1. President Julie Gorman Called the Meeting to Order at 6:42Pm

1. President Julie Gorman Called the Meeting to Order at 6:42Pm

1. President Julie Gorman called the meeting to order at 6:42pm

2. Approval of Minutes

  • Motion to approve the minutes from the April 2, 2014 Senate Meeting
  • Motion: Civil, Structural & Environmental Engineering (CSEE)
  • Second: Counseling, School & Education Psychology (CSEP)
  • Opposed: 0; Abstained: 1; In favor: 61

3. Announcements

  • Staff Introductions:
  • Julie introduces herself as the GSA President () and explains that she will be leaving Senate meetings early in the fall semester to attend class.
  • Julie introduces Sierra Adare-Tasiwoopa ápi() as the Mark Diamond Research Fund (MDRF) Director, who explains the MDRF program, guidelines and deadlines.
  • Julie asks for questions but there are none.
  • Sierra then discusses GSA’s free Editorial Services on behalf of her colleaguesAllison Siehnel (Chief Editor) and Christopher Sylvester (Staff Editor) who were absent ().
  • Julie introduces John Beverley and Holly Keily (),our Webmasters, who discuss club filespace, and a push to use/create club websites. Holly introduces Wordpress and discusses website tutorials.
  • Matt Celestino from Geology asks: Is UB linked still being used?
  • John and Holly explain that UBlinked has not been abandoned.
  • Julie introduces Stephanie George () and Gena Zimmerman (who was absent- )as the office administrators.
  • Julie announces that the full 2014-2015 Senate meeting schedule is included in the Senate packet.
  • Julie discusses the following Programming Announcements:
  • September 5th- Java Junction, 11:00am – 1:00pm in 310 Student Union
  • Free Tim Horton’s coffee and doughnuts for graduate students
  • Always the first Friday of the month
  • September 5th- Spirit of Buffalo Cruise- SOLD OUT!!
  • September 10th- Distinguished Speaker Series presents Cheryl Strayed, 8:00pm at Alumni Arena
  • Free tickets available at the SBI Ticket Office. 1 per UB ID.
  • September 17th- First Mandatory Officer Training Meeting, 2:30pm in Student Union Theatre
  • September 20th- Buffalo Bites Food Tour, 12:00pm in the Elmwood Village
  • Tickets on sale at the SBI Ticket Office for $20 each. 2 per UB ID.
  • September 20th- UB Bulls Tailgate Party and Spin Doctors Concert, 1:00pm at Stampede Square (UB Stadium Parking Lot)
  • Tickets on sale soon at the SBI Ticket Office for $10 each. 2 per UB ID.
  • September 25th- South Campus Siesta, 4:00 - 6:00pm in 105 Harriman Hall
  • Free coffee and doughnuts for graduate students at South Campus

[Vice President Neil Otte arrives late to the meeting.]

  • Center for Excellence in Writing(CEW):
  • Julie introduces Mike Gifford who discusses the Center for Excellence in Writing (CEW). Neil clarifies that the CEW offers services to grad students and Mike retorts that he is running the show, while also confirming that—yes—the CEW also sees graduate students.
  • Graduate Student Employees Union (GSEU):
  • Julie introduces Kevin Ryan to discuss the Graduate Student Employee Union (GSEU). Kevin announces a settlement of contract negotiations and announces a contract Q&A session.
  • Matt Celestino asks about highlights of contract terms. Kevin discusses details of the contract and goes on to discuss contract ratification process and introduces other GSEU officers who were absent. The details of all of this information are repeated on the GSEU website.

4. Report of the President

  • Julie provides an update on the NFTA negotiations. Problems with UB Parking and Transportation and invites any interested parties to contact her.
  • Julie also invites anyone interested in the Sub Board I (SBI)Board of Directors to contact her or Karl.
  • Julie discusses and offers an apology for the Welcome Back Bash. She explains that there was a misunderstanding about the nature of the contract, and that both the GSA and the venue bear some blame for many people being turned away from the event.
  • Julie discusses the possibility of discount cards for graduate students to use at local businesses. She asks for a show of interest and many members of the Senate raise their hands, expressing interest. Julie expresses interest in pursuing this matter.
  • Julie announces that the call for an Assistant Programming Coordinator has lapsed and that the E-board will be reviewing applications and making calls for interviews soon.
  • Julie asks for questions. There are none.
  • Julie ends her report and excuses herself from the meeting.

5. Report of the Treasurer

  • Karl introduces himself as the GSA Treasurer () and reports that Mandatory Officer Training meetings will be occurring at the following times:
  • Wednesday, September 17th at 2:30 p.m. (Student Union Theatre)
  • Tuesday, October 7th at 11:00 a.m. (330 Student Union)
  • Wednesday, October 8th at 7:00 p.m. (105 Harriman Hall)
  • Thursday, October 9th at 3:00 p.m. (330 Student Union)
  • Karl also explains guideline changes to MDRF, including raising mileage reimbursement and relaxing rules prohibiting photocopying reimbursements.
  • Karl explains that we are changing the review process for Community Outreach funding requests. They may not need to be reviewed by the Finance Committee before being presented to the Senate.
  • Karl also explained that a meal cap of $30 per graduate student had been introduced after the controversy from last year.
  • Funding Account Balances:
  • Special Activity: $25,000 to start, $1,200.00 allocated, $23,800.00 remaining
  • Interdepartmental Activity: $3,600.00, $0.00 allocated, $3,600.00 remaining
  • Symposia: $18,600 to start, $2,800.00 allocated, $15,800.00 remaining
  • Scholarly Publication: $11,800 to start , $0.00 allocated, $11,800.00 remaining
  • Community Outreach: $2,000 to start, $0.00 allocated, $2,000.00 remaining
  • Conferences:
  • Beginning Balance:$140,000.00; Allocated $8,875.24; Remaining Balance$113,369.50
  • August : 17 requests, 17 applications approved
  • September: 8 requests, 8 applications approved
  • Applicants encouraged to approach GSA office with individual questions, if they arise.

6. Report of Vice President

  • Neil Otte introduces himself as the GSA Vice President () and reports that the GSA office had received notice from the outgoing President of the Chinese Students and Scholars Association (CSSA) to reject any new officer paperwork because there had been a dispute arising within the club’s leadership. The GSA officer later received some paperwork, and after investigating, found that the officers were disputing the election based on what they claimed to be a de facto election process governing their club which is not in their constitution and which the officer who was elected had violated. The GSA then sent out a letter explaining that this appeared to be a constitutional dispute arising within the club and asked that committee be set up within the club to revise their constitution to reflect their process and determine the status of the election. However, going over the constitution made clear that there were other infractions occurring, including: barring non-Chinese students from being members, including all Chinese students as members, and including undergraduates as voting members and even officers. These and other violations gave the appearance of corruption and a lack of transparency, which the GSA is demanding be removed.

Neil Otte reports that despite these major infractions, the GSA feels a need to work with CSSA, given their size, and the great work they do for international students. Furthermore, the behavior of the parties involved has been entirely cooperative and the CSSA has been working quickly and in good faith to resolve this issue. The E-board is therefore optimistic that the constitutional infractions and the disputed election that led to their discovery will be resolved shortly.

7. Old Business

  • No old business

8. New Business

  • Club Recognition:
  • Neil announces that he has reviewed the constitution of the InternationalClub “Taiwanese GSA” and is recommending recognition with a full budget of $650.
  • Motion to approve the club’s recognition at the recommended amount
  • Motion: Geology
  • Second: Electrical Engineering
  • Opposed: 0;Abstain: 0;Passes by consent
  • Funding Requests:
  • Karl introduced each of the club representatives to discuss their requests for funding.

Symposium:

  • Chemical & Biological Engineering-CBE Symposium
  • Requested/Recommended: $1,400
  • Representative is asked why their group requires $1000 for printing, and Atif explains that this includes the printing of posters.
  • Motion to vote on funding requests individually
  • Motion: Geology
  • Second: CSEP
  • Opposed: 0; Abstained: 0; Passes by consent
  • Motion to approve CBE Symposium at the recommended amount
  • Motion: History
  • Second: Library & Information Studies (LIS)
  • Opposed: 0; Abstained: 0; Passes by consent
  • Industrial & Systems Engineering- HFES Inter-University Workshop
  • Requested/Recommended: $1,400
  • Motion to approve HFES Inter-University Workshop at the recommended amount
  • Motion: LIS
  • Second: Linguistics
  • Opposed: 0; Abstained: 0; Passes by consent

Special Activity

  • CSSA- Mid-Autumn Festival
  • Requested/Recommended: $1,200 w/ stipulations
  • STIPULATIONS: 1) Reimbursement-only, the GSA cannot be directly billed 2) Reimbursement won't happen until after the CSSA's constitutional and election controversies have been settled to the satisfaction of the GSA Vice President.
  • President Rui Chen spoke briefly about his club’s Mid-Autumn Festival.
  • Motion to approve Mid-Autumn Festival with stipulations at the recommended amount
  • Motion: Microbiology
  • Second: Classics
  • Opposed: 1; Abstained: 0; Passes by consent
  • The one member opposing the allocation expressed his opinion that this club should be punished for its bad behavior.
  • GSA Committees:
  • Finance Committee- Karl explains that there are three members staying on from last year, but that we need six additional members and two alternates.
  • Call for volunteers for the Finance Committee:

Returning Members:

  • Peter Bloomingdale (Pharmaceutical Science)
  • Matt Celestino (Geology)
  • Pradeep Yeramsetty (Biology)

New Members:

  • Kritika Rana (Electrical Engineering)
  • Alex Poklinkowski (Architecture)
  • Michelle Sudyn (Neuroscience)
  • Caelen Clark (Biomaterials)
  • Kristin Slonsky (Classics)
  • Brian Tompkins (Geography)

Alternates:

  • Amy Miu (Classics)
  • Kevin Stout (Political Science)
  • Motion to approve Finance Committee members and Alternates
  • Motion: Geology
  • Second: Linguistics
  • Opposed: 0; Abstained: 0; Pass by consent
  • Election Committee- Neil announces that a call for volunteers will take place at next month’s Senate meeting

9. Roll Call and Adjournment

  • Motion to adjourn the meeting at 7:45pm
  • Motion: Geology
  • Second: LIS
  • Opposed: 0; Abstained: 0; Passes by consent
Top View