Graduate Student Government Minutes of the Meeting of July 10, 2002 Officers present: Chair Scott Miller (also acting as Treasurer) Corresponding Sec'y Eric Adelizzi (also acting as Parliamentary Sec'y) Press Sec'y Meredith Safran Social Chair Kerry Bystrom Representatives present: CHE Eric Adelizzi CLA Meredith Safran EAS Brigitta Lee ECO Jim Vere (also acting as Recording Sec'y), proxy for Tanjim Hossain ELE Bill Jordan ENG Kerry Bystrom MAE Brendan McAndrew MUS Emily Snow ORF Michael Ludkovski AOS Huiyan Yang, proxy for Anita Adhitya Delegates present: Butler Apts Huiyan Yang Lawrence Apts Radhika Wijetunge, proxy for Eszter Hargittai Councilors present: CPUC, PriComm Jim Vere CPUC, CPUC Exec Lauren Hale Others present: Lisa Sherov, GC RLC Leonard Pease CHE Representatives absent: ANT Riaz Tejani ACM Cynthia Rudin ARC Zach Riddley CEE Sinead Macnamara COM Seth Abelson EEB Sarah Smith FRE Juliet O'Brien HIS Joseph November MAT Lior Silberman MOL Jessica Bessler NES David Brenner PHY Tamar Friedmann POL Jason Casellas OPR Patrick Gerland PSY Cara Talaska REL Josh Dubler SOC Donnell Butler WWS Anthony Fiori PPL Ethan Schartman Delegates Absent: GC Lior Silberman Hibben-Magie Nate Gleason Off-Campus Upma Sharma BGC Aderemi Artis Women's Center Heather White ACSS Haizhou Yin The following representative seats were vacant: ART, AST, CHM, COS, GEO, GER, HOS, PHI, SLA The following delegate seats were vacant: Millstone Apts, CIGS ATTENDANCE, MINUTES AND CALL TO ORDER The Honourable Scott Miller called the meeting to order at 6:10 p.m. Mr. Adelizzi, acting as Parliamentary Secretary, then produced an attendance sheet, calling special attention to its nice formatting. Those paying attention all conceded that the formatting of the attendance sheet was very nice. It was also confusing, requiring those with multiple positions or present as a proxy to initial the document multiple times. Mr. Vere initialed the document no fewer than six times, although two of these were in error. Mr. Adelizzi reprimanded Mr. Vere for not following directions properly. Those still paying attention concurred that the document was confusing. TH Mr. Miller mentioned that the Assembly had received the minutes of its February meeting, and asked for a motion to approve them. He received one. The motion was seconded and the February minutes were approved unanimously. TH Mr. Miller then called the Assembly's attention to the minutes of the June meeting. He had a clarification which he wished to make; he said that there would be a new staff member hired in the Office of Annual Giving to do fund raising for the Graduate School. It was unclear previously whether a new staff member would be hired or if the duties of current staff would be reshuffled to accommodate the new priority. He said he would like to strike the phrase "and add at least two additional staff members" from the minutes. The suggestion was received gracefully and the Assembly approved the minutes as amended. TH Mr. Miller called for a motion to approve the minutes. Someone moved to approve the minutes. TH Mr. Miller then called for a second. There was a short delay before someone said "second". Mr. Adelizzi commented that it was a good thing sixty "second"s weren't required for the Assembly's minutes. REPORT OF THE PARLIAMENTARY SECRETARY Mr. Adelizzi, acting as Parliamentary Secretary, said that the Executive Committee would be working on purging the Assembly of inactive representatives this summer, with the intention of getting active representatives in the fall. In August, the Executive Committee intended to submit to the Assembly a list of names of representatives whose seats it proposed to vacate. These would be people who had graduated without resigning or who had been inactive for many months. Mr. Adelizzi then announced the resignations of two representatives: Mr. Robert Osada from Computer Science, who had served since September 15, 1999, and Ms. Ishita Pande from the History of Science Program, who had served since November 4, 2000. Mr. Matt Moore, who had served as the delegate from Millstone Apartments since October 5, 1999, had also resigned. Mr. Adelizzi also reported that University movers had discarded all of the GSG's records during the move to the GSG's new office in the Frist Campus Center. He noted that this was the second time that movers had discarded all of the GSG's records; the first time was when movers threw out the contents of the GSG's former office at 48 University Place, apparently not realizing that the GSG still occupied it. The Executive Committee was in the process of contacting former GSG and GSU members to try and gather together what records could be found. Also, he and Ms. Adhitya met with a librarian at Mudd Library earlier this month to discuss leaving GSG's records and archives with the University Archives for safekeeping. The University Archives was happy to take these records. He then asked for volunteers to help contact former GSG and GSU members. He said that the GSG currently only possessed its Assembly minutes since 1996, although there were some GSU Steering Committee minutes from 1988. Ms. Hale stated that she hoped that this project wasn't Mr. Adelizzi's first priority. Mr. Adelizzi said that it was not, this was a pet project, like the Scrabble tournament Ms. Hale had suggested earlier. REPORT OF THE TREASURER From Mr. Butler, TH Mr. Miller stated that the GSG had received no funding requests in the past month, and its account balance remained stable at $8456.67. REPORT OF THE CORRESPONDING SECRETARY Mr. Adelizzi drew the Assembly's attention to the post-enrollment survey that had been undertaken by the previous Executive Committee. Hundreds of responses had been received, but the previous Executive Committee had not drafted responses to the students who had asked questions. Ms. Safran asked what exactly was involved in "going through" the data and emails. Mr. Adelizzi said that volunteers would send form responses, that he would write, and add people to e-mail lists who had requested to be on them. There were about 400 responses in total that needed to be gone through. Mr. Adelizzi said also that the GSG was drafting a letter to the new Dean of the Graduate School, Prof. William Russel of Chemical Engineering. The GSG wished to welcome him to the Graduate School and invite him to an Assembly meeting in the fall, perhaps in October. He solicited input from the Assembly on the text of the letter. He said that the GSG would be penning letters to some of the other new deans, in the School of Architecture, the School of Engineering and Applied Science, and the Woodrow Wilson School, as well, to let them know what the GSG is and how it could be a resource. He solicited input from the Assembly on these as well, saying that Assembly members could email him if they wished to look over the draft texts. Mr. Adelizzi's next item was to speak on the reduced hours of Dillon Gym during the summer. He said that a constituent had expressed dissatisfaction with this policy. He spoke with Ms. Inge Radice, Senior Associate Director of Athletics, who stated that the hours would be extended by one hour on Fridays, but not further because she expected people to exercise outside during the summer, because it was warmer. The Assembly deemed the excuse weak. Ms. Radice also said that there were financial issues involved, but she was not personally familiar with them, so she referred Mr. Adelizzi to the Associate Director of Physical Education and Recreation, Mr. Eric Stein. Mr. Stein was currently on vacation, however. But Mr. Adelizzi said that he would be in contact with Mr. Stein about extending the hours for next summer. There was some question as to who would have the authority to resolve any funding issues. Mr. Vere said that Vice-President for Campus Life Ms. Janet Dickerson would need to either allocate the funds from elsewhere within her budget or bring the request to the Priorities Committee for funds allocated centrally. Mr. Adelizzi's final item was to discuss athletics tickets, namely the fact that the undergraduates attended sporting events for free, while graduate students needed to pay. Ms. Radice said that during the late 1980s, everyone needed to pay, but the USG asked the administration to waive the fee in exchange for a flat fee that all undergraduates would pay. This fee was set at $12.50 annually and added into the undergraduates' activities fee. The graduate students were offered the same option, but they overwhelmingly rejected it. It was not clear whether graduate students were asked in a referendum, or if the question were put to other representatives, perhaps the Graduate Student Union, the GSG's predecessor organization which started to exist in 1989. Mr. Adelizzi continued by saying that around 1995, a graduate student asked for the Athletics Department to institute a flat fee for graduate students, too, but Athletics rejected the idea on the grounds that it had been rejected in the past. It did, however, institute a flat voluntary fee of $25 that graduate students could pay and get the same privilege for the year. This seemed fair as the undergraduates' $12.50 fee had been set as a mandatory fee with the expectation that only about half would actually go. A member of the Assembly noted that the problem could be solved by simply showing up and holding a finger over the "G" on one's ID card. Mr. Adelizzi conceded this point but said that he would investigate the undergraduate activities fee further. Ms. Sherov expressed reservations that graduate students were all that interested in going to Princeton's sporting events. Mr. Adelizzi did not think most graduate students would be interested, either, but he wished the explanation noted in the minutes for the future. REPORT OF THE CHAIR TH Mr. Miller reminded everyone that the deadline to sign up for medical and dental benefits plans with Horizon was this coming Monday. He added that the University had no power to relax this deadline, as it was in a contract with Horizon, so graduate students should act promptly if they wished to sign up up. TH Mr. Miller further stated that the GSG had found out through Ms. Safran that because of the Federal Reserve's recent dramatic drop of the interest rate, now is a good time to consider consolidating student loans, a process through which multiple federally sponsored educational loans bearing varied and variable interest rates may be bundled together under one fixed interest rate, currently 4%. He thought that this information should be passed on to graduate students. Ms. Safran said that the reason this was worthy of a notice now was that interest rates were now at their lowest level in 37 years. There was some ambiguity about whether students who were in deferment could consolidate their loans; the Department of Education said that it was possible, but Citibank, a private lender that also consolidated student loans, said it was not. But the GSG Executive Committee thought it was a good idea to call graduate students' attention to the possibility. TH Mr. Miller also said that a newly post-enrolled student had contacted the GSG regarding library access; evidently there were some student privileges, like extended loan periods and access to interlibrary loan that were not available to the post-enrolled no matter what fees the student was willing to pay. This student in particular was also more than five years past the general examination, after which library privileges are no longer accorded except on the basis to which they may be granted to the general public, or possibly the alumni public, on a fee-paying basis. However, Associate Provost Jed Marsh, who also serves as Secretary to the Provost's Committee on Post-Enrollment, directed the Graduate School, and Dean Redman in particular, to help graduate students get whatever library privileges they needed to continue their study. The Post-Enrollment Committee was also preparing an information packet for post-enrolled students. Mr. Adelizzi said that Dean Redman would intervene with the Library if the student's advisor and Director of Graduate Studies certified that the student was still actively pursuing his or her degree at Princeton. As his fourth item, TH Mr. Miller said that the GSG was asked to provide some material for the welcome packet for all graduate students. The GSG was granted permission to provide a one page flier for inclusion in the packet. Ms. Safran suggested sending a former packet to the GSG Assembly so that they could look at it. Ms. Hale suggested it would be a good idea to tell people who their representatives were and how they could get involved. As his final item, TH Mr. Miller said that the Scholars in Schools program, which seeks to involve Ph.D. students in public schools in a number of roles, now had a Web site at http://www.princeton.edu/~sits/ which was worth checking out. Mr. Adelizzi said that he would create a link to the site on the GSG Web site. A SUMMER BARBECUE Ms. Bystrom then wished to follow up on the summer barbecue that the Assembly had felt positively about at its last meeting. Because most summer activities revolve around the Graduate College, it was felt that a more centralized on-campus event might be more inclusive. July 24th and July 25th were both mentioned as good dates for such a barbecue. Ms. Bystrom further reported, however, that she had run into some problems in the organization. For one, the Frist Campus Center had its own events on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays and didn't know if the events would be compatible or not. This was widely interpreted as the Frist Campus Center being difficult to work with because they did not want to clean up after an event if the GSG did not pay their staff exorbitant fees to cater it. The exorbitant fees in question were $10 per person for hot dogs and hamburgers, which would amount to $3000 even if only 300 people showed up. Offering grilled chicken as well would raise the fee per person to $15. As solutions to the problem, Ms. Bystrom said that the GSG could rent grills from Building Services and do the cooking itself. However, for so many people, propane grills would be needed and it was unlikely that the GSG could secure permits for their use in time. Another idea was to seek out cosponsorship to defray the cost, or postpone the event to August. Postponing the event might make it easier to find a location, although there would still be expense issues. The GSG could also hold its event at a non-central location. Ms. Yang said that the Butler Committee had decided to spend $600 on a barbecue, and possibly Butler and the GSG could do it together. Ms. Wijetunge said that the Lawrence Committee was planning on having a barbecue as well. Ms. Bystrom said that the Assembly would still have to spend about $2000 if it secured cosponsorship. Ms. Hale asked Ms. Bystrom if she had thought about asking Vice-President Dickerson for funds. Ms. Bystrom had not, because she felt that her plan was not defined well enough yet. Ms. Hale said that Vice-President Dickerson was very approachable and suggested contacting her or even going to her office. Ms. Sherov asked about the objections that Frist had had to the GSG's barbecue. Ms. Bystrom said that they had been worried about crowd control and said that the GSG would have to pay for more staff in the building as well. However, Director of the Frist Campus Center Mr. Paul Breitman was currently on vacation and nothing final could be said. Ms. Sherov said that Ms. Bystrom would probably have a much better time with Frist when Mr. Breitman returned from his vacation. Ms. Bystrom asked the Assembly if it still felt the barbecue was a good idea in the first place. It did. Mr. Pease commented that it might be good to have the barbecue the first week in August, then the new Graduate School Dean could be invited to it and meet some of the GSG. THE FIRST CHANCE DANCE Ms. Bystrom then said that she would like to consider the location of the GSG's First Chance Dance, traditionally held in September. TH Mr. Miller said that the GSG had held it two years ago in Chancellor Green, but that location was unsuitable as it was currently being converted to a library, and probably would never be suitable again. Last year the First Chance Dance was cancelled because of President Tilghman's installation. Since the dance two years ago was the "first annual" First Chance Dance, the dance did not appear to have established any traditional location. It was briefly debated whether this year's dance should be called the Second Chance Dance or the Third Chance Dance. Ms. Hale suggested that if it were held at Frist, it could be called the "Frist Chance Dance." The Assembly determined that the dance should continue to be called the First Chance Dance, regardless of how many times the dance had been held previously. Ms. Safran suggested that Frist would be an unsuitable location for the First Chance Dance as mixed drinks were not allowed. TH Mr. Miller said that they were actually allowed, only they were expensive because Frist bartenders needed to be hired. Mr. Jordan suggested that the Third World Center might be a good place to hold the dance, as they had a large multipurpose room and were more alcohol-tolerant. This seemed a good suggestion. Ms. Bystrom said that she would be excited if anyone would volunteer to help with the First Chance Dance. Mr. Adelizzi volunteered to sell dental insurance again, as he had done during the first First Chance Dance. He notably did not volunteer to hold a constitutional referendum, his other activity, along with Mr. Vere and Mr. Kyle Morrison, on that unquestionably unique night in Chancellor Green. Ms. Hale said that since the dance reached more people, and that there were other barbecues around, the First Chance Dance should be a higher priority than the barbecue. Ms. Safran said that she liked the idea of welcoming Dean Russel to the Graduate School. Mr. Adelizzi suggested that the dance could be used to welcome him. Ms. Safran commented that the GSG could then make it into a Dance with the Dean night. This seemed it would make for a unique night as well. Mr. Pease noted that the Dean would be gone for the last two weeks of August. Someone wondered how he knew this and asked Mr. Pease if he were one of Dean Russel's students. Mr. Pease affirmed that he was. CONCERNS OF INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS Mr. Adelizzi then raised the issue of the GSG's response to the concerns of international students. He said that international students had some unique problems, like visa issues, language issues and tax problems. He said that they may also face some general problems with cultural adjustment. The Executive Committee felt that the GSG should establish a standing committee to deal with international graduate student concerns. Ms. Yang suggested asking international student organizations to send people to GSG meetings. Unfortunately, many of these organizations were socially oriented and not "political," in the student government sense of the word. Mr. Adelizzi reiterated that there was no coherent voice on international student issues, but there was a need for one. Ms. Yang volunteered to ask the Chinese Scholars and Students organization to send someone. She said that she felt they would like to help, but didn't know how. Ms. Hale said that Ms. Weining Man had also expressed interest in such a project, and maybe she could be contacted. Ms. Wijetunge categorized her own group, the Council of International Graduate Students, as another primarily social group. CIGS mostly worked with the International Center. But it was involved in orientation. She added that Dean Montero had an incomplete list of international graduate student organizations and contacts for them, but could not release the information because of concerns in giving out people's names. But it was possible that Dean Montero might be able to send them a message on the GSG's behalf. Ms. Sherov said that Ms. Jennifer McNabb, International Graduate Student Advisor in the Office of Visa Services, might be able to help in these efforts as well. Ms. Wijetunge suggested a Web site. Mr. Adelizzi said that he would see if he could compile something along the lines that Ms. Wijetunge suggested. Ms. Yang also raised a set of concerns, saying that the requirements for receiving the degree of Master of Arts and the Ph.D. were not clear. In particular, she said that someone she knew had failed generals twice, and was given an M.A. and told she had to leave Princeton. Ms. Yang said that the requirements for the M.A. had not been explicitly explained, and also things like this made it difficult for international students because of visa issues. Mr. Adelizzi said that during orientation for his department, the Director of Graduate Studies said that an M.A. was given to people who failed generals as a general rule. Ms. Yang said that some students were given a second chance, however. Mr. Adelizzi said that this depended from department to department and from case to case. Everyone passing generals receives an M.A., but there are no general principles governing the award of an M.A. for people who do not. TH Mr. Miller added that in the science departments, ordinarily students getting a coursework master's degree (Master of Science in Engineering, Master of Engineering or Master of Science degrees) needed to have been admitted for that degree to receive it. Ms. Wijetunge said that there were levels of failure, however, and in rare cases exceptions to that rule. For example, a student could fail, and not be permitted to take generals again, or fail, but be permitted to try again. Sometimes students that failed were permitted to stay on for an M.S.E., sometimes they were given only an M.A., and sometimes they received nothing. Mr. Adelizzi said that the proper forum to discuss this concern would be a graduate student committee in that department. In any event the Director of Graduate Studies needed to make the requirements clear. But the presence of graduate student committees in departments was an ongoing issue. TH Mr. Miller said that the GSG planned to contact Directors of Graduate Studies in September on a number of issues, and graduate student committees would be one of them. As a final item, Ms. Hale said that she would like the GSG to set up a Scrabble tournament, maybe with the final round held in the Graduate College. Mr. Adelizzi said that he thought a Scrabble tournament would make a good GC event. He said that he and Ms. Hale could talk about a structure for it, which may depend on how many people were interested. Ms. Bystrom inquired about the time for this Scrabble tournament. Ms. Hale envisioned August. TH Mr. Miller then adjourned the meeting at 7:12 p.m. The next meeting will be held at 6 p.m., in 309 Frist, on August 14th. Respectfully submitted, Jim Vere Acting Recording Secretary ******************************* * Jim Vere * * Ph.D. Student, Economics * * 001 Fisher Hall * * Princeton University * * Princeton, NJ 08544-1021 * * * * Ph: (609) 258-2165 * * Fax: (609) 258-6419 * *******************************