Minutes

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GSC Agenda: May 10, 2006: 6:00-8:00 - FOOD @ 5:45!
Graduate Community Center - Nairobi Room
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Quorum for this meeting is seven voting members.

1. 5:45 FOOD (thanks Maria!)

2. 6:00 Welcome with Introductions (Jenny)

3. 6:05 Announcements (Jenny)
i. Minutes from 5/3 (thanks Tracy!)
ii. Remember - GSC Transition Event: May 14th, 9AM-7PM (Sunday)
Reminder - Please send in transition documents!
iii. Brian Lukoff = Matt Andrews proxy

4. 6:10 SOCA Budget Modifications (Jenny)
- Review 2 budget modifications and vote
- "The transfer was to cover CD production charges for a free CD SOCA
produced. They had funds allocated for it in their budget, but it cost more
to produce than they had originally expected, so they needed the
mod/transfer to cover the remaining cost." - Chris Elmore

SOCA bill for Mural/Arts grant not written to the GSC, proposal made to amend it to have Adam Beberg as author. Amendment accepted by consensus.

Little debate occurred here. Approved 8-0-0.

5. 6:15 Financial Manager Confirmation (Matt)
- Vote to confirm Financial Manager 2006-07

Matt is the replacement for Justin Fishner-Wolfson.
Approved 7-0-1.

6. 6:20 Appointment and Swearing In of Medical Rep (Jenny)
- Welcome to the GSC Yana and please raise your right hands!

Jenny: Yana couldn't attend because she was injured in a mountain bike race this weekend, but we will appoint her tonight and swear her in next week.

Yana's appointment was approved 8-0-0.

7. 6:25 Official Approval of Co-Chairs and Financial Officers (Jenny)
- It takes one week after a rep is sworn in for his/her vote to be
effective.

Vote to approve last week's elected 2006-07 GSC Officers:
- Co-Chairs: Paul Gurney (Chair) & Jenny Allen (Deputy Chair)
- Financial Officer: Jeff Laretto
- Deputy Financial Officer: Maxim Afanasyev
- Funding Committee Chair: Adam Beberg
- Deputy Funding Committee Chair: Jeff Laretto
- Programming Co-Coordinator: Fen Zhao & Maxim Afanasyev
- Tax Coordinator: Yana Hoy
- Thanksgiving Dinner Coordinator: Stephen Hunt
- Diversity Advocacy Committee Chair: Cullen Buie
- Housing Advocacy Committee Chair: Yana Hoy
- Stipends Advocacy Committee Chair: George Bloom
- Graduate Student Survey: Rebecca Kaplan

Approved 8-0-0

8. 6:30 Open Positions (Jenny)
- Openings have been posted online. Thoughts on how to get newbies?
- Food Czar and Secretary needed IMMEDIATELY! Would someone be willing to
take these positions on for a quarter and then have someone else take them
on next quarter(s)?

- All Main Open Positions: PR Coordinator (Shireen Barday or Cullen Buie),
Webmaster, Secretary, FLiCKS Coordinator, Healthcare Advocacy Committee
Chair (Kristina Keating - willing to Co-), Bulletin Coordinator(s), Food
Czar(s), Parking and Transportation Board Chair

Kristina Keating volunteered for the secretary position. She will be out for 3 weeks in the summer. Approved by consensus.

Matt and Carrie Andrews is interested in Food Czar, but they're expecting a baby soon, so can't do it until after the summer. Dirk Englund volunteered to do it for the summer. Approved by consensus.

PR Coordinator: Cullen would like to do this, but needs someone for the summer. He's getting married the week school starts, which is when the GSC needs to do a lot of publicity.

Adam: We need more people!

Jenny: What can we do to get more people?

Tom: Office hours. Go to a public place and make yourself available! If you need money for food and other incentives, just ask - we have it.

Kristina: Hannah sponsored a Friday beer last year at Earth Sciences - can we do this again? [Yes]

Jeff: Send emails to the 1st year students EARLY, before they commit to things for the year.

Maria: Organize events for people from departments who don't have direct representation. Some people from the Humanities have said that they have issues but don't know where to go.

Kristina Keating: Have GSC reps go and advertise at department town hall meetings.


9. 6:40 Transition Meeting (Jenny)
- Date: Sunday, May 14th from 9:00 AM until 7:00 PM
- Location: Graduate Community Center, Havana Room
- Who is going to be there?
- Interested in some fun bonding activity afterwards?
- Schedule for Review
8:30 AM Continental Breakfast
9:00 AM Welcome / Introductions
Review of GSC 2005-06
Principles & Norms
9:30 AM General GSC Goals 2006-07 Brainstorm Session
10:00 AM Advocacy Goals 2006-07 (maybe open spaces style)
Review recent history for each area
Determine goals with timeline for each area
Form interest groups / advocacy committees
- Academic
- Family / Child Care
- Parking & Transportation
- Diversity
- Health Care
- Housing
- Stipends
- Student Life
- Tax Relief / Legislative Action
- Other???
12:00 PM Catered Lunch
12:45 PM Advocacy Continued
2:45 PM Snack Break
3:00 PM Programming (Donna)
Describe past events and coordinator responsibilities
Describe relationship between GSC and GSPB/CAs
Discuss additional/alternative programming options
Get volunteers for events
- FLiCKS
- Other???
3:30 PM Funding & Financing (Adam and Stephen)
Run through a sample funding of student group
- Get regular volunteers for funding committee meetings
Provide overview of GSC financing past and present
4:30 PM Wrap-Up
- Overnight Retreat for fall 2006?
- Outstanding items????
5:00 PM Catered Dinner

10. 6:50 Summer Schedule Inquiry (Jenny)
- Who plans to be around during the summer?

Jenny: Song Li, at large rep hasn't shown up to meetings. Fen has agreed to step into the position. I'd like to appoint her tonight.

Tom: I'm concerned that there's a procedure we need to follow - I don't object to Fen stepping up, but we should make sure everything is OK with respect to the constitution.

11. 6:55 Cultural and Social Anthropology (CASA) Concerns (Robert Samet)
- Discussion of concerns on transportation, healthcare, TGR fees, program
funding, etc.
- Potentially GSC member will attend a CASA meeting

Robert Samet, Austin Zeiderman.

We represent the grad students from our department. We are growing increasingly dissatisfied with some of the things that are going on around our department, particularly with regard to finances.

Transportation/Go-Pass, H&S program cuts.

Health Care (Austin): Speaking as someone who has family members in the "hard to insure category," cancelling the dependent plan is very difficult. The options are very limited, and not very good. Other universities offer affordable plans. Yale puts dependents on the same program as students - why can't Stanford do the same?
TGR Fees: We think the TGR rates are astronomical. The figures the University comes up with do not seem to be accurate. Especially for people who need to do several years of field work, it costs a lot.

Tom: We haven't gotten much traction on this issue lately, but it seems that we have a critical mass this year, so we should work together.

Cullen: You should definitely get involved. If you're dissatisfied, you're among friends here.

Each of these may not be a problem, but taken as a whole, they become big. They've been addressed individually, but this may not be the best approach.

12. 7:10 New Business

Cullen: GSC-DC is meeting with the Provost next week regarding VPGE. If people have input, please contact me.

Jenny: Any ideas for agenda items?

Tom: We should talk to the community centers, perhaps invite the directors to come to meetings and talk about what their communities need.

Jenny: Good idea - we should invite Bechtel as well.

Fen: At the GCC Ops meeting, there was discussion of the contract renewal for the 750. We need to discuss this soon. The meetings to discuss this may be starting as soon as this week.

Donna: This just came up this week.

13. 7:15 Adjourn GSC Meeting