GSA Meeting Minutes--January 3, 2002

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Overview

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Attendance:

Officers: Sara Sutler-Cohen (IVP), Lee Ritscher (President), Heather DeShon (Treasurer), David Machledt (Secretary), Yancey Quiñones (EVP)

Department Reps: Emily Moberg (History/CPB), Sajeemas “Mint” Pasakdee (Env. Studies), Allison Luengen (Etox), Marlene Elwell (Anthropology), Scott Ebsen (Math), Yuri Springer (EEB), Leah Haines (Economics)

Visitors: Achilles Gagliano

I. Approval of Agenda and Minutes

Agenda and minutes were approved with minor changes.

II. Committee Reports

Sara	There is still an open position for a grad student on the Hate Bias Review Board.
	The Single Parents Action Network (SPAN) is growing, now with 26 members. Sara has been voted president and Veronica Toledo is VP. Secretary and Treasurer positions are open.
Heather	The Grad Commons Board will have its first meeting of the new quarter on January 7^th. Katy Flint, after years of great work for the GSA and grad commons, has graduated and moved. Heather will order the Ansel Adams photo for the common room before the next GSA meeting.
	The Travel Grants Committee is receiving applications and has awarded 8 grants so far this year.
Scott	The Growth and Stewardship Task Force met and asked for grad student input on what is important, specifically, for changes in grad housing.
Allison	The student insurance office is putting together a cheat sheet for students trying to figure out how GSHIP works. It is necessary for students to mail their own pink slips to insurance companies to get reimbursed.
Emily	The Committee for Planning and Budget (CPB) is dealing with a hiring freeze at all UC campuses
Yancey	There will be a Student of Color Conference on February 15-17, and distributed applications to board representatives.
Leah	The Transportation Advisory Committee (TAC) met, but refused to discuss parking issues. They told Leah that it would be illegal for the UC to run a bus from the elementary school to family student housing, but that we should call the school district and work through that channel. They also reported on the great success of the bike shuttle.
Dave	The Social Committee has been planning several events. The GSA day hike to Big Sur in the fall had 21 participants and was a great success. A motion was approved to fund two surfing classes during the winter quarter, at a cost of up to $200 each to the GSA, with participants paying $10 each. A second motion was approved to spend up to $200 on a wine-tasting trip, at a cost of $5 per participant.

IV. Officer Reports

Sara	No report.
Heather	The GSA has $73,782 at the end of the last fiscal year. That includes a $61,000 carry-over from last year’s budget. This year, the GSA has spent $20,000…
Dave	He will meet with Yuri before the next meeting to move forward on the website redesign.
Lee	She talked to UC President Atkinson during the winter break and discussed grad student issues. She announced that the Grad Council approved the idea for a Grad College. This proposal now goes to the CCGA for final approval. Then titles will change for those in the Grad Division and plans for space and housing allocation will begin. This also opens the door for alumni scholarships for grad students. The Grad College will become a part of the University’s long range development plan. Also, the Grad Council approved a change that says a student can walk with their peers as long as they will be done within a month of graduation and their advisors sign off on it. Grad students will have a meeting with Chancellor Greenwood sometime during this quarter.

V. New Business

Having received approval from her board, Wendy Williams was nominated and approved as representative from Psychology.

A discussion on housing needs was conducted to provide information for Scott to report to the Growth and Stewardship Task Force. First, it was agreed that housing must be affordable, around 1/3 of a TA salary. Many ideas were presented, including providing unfurnished apartments, mixing grad students with undergrads, seeking an International Student House, decoupling grad college housing from the rest of university housing and mixing family student housing with grad students. No overwhelming consensus was reached on any of these points other than affordable housing. It was suggested that infill development would be better than breaking new ground for a Grad College.

Another discussion, on GSHIP actions, was held for ideas to improve the process. Ideas included hiring someone to submit forms and streamline the reimbursal process, setting up an emergency fund for grad students in need, touring other campuses, such as Cal-State, to see what kind of insurance programs they have. It was agreed that a fact sheet comparing Cal State’s insurance to UCSC’s was useful and would be a powerful lobbying tool. Allison also agreed to collect “horror stories” on bad experiences with student health insurance before the next GSA meeting.

Emily announced that the Academic Senate passed a resolution to raise the grad student enrolment ratio to 15%. While it might sound good, it may represent a significant change in how resources will be distributed, especially if most of the increases are in the sciences. It may also make it more difficult to find TA positions. It was agreed that more information on the nature of HOW to increase grad students, and in which departments, is needed.

A brief discussion of ideas to bring to Chancellor Greenwood included getting bus pass stickers for summer students, increasing summer funding through Chancellor’s fellowships, offering rent relief grants, addressing the poor health insurance and creating an international student house/office.

VI. Adjourn

Contact GSA: gsa@ucsc.edu