Council of Graduate Students General Assembly

1
Council of Graduate StudentsGeneral Assembly

• October 18, 2006

2
P R Council Meetings

• Assembly (all councils)
• Tuesday Oct. 24, 300-500
• Social Sciences
• Tuesday Oct. 31, 2006, 300-500
• Language, Literature, and Arts
• Wednesday Nov. 1, 300-500
• Engineering, Physical, Mathematical Sciences
• Tuesday Nov. 7, 300-500
• Health Sciences
• Wednesday Nov. 8, 300-500
• Biological Sciences
• Tuesday Nov. 14, 300-500
• Education and Psychology
• Wednesday Nov. 15, 300-500
• Executive Council
• Tuesday Nov. 21 and Dec. 12, 300-500

3
Graduate Student Life Workshops

• Sifting through grad school paperwork
• Contact Sara Kempner and Carol Powers
• 230-400 in 102 Fraser Hall
• November 9th for Masters students
• November 14th for PhD students
• Roundtable discussion on Graduate Student
  Lobbying
• Contact Eden Kaiser and Eli Meyerhoff

4
GAPSA Meeting

• Elections and Resignations
• President Suzanne Sobotka replaces Dmitry
  Zhdanov
• Executive VP Tagee Khaled replaces Suzanne
  Sobotka
• VP for Student Affairs Kristen Denzer replaces
  Tony Kouba
• Student Conduct Code revisions
• Fees Selectors
• Campus Firearms Ban resolution
• Community Action Coalition/Neighborhood
  AssociationContact Alissa Ausan

5
Updates and Discussion

• Graduate Insurance Issue
• Recap of Issue
• Update on Administration response
• Highlight COGS position from Open Letter
• Student Health Advisory Committee Update Lindsey
  Batts, COGS rep.

6
Open Positions for COGS

• Vice President of External Relations
• Senate
• Parking and Transportation Advisory Committee
  (Thurs. Oct. 26 230-400)
• Student One-Stop Advisory Committee
• Student On-Campus Stadium Advisory Committee
• CLA Budget Advisory Committee

7
Non-COGS Opportunities

• Restorative Justice Panel
• see handout
• Focus Groups on Degree Progress
• Oct. 24 and Oct. 25 from 12-1
• Please RSVP to gscmte_at_umn.edu

8
Changes to Constitution and Bylaws

• Vote on mandated clauses, see hand out for
  details.
• Executive committee, please sign approved changes
  for submission to the Student Activities Office.

9
Open Letter 2006

• What is the Open Letter?
• Why is it important?
• Who reads it?
• Highlights of 2006 Letter

10
Elections

• Vice President for External Relations
• Nominations/volunteers?
• 500 stipend
• 5-10 hour commitment per month
• Coordinate GradLetter and communication with
  Directors of Graduate Studies
• Senators
• Kate Fleming/Kristen Nichols (shared position)
• Other nominations?

11
Open Forum for Concerns, Suggestions, or New Ideas

• Degree Progress Letter Eli Meyerhoff, Social
  Sciences P R Council Chair
• Parking Proposal and possible Resolution Jason
  Wilde, Family Social Sciences rep
• Others?

12
Degree Progress Letter example

• Dear Student X
• All Department of Y students are required to file
  their Doctoral Degree program plans (Graduate
  School and Departmental) no later than the fourth
  semester of their residency. According to my
  records, you were first registered in Fall 2004
  and you have now surpassed the expected deadline.
  
• Since you have failed to meet this program
  requirement, I have asked the graduate school to
  place a "hold" on your Fall 2006 registration. As
  long as the hold remains in effect, you will be
  unable to register.
• If you fail to file your Degree Program by the
  middle of September 2006, the Graduate School
  will terminate you from the program and you will
  be unable to make further official progress
  toward your doctoral degree. At that point,
  reinstatement would require that you apply to the
  Graduate School for readmission, pay an
  application fee, and provide the DGS with an
  outline of your plans for completing the degree.
  The Graduate School and the DGS may choose to not
  approve your readmission.
• As you can see, this fairly simple requirement
  could become a serious problem for you. However,
  you can have the registration hold removed before
  things escalate by submitting your Degree Program
  forms to the Graduate Program Associate by the
  end of this Summer. I would urge you to do this
  sooner rather than later. Alternatively, if your
  circumstances warrant that an extension be
  granted, please have your advisor write up an
  amended timeline which I will approve in my
  capacity as DGS.
• I can be reached by phone (612.xxx-xxxx) or by
  e-mail (professor_at_umn.edu) if you have any
  questions. You should also feel free to contact
  me if there appears to be a mistake in your
  record.
• Sincerely,
• Professor Z, Professor and Director of Graduate
  Studies
• cc Professor A, Advisor
• Ms. B, Assistant to the Chair
• File