Search Committee Needed: VP Finance and Admin

Good Evening, GSS! As many of you know, Vice President for Finance and
Administration, Bill Decatur, has left his position at Ohio University. I have
received a communication from President McDavis requesting three, unranked
names of graduate students who would be interested in serving on the search
committee for the new Vice President for Finance and Administration.
This would be a relatively short term assignment and would provide
excellent insight into university hiring and interviewing practices. It is
also a VERY important chance to provide input into the selection of one of the
most important Executive positions on campus. If you are interested, please
respond as soon as possible. Thank you so much and have a wonderful night!!

Best,
Tracy Kelly

Tracy Kelly
President, Graduate Student Senate and
Chair, Center for Student Legal Services Board of Directors

302 Baker University Center
Athens, Ohio 45701
Office Telephone: 740-593-1899

tk381500@ohio.edu
gss@ohio.edu

10.26.09 Meeting Minutes

Graduate Student Senate

General Assembly Meeting

October 26th, 2009

 

1. Call to Order
2. Roll call rolled on by…
3. Approved previous meeting’s minutes
4. No students spoke out
5. Presentations
   1. Ohio University Honor Council – Ted Hamilton (th218306@ohio.edu)
      1. i.      Honor Code was created by undergraduate Bailey Miles last year and will begin implementation with next year’s freshmen, if approved by undergrads.
      2. ii.      There currently is one Graduate Student Senate position u for grabs, but more might follow.
      3. iii.      The code is meant to bring undergrads to the same level of behavior as graduate students, and may or may not involve graduate students.
   2. David Mathews / Associate Provost and Dean of University College David Descutner (who didn’t make it)
      1. i.      We brought to him many problems we have with technology, including
         1. printing costs for grad students (asked for the possibility of a subsidy)
         2. printing availability (OU is trying to centralize printing and technology)
         3. weak wireless
         4. Blackboard setbacks: uploading media and large files
         5. reduced resources, including the CSC open lab for grad students
         6. survey software?
         7. lack of video lecture capture systems
6. Officer’s Reports
   1. President – concern about stipends
   2. VPCLA- also concerned about stipends
   3. VP Admin- budget update: spent $1,610.21 this quarter, which leaves us with $1,743.79
   4. VP Coms- email me with ideas for our blog; what do you want to know?
7. Committee and Commission Reports
   1. Graduate Student Life – Tiffany Teofilo, by proxy Victoria, not able to attend office hours this Thursday
   2. Smoking Policy taskforce – Sajjad Haider, initially there was a complaint because they found smoking in residence halls- might initiate fine on violations; work on increasing awareness by putting up signs
   3. Policy and Procedures – James Archibald, this committee needs more members!
   4. university curriculum council- Ardy Gonyer, OCEAN is a new software to streamline the process of updating courses and will be going live soon. Curriculum Council will be reviewing many classes and working on the transition to semesters.
8. No Old Business
9. New Business
   1. Passed Resolution 0910-06: A Resolution Adopting New Members
   2. Item for Discussion: Graduate Stipends : As the University is facing tough economic times, no cost cutting ideas are off the table. So do we think there are places we can make concessions?
      1. i.      current contracts will not be broken
      2. ii.      Craig Meyer pointed out that the graduate student budget is less than 2% of the operating budget, and that the university could not operate without our services.
      3. iii.      Lyle Wiemerslage said we should be asking for more money. We make just enough to not qualify for food stamps, he said. He wonders why our pay is convoluted by being separated into so many categories. He noted that the cost of life in Athens is equivalent to large cities, with which many others concurred.
      4. iv.      Sarah Templeton Wilson wants to know what are we earning comparatively?
         1. Georgia Guy said that of the four theater programs to which she applied, OU offered the highest stipend.
         2. James Archibald said that, as far as peer institutions, we’re ranked toward the bottom.
      5. v.      Chelsie Wollett pointed out that we won’t get paid more, so if we don’t get a pay cut, would it be fair to lower the number of GAs and TAs?
         1. They are hiring more GAs.
         2. Ardy Gonyer said that  if we reduce GA numbers, we could make OU more competitive.
         3. Craig noted that the number of GAs compared to classroom size and department might be disproportionate.
         4. James Archibald thinks it is dangerous to choose supposed quality over quantity (because the university won’t increase our pay proportionately to the cuts). He suggested that we should take a little cut and give other people the chance to receive assistantships.
         5. Sarah Templeton Wilson notes that we’re already maxed out on our workloads, so we can’t cut more numbers. If they cut positions and stipends, they probably won’t raise them again when the economy gets better.
      6. vi.      Chelsie- expected that you won’t have job outside of school, so what is the minimum cost of living
      7. vii.      Georgia said she heard that the university promised to raise graduate stipends and decrease insurance costs.
      8. viii.      Jennette’s proxy wanted to remind us that if it comes to us negotiating our stipend, we start somewhere and move backward
         1. the response seemed to be that we don’t want to get into compromising, just ensuring we maintain our present stipends.
      9. ix.      If anyone is interested in drafting a resolution, contact Tracy or Josh! We’d like to draft a resolution by next meeting.
10. Announcements
    1. HGSA fundraiser- Halloween, 12- 3a.m. in Brown House near Jeff Hill.
    2. Sajjad- please respond to his smoking policy email, which will follow soon!
11. We Adjourned.

Stipend Cuts a Possibility (2 part message from President Kelly)

Part 1. Faculty Senate calls for stipend cuts (Tracy Kelly)

———————————————————————-

Good Afternoon, GSS. Yes, you read the subject of this email correctly. I am

disappointed to inform you that, during a budget discussion yesterday afternoon,

Chairman McLaughlin of Faculty Senate suggested re-examining the importance of

preserving graduate stipends in the midst of the budget crisis. While there is

no doubt that the budget situation is serious, cutting our already low stipends

is an unacceptable means of saving money. Not only is this NOT consistent with

attracting quality graduate students to this institution, it is an outrage in

light of the number of students who are barely surviving on $12,000 a year or

less. Below, I have included a link to the article. While I will be working on

ways to address this issue I always welcome your questions and feedback. Thank

you and have wonderful day.

http://www.thepost.ohiou.edu/main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID=1&ArticleID=29446&TM=41398.43

  Part 2. follow up email (Tracy Kelly)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
   Good Evening, GSS! I have received a number of emails about the Post article
that I sent out this afternoon and I am glad to hear that you are as concerned
about the situation as I am. Though we are still far away from Chairman
McLaughlin's remarks becoming a policy, I intend to take this seriously. I
believe that it is important that we make every effort to reiterate our
importance to the institution. I have a meeting with Provost Benoit tomorrow
afternoon and I intend to explain to her that this is yet another example of the
type of disregard that we have grown too accustomed to experiencing. I will keep
you informed about the discussion and I hope you have a wonderful night!

                                                           Best,
                                                        Tracy Kelly 

Tracy Kelly
President, Graduate Student Senate and
Chair, Center for Student Legal Services Board of Directors

302 Baker University Center
Athens, Ohio 45701
Office Telephone: 740-593-1899

tk381500@ohio.edu
gss@ohio.edu

10/12/09 Meeting Minutes

Graduate Student Senate

General Assembly Meeting

October 12th, 2009

1. Call to Order:  The meeting was called to order by President Kelly at 7:00pm in Walter 235.
2. Roll Call:  The role was called by VP for Finance and Outreach Gonyer who was filling in for VP for Communication Selden.
3. Approval of Previous Meeting’s Minutes: A motion and second were taken to adopt the previous meetings minutes.  None were opposed and the motion carried.
4. Student Speak Out: No students were here to speak out.
5. Presentations
   1. Graduate Student Pre-Law Advising – Jen Shomburg Kanke: Ms. Kanke wanted to inform the body of a new service being offered to graduate students.  She is able to see any student in the university that is interested in law school, including graduate students.  She is able to provide general tips about applying, taking the LSAT, etc.  If there is anything that one would need to know about law school, she is able to help.
   2. Executive Vice President and Provost – Dr. Pam Benoit:  Dr. Benoit thanked us for allowing her time to talk to the body.  She shared what she has been doing since arriving at Ohio University; the main goal has been to survey the academic landscape.  She has asked questions to several groups to gain an idea of the culture of Ohio University.  She addressed the Quarters to Semesters (Q2S) conversion and talked about potential differences that will occur during the transition.  Dr. Benoit also addressed budget issues and how they affect graduate assistantships, recruitment, etc.  She informed us that the university is working harder to gain grant money and external money from donors.  Several members raised a variety of issues that Dr. Benoit addressed.
   3. Chief Information Officer – Brice Bible: Mr. Bible talked about major IT initiatives that are currently underway that affect graduate students.  One is a network upgrade to bring our institution to a more competitive level with other research I institutions.  The second is a Student Information System (SIS) replacement with PeopleSoft.  These are both a multi-year process.  The third is OHIO IT realignment.  This involves realigning the distributed and centralized IT to make things more balanced and more cost-effective.  The fourth project is E-mail conversions.  Faculty, staff, and graduate students will be moving to Exchange from Webmail/Mulberry.  Undergraduates and alumni have converted to CatMail.  Mr. Bible also presented planned IT highlights for the academic year.  He talked about an idea for a graduate lab in the bottom of the CSC building.  Mr. Bible also took questions from the body.

1. Officer’s Reports
   1. President: Thank you for attending the ISU International Dinner.  We are hoping to continue to develop this relationship.  Graduate Council now has a fourth graduate representative on the committee.  GSS now has in place our second representative on the General Fee committee.
   2. VPCLA: I am currently serving on the search committee for the new university Ombuds.  We are trying to fill the position soon.
   3. VP Admin: VP Gonyer reported that GSS had spent $693.16 year to date.  This means that we have $2660.85 left to spend this year.
   4. VP Coms: No report-absent.
2. Committee and Commission Reports
   1. International Affairs – Animesh Rathore: The ISU International Dinner was sold out and very successful.  We are trying to form a collaboration between GSS and ISU.  There is a fundraiser going on to benefit the Sumatra earthquake victims on Friday October 16 from 4-10pm for $2.00 at the Baker Theater.
   2. Graduate Student Life – Tiffany Teofilo: Thank you to all for contributing for the graduate student tailgate on Saturday for Homecoming.    The sign-up sheet was reviewed as were sponsors that are contributing, Follet’s Bookstore and Pepsi.  We still need help to set up and tear down and if you cannot help, please come and just have fun!
   3. Smoking Policy taskforce – Sajjad Haider: Absent.
   4. Policy and Procedures – James Archibald: Absent.
3. Old Business
4. New Business

a.    Resolution 0910-04: A Resolution Adopting New Members:  There was a motion to waive the reading which was seconded and passed.  There was a motion to adopt with a second and the resolution passed unanimously.

b.    Resolution 0910-05: A Resolution Requesting Educational Benefits for Domestic    Partners of Students with Graduate Appointments: The resolution was read in its entirety.  The primary sponsor was allotted time to address the body in regards to the resolution.  The secondary sponsors were allotted time to address the body as well.  A motion and a second was made to adopt the resolution and the resolution passed unanimously.

1. Announcements
   1. Homecoming: This is occurring on Saturday at 11am in TailGreat Park.  Please stop by and have fun with us.  If you have any questions, please contact Tracy or Tiffany Teofilo.
   2. David Mathews / Associate Provost and Dean of University College David Descutner: They will be presenting more on the idea that CIO Bible presented about a graduate commons.
   3. There is a handout in regards to the presentation that was made on the international student networking site.
   4. Walk a Mile in Her Shoes is Saturday October 25, 2009.  Please come out and support this event!
   5. This is OUT Week.  Please attend events and support the LGBT community.
2. Adjournment: There was a motion to adjourn and a second.  The motion carried and the meeting was adjourned at 8:48 pm.

Volunteers Still Needed… Homecoming 2009

Hello, GSS.  We need you!

Do you want to get some exercize over the next couple weeks? I have an easy task for you that will burn calories and help you make a contribution to our Homecoming planning efforts…  We need roughly 6 people to canvass OU campus and uptown Athens with posters and fliers so that our fellow grad students know when and where to find us for meeting, greeting, and of course… EATING.

We also still need to know what time you will be there to meet and greet your constituents… We expect that all members of the GSS body are going to join us for the event so that your constituents will get a chance to meet you and spend some time, and we want to make sure that there are GSS members available throughout the event, so please let us know what time you’ll be showing up to put in an hour or so of your time.

We also still need volunteers who are willing to grill food for the event, or willing to contribute picnic supplies and dishes for the event.

Please send an email to OUGSSGSL@yahoo.com to let us know what you’ll be contributing to our homecoming event.

Thank you all for your time and commitment!!

Vision Ohio Steering Committee

Good Evening, GSS! Graduate Student Senate is currently looking for a
student to serve as our representative on the Vision Ohio Steering Committee.
For those of you who are not familiar with Vision Ohio, it is the name of the
Ohio University's strategic planning document and outlines goals and objectives
for both the academic plan and the prioritization of institutional resources.
  The Vision Ohio Steering Committee is also the key body in charge of
overseeing action projects associated with the university's accreditation
process known as AQIP. More information about Vision Ohio can be found here:
http://www.ohio.edu/vision/.
  This is a very important service opportunity and would provide wonderful
professional development for anyone interested in working in higher education.
The committee is scheduled to begin meeting in the very near future and anyone
interested in serving in this capacity should let me know as soon as possible.
      Thank you so much for your hard work and service! Have a great night!

                                       Best,
                                    Tracy Kelly 

Tracy Kelly
President, Graduate Student Senate and
Chair, CSLS Board of Directors

302 Baker University Center
Athens, Ohio 45701
Office Telephone: 740-593-1899

tk381500@ohio.edu
gss@ohio.edu 

9/28/09 GSS Meeting Minutes

Graduate Student Senate Minutes

Sept. 28^th 2009

1. Call to Order
2. Roll Call
3. Approved Previous Meeting’s Minutes
4. No Students Spoke Out
5. Presentations

a. Graduate Student Social Programming Committee – Jamie Huckins, president of Graduate Student Social Programming Committee, along with Eric, the treasurer expressed interest in coordinating with GSS on events (Homecoming/Tailgaiting event- free food, family and pets invited; educational consumption of alcohol such as wine tasting; Spelling Bee at Jackie O’s which included undergrads and community). They said they will “increase the visibility of Graduate Student Senate” because “we have established relationships with the university… and we already know the answer to a lot of those questions” our group could ask. GSS would be the manpower to their ideas. For more information, contact Jamie at jh177600@ohio.edu.

b. US International – Sulaiman Batawil and Tyler Lummis utilized the nonprofit organization Southeast Ohio Business to Business (seob2b.org) to create a nonprofit business networking Website (www.unsint.ning.com)for global Ohio University students and alumni in response to the emerging global economy. The benefits of their Website include: recruiting globally and helping Bobcats find inexpensive travel and study abroad experiences as well as global jobs. On average, students pay 20 percent more, according to their research, going on third-party organized trips.

1. Officer’s Reports
   1. President- From Parking Services and Budget Planning Council comes the issue of commuter parking for grad students and TAs; currently, there is ambiguity related to parking fines and penalties for graduate students staying overnight in commuter lots. Officially, we have been told students aren’t being ticketed, but an anonymous call to them yielded different results: $25 for overnight parking. On another note, we successfully argued for another representative on the university’s funding board.
   2. VPCLA – Josh will be serving on the search committee for Ombudsman
   3. VP Admin – none
   4. VP Coms – correct my mispronunciation of your names!
2. Committee and Commission Reports

a. Graduate Student Life – Tiffany Teofilo, by proxy Victoria Wang, wanted to let you know that she has posted first interview with Cynara on our blog, http://ohiougss.wordpress.com/, and is seeking volunteers for the homecoming event (ougssgsl@yahoo.com).

b. Women’s Affairs Commission – Chelsie is involved with a university-wide Women’s Commission that wants to check on pay differences between the sexes for grad students.

c. ITAC – Tyler wants you to know there will be a new student information center portal in November 2010. What would you want to see on a graduate student portal? Let him know at tl152105@ohio.edu. Also, graduate students, faculty, and staff soon will be switching to Microsoft Exchange (not CatMail).

d. Intl Affairs Commission- Animesh wants you to know that October 10 will be the annual International Dinner. Tickets should be available at the ISS office. Doors will open at 6, with dinner following at 7.

1. No Old Business
2. New Business
   1. Resolution 0910-02 A Resolution Appointing New Members to the Graduate Student Senate (moved to skip reading of it and passed it unanimously)
   2. Resolution 0910-03 A Resolution Calling for the Change of the Black Affairs Commission to the African American Affairs Commission (Check on our blog next week for a deeper story!)
3. Announcements
   1. GSS Policy and Procedure Committee
   2. Homecoming
   3. Ohio University Chief Information Officer Brice Bible to attend our next meeting
   4. Walk a Mile in Her Shoes is a way for men to get involved in women’s issues. It will be on October 24 at 11 am.
   5. Career Cats organization career fair next week (Wed. 30 Sept., 10-3, Resume Blitz)
   6. Join our Women’s Affair Commission!!!
4. Adjourned

Contact Info

Good Evening, GSS! 

Because we had so many email addresses mentioned this
evening, I thought it might be helpful to send along the link to our roster. All
current members, their positions and their email addresses are listed:
http://www.ohio.edu/gss/members/index.cfm. Please feel free to get in touch with
other members to request more information about commissions or committees on
which they serve. The roster is being continually updated and all of the
information is the most current that we have available. If anyone would like to
change the email address listed, just let me know. 

   Additionally, now that the majority of our members have been adopted, I would
like to have name tents made for all members. Please check the spelling of your
name on the roster and let me know by the end of the week if any changes need to
be made. 

   Thanks so much for your patience this evening and, as always, let me know if
there is anything I can do to be of assistance! Have a great night!!

                                                       Best,
                                                     Tracy Kelly 

Tracy Kelly
President, Graduate Student Senate and
Chair, CSLS Board of Directors

302 Baker University Center
Athens, Ohio 45701
Office Telephone: 740-593-1899

tk381500@ohio.edu
gss@ohio.edu

Get to Know Your GSS Interview Series!

Hello everyone!  Below are links to parts 1 through 4 of our very first “Get to Know your GSS” interview.

We will be interviewing members of the Ohio University Graduate Student Senate regularly throughout the year, and all these videos will be posted through the listserv, on our wordpress blog, and on the Graduate Student Life group page on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/group.php?gid=115877832060&ref=ts).

This first interview features Cynara Medina, ABD – The representative for the College of Communication.  She provides intelligent insight into OU’s GSS, grad student life, and more!  Be sure to watch all four parts.

Cynara part 1 of 4:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NF4yWQgUGbI

Cynara part 2 of 4:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfP1r_Xb85I

Cynara part 3 of 4:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fsqkxsAG9O4

Cynara part 4 of 4:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ky1AiPOt4e8

Enjoy!!

Tiffany Teofilo
Your GSS Grad Student Life Commissioner

Volunteer and help your GSS with Homecoming!

Greetings, GSS!  We are seeking volunteers to help with a fun and exciting
event at this year’s homecoming game.

For those who don’t know, Ohio University has a long-standing rivalry with Miami
University (Miami of Ohio).  For the first time in several years, we are playing
our rivals at Homecoming, so Peden Stadium will probably have a much larger
crowd than usual.

Your GSS is planning to have an event at Tailgreat Park across from the
stadium where graduate students can stop by to say hello, eat some free food and
get to know us and what our organization is all about.

Ohio University Homecoming for 2009 is on Saturday, October 17th. The
football  game starts at 2:00pm, with Peden’s gates opening at 12:30pm.  We will
begin setting up our event at Tailgreat Park around 10:00am so that we can be
ready to serve hungry grad students and meet/greet everyone starting no later
than 11:00am.

Here is a list of the volunteers/items we will need to make this
event great:

*NOTE: If you would like to volunteer, please email Tiffany at
OUGSSGSL@yahoo.com and include your name and what you are willing to do to help
with the event.*

1. Anyone willing to supply a dish for the event (chips, salad, side dishes, etc) can email Tiffany at OUGSSGSL@yahoo.com.  Please include your name and the dish you are bringing so that we can thank you formally and so we know who is contributing what items.

2. We need folks to donate paper plates, napkins, plastic cups, plastic silverware.  If you can contribute even one package of these items, it will help keep GSS costs down so there is more money in the budget for events throughout the year.

3. We need some grillers.  If you have a grill you would be willing to bring
to the event, and if you enjoy grilling, we need you!!  We will be cooking hot
dogs and hamburgers, and it would be great if we can find 2 or 3 people who can
supply grills and 2 or 3 people who will use the grills at the event.

4.  Charcoal – we will need several large bags of charcoal and several
bottles of lighter fluid for the event, since  we’ll be grilling food.  If you
would like to contribute a bag of charcoal, it is currently on sale for very
cheap at Kroger

5. Canvassers – We need a team of at least 4 people who would be willing  to post fliers in academic buildings and around Court Street to inform everyone of our event.  If you’d be willing to do this on Monday or Tuesday (10/12 or 10/13) before homecoming, please let us know.

6. Photographers – We would like 2 or 3 people who own digital cameras to
take pictures of this event so that we can post them on our Facebook and
WordPress sites

7. Finally, we need YOU!  Come out, meet your constituents,  mingle with your
fellow members of GSS and enjoy some free food!!  This is OUR event, and that
means all of GSS and all graduate students.  It’s a fantastic opportunity for
networking, friendship and fun.

Again, if you can help, please email Tiffany at OUGSSGSL@yahoo.com.  We know
you’re busy, but think of this as helping us all take a much needed break by
hanging out, having fun, and enjoying some free food, football and camaraderie.

Regular updates about what positions have been filled and what we still need
will come through the listserv regularly leading up to the event.

Thank you for considering helping your GSS with this exciting
event!

Tiffany S. Teofilo
PhD Student
School of Media Arts and Studies
Graduate Student Life Commissioner
Graduate Student Senate
Ohio University