GPSC Annual Retreat
September 6th and 7th
Sign up here: http://gpsc.duke.edu/survey/GPSCRetreat2008 by September 5th (5pm)

 

The 2008 Annual GPSC Retreat has been scheduled:

When: Saturday and Sunday, September 6th and 7th
Where: Chestnut Ridge Camp in Efland, NC (map)
What: This is the fourth annual GPSC retreat. This year the retreat will focus on information to graduate and professional student leaders as well as teambuilding. We have arranged for the group to particpate in a challenge course and there will be opportunities to participate in other activities (depending on interest) such as hiking, swimming, canoeing, high ropes, and a zip line.

Transportation will be provided to and from Duke University. There will also be a location to leave your car should you drive to campus to get the bus. The bus will leave West Campus at 8:00am on Saturday morning and we plan to return to Duke at 3:30pm Sunday afternoon.

What will be going on during the retreat:

The training sessions offered will include:

Starting a Departmental Student Government
Starting a new Student Group
Leadership Training
Cultural Awareness
Technology and Student Groups
Event Planning
Community Service
As well as brainstorming sessions to help guide GPSC efforts in:
Health care
Parking and Transportation
Career Services
Graduate and Professional student life - the next five years

In addition to all of the teambuilding and other activities such as:
Challenge course (low ropes)
High ropes challenge course
Zip line
Canoeing/kayaking
Swimming
Hiking
Lawn games

Who should come:

We hope that student leaders from all around the campus will join us this year! Specifically:

GPSC Department Representatives
Student Group Leaders
International Student Leaders
Professional School Government Leaders

How do I sign up:

The retreat is free - food, accommodations, and transportation will be provided, but to reserve your spot we are asking for a $10 deposit. As long as you participate in the retreat, you will have your deposit refunded. See below for the official policy.

When you sign up you will be asked to prioritize both the informational and brainstorming sessions as well as the teambuilding and other activities that you wish to participate in - please take a look at the list above or the descriptions below if you are unsure what items you would like to sign up for.

To sign up for the retreat fill out the form at: http://survey.oit.duke.edu/ViewsFlash/servlet/viewsflash?cmd=page&pollid=GPSC!GPSCRetreat2008

The official retreat policy is:

Any graduate or professional student is allowed and encouraged to sign up for the retreat. We will attempt to reach a representative amount of graduate and professional students; so there will be priority given to students from certain constituencies. All students who sign up will be asked for a deposit to hold his or her spot on the retreat. If the retreat fills up and we must fill certain spots by the aforementioned priorities, any student not able to join us on the retreat will have their deposit refunded as soon as possible. Students who sign up are expected to attend the retreat for the entire time as this event represents a significant investment in each student leader. The entire time means from Saturday at 8:00am to Sunday at 3:30pm. Any deviations to this must be requested in advance and responded to in writing by the Vice President; there will be certain exceptions for emergencies at the discretion of the retreat committee. As long as the student leader attends the retreat for the entire time, he or she will have the deposit refunded. All deviations or cancellations must be made before August 31 at 5:00pm or the deposit will be lost. Students are encouraged to sign up for the retreat until it is full, or the Thursday before the retreat begins.

Session descriptions:

 

I. Starting a Department Government

Are you interested in starting a student government in your own department? This session will help you get started. The topics covered will include: "What can a student government do for me?", "How can I do to develop interest?", "How should I write a charter?", "How can we find financial support?", "Who can I go to for help?". This session will be lead by:

"Name" the "Position" and

"Name" the "Position"

II. Starting a New Student Group

Are you interested in starting a new student group that will incorporate graduate and professional students at Duke? This session will help you get started. Topics covered will include: "How can I develop interest for my group?", "Who should I talk to first to get started?", "What steps are necessary to affiliate my group?", "How can my group address issues on campus such as environmental awareness?". This session will be lead by:

"Name" the "Position" and

"Name" the "Position"

III. Leadership Training

Have you ever felt that you could be more effective as a student leader? This is you opportunity to learn some of the techniques that effective leaders use to get things done efficiently. This session will cover an introduction to group dynamics, understanding different personality types and management styles. This session will be lead by:

"Name" the "Position" and

"Name" the "Position"

IV. Cultural Awareness

Duke is an extraordinarily multicultural environment to work in. This has enormous benefits, but can also lead to unexpected effects. This session is designed to help you as a leader to understand cultural issues you may face on campus with an emphasis on how our diversity can improve student life. This session will be lead by:

"Name" the "Position" and

"Name" the "Position"

V. Technology and Student Groups

It's the 21^st century and I can't get my group on a single mailing list! This session will explore communication technologies that are available to you through duke. This will include an introduction to creating listserves, using the survey tool and using duke-pass and GPSCNews to promote your groups events. We will also fill you in on who to talk to in OIT to get things done. This session will be lead by:

"Name" the "Position" and

"Name" the "Position"

VI. Event Planning

Duke offers an enormous number of resources when it comes to holding events. So many, in fact, that it can be completely overwhelming. Let us break it down for you. In this session GPSC pro's will fill you in on the inside story when it comes to event planning. Topics will include event spaces, catering, interaction with OSAF, graduate students and alcohol and advertising. This session will be lead by:

"Name" the "Position" and

"Name" the "Position"

VII. Community Service

Graduate and Professional students do an incredible amount of community service on and off campus. This session is designed to introduce student leaders to the office of community service as well as to other groups on campus that are involved to service activities. The goal of this session is to bring the graduate and professional student leaders who are involved in service together so that we can work together as a more cohesive unit.

VIII. Brainstorming Sessions: are just that, so come with your ideas and thoughts:

University Committees and how to get involved: There are many opportunities to get involved with the University, come see what opportunities exist and brainstorm where GPSC can become a better advocate for students.

Transportation and Safety: is there something that you think GPSC should be advocating for to Parking and Transportation? Do you have any ideas about how to improve parking and transportation around campus?  What are your thoughts on safety around campus and your commute?

New/Central Campus: Come see what is going on with the new campus plans and how Duke is growing.

Sustainability at Duke: Come learn what Duke is doing to support sustainability and learn how you can get involved.  Also, explore how GPSC can be better advocates of sustainability at Duke.

Each April, the General Assembly elects 11 students to sit on 6 standing committees of the Duke University Board of Trustees (BOT). Any graduate or professional student can run for a position on the standing committee. The BOT meets 4 times are year, and the student representatives who attend these meetings contribute the graduate and professional student perspective to the highest governing body at Duke. Meetings usually last 2 hours on a Friday morning.

Representatives are expected to:
• Read through all materials in BOT packets
• Attend pre-meetings with all GPSC BOT reps prior to BOT meetings (1.5 hrs)
• Attend the 4 BOT meetings for the year (2 hours each)
• Submit written reports following meetings
• When necessary, talk to students to get more perspective on the issues to be discussed
• Be proactive in bringing issues to the agenda for discussion and participate thoroughly in the conversation

Listed below are the responsibilities of each committee.  Please visit the People section to view lists of current and past representatives to the BOT committees.

 

Faculty, Graduate, and Professional Schools Affairs (Formerly Academic Affairs)

The Faculty, Graduate, and Professional Schools Affairs Committee shall:
• Consider proposals for, and make recommendations with respect to: the educational role of each school, college, and unit of the University and for the University as a whole; provisions for the admission of students at all levels; the academic life and activities of students; educational, research, and library programs; and the coordination of all educational activities.
• Promote and coordinate activities of the Boards of Visitors, review their findings, and transmit their reports to the President and to the Board of Trustees. The President shall appoint the members of the Boards of Visitors.
• Designate five Trustees who, along with an equal number of faculty members designated by the President, and the President, ex officio, shall serve as a Committee on Honorary Degrees to make recommendations to the University faculty and the Board of Trustees.
• Serve as a Committee on Earned Degrees.
• Serve as liaison with the University faculty with respect to academic affairs.

Business and Finance

The Business and Finance Committee shall exercise oversight of the University's financial policies and resource allocations plans resulting from annual budgeting and multi-year planning. To accomplish this, the Business and Finance Committee shall:
• Keep informed on, consider proposals for, and make recommendations with respect to, the general business affairs and financial organization of the University including the internal and external debt structure of the University.
• Review the annual budgets and tuitions and fees schedule of the University and recommend their approval or modification.
• Review the annual capital budget and also the investment and financing plans associated with capital projects outside the delegated authority of the Executive Vice President, and recommend approval or modification.
• Maintain an ongoing analysis and review of quarterly operating statements and budget forecast of the University.
• Review proposals for endowment spending policies and the institutional reinvestment account payout index and recommend approval or modifications of the same.
• Review requests for the establishment of, and withdrawal from, quasi-endowment funds and special endowment funds.

Building and Grounds

The Building and Grounds Committee shall consider proposals for, and make recommendations with respect to:
• The acquisition and sale of all real property by the University.
• The siting, construction and expenditure of funds for all buildings, construction and renovations and related appurtenances such as utilities, roads, and parking areas and the commissioning of Project Architects and Engineers, and approval of proposed contractors for construction projects.
• Evaluation and promulgation of a continuing Master Plan for long-range development of the total physical environment of the University, including inherent standards of aesthetics and quality.
• Naming of facilities and parts of facilities.
• The acceptance of all new construction on behalf of the University.
• The oversight of Duke Forest operations, procedures, and uses, and all planning for those land holdings.

Institutional Advancement

• The Institutional Advancement Committee shall review, discuss, and, when appropriate and necessary, recommend action on important and substantive issues and proposals emanating from the Offices of the Senior Vice President for Public Affairs and Government Relations and the Vice President for Alumni Affairs and Development.
• The Committee specifically shall address university-wide policies and practices concerning alumni programming, communications/media relating to government and public relations, and fund raising initiatives.

Medical Center Affairs

• The powers and duties of the Medical Center Affairs Committee are limited in scope to the School of Medicine, the School of Nursing, Allied Health Programs, and their related libraries.
• Within these limitations, the powers and duties of the Medical Center Affairs Committee shall be the same as those of the other standing committees of the Board, except the Executive Committee; said committees retaining their respective powers and duties concerning Medical Center matters.

Undergraduate Student Affairs (Formerly Student Affairs)

The Undergraduate Student Affairs Committee shall inform itself concerning, consider proposals for, monitor coordination of, and make recommendations with respect to, all student affairs at the University other than programs of research and instruction.

 

As a follow-up from the GA meeting on March 25, please make any comments on how Duke and Duke Police can best communicate with GnP students in the event of an emergency, safety notices, and the like.

Also, please view safe & secure @ Duke and comment on things that should be changed for next year.  Also, what is the best way to get this into the hands of GnP students? 

In response to the loss of a fellow student, from 3-7, the International House will be open for
drop in, for anyone who wants to stop by, talk, share concerns, have a hot pot
of tea, etc. IHouse is located at the corner of Campus Drive and Anderson
Street, 2022 Campus Drive.

Pratt has set up the following event in response to the death of a Civil and Environmental Engineering graduate student:

At 2 pm, in Hudson 125, we will offer an informal discussion and conversation about the issues we face as a community. We will be joined by Libby Webb, from
CAPS, who can offer her perspectives and suggestions for dealing with this kind of loss.

Graduate and Professional Student Council
General Assembly Meeting
9-25-2007 7:00 - 8:30 pm

 

Approval of the Minutes

Announcements

President’s Remarks

University Committee Appointments

Student Group Funding

Duke University Union Presentation

 

Convene: 7:02 pm

 

I. Approval of the minutes from 9/11/07

Christie Eyler –The minutes should be amended so that the last section discussing the meeting schedule clarifies that the Fall schedule only was approved and the Spring schedule will be voted upon at the first meeting in the Spring.

Move to approve minutes with above amendment.

Motion made and seconded

Motion Passes Unanimously

II. Announcements:

a. NAGPS

Gautham Pandiyan – He serves on the national board of NAGPS and would like to discuss some of the great opportunities in the organization. There are about 2 million GnP students and NAGPS represents these students from various schools in the nation. The mission is to connect people with each other and to promote GnP rights. The most recent thing they did was to have a legislative action day where they lobbied for various rights of GnP students, such as a Grad student tax exemption, a Graduate student loan interest rate cut, international student visa issues. This organization is a great way to network with people and make connections, as well as a professional development tool as something for your resume.

NAGPS has different regional organizations that each has a regional conference with various programming. There will be a national conference for people throughout the country this year. It is from November 15-18 at the University of Texas at Austin. We are sending 3-4 students this year and there will be an email going out on Monday about how to apply for this. There are also awards given out at this conference to people who are exceptional in the GnP student arena, so read that email for how to nominate people for these awards. They are looking for students to get involved in all levels (regional, national, conferences, etc.). You can go to www.nagps.org for more information.

Sara Becker – She would like to commend Gautham for being the only GPSC person from Duke who has been on the NAGPS board.

Soji Sajuyigbe – Who covers the travel expenses for this conference?

Gautham Pandiyan – This is still being worked out and the final number of student spots is not known, but most likely all expenses will be covered for those who are selected to attend. If your department or school would be willing to fund your travel, that would be great as well because we will be more represented as a school the more people that are able to attend.

 

b. Basketball Committee

Gavin Rogers and Laura Simmons Kovacs – Basketball campout is this weekend. You can come even if you didn’t register if you want to hang out. Be there before 7 pm because that is what time signup ends. If you haven’t heard from your community service project leader, you probably will hear from them this week and there will also be information at campout. Campout will be on the corner of Wannamaker and University. What you should bring: an active Duke ID (they will be swiped this year), $5 in Flex or cash, a canned food good, confirmation email from your registration, a check or money order for $150 made out to DUAA (or enough Flex in your account; the DukeCard office will be running a drawing for a free season ticket card to encourage Flex use), and everything else you need to be able to make it through the weekend. What not to bring: whistles, noisemakers, kegs, pets. There will be quiet hours from 3am – 8 am. Generators must be on the periphery of the campsite. Grills must be used responsibly and in a safe location. If you are sponsored, you cannot display a banner for that sponsor. Be respectful of President Richard Brodhead’s property while you are camping. Things that are going on: tent decorating, bball shootout, DJ, karaoke, food on Saturday, etc. There will be food and beverages provided by a variety of student groups. There is a student drawing for Duke-UNC tickets for $5 (3 for $12), there will be a silent auction to benefit the Emily K. center, the Durham Crisis Response Center, and the Durham Animal Rescue center. The RV captain meeting is tomorrow. You can set up your tents tomorrow or Thursday. You can drop off your tent stuff on Friday from 2-3, but you need to bring a friend because there is not a place for you to put your car if you get out of the car. If you have any questions, contact bballcmte@gmail.com.

 

c. GPSC Goes Green

Mary Greene, Brandon Little, Anna-Marie Laura - They tried to do their best to provide a sustainable meal experience for the meeting tonight. The first thing they did was use an on-campus caterer. There are some recommendations for how to make meetings “green” that they have provided – the “Green Event Planning Guide.” They have highlighted some of the things that they did to make the meeting green, such as the fact that they will be composting and recycling from the paper goods used during the meeting. (See Appendix A for Green Event Planning guidelines).

 

III. President’s Remarks

Crystal Brown – She wanted to let everyone know that Yvonne will be conducting the meeting because our VP Betsy Holmberg has had to resign due to health concerns in her immediate family. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers. Right now the Executive Board is in the process of generating a list of people to interview in the process of appointing a new VP. According to the bylaws, replacements for open Exec positions (except for the President) are to be selected by the President and then confirmed by the GA. If anyone, especially more veteran GPSC members, feels they would like to fill this position, please contact her directly. Hopefully we will be able to do this in time to have the proposed VP confirmed at the October 16^th meeting. Also, the think tank will start at the next meeting, so bring any issues or comments you want to discuss.

 

IV. University Committee Presentation

Ali Saaem – The selection of the proposed slate was via a nominations committee comprised of himself, Crystal, David, Christie, Alethea, Betsy, and Yvonne. This year there were 100 people who applied. Essentially people were selected based upon the abilities and past experience noted in their application materials.

 

There are some committees that still do not have reps: 1) the Arts and Sciences Council (people from the A&S schools that will be in communication regarding programming and other issues for students in these schools), 2) the Duke Forest Committee, 3) the Library Council (2 reps are needed to work with the library council), and 4) the Postdoctoral Association Liaison (this had not been filled in the past but he would like to have it filled).

 

There are some UCs that are partially filled that he would like other people to fill: 1) Harassment and Grievance Board, 2) Academic Integrity, and others. All of this is posted on the UC portion of the GPSC webpage.

 

He asked for the approval of the slate of nominees presented (see Appendix B). These are all people who had applied. It is not necessary to be a representative to be appointed to this committee.

 

Move to end discussion and accept the slate of UC nominations as recommended by the nominations committee.

Motion: Theresa Finn, Second: Gautham Pandiyan

Motion Passed Unanimously

 

V. Student Group Funding Review

David Kahler – He and the finance committee worked together to develop a proposed budget that was approved last Spring. There are several changes he would like to propose. The details that were presented were gone into more depth during the retreat. He went over the major changes in the proposed budget as follows (the full version can be seen in Appendix C).

 

The NAGPS dues will be knocked down from $1000 to $500 while the funding for the conference will be increased to $3000.

 

GA meeting enhancements will be $350 per meeting and there is an increased proposed in the committee meeting enhancements because Ali has planned some special events that need increased funding and can easily be accommodated from roll-over monies from last year.

 

The social budget last year was $27,000 but only about $20,000 was spent. Social seems to recover a lot of money from events and so he suggests dropping the budgeted amount for social to $25,000.

 

The President’s fund is going to be dropped to $500 from $1000. Last year the money was not used.

 

Last year the Social budget was $27,000, and only $20,000 of this was used so the Finance Committee recommends dropping this budget to $25,000.

 

The Public Relations line item was created last year to fund various projects, but was not used and he would suggest removing this from the budget.

 

The community service budget has a proposed increase since we have plenty of money left over in the reserves.

 

As far as group funding is concerned, there are always more requests than there is money. Special Group Funding is a category that is basically an emergency fund for groups for new initiative funding (e.g. the Katrina cup sales after Hurricane Katrina).

The increase in $2000 in the proposed budgeted items will likely not create problems with the budget.

 

He showed a pie-chart that displayed that slightly more than 80% of GPSC funds go directly back to the students, though you could make an argument about the other things as being beneficial to students. Student fees will continue to increase along with inflation per a decision 1.5 years ago until 2009. He would recommend to increase the line items that directly go to students, so what he would like to do is to put the money brought in by the inflation increases in these line items.

 

Eric Vance – He would recommend to leave the President’s fund at the same amount, rather than reducing it to $500.

 

Move to amend the budget proposal to restore the President’s fund to $1000.

Motion: Eric Vance, Second: Wadia Haddaji

Discussion:

Oliver Gjoneski – What is the President’s fund used for?

Crystal Brown – For a variety of things, e.g. the Exec nametags, lunch for the BOT committee members.

 

Sara Becker – She thinks the reason that funding in this line item has changed in the past few years is because 2 years ago the President used it for the GPSC UHaul for campout. Since then there has been other money dedicated to the UHaul.

 

Wadia Haddaji - He thinks that the former amount is not too big and could be maintained.

 

Vote: 34 people in favor (majority of those present) – Motion passes

Move to approve the budget as presented.

Motion: David Kahler and Finance Committee, Second: Michael Schwartz

Discussion:

Move to change the budget proposal to restore the Social budget to $27,000.

Motion: Wadia Haddaji, Second: Peggy St. Jacques

Discussion:

Wadia Haddaji - He’s talked to the Student Live Co-Chairs who feel as if they would use the extra money. There is no reason to reduce it since this money goes back to the students.

 

Catherine Brown – If we approve this, then it will amount to spending $4500 more than the original budget presented.

 

Kim Novick – Do you have any idea how much was spent during Orientation activities?

David Kahler – It is correct as presented within a few hundred dollars. The way the budget year works is that the money budgeted to Social ends up also covering the Summer and Orientation events for the next year. Altogether for last year and these events this past Summer, $20,000 was spent roughly.

 

Alethea Duncan – During the summer they spent more money than was spent last summer and so they will likely use more money through the year.

Jessi Bardill – A large chunk of the budget is for the Spring Formal at the end of the year, but anything left over after that is used for Summer events.

 

Laura Johnson – Why do you think that this year you will go so much over what was spent last year? Are there more events planned?

Alethea Duncan – Based on the summer spending, she feels like they will be using more money than the previous Co-Chairs used. Sometimes some of the events have tickets or other items that will re-generate some money after sales.

 

Elizabeth Rach – Keep in mind that the budget is flexible. Say a smaller amount is approved for Social. If they need more in the Spring, there is the flexibility to increase the funds allocated to them then.

 

David Kahler – There is $2000 on the budget for Community Service. Most of the time the Community Service money is not very used because lots of the purpose of the Community Service of GPSC is to volunteer. Direct monetary contributions are not allowed to be made since this money is from student fees.

Vote: 27 in favor, 25 opposed. Motion passes.

 

 

Move to change the budget proposal to delete the Public Relations line item.

Motion: Theresa Finn, Second: Luke Riservato.

Discussion: No discussion

Vote: Unanimously approved

 

 

Move to change the budget proposal to decrease the proposed group funding amount to $34,000.

Motion: Abraham Thomas, Seconded: unrecorded

Discussion:

Abraham Thomas - The money for the other proposals has to come from somewhere to accommodate the changes already approved elsewhere.

David Kahler – There are a lot of groups that come to us and ask for money.

Patti Thomas– A lot of group funding is for social events put on for students by groups other than GPSC, but events are being put on for student events nonetheless.

Jenny Woodruff – She has served as Student Group Liaison and Student Life Co-Chair. She emphasizes how important it is to fund student groups since GPSC is sometimes the only source of funding they have. She would strongly discourage decreasing the amount available to these groups.

Ali Saaem – He would like to emphasize that there is still a surplus in the proposed budget, even with the already-approved revisions.

Eric Vance – Last year GPSC voted to increase the funding for group funding by $1000.

Bhargav V.K. - He wondered whether the allocation for the GPSC retreat should be changed since there weren’t very many Reps that came this year.

David Kahler – Though it was on there for $7000 this last year, but it ended up being very cost-neutral because of other funding sources.

Vote: Not a majority. Motion is defeated

David Kahler – The communications budget of $1000 is there because Dimitriy had asked for it before for website needs.

Yvonne Ford– The main motion is to approve the budget as presented (with approved amendments).

Vote: Unanimously approved

 

David Kahler – He discussed a bylaw revision that will be discussed at the October 16 meeting. This bylaw will make it possible for GPSC to give student groups money to be used for food if it is for an academic purpose (e.g. an academic oriented speaker with a reception). In the past, the current bylaw has been interpreted in such a way that food is only allowed for cultural events or if food is the event (e.g. a Science of Chocolate event).

Yvonne Ford – Because this won’t be voted on until the next meeting, we should move to the next topic. We will vote on this proposed change at the next meeting (October 16).

 

He showed the proposed student group funding amounts by group (Appendix C). For each group there was a column for the requested funding amount, the granted funding amount, and a pending amount for those groups who asked for money for food that cannot be granted unless the bylaw is approved.

Heather Mallory – So we’re trying to change the bylaws to retroactively fund food for student groups (so that the people who applied for student group funding who followed the rules are penalized).

David Kahler – This potential change was announced.

Elizabeth Rach – Also, all groups were asked to submit 2 applications for funding in case the bylaw was approved and funding for food became possible.

 

Move to approve the proposed group funding as presented.

Motion: David Kahler and Finance Committee

Discussion:

Claire Sibert – Does this proposal include events that have already happened?

David Kahler – No. These are for the Fall.

Vote: Unanimously approved

 

VI. Duke University Union Presentation

Katelyn Donnelly: She (President) and Lauren Maisel (VP) addressed the council on behalf of the Duke University Union (DUU). The DUU is the largest student organization on campus and supports things ranging from a student record label, a film studio, the Broadway shows on campus, Freewater movies, the TV station, a coffeehouse, Jazz at Mary Lou Williams Center, Oktoberfest, Springternational, etc.

 

Lauren Maisel - The reason they are here is to request an increase in the GnP student activity fee such that the portion going to DUU would be increased. They handed out a sheet profiling their request and their organization. GnP students currently pay $10.50. Three years ago, GPSC’s Exec approached DUU and asked if they could raise the fees charged by DUU to GnP students but the DUU leadership at the time declined. Now they are able to plan better due to some reorganized budgeting, but now they need more money. They request that the fee be increased by $5.25/semester (for a total of $21/year).

 

Alethea Duncan – Do you have any statistics regarding how many GnP students go to events? How do you gauge how DUU reaches out to GnP students?

Lauren Maisel - One of the problems with the statistics is because DUU does not sell their own tickets to various productions and instead they sell them through the Duke University Box Office. Since 2003-2004, DUU has asked that the Box Office keep better track of who attends events, but other than the fact campus-wide events with alcohol tend to have higher GnP attendance than other events, this has not been successful. They are increasing these events that tend to be frequented by GnP students. They have also been increasing marketing initiatives through giveaways like pens and t-shirts and the creation of a new marketing committee.

Yvonne Ford: How many GnP students are represented in the government structure of DUU?

Katelyn Donnelly - There are 3 out of about 20, which includes undergraduates, staff, faculty, etc. None of our current GnP representatives went to Duke Undergrad.

Patrick Palmieri – There is a big issue with credibility because if there is not adequate GnP representation on a board, why should GnP students give money?

Katelyn Donnelly – Because DUU programs for GnP students. They advertise their positions to GnP students as heavily and consistently as to the undergraduates. They use blast emails and fliering.

Kat Mitchell – This would raise the overall fee by how much?

David Kahler – GPSC charges $15.50 per student per year. This is in addition to the $10.50 charged currently by the DUU per year. The proposed increase would raise the total amount charged for student fees to $35 per year.

Crystal Brown – She had met with the DUU President and VP earlier. She would like to see where this money is going if it is approved.

Lauren Maisel - They do budget allocations at the end of the year and they like to have flexibility in their budgeting to accommodate new programming ideas, including ideas from GPSC and/or GnP students.

 

Move to extend the meeting by 10 minutes

Motion: Gautham Pandiyan. Second: Wadia Haddaji

Vote: Unanimously approved

Lauren Maisel – They essentially have 2 options – to get the approval from this body to raise the fee for GnP students or there will need to be price differentials between Undergrad and GnP student fees charged to attend DUU events.

 

Gautham Pandiyan – He has been to a lot of DUU services and knows that they are used by GnP students. This is a worthy cause to consider. This is important especially for international students, etc.

 

David Kahler – He does think it will be difficult to raise the fee by 100%, though he thinks it could be approved to raise it by less. The last fee increase was 7 years ago. Also, the website says that the DUU is open to undergraduates from all over the university, not GnP students. Your proposed increases suggest putting funding into Cable 13, visual arts, marketing, major speakers and not the campus-wide events with alcohol that you say are most frequented by GnP students.

Katelyn Donnelly & Lauren Maisel – The numbers they use in their budgeting are always underestimated. The website was made by the webmaster and they can’t speak for what the webmaster does, though the Constitution and mission statement of the DUU mention GnP students. The 3 year plan is not a final document – they want it to be more innovative and creative in planning events so they want to have a pot of money available for proposed programming. They do think that the areas that are proposed as getting money from this proposed fee increase (the record label, the recording studio, Cable 13, speakers). Some funding will be devoted to other programming than you see in the line items.

Matt Royal – This is similar to a problem with ESG and EGSC (Engineering Student Government and Engineering Graduate Student Government, respectively). ESG wanted money for something that they said was frequented by Graduate students. It is hard to make these decisions without numbers.

 

Ali Saaem – The website is inaccurate, the application for participation with DUU is a Word document that makes no mention that GnP students are allowed to apply.

Lauren Maisel – But it does not specifically exclude them from applying.

Patti Thomas – There are actually more like 6000 GnP students so these funding estimates that you have with 4500 GnP students grossly underestimates the amount of people contributing money. So we could have a smaller increase leading to the same lump sum. She thinks the general consensus is that we are not very supportive of this fee increase.

Catherine - If it is true that we only attend events such as the alcohol-containing events, what if we could cosponsor events with them instead of increasing funding for DUU from GnP students overall.

 

Christie Eyler - Traditionally the University has not considered GnP students as heavily as undergrads even though there are comparable numbers between the two. Even though the fee charged to GnP students by the DUU is less, it is pretty clear that there is no encouragement for us to be involved. This treatment of GnP students essentially as an afterthought is creating a bit of resentment among us. This is something that has been almost a trend in the University. You need to take this into consideration and come back with concrete numbers for us. For example, she doesn’t think many GnP students use Cable 13, except on Central and even there the proportion of GnP students around is much less. We would be willing to consider an increase if we had more concrete numbers to consider.

 

Move to extend the meeting 5 minutes.

Motion: David Kahler. Second: Nathan Morton

Vote: Approved

Theresa Finn - She represents a program with a large international population and she knows that they use these services. Do we have to make this decision right now? She doesn’t feel as if she can make this decision with this information at this time.

Crystal Brown – She is intricately involved in this. Technically they don’t need GPSC’s support in order to propose a raise of this fee to the BoT, but they are coming here to try to get our support even though they do not actually need to do so. This is a courtesy that they are even addressing us because they do not have to.

Unidentified Speaker – This has become a very circular discussion and she thinks we should just vote. They should resubmit to us in 2 weeks after taking our concerns into account.

 

Yvonne Ford – If this is presented to the BoT without our support, will there be any GnP voice present?

Crystal Brown – Yes, the BoT Committee Members will be there, such as Ali Saaem. This also could be something that we partially approve (instead of the whole amount proposed).

 

Katelyn Donnelly - As a concluding statement, the DUU is supportive of GnP students but to reflect this in programming it will take some more resources. They are willing to work with GnP students on the numbers. Contact krd4@duke.edu with ideas or if you want to participate. In truth, they’ve come away from the meeting feeling a bit attacked.

Wadia Haddaji - Please know that this is not against you personally. You should have been more prepared, but basically we just needed more information.

David Kahler – If we approve a fee increase here, what number would work for you that is lower than the 100% increase that you are proposing?

Lauren Maisel – The real question is what would work for you.

Yvonne Ford – Alcohol was mentioned as a big expense, perhaps revenue can be captured from this.

 

David Kahler – He thinks that increasing the fee by $2.50 per semester is $1 more than the ` proposal that was made and declined by GPSC in 2003-2004.

 

Move to extend discussion by 3 minutes.

Motion made and seconded

Vote: Unanimously approved

 

Move to approve an increase by $2.50 per semester in fees to DUU.

Motion: Pete Glickenhaus. Seconded (unknown second).

Vote: 26 people in favor, Motion passes.

Adjourn: 8:48 pm

Attachment	Size
070925 Appendix A.pdf	61.26 KB
070925 Appendix C.pdf	94.17 KB
070925 Appendix B.pdf	39.66 KB

Our first General Assembly Meeting is tonight!!

Location: Room 3037, Law School

Time: 7:00-8:30pm

Food and drinks will be provided. Everyone is welcome!

Below are the most recent enrollment numbers for the various Graduate and Professional programs. Representatives are currently being appointed by each program according to the procedures set by each program.

	Fall 2007 Enrollment	Number of Reps
Art, Art History, and Visual Studies	32	1
Biochemistry	63	1
Biological Anthropology & Anatomy	16*	1
Biology	80	1
Biomedical Engineering	181	2
Business Administration	78	1
Cell & Molecular Biology	27	1
Cell Biology	37	1
Chemistry	99	1
Civil & Environmental Engineering	40	1
Classical Studies	16*	1
Computational Biology & Bioinformatics	28	1
Computer Science	83	1
Cultural Anthropology	34	1
Developmental Biology Training Program	**	**
Divinity	547	5
Earth & Ocean Sciences	21	1
East Asian Studies	10	1
Ecology	74	1
Economics	153	2
Electrical and Computer Engineering	44	1
Engineering Management (MEM)	175	2
English	64	1
Nicholas - Environment Division	39	1
Fuqua	832	8
Fuqua PhD	74	1
Genetics & Genomics, University Program	77	1
German Studies	9	1
History	66	1
Humanities Program	14	1
Immunology	36	1
International Development Policy (PIDP)	65	1
Law	809	8
Liberal Studies Program	155	2
Literature Program	53	1
Master of Arts in Teaching Program	12	1
Mathematics	46	1
Mechanical Engineering & Materials Science	55	1
Medical Physics	47	1
Medicine	410	4
Pharmacology & Cancer Biology	46	1
Molecular Genetics and Microbiology	28	1
Music	33*	1
Neurobiology	44	1
Nursing PhD	8	1
Nursing	464	5
Pathologists Assistant	13	1
Pathology	3*	1
Philosophy	34	1
Physical Therapy	154	2
Physician Assistant	114	1
Physics	70	1
Political Science	101*	1
Psychology & Neuroscience (Including Developmental)	101	1
Public Policy Studies (Masters Program)	80	1
Public Policy Studies (PhD Program)	8	1
Religion	80	1
Romance Studies	62	1
Slavic & Eurasian Studies	1	1
Sociology	56	1
Statistical Science	33	1
Toxicology & Environmental Health	**	**
* - Estimated, unconfirmed numbers from websites
** - Currently no estimate has been provided

 

Income
GPSC Student Fee		$88,500
Graduate Student Affairs		$5,000
Student Affairs		$2,000
Investment Income		$840
GPSC Operations
NAGPS Dues	Ombudsperson	$1,000
GPSC Retreat		$7,000
NAGPS Conference	Ombudsperson	$2,000
President's Fund	President	$1,000
President's Honoraria		$3,000
Outreach and advocacy	Ombudsperson	$150
GA meeting enhancements	Vice-president	$4,000
Executive meeting enhancements	Vice-president	$700
Assembly awards	Vice-president	$200
Office supplies	Secretary	$800
Student Life	Student life co-chairs
Social		$27,000
Public relations		$750
Community service		$2,000
Basketball
GPSC Direct sponsorship		$6,000
GPSC U-Haul and basketball hoop		$300
Group Funding	Finance committee
Regular cycle funding		$30,000
Special group funding		$2,000
Student leader receptions	Student group liaison	$1,000
Community Interaction
Administrator award		$100
Communications	Communications Coordinator, Secretary	$1,250
Community Lunches	Community Affairs	$1,500
New initiatives		$2,000