February 17th, 2008
Meeting starts at 7:07 pm, Feb. 17th, 2008.
Approval of agenda and meeting minutes for December 2007. Agenda and meeting minutes approved.
New Business:
Recognition of GSOs:
Usually
for non-departmental groups, we introduce them and vote for approval
next month. However, this rule is not part of our Constitution. The proposal is to approve groups now, unless anyone objects, in which case we table them until next month. There was agreement on this new rule.
WIGS (Women in Graduate School)
Charlotte W: The organization aims to provide advocacy and support for women in academia through: education of community; social activities to connect women to a support network at Rutgers; sponsoring and co-sponsoring events. We will work with, and help people gain access to, the many existing resources for women on campus and in the community. We currently have 5 committees: health and family, workplace issues, women in sciences, international, and education/literature. We had our first meeting last week, and after today will have funding for events this spring. Each committee will hold one event this spring, and we will be doing a bi-weekly feminist literature reading group. Voting result: all in favor, no opposition, no abstention.
RAW (Rutgers Against the War)
Rafael: RAW has been around for 4-5 years. It is a group that opposes the Iraq invasion. Voting results: all in favor, no opposition and no abstention.
Proposals from the floor?
Issues of the day
Revised 2007-08 budget
We slightly revised the GSA general budget (handout distributed). We estimated to have $40,000 in funding for spring.
Spring allocations
Most of the groups applying for spring allocations have been approved of additional funding (handout distributed). Also, each group receives a 10% increase in funding. We are also considering increasing the limit for the next year.
A few groups would receive more than $4000, which is the limit. We vote to approve those, and it passes unanimously.
Charlotte: What happens to leftover money? It will go back to the GSA next year, but it does not get carried over the group. Next year the group needs to reapply for the funding. For those groups that applied for spring allocation, please stay after the meeting to sign the contract.
Vote for approval of allocations: all in favor, no opposition, no abstention.
Stadium expansion
We had a long discussion regarding stadium expansion last meeting. In the meeting, we voted against the expansion. However, the board of governors has approved the plan for expansion. We also prepared a resolution (handout distributed). In the resolution, we demand more transparency of the plan. Voting results for the resolution: all in favor for passing the resolution; no opposition; no abstention. We will forward the resolution to the board of governors to state where graduate students stand.
Commencement budget increase?
GSA has planned for funding the graduate commencement for $3000; however, the graduate school requested more support for GSA. As a consequence, we are planning to support $1000 more this year for the commencement. Vote for the increase in support for commencement: all in favor; no opposition; 1 abstention.
Reports
GSA Officers:
There has been lots of complaints regarding how the Housing department performs inspections on family houses on campus, especially to non-native speaker families. We had a meeting with Housing and things have been improving considerably. If you have any issues regarding this, please come talk to us so that we can forward your concerns to the Housing department.
Vote for new GSA Treasurer
Our former treasurer, Ryan Fowler, has graduated. We nominate Sarah Murray to be the new treasurer. Vote for approval: all in favor; no opposition; no abstentions. Sarah will be our treasurer.
Vote for new ISAC Chair
Tamanna, the ISAC Chair for the last three years, has resigned from her position and nominated Ramya Ramadurai to be the new chair. Vote for approval: all in favor; no opposition; no abstentions. Ramya will be the new chair of ISAC.
Internal Committees
TA/GA (Scott B): If you are a member of TA/GA union, you should be getting in your mail a ballot regarding a dues increase. The last time the dues were increased was 1982. Right now, you pay .5% of your salary and the union is considering a .1% increase (to .6% -- around $20 more a year for a TA/GA). The union needs more money right now to support the new house, maintain its staff, and to enhance the quality of service the union provides.
External Committees
University Senate / BOT – New Senator
Our senator, Ryan Fowler, has graduated. We need a new candidate for the position. If you are interested in being the senator, please contact us. The senate meets once a month. It will be beneficial for all of us to have a graduate student in the senate since quite often there will be issues, that affect a lot of graduate students, discussed in the senate meetings. You need to be in the NB graduate school. To know more about how the system works, you may feel free to contact Ryan (treasurer@gsa.rutgers.edu).
Administrative Assistant & Events Coordinator (Benjamin Peters and Ben Arenger)
Reservations, setup fees, etc: Ben Arenger can help you to set up any event (event@gsa.rutgers.edu). All GSOs should not need to pay for the reservation if the group holds an event on campus in the five student centers. However, if the group asks for a special set up (equipment, arrangement of furniture, etc), the group sometimes will be charged (sometimes unreasonable). As a result, for those group holding events please inquire the fees carefully. Also, the groups can also hold events in the Graduate student lounge here. We also have a lot of equipment in the lounge. When your group makes a reservation, make sure you report the correct mailing address to reach you. Also ask for an invoice at the end of the event and submit the invoice with your Post Event Report form. GSA will issue a check, in the name of the University, for you to pay.
Q: If you have food catered, does it need to be from the student center? A: The food should come from student center or places approved by the university.
Q: My group wants to have a movie night; do we need to acquire a movie license?
A: If it is a movie that is in the Rutgers Media collection then you are entitled to show it on campus. To check what is in the collection, go to the library web page and check. The media library is on Livingston campus. Also, the group should not charge for the movie. If you have further copyright questions, please call the media library and ask for advice. If you want to show movie in GSL, we have the equipment. Contact event@gsa for more details.
First Annual Nutritional Sciences Graduate Student Association Conference will be held on Feb 29th, 2008 9am-12pm at Cook Campus Center Multipurpose Room C. All are welcome to attend.
Questions and Announcements