Graduate and Professional Student Association

GRADUATE AND PROFESSIONAL STUDENT ASSOCIATION (GPSA)

Fifth Senate Meeting

Location: 435 CSC          Date: 03-20-08 Time: 2:50 PM

ATTENDEES:
E-board Members and Advisors:

President- Chris Chanyasulkit
Vice President for Finance- Kristen Hudak
Vice President for Academic Affairs- Tammy Hartke
Vice President for Student Affairs-Ignacio Marin Garcia
Vice President for Administration- Manasa Madasu
Vice president for Media and Membership-Ashish Jain

Advisor, Steve Gibson and Gail Olyha

Senators College

Thomas Arruda Arts and Sciences
Hiba Tannoury
Jing Li
Lauren Nicoll

Ninad Satam
Shweta Raina
Devshri Desai Bouve College of Health Science
Brijesh Garg
Keyur Gada
Aparna Chavali

Prakash Potukucchi
Ehsan Kianirad College of Engineering
Tasneem Jodhpurwala
Yalcin Bulut
Arpita Kothari
Muhammad Shahrear

V-Tsien Fan College of Criminal Justice
Christopher Miller

Jeremy Fredricksen School of Law
Sarah Masters
Jeffrey Rosenspan

MINUTES OF THE MEETING

Issues

PRESIDENT'S REPORT (Chris Chanyasulkit)

I. President Chris Chanyasulkit called the meeting to order.

II. The minutes of the previous meeting were approved.

III New Business:

The E-board elections for the academic year 2008-2009 were held and while the ballots were being counted after
every election, the office reports were presented by the current E-board to the Senate.

IV. President, Chris Chanyasulkit Points:

1. The senators are provided with a list of guidelines for the elections.

• Candidates for each position will be allotted a maximum of 3 minutes to address the Senate.
• After the candidates have spoken, the assembly will be allotted a maximum of 2 minutes to ask questions to the candidate.
• Only current Senators are allowed to vote and no proxy votes are allowed.
• After polls are closed, no further ballots are accepted.
• Steve Gibson and Gail Olyha, the GPSA advisors, will be counting the ballots.
• If a candidate holds a plurality (the most votes cast) of the active ballots winner is found.
• If election voting results in a tie, the Chair (President of the GPSA) will vote.
• The winner and the total number of votes for that candidate as well as the total number of votes cast will be announced.
• At the close of the voting period, all records will be turned over to the Chair and GPSA advisors, for archiving.
• Candidates at their discretion may, but are not required to, step down to a subsequent Executive board position for a
maximum of two times.
• If Senators choose not to elect someone, they can submit an empty ballot.

2. Clarification of Article V, Section B, Paragraph 4 of the Constitution: Each officer must maintain active residence
within a one-hundred (100) mile radius of the Association office and must fulfill all duties and responsibilities throughout
the term of office.

3. President Chris Chanyasulkit called for nominations. The candidates need to be in good standing with the University and hence
any new candidate would be officially considered for a position (if he/she wins) only after his standing is verified with the
University by the GPSA advisors.

4. The nominations were closed and the election for the new President of the GPSA was held. The candidates were Jeff Rosenspan from
the School of Law and Tina Penman, a Senator from the Bouve College of Health Sciences.

Jeff Rosenspan was present to give his speech.

Chris Chanyasulkit: Tina Penman had another commitment and hence is not present at the meeting.

V. VICE-PRESIDENT OF FINANCE'S REPORT (Kristen Hudak)

• Vice Provost Luis Falcon had mentioned that at the faculty senate meeting that he was interested in creating more
opportunities for funding graduate students to attend more conferences.

• The GPSA was not able to schedule a meeting with Vice Provost Luis Falcon hence we have no information on how they
intend to pursue this or how the GPSA might be involved.

• The GPSA wanted to present the results of the graduate student survey to him.

Presentation of the University FY09 Budget

• Chris Chanyasulkit and Kristen Hudak attended a presentation by Jack McCarthy, the senior VP of administration and
finance for the University. Provost Ahmed Abdelal was also present there to talk about budget allocations impacting academics.

• Jack McCarthy was new to the University as of this academic year and made a point of including students and faculty in
the budget process this year but no one had mentioned to him that the graduate students were not actually represented by
the Student Government Association (SGA) and so the graduate students were left out of the budget process.

• Steps are being undertaken to correct this. Jack McCarthy was very apologetic and the finance committee is trying to schedule
a meeting with him to present the results of the graduate student survey and establish a framework through which the graduate
students can get involved in the FY10 budget process.

The following changes have been implemented for the academic year 2008-2009:

• 73% of new operating expenses are in the academic areas which could benefit graduate students overall.

• $6.165 million has been allotted for new faculty hiring and the University is trying to hire more assistant professors and
reduce reliance on part time faculty. This will not impact graduate students who might happen to be referred to as part time
instructors.

• $1.565 million for college and library operating funds will indirectly help graduate students.

• $720,000 has been allotted towards graduate assistantships including more teaching assistants as well as ensuring compensation
is competitive in Boston market.

• Research assistantships come from a different part of the budget –external grants or funded research. While they have budgeted
for an expected increase in this area, however it is unclear how this would influence the number or availability of RA positions.

• Capital projects include $9.065 million going towards labs and offices. This will be primarily available for new faculty,
so it is unclear how this might impact the space concerns of TA’s though it is being assured that it is still a priority.

• $3.2 million has been allotted for faculty research equipment.

Renewable free energy

• It has come to the GPSA’s attention that the undergraduate students were passing legislation to assess an opt-out fee to
all students toward a student generated renewable energy fund.

• Some problem in the wording that might have led to the fee being assessed to all students including graduate students as
opposed to just undergraduate students. The SGA has been contacted to change the wording. Their next meeting is scheduled
on Monday, March 24th.

• The GPSA requires a separate legislation to assess something similar of graduate students since our major problem is taxation
without representation. If the Senate thinks this issue is worth pursuing, the issue is open to the Senate for establishment
of a special committee on this.

• For more information, there is a meeting on Thursday, March 20th at 7P.M. in Shillman Hall.SGA and HEAT will be holding a
forum to discuss the proposed renewable energy fee.

Chris Chanyasulkit: A meeting with Jack McCarthy has been scheduled on March 31st to discuss the F510 and F509 budget.
The results of the graduate student survey will be presented to him. These initiatives will be passed on to the next E-board.

Kristen Hudak:

• Increasing cap-the finance committee decided at their last committee meeting to focus on being able to fund as many people
as possible rather than increasing the annual cap on each student.

• The committee started to set up a framework for emergency access of reserve account. This will be included at the next meeting
for a vote. The emergency access of reserve account is only for conference budget and not for operating budget and can be utilized
once per year.

Senator Keyur Gada: Will there be increase in the student organization funding for the next academic year?

Kristen Hudak: There has been no discussion about this at the finance committee meeting but the issue will be discussed at
the next committee meeting and presented to the Senate at the next Senate meeting.

Chris Chanyasulkit: Jeff Rosenspan won the Presidential election with 20 votes. Tina Penman decided to step down and run for
the Vice President of Student Affairs.

The election was held for the position of the Vice President of Student Affairs. The nominees were Shraddha Pogul from the Bouve
College of Health Sciences and Tina Penman, a Senator from the Bouve College of Health Sciences.

Shraddha Pogul was present to give her speech.

VI.VICE -PRESIDENT OF ACADEMIC AFFAIR'S REPORT (Tammy Hartke)
• The Provost's forum is to be held on April 10th from 4P.M. to 6P.M.Senators are asked to spread the word among graduate
student communities and help publicize the event by distributing posters and flyers to graduate students in their respective
colleges.

The results of the graduate student survey are as follows:

• 1100 responses out of 5000 graduate students
• A break-down by College will be available soon.

There have been concerns throughout the year, and particularly over the last month, about aspects of the GPSA Constitution and
By-laws, and the need for a policy manual to ensure consistent application and interpretation of those documents. The GPSA survey
has also pointed to ways that the GPSA may need to change in order to better serve the graduate students. The University as a whole,
and the graduate and professional student body in particular, have changed dramatically over the past 5 years. Particular concerns
have included the lack of representation for the School of Technological Entrepreneurship and the School of Professional and
Continuing Studies, inconsistencies in interpretation and application of the “100-mile rule” for the Executive Board. The idea
has been brought up to stagger the start of officer terms, to take advantage of leadership from the increasing number of students
in short professional Master’s degree programs (18-24 months) and from programs in which coop is required. Colleges have asked for
more guidance in Senator selection, which would be part of a GPSA policy manual. In light of the extensive amount of work that needs
to go into this, it seems that we should establish a special Constitutional Review Committee.

Tammy Hartke: Since Chris has been called from the room, I will continue to act as chair. Is there a motion to establish a
Constitutional Review Committee?

• The motion made by Tammy Hartke was seconded and passed with 20 in favor, no oppositions and no abstentions.

Tammy Hartke:Is someone willing to chair this committee? If no one else wants to chair the committee I would be willing
to do so.(general assent from the Senate)This committee will begin work immediately, but I expect it to continue working throughout
the summer and early fall. I think a revised Constitution and By-laws will come back to the Senate in the fall. Are there any
volunteers to staff this committee?

• 7 Senators volunteered to serve on the committee.

Graduate Student Question: Does the Senate approve revisions formulated by the Constitutional Review Committee?

Tammy Hartke: Yes, the committee will discuss issues and formulate revisions, which will needs to be voted on by the Senate.

Northeastern’s Research and Scholarship Expo is to be held on Wednesday, March26th from 11 A.M. to 2 P.M. at Matthews Arena.
Senators are requested to sign up to volunteer to help set up for the same.

Shraddha Pogul won the election for the position of the Vice President of Student Affairs with 14 votes.

There was a discussion in the Senate about opening nominations for the position of Academic Affairs. Tammy Hartke said that
the Senate could vote to re-open nominations.

Chris Chanyasulkit: Is there a motion to open nominations for the position of Academic Affairs?

• The motion made by Chris Chanyasulkit was seconded and passed with 22 in favor, no oppositions and 2 abstentions.

• Kunal Phadnis nominated himself for the position of the Vice President of Academic Affairs.

The candidates for the position were Tina Penman, a Senator from the Bouve College of Health Sciences, and Ankita Gupta
from the College of Engineering and Kunal Phadnis from the College of Engineering.

Kunal Phadnis was present to give his speech. Tina Penman and Ankita Gupta were absent.

The election for the position of the Vice President of Academic Affairs was held.

VII. Old Business

1. Senate attendance policy – Proposed Draft Amendment to the GPSA Constitution:

WHEREAS: The Graduate Student Senate (hereafter referred to as the Senate) is the representative body of the graduate and
professional students of Northeastern University, that governs the Graduate and Professional Student Association (GPSA) and
carries out legislative process of the GPSA and serves as a forum for the communication of graduate student concerns and needs;
AND

WHEREAS: Each Senator has one vote; AND

WHEREAS: there will be no proxy votes; AND

WHEREAS: Senators are responsible for maintaining an effective system of two-way communication and have the responsibility
and duty to communicate the concerns of the constituencies to the Assembly as well as relay Association information back to
their constituencies; AND

WHEREAS: Senators are required to fulfill the responsibilities of the Senate, which includes the requirement to attend the
monthly Senate meetings, attend all Special Senate meetings, join and participate in one of the standing committees or commit
to one office hour; AND

WHEREAS: the absence of Senators on co-op or practicum from GPSA Senate and committee meetings has hampered the work of the
Association in general and of the Senate in particular; AND

WHEREAS: Senators on co-op or practicum routinely neglect their constituencies and their duty to maintain an effective system
of two-way communication between the graduate student body and the GPSA;

THEREFOR BE IT RESOLVED That the phrase "or an academic (Co-op/Practicum is considered academic) commitment" be stricken from
Article I, Paragraph 6 of the Graduate and Professional Student Association By-laws, and insert the phrase "or a special
academic commitment, such as a professional conference" so that the paragraph in full shall read: Article I, Paragraph 6:

The Senators are required to attend the monthly Senate meetings, attend all Special Senate meetings, join and participate in
one of the standing committees or commit to one office hour.

Any Senator accumulating three or more unexcused absences during the semester from the monthly Senate meetings will be deemed
by the Executive Board to have abandoned their seat. To be excused from a meeting, a Senator must submit in writing to the
President a letter explaining the absence 24 hours in advance of the meeting. In extenuating circumstances, the President
has the option to waive the 24-hour requirement.

Senators must participate in their selected standing committee meetings. Beginning with the third absence, which is not excused,
each absence from a standing committee meeting will count as an absence from a Senate meeting for the purpose of maintaining
the Senate seat. If a Senator cannot attend a weekly committee meeting, the Senator must submit in writing to the committee
chair formal notification, 24 hours in advance. In extenuating circumstances, the Chairperson has the option of waiving the
24-hour requirement

The only exceptions to the above rules will be illness or death in the immediate family, or a special academic commitment,
such as a professional conference.

Chris Chanyasulkit :Is there a motion to amend the constitution to reflect Senator attendance policy?

The motion was made by Chris Chanyasulkit and seconded.

Senator Jeremy Fredrickson: Preparatory language is too strong. It may be offensive to students on co-op, which may discourage
them to be Senators.

Senator Christopher Miller: Since the students who decide to go on co-ops have their schedule firmed up already,
it is fair on their part to resign so that the students who have been waitlisted can represent their college instead.

Senator Keyur Gada: The GPSA can progress better if the new E-board does not take up internships or co-ops during their term.

VP for Student Affairs, Ignacio Marin Garcia: The students on internships or co-op’s do not attend committee meetings,
which are scheduled during the day since they get an excused absence and hence, there will not be any quorums established
if the committee has to vote on something.

The students who decide to be Senators have to make a commitment.

Tammy Hartke: The strong language is be a reflection of the students dissatisfaction - and even anger -- with the under
representation of their issues by the Senators who are on co-op's and cannot make it to the Senate meetings. It closely follows
the discussion at the last Senate meeting.

Graduate Student Vishwesh Patil: It has to be made compulsory for all the Senators to attend all the Senate meetings.

VP of Administration, Manasa Madasu: Any member of the new E-board members have to resign if at any point they feel that they
cannot do justice to their position for the good of all the graduate students being represented by the GPSA.

Senator Jeremy Fredrickson: Each College has to have its own standard procedures while selecting Senators to represent
their respective College.

Chris Chanyasulkit: Tammy and I met with Deans of different colleges and brought up this issue.

The motion passed with 15 in favor and no oppositions or no abstentions. That is not correct - there were at least the 2
Law School Senators opposed.

Chris Chanyasulkit: Senator Tina Penman won the election for the position of the Vice President of Academic Affairs
with 9 votes

The election for the position of the Finance was held. The candidate running for this position was Prakash Potukucchi,
a Senator from the College of Engineering.

VIII. VICE-PRESIDENT OF MEDIA AND MEMBERSHIP (Ashish Jain)
The Graduate Student Awards was successful. Only two Senators were present at the event. All the Senators are requested
to try and attend the upcoming GPSA events.

Chris Chanyasulkit: Prakash Potukucchi won the election for the position of the Vice President of
Finance with 21 votes .

The election for the position of the Vice President of Media and Membership was held. The candidates running for this
position were Ripan Barot and Siddharth Desai, both from the College of Computer Science.

Both the candidates were present to give their speech.

Chris Chanyasulkit: Siddharth Desai won the election for the position of the Vice President of Media and Membership with
15 votes.

The election for the position of the Vice President of Administration and Sponsored Programs was held. The candidates running
for this position were Tasneem Jodhpurwala, a Senator from the College of Engineering, Ankit Mehta from the College of Engineering,
Nikita Kulkarni from the Bouve College of Health Sciences and Kunal Phadnis from the College of Engineering.

Nikita Kukarni, Kunal Phadnis, Tasneem Jodhpurwala were were present to give their speech. Ankit Mehta was absent.

Chris Chanyasulkit: Senator Tasneem Jodhpurwala won the election for the position of the Vice President of Administration and
Sponsored Programs with 15 votes.

VICE-PRESIDENT OF PROGRAMS REPORT (Manasa Madasu)

• Many Senators expressed their dissatisfaction about the food being served at the Senate meetings.

Manasa Madasu :Is there a motion to change the options for food to be served at the next Senate meeting?

The motion made by Manasa Madasu was seconded and passed with 13 in favor, 3 oppositions and 1 abstention.

Old Business

Ignacio Marin Garcia was elected as the new Vice President for Student Affairs after the election.

Announcements

No announcements were made.

Upcoming events
Graduate Research Expo (Wednesday, March 26 - 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM)
Provost and Vice-Provost's Forum: April 8, 2008, 4-6 pm, 444 CSC

Future Senate meetings
April 10 - Curry 346 (Approval of 2008-2009 Budget)

The meeting was adjourned by President Chris Chanyasulkit.