GRADUATE AND PROFESSIONAL STUDENT ASSOCIATION (GPSA)
Third Senate Meeting Location: 346 CSC Date: 11-8-07 Time: 2:50 PM
ATTENDEES:
E-board Members and Advisors:
President- Chris Chanyasulkit
Vice President for Finance- Kristen Hudak
Vice President for Student Affairs- Vidit Shah
Vice President for Academic Affairs- Tammy Hartke
Vice President for Media and Membership-Ashish Jain
Vice President for Administration- Manasa Madasu
Senators College
Lauren Nicoll
Christopher Aragao
Allison Uzdella Arts and Sciences
Jing Li
Thomas Arruda
Cole Creighton
Stephen Morse
Adriano Ciccomancini Business Administration, Accounting and Taxation
Rushabh Lakhani Computer and Information Sciences
Kalpesh Gupta
Ninad Satam
Devshri Desai
Keyur Gada Bouve College of Health Sciences
Haripriya Addepalli
Arunkumr Dubey
Ashwin Shankar Engineering
Christopher Miller Criminal Justice
V-Tsien Fan
Jeremy Frederickson School of Law
Matt Sweet
Kristen Pappas
MINUTES OF THE MEETING
I.INTRODUCTION
1.The meeting was called to order by President Chris Chanyasulkit.
2.A quorum of the Senate was present.
3.The minutes from the previous senate meeting were approved by the senate.
II. COMMITTEE REPORTS
1. President (Chris Chanyasulkit)
♣The Provost's office was impressed with the help by the GPSA. They recognized Senator Allison Uzdella's
work and thanked her for her time and effort.
♣ Two more graduate information sessions to be held during the spring semester. The next graduate information
session is to be held on January 15, 2008. More volunteers are required. Everyone is welcome to sign up.
2. Academic Affairs (Tammy Hartke)
♣ The Faculty Senate passed a resolution to develop guidelines and a tracking system for instances of academic
dishonesty that are settled between a student and a faculty member. This would allow identification of repeat offenders"
and intervention by the student's advisor or department. I have asked that graduate students be involved in developing this.
3. Finance (Kristen Hudak)
♣ A total of $31,147 was awarded during the second funding period.
♣ The total amount awarded was $48,171 (including the first funding period) which is was 63% of the total funding budget.
♣ The deadline for the next funding period is the week of November 12th.
♣ The budget break down report submitted includes the amount for the next two funding periods.
♣ Since there are not too many activities during the summer semester, amount spent is estimated to be lower than the
rest of the semesters.
Graduate Student Survey
♣ The graduate student survey will be conducted during the first part of the next semester. Tammy Hartke is
developing survey questions and will meet with Annemieka Rice, who coordinates StudentVoice (the company that Northeastern
University has contracted for this service), after Thanksgiving to upload them. StudentVoice will help design the survey
to get the best information from it, and will host it when it is made available.
♣ Senators and other graduates students are welcome to E-mail potential survey questions to the GPSA or post
them on the blog.
♣ One of the Senators asked if GPSA could send the questions to the Senators after they were finalized to make
corrections or include more relevant questions to which Tammy Hartke replied that StudentVoice is a professional survey
developer and will provide that service. She will ask if the Senate can serve as a test body before the actual survey,
but did not know if this would be possible.
4.Administration (Manasa Madasu)
♣ The First programs committee was held on Thursday, November 7th at 12.30 pm. Since there were very few Senators
present, there will be another meeting on December 5th (time and location to be decided).
♣ The First International Carnevale planning meeting of the ISSI discussed various events to be held during
February and March. Dean Scott Quint liked the idea of including the GPSA's 'Cultural Night' to be held in conjunction
with the ISSI.A date for the event is to be determined at the next planning committee meeting.
♣Other locations such as the West addition at the curry student center do not have adequate security and are closed
before midnight. However, we hope to get a good location which can be open until 11pm (apart from afterHours).
♣The issue of increasing recycling bins on campus will be discussed at the next programs committee meeting to be
held on December 5th.
III. NEW BUSINESS
1. Upcoming Senate meetings
♣There are four upcoming Senate meetings during the next semester.
♣Elections for the next E-board members would take place during the senate meeting to be held on March 20th, 2008.
♣A report on the required qualifications for the prospective candidates will be put together by the E-board members
and E-mailed to the Senate members and posted on the website.
2. Graduate Student Awards (March 17, 2008, Raytheon Amphitheater)
♣Every year a number of graduate students are awarded cash prizes for their outstanding work.
♣There are different categories of awards including the best teaching assistant, research project, etc.
♣Students are nominated by their faculty members. More details are provided on the website. The students submit a
portfolio and the decisions are taken by the committee members who are faculty members from different fields of study.
♣The nominations close on January 22nd and the awards ceremony will be held on March 17th, 2008.It is organized by
the GPSA in conjunction with the Provost's office.
♣I-Pods and other door prizes will be given away at this event.
♣A lot of help is needed to promote and make this event a huge success so that we continue to have this event for
the next few years for the benefit of other graduate students.
3. Provost's and Vice Provost's Forum (April 8th, 4-6pm,444 CSC)
♣The Academic Affairs committee is in charge of organizing the Provost's and Vice Provost's forum.
♣The event will be different from the President's forum as it would focus more on the questions from the audience
IV ANNOUNCEMENTS
♣Senator Ashwin Shankar who is also the President of Sanskriti, the Indian Graduate Student Association welcomed
all the senators and graduate students present at the meeting for the 'Diwali Night'(a festival of lights) to be held
on Saturday ,7pm to 10pm at the Cabral Center, African American Institute,40 Leon Street at West Village.
Tammy Hartke
♣ The GPSA is planning to host an informal gathering place during Finals Week (Dec 10th to 14th) for graduate students to
relax, grade papers, etc. Coffee and snacks will be provided. Volunteers were asked to sign up for specific time slots
according to their availability. More information about the location will be provided as soon as it is finalized.
Manasa Madasu
♣ The International Carnevale second planning committee meeting is on, Friday November 9th, at 4 pm where she plans to
set a date for the GPSA Cultural Night in February or March. Everyone is welcome to attend.
♣They have many events over a span of two months including the International Gala Night which is held in the Blackman
auditorium every year. It features student performers from different cultures, backgrounds and student organizations.
♣Other events are India week, Africa week, Distinguished speaker series, International Fashion show, etc.
Tammy Hartke
♣ Thanksgiving food drive on campus until November 15, 2007. They accept canned food and other non-perishable items.
♣Group service project at the Greater Boston Food bank to be held on November 9, 2007, from 8:45 am to 12 pm.
♣Burmese prisoner of conscience, Dr. Khin from Singapore who was a prisoner in Burma for 10 years speaks about democracy.
He is also an HIV/AIDS activist. This is to be held on Wednesday, November 14, 2007 at Shillman Hall at 11:45 am.
President Chris Chanyasulkit adjourned the meeting.
