and a maximum bound naturally results from space limitations. He said that the necessity of housing some graduate students in undergraduate housing for the 2001-2002 academic year will give some indication as to how much interest graduate students would have in living with undergraduates and emphasized that the new residential college will not become a reality for 4-6 years. Karthick further declared that he felt that including on the order of 20 graduate students would be more appropriate to create a "viable sense of community" for the graduate students housed in the residential colleges. In response to a question about the cost of living in these residential colleges, Mr. Wright announced that no consideration has yet been given to the issue. He was then asked what would happen to the graduate students in the residential colleges during the summer. He replied that this was a "great question," and mentioned that the graduate student on the committee did not think of that concern. Another member of the Assembly then asked who would provide the Assistant Master function in the new residential college. Mr. Wright announced that the staffing for the Director of Studies positions would be doubled in the residential colleges beginning next year. He said that career counseling for undergraduates is inadequate, that post- graduate fellowship information is poor, and made several similar observations of related inadequacies at Princeton. Finally, Mr. Wright stated that he would be happy to talk with a (smaller) group of interested graduate students in the future but said that there is a practical time limit of 4-5 weeks before his committee meets to take further action. Item 3: Treasurer Report # GC House Committee Events Chair Simon Paterson asked for GSG co-sponsorship of a D-Bar event to be held on February 23, 2001 and looked for co-sponsorship of future events. He asked if the GSG could send a global e-mail to graduate students to advertise events that were not co-sponsored by the GSG (since the D-Bar does not have access to the global mailing list) and advertise the D-Bar mailing list. Steve Miller asked about the possibility of using mailing lists for the individual residences, such as the GC, Lawrence, and Butler. Lauren Hale mentioned that D-Bar events could be mentioned in other notices, and Eric Adelizzi reminded the Assembly about the grad-events list. The idea of a GSG e-mail to advertise D-Bar events that were not co- sponsored was not supported by any member of the Assembly. The D-Bar representative claimed that graduate students miss out from not knowing about D-Bar events and explained that his "hands are tied" by Graduate School policies. He then suggested co-sponsorship of 4 events and e- mail from the GSG to advertise D-Bar events once per month, but some members of the Assembly opposed this idea. Karthick Ramakrishnan explained that co-sponsored events warrant a separate e-mail for advertising and suggested that other D-Bar events could be mentioned at the bottom of global e-mails sent regarding other issues. After some discussion, Jim Vere stated that the grad-events list could be used, and Donnell Butler suggested the creation of a web page to list graduate events (similar to the one used by the USG). A vote on the proposal by the D-Bar representative failed. A motion advocating the general policy of advertising D-Bar events (or any events not listed in the weekly e-mail to the active E-list) at the bottom of GSG e-mails regarding other issues and a separate e-mail advertising events co-sponsored by the GSG was approved. A motion to spend $50 to co-sponsor the D-Bar event on February 23, 2001, at which 300 people were expected, passed. # It was found that the GSG name was inadvertently not included on the posters advertising the Chinese New Year event that the GSG co- sponsored. Since one requirement of GSG co-sponsorship is that the GSG be listed as a sponsor, members of the Assembly were reminded to be alert for such problems in the future. # Steve Miller announced that the GSG spends about $250 each year for a telephone that is seldom used. The idea of getting a campus telephone instead was suggested (since it could be cheaper). Steve promised to investigate all options. He later reported to the Assembly via e-mail that the GSG was billed $21.55 per month ($258.60 per year) as soon as a working phone was connected, regardless of whether it is a campus phone or an outside phone. Because of the time-sensitive nature of telephone bills, he moved that an e-mail vote be taken on the following motion. "Resolved: the Assembly authorizes the Treasurer to seek outside funding for the GSG's telephone service; if such funding is not available the Treasurer is to cancel the service. This decision shall be reviewed by the full Assembly at the next meeting, and the phone service shall be reinstated if the Assembly so chooses." The GSG constitution authorized such votes in the following passage. "ARTICLE II: PROCEDURES OF THE ASSEMBLY, 3. Votes Between Meetings. The Executive Committee may call for a vote of the Assembly between regular Assembly meetings to decide matters it deems to be time-sensitive." Item 4: Social Chair Report # Yesim Tozan announced that the deadline for the Love Match Survey, which can be filled out on the web, has been extended to February 9, 2001. # Plans for the Love at Frist Site Dance were discussed. Posters are to be posted in areas where only graduate students congregate. Guests at least 21 years old are welcome if accompanied by a graduate student. Only wine and beer are to be served because of restrictions on serving hard liquor in Frist. The GSG has been given $500, which will cover food expenses. The Graduate School will pay 0.5(cost - $500). The estimated total cost is $2700, so the GSG will pay about $1100. The D- Bar is providing sound equipment, and 2 movies will be shown simultaneously. The event will run from 10pm to 2am, and free items such as T-shirts and watches will be distributed. # Eric Adelizzi asked about the alcohol budget, which will be $1000, $500 of which is from the GSG. Eric expressed some reservation at spending 7% of the GSG budget on free alcohol for a single event, and he mentioned that some graduate students were drunk and disorderly at the last GSG- sponsored dance. After much debate, some of which centered on having a cash bar in the future, Eric moved that alcohol not be served at the dance. His motion, seconded by Donnell Butler, did not pass. # The Assembly was reminded that the Wine Tasting event would be held in March for 100 people. Item 5: Short Term Housing Committee Update # Members of the Short Term Housing Committee announced that Patricia McArdle, the Assistant Director of Hosing, estimates that 70-200 beds will be needed after the room draw. In order to obviate this problem, the following number of rooms may be available in the specified locations. Hibben-Magie 10-18 Wyman House 10-12 Stanworth Hall 18-22 Local realtor 30-40 Lockhart Dorm 73-74 Lockhart is an undergraduate dormitory (with kitchen facilities) scheduled to undergo renovations. The option of using Lockhart for graduate housing is the most likely of those listed. In total, these options provide 141-166 beds, which could be sufficient. In addition, there is a possibility of 30-34 beds becoming available in Edwards. Several units in Millstone will probably be taken over by Plainsboro for low-income housing (in accordance with a prior agreement made with the University). # A question was asked concerning the feasibility of installing temporary housing in Poe Field (trailers), but this possibility was immediately discounted because the reported cost is approximately $50,000 per person per year. Further, the University had made pledges that it would never again use trailers for student housing, following housing undergraduates in trailers several years ago for one year. # Scott Miller asked if any contingency plans had been made for the possibility that more undergraduates or graduate students accept offers of admission for the 2001-2002 academic year. He mentioned that many more undergraduates might accept offers of admission because of the University policy's new policy for undergraduate financial aid. The answer was essentially that the committee is aware of no such contingency plans taken by the University. # The possibility of holding an open forum for graduate students to ask questions and provide input relating to housing was discussed, but the general consensus was that the members on the Committee for Short Term housing were not yet prepared to provide information to concerned graduate students, so no date was set at the Assembly meeting. The Assembly did believe that such an open forum should be held before the Committee makes its recommendations to the President so that graduate students can be part of the ongoing dialogue before final decisions are made. The University's Committee on Short Term Housing will meet on Thursday, February 22, 2001 to determine the recommendation they will give to the President, so the Executive Committee later scheduled an open forum for Wednesday, February 21, 2001 in McCosh 46 from 12:00- 1:00pm. Members of the committee on short-term housing will be present to discuss the steps being taken to increase housing availability and answer specific questions concerning what graduate students should expect next year. Item 6: Election Committee Update # The election committee will send an e-mail detailing the procedures and deadlines for the upcoming election of officers. They plan to solicit statements from the candidates and organize an informal candidates' night. # The Assembly discussed whether messages from the Election Committee to gsg-global should be subject to prior approval by the Executive Committee, as are other uses of the gsg-global list. Such required approval could be seen as a potential conflict of interests since most current GSG officers were considering running in the election. Karthick Ramakrishnan asked for the Assembly to give the Election Committee the power to use gsg-global to send e-mail without approval by the Executive Committee. Committee members Donnell Butler and David Linsenmeier also supported the motion. After some discussion, the Assembly agreed to allow to give the Election Committee the discretion to directly send announcements related to the election to gsg-global. Item 7: CPUC Update Graduate student housing and the status of the proposal for a young graduate alumni trustee will be discussed at the CPUC meeting on Monday, February 12, 2001 at 4:30pm in the Woodrow Wilson School. Item 8: Graduate Student Life Initiative Updates # Health Care David Linsenmeier announced that the University is working on a dental plan for graduate students and on quicker reimbursement for prescription drugs. Some form of a dental and vision plan will be completed by the fall. This plan will cover clearings, x-rays, etc. once per year. Full dental insurance is less likely. There will be information sessions on February 12-14. Laurel Harvey, Office of Risk Management, will be holding information sessions to describe options that graduate students have right now, including a new prescription drug discount card and two dental insurance plans that individual graduate students can purchase. There will be ample time for questions. The sessions on February 12 and February 13 will be held at 7:30 p.m. in the Old GC Common Room, and the sessions on February 14 will be held at 12 noon and 7:30 p.m. in FRIST ROOM B04 section C (basement level). An e-mail will be sent to GSG-global with this information. # Graduate Student Young Alumni Trustee Report The trustees will be considering this issue at their next meeting, and a brief presentation will be made by David Linsenmeier at the next CPUC meeting. # Housing Report Nathan Marsh has been left to draft this portion of the report alone, so any volunteers to help would be appreciated. # Computer and Information Technology Report This committee met with CIT last week and voiced graduate student concerns. # Post-Enrollment Report This committee asked the members of the Assembly to provide the post- enrollment statistics for their departments in December, but numbers from only 4 departments have been received. In the Religion Department, for example, only 30% of graduate students graduate "on time," and the median time required is 5.5 years. In addition, the cost of housing for post-enrolled students is 19% higher than for enrolled students, who receive housing at a subsidized rate. Although some in the administration claim that post-enrolled students prefer to work rather than take student loans, these students are ineligible for student loans. The Assembly agreed to the suggestion that a section on post-enrollment be added to each part of the Graduate Student Life Initiative Report. Finally, representatives were strongly urged to report the post-enrollment data (and student testimonials) from their departments by Monday, February 12, 2001. An e-mail with a spreadsheet to facilitate the process will be sent to GSG-Assembly. # Parking and Transportation The short term goals announced by the committee are to improve parking on Western Way and FitzRandolph Road, reduce faculty and staff parking in Lot 25, and recommend extended shuttle service. The long-term goals are the establishment of a campus shuttle for graduate students and building a parking garage for graduate students. The issue of parking permits being free at all locations aside from the Graduate College also will be investigated. Item 9: APGA Update Alumni Day will be held on February 24, 2001. There are positions for 6 graduate students to help for 4 hours at $12 per hour. Interested persons should contact losborne@princeton.edu. Item 10: Communiversity The Graduate School will be the focus of this year's Communiversity on April 28, 2001. Kelly Bystrom, the new English Rep., is the GSG representative to Communiversity. Lauren Hale encouraged all members of the GSG to attend the event to show the graduate student presence during the centennial year. Item 11: Campus-Wide Departmental Survey This survey is related to the post-enrollment effort and originated at the Board of Trustees meeting with Karthick Ramakrishnan, Eszter Hargittai, and Dean Wilson. Information is needed concerning the cost of living increases in each department. Since Dean Wilson is unwilling to provide the information, the GSG has instituted the survey. The survey asks for job placement numbers, the cost of living policy, whether students pay for conferences, and the general level of satisfaction in the department. Dean Wilson said that the graduate school conducts such a survey once per decade. The survey will be sent out in the summer, and the committee of Lauren Hale, Sarah Smith, and Donnell Butler will search for discrepancies and determine a methodology that can be used to compare departments. Item 12: New Business # A question was asked about the new policy of summer funding in the humanities and social sciences. Kevin Osterloh said that the DGS in each department has forms, and students need to describe their academic plans for the summer. # The Black Graduate Caucus will hold an open poetry night on Thursday, February 15, 2001 in the Frist coffeehouse. # Tamar Friedmann announced that Steve Miller, the GSG Treasurer and representative from the department of Mathematics, is getting married this summer. The Assembly congratulates him on his engagement. Item 13: The meeting of the Assembly adjourned at 8:28pm.