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Cornell University

Office of the Assemblies

Graduate and Professional Student Assembly Meeting

Monday, March 10, 2025

  • Term:
    2024-2025
  • Assembly/Committee: Graduate and Professional Student Assembly
  • Date & Time:
    Mon, Mar 10, 2025 - 5:00pm
    to
    6:30pm
  • Location:
    401 Physical Sciences Building/Zoom
  • Agenda:
  • Meeting Packet:
  • Audio Recording:
    GPSA-20250310.m4a (68.8 MB)
    GPSA-20250310.m4a (68.8 MB)
  • Minutes:
    1. Call to Order
      1. O. Karim called the meeting to order at 5:04 p.m.

        1. Members Present: A. Basquiat, N. Brennan, J. Chobirko, A. Garcia-Ortiz, I. Gatimi, A. George, D. Ghimire, S. Hampi, S. Karaikal, O. Karim, A. Koyyada, Z. Liu, Z. Lynch, S. Matan, C. Meffert, T. Nguyen, K. Patel, S.

          Sepp, Y. Wu, J. Xiao I. Yaya

        2. Members Absent: D. Browne, C. Chappel, C. Douglas, M. James, A. LaGressa,

          A. Lando, A. Puder, S. Raimondi, C. Wang

        3. Also Present: M. El-Walid, M. Heeney, J. Withers

     

    1. Approval of the January 27th Meeting Minutes
      1. Z. Lynch moved to approve the minutes. The motion passed by unanimous consent.

     

    1. Reports of Officers and Committee Updates
      1. Executive Committee
        1. N. Brennan updated members on discussions regarding a new special committee for the disbursement of grant funding to byline organizations and others on campus, with upcoming opportunities for members to weigh in and get involved.
      2. Operations and Staffing
        1. Z. Lynch stated that the committee finalized the bylaw revisions and will send them to President Kotlikoff.
        2. Z. Lynch encouraged members to come to weekly GPSA socials!
      3. Appropriations
        1. None.
      4. Communications
        1. A. Garcia-Ortiz encouraged eligible members to complete the Graduate School’s doctoral experience survey.
      5. Finance
        1. A. Koyyada announced that the committee spoke to Cornell Cinema, Big Red Barn, and Anabel’s Grocery about funding needs, with an upcoming presentation with S. Sepp.


     

     

     

    1. Student Advocacy
      1. S. Hampi thanked members for helping to write the ballot question.
        1. S. Hampi announced that the committee is looking into ways to expand TCAT access.
      2. Diversity and International Students
        1. A. George announced that DISC will hold focus groups on campus health.
        2. DISC, the Office of Global Learning, and career services will hold a webinar on post-grad Visa and career resources.
        3. A. George asked members to circulate DISC resources in their departments.
      3. Programming
      4. None.
    2. Faculty Teaching, Advising, and Mentorship Award
      1. None.
      2. Graduate School
        1. None.

     

    1. Presentation
      1. Climate Change Curriculum Working Group
        1. Mike Hoffmann (Working Group co-chair and Professor Emeritus) presented to the GPSA on the work of the Working Group, which seeks to improve climate change literacy and preparedness at Cornell, mostly through the undergraduate curriculum.
        2. M. Hoffmann answered members’ questions on connecting students to climate change-related courses, potentially requiring a climate-related course to graduate, climate anxiety, etc.
      2. GPSA Election Procedures
        1. For the duration of his presentation, O. Karim gave the chair to N. Brennan.
        2. O. Karim presented on updated GPSA election procedures, with goals of increasing accessibility and involvement. Procedural changes include: removal of candidates from the elections committee, information sessions, candidate petitioning, a ballot question, and allowing candidate information updates. O. Karim also covered the election timeline and the election committee’s outreach initiatives.
        3. O. Karim fielded questions and took suggestions from members on petitioning, the constrained timeline, and platform updates.

     

    1. New Business
      1. GPSA Charter


     

     

     

    1. O. Karim pointed out impractical parts of the GPSA Charter concerning election logistics (Points 4 and 5 of Section 4.05: “Elections of Voting Members,” written before the Office of the Assemblies got involved in GPSA elections), mentioning that the GPSA did not adhere to them last year. O. Karim asked the GPSA to continue to not enforce them to save money, and to plan to craft legislation to remove them for the future.
      1. M. Heeney announced a resolution to come written with O. Karim to support international students. They asked interested members to reach out.

     

    1. Open Forum
      1. M. El-Walid raised discussion about the impacts of recent federal funding cuts to research groups on campus. N. Brennan gave information on the Graduate School’s efforts to prioritize students and keep its ongoing commitments. M. El-Walid also shared news of a recent “Rally for Science” within the School of Integrative Plant Science to protest the cuts, before asking for more resources on science advocacy.
      2. D. Ghimire asked about the TCAT strike and changes to services. N. Brennan stated that he is also seeking more information and solutions.
      3. I. Gatimi promoted an upcoming “Echos of Wellness” event from the Black Student Empowerment Center and the Office of Spirituality and Meaning-Making.

    The meeting was adjourned at 6:17 p.m. Respectfully Submitted,

    Anthony Wang

    Clerk of the Assembly

    GPSA-Minutes-Mar10-1.pdf (195.38 KB)