COGS - Council of Graduate Students

Minutes
November 3rd, 2005
President’s Room, Coffman Memorial Union

Minutes submitted by Isaac Kamola (Vice President for Communications).

Food served at 5pm, meeting began at 5:15.

Welcomes (Sara Kempner)

Ideas for setting up department-wide governance

(Michael Nordquist; Political Science)

I presented this information first at the graduate school centennial program “Re-imagining the Ph.D.” were I told administrators that graduate students are often alienated, unhappy, and disgruntled. This was especially the case in my department, Political Science, about five years ago when many students felt there was no feedback, considerable self-doubt, and little input into department wide decisions. A handful of students came up with four areas they wanted to improve—interactions between student and faculty, first-year mentoring, on-going mentoring, help with teaching, and graduate student voice in the department decisions. In order to address these issues the students and faculty created the Graduate Student Life Committee which consisted of: the President for Life, First year mentoring, Ongoing Mentoring, Teaching, and Graduate Work Committee): President For Life which was responsible for organizing two department wide events each year including a party in the fall and a spring picnic. The department partially funds these ($75/semester). First year mentoring program through which first-year students are paired up with more advanced students who then invite the first year students to events, provide information, etc. There is also a first-year mentoring picnic. Ongoing mentoring often takes the form of organized workshops and roundtable discussions to discuss issues. For example, there have been workshops on topics such as: how to prepare for oral and written exams, TA orientation, how to find funding, issues concerning women in political science, and how to balance family and graduate school. Different teaching workshops addressed issues including how to: teach writing in class, incorporate the election into class, and evaluate writing. There is also the end goal of creating a teaching resource library with collected syllabi, textbooks, and other resources helpful for creating a new class. Graduate Work Committee consists of one pre-ABD and one post-ABD student and works with the DGS on issues concerning graduate students. In the past years the students have used the GWC to get new office furniture, re-structure the prelims, repaint the halls, and attain long term funding assurances. It is important that the DGS and faculty support student initiated governance but do not expect them to initiate it and do not let them hijack it.

Q: How many graduate students do you have in the department.
A: 80 students that are around regularly.

Q: How did the Graduate Student Life Committee start?
A: It started with about three people who decided they wanted to change the department dynamics. It remains ongoing because of recruitment. We also start each semester with a department-wide closed door meeting (no faculty) in which we elect officers as well as air grievances.

Q: Do you do work on international students?
A: Unfortunately this has been an area we have not addressed as well as we should have.

Q: Do you address students with disabilities?
A: Yes. We had a roundtable discussion on teaching to students with disabilities.

Q: Are faculty present?
A: Often times only graduate students are present because grad students know best about how to get through. For example, when talking about how best to take prelims we did not focus on what the faculty thought was the best way to take a prelim but instead had graduate students tell other graduate students different tips for surviving the process. This was done without faculty present so we could give tips that might not have found favor with the faculty.

Q: Do you get funding from your department?
A: We have received some money for box lunches and other expenses. The PFL also gets $75.00 per semester to host an event.

Q: Have you been successful in crossing the divide between students and faculty?
A: That has been the post difficult. Many have wanted to maintain the divide. Some junior faculty have attendant the parties.

Open position (Sara Kempner)

There will be an election for VP for Finance next month. There is a $1,000 stipend. Click here for information on the position.

Housing Update (Shana Watters)

Housing committee is looking for students for a video project. Currently the Graduate School is worried that they are not giving information about housing options to incoming graduate students. As a result, they want to include a video section on the CD they send to incoming students which would include video interviews with graduate students who live in different neighborhoods. The videotaping will take place on Oct. 7th, 10th, 17th, and 18th. The videographer can come to your home. Shana asked for volunteers and received four.

Strategic Positioning Update (Sara Kempner)

The different taskforces want to receive as much feedback as possible. You can click here for more information. Of the many taskforces, there are a few the affect graduate students in particular. There are Town Hall meetings scheduled for:

Graduate Education Taskforce Nov 10 5-6, 303 Coffman.

College Design: GC/CEHD Taskforce which looks at the merger of General College, the College of Education and Human Development, and the College of Human Ecology. Nov 28 3:15-5:15, 102 Fraser Hall. More information here.

It is important to get involved and share your ideas.

Survey (Sara Kempner)

Handed out preliminary set of survey questions as well as a sheet of 14 issues which the reps were asked to rank in order of importance.

The survey will allow us to document what the main issues are concerning graduate students. Currently we only have anecdotal information meaning we cannot claim to represent the concerns of the entire graduate student.

There was an open discussion about the type of questions missing on the survey, including: Do you found funding outside the University? Do you plan on securing adjust positions at local colleges? Are you an international or international student? Do you have worries about job market? What is your age, race, total household income, etc.? Where you are originally from? Are you married or have a domestic partner? Do you attend athletic events or use the recreation center? Did you get your undergrad degree from the U? There was also a suggestion that the survey be divided into one for MA students and one for Ph.D. students.

Updates

Job Search for Vice President for Access, Equity, and Multicultural Affairs

The public forums for the four finalists will be held in the Nolte Room of the Radisson University Hotel, 615 Washington Avenue Southeast:

Njeri Nuru-Holm--Wednesday, November 9, 2005, 3:00 p.m
Roberto Ibarra--Thursday, November 17, 2005, 3:00 p.m.
Robert Hampton--Monday, November 21, 2005, 3:00 p.m.
Mrinalini Rao--Monday, November 28, 2005, 2:00 p.m.

Stadium (Kris Houlton)
Currently the state has not signed a bonding bill and there is no plans for a special session to discuss the funding for a stadium. The TCF naming rights contract expires at the end of the year and the Best Buy contract expires in February. Right now we are reaching out the faculty to write letters of support against making graduate students pay a mandatory fee. Recently the DGS in Math wrote such a letter to Bruininks. Last semester the Graduate School Executive Committee passed a resolution supporting the claim that graduate students should not be required to pay a mandatory fee.

There was also a general conversation about COGS' current position on the stadium issue.

Social Science P&R (Will Cremer)
We approved a new MA in Accounting in Carlson School. A short list of courses were also approved. A series of five classes in Bioethics was not approved but power was delegated to the committee to approve the courses in light of pending information. There is also need for a graduate student to serve on the committee which reviews course and program proposals. There is also a need for graduate students to volunteer to be in the grievance committee pool in the rare event that there needs to be a grievance hearing. Dean Dubrow addressed the COGS open letter.

Health Sciences P&R (Denise Feda)
Passed some course proposals and approved the merger of History of Medical and Biological Sciences with the History of Science program.

Resolution urging Administration to negotiate with AFSCME in good-faith

(Meyerhoff, Will Cremer, Tatiana Abatemarco)

This resolution calls for the Administration to negotiate with the AFSCME locals in good faith. They are simply asking for a contract similar to the Teamsters locals which include a 2.5% wage increase this year including retroactive pay, 2.5% in 2006, and 1% pay increase in 2007. The AFSCME workers are the lowest paid workers at the University and these are bare minimum increases which barely keep up with the cost of inflation.

Q: This resolution does not include benchmarks for what a "livable wage" includes.

A: This resolution is not about specifics but serves to show that COGS is aware of the issue.

The resolution passed 36-3 with 1 abstention.

Resolution supporting UDS' use of cage free eggs

(Wendy MacCannell, Kris Houlton)

Currently the University Dining Services in considering using cage free eggs. However, they do not know if there is student support for this decision. Because many graduate students eat here on campus, it makes sense that we tell UDS that we support cage free eggs on campus.

Q: Would this only include food prepared on sight.

A: Anything UDS controls. Food in the vending machines or a Brugger's Bagles, for example, would not be encouraged to use cage free eggs.

Q: What is the difference in cost?

A: Cage free eggs are about 7 cents more per egg. For example, if a two-egg omlette cost $3 now, it would cost $3.14 with cage free eggs

Q: Does this include free-range meat?

A: Currently the UDS is not considering free-range meat. This resolution is in response to a specific plan by UDS and we fear that opening up the scope of the resolution would decrease the change of it getting ratified.

Q: Would this increase the cost of the meal plans?

A: We are not able to predict this but there are many factors including fuel costs which would also raise the cost of meal plans. It doesn't make sense that raising the cost of eggs would increase the cost of the meal plan by that much.

There was then a long discussion about Avian Flu and the problem with chickens being left outside and being allowed to intermingle. This lead to a series of amendments with the final draft looking like this.

There was an 18-18 vote to table.

There was a call to question and the resolution passed 21 to 10 with 4 abstentions.


	Home About COGS Current Issues Meetings Publications Getting Involved Representatives The Endowment Resources and FAQs Contact COGS		Minutes November 3rd, 2005 President’s Room, Coffman Memorial Union Minutes submitted by Isaac Kamola (Vice President for Communications). Food served at 5pm, meeting began at 5:15. Welcomes (Sara Kempner) Ideas for setting up department-wide governance (Michael Nordquist; Political Science) I presented this information first at the graduate school centennial program “Re-imagining the Ph.D.” were I told administrators that graduate students are often alienated, unhappy, and disgruntled. This was especially the case in my department, Political Science, about five years ago when many students felt there was no feedback, considerable self-doubt, and little input into department wide decisions. A handful of students came up with four areas they wanted to improve—interactions between student and faculty, first-year mentoring, on-going mentoring, help with teaching, and graduate student voice in the department decisions. In order to address these issues the students and faculty created the Graduate Student Life Committee which consisted of: the President for Life, First year mentoring, Ongoing Mentoring, Teaching, and Graduate Work Committee): President For Life which was responsible for organizing two department wide events each year including a party in the fall and a spring picnic. The department partially funds these ($75/semester). First year mentoring program through which first-year students are paired up with more advanced students who then invite the first year students to events, provide information, etc. There is also a first-year mentoring picnic. Ongoing mentoring often takes the form of organized workshops and roundtable discussions to discuss issues. For example, there have been workshops on topics such as: how to prepare for oral and written exams, TA orientation, how to find funding, issues concerning women in political science, and how to balance family and graduate school. Different teaching workshops addressed issues including how to: teach writing in class, incorporate the election into class, and evaluate writing. There is also the end goal of creating a teaching resource library with collected syllabi, textbooks, and other resources helpful for creating a new class. Graduate Work Committee consists of one pre-ABD and one post-ABD student and works with the DGS on issues concerning graduate students. In the past years the students have used the GWC to get new office furniture, re-structure the prelims, repaint the halls, and attain long term funding assurances. It is important that the DGS and faculty support student initiated governance but do not expect them to initiate it and do not let them hijack it. Q: How many graduate students do you have in the department. A: 80 students that are around regularly. Q: How did the Graduate Student Life Committee start? A: It started with about three people who decided they wanted to change the department dynamics. It remains ongoing because of recruitment. We also start each semester with a department-wide closed door meeting (no faculty) in which we elect officers as well as air grievances. Q: Do you do work on international students? A: Unfortunately this has been an area we have not addressed as well as we should have. Q: Do you address students with disabilities? A: Yes. We had a roundtable discussion on teaching to students with disabilities. Q: Are faculty present? A: Often times only graduate students are present because grad students know best about how to get through. For example, when talking about how best to take prelims we did not focus on what the faculty thought was the best way to take a prelim but instead had graduate students tell other graduate students different tips for surviving the process. This was done without faculty present so we could give tips that might not have found favor with the faculty. Q: Do you get funding from your department? A: We have received some money for box lunches and other expenses. The PFL also gets $75.00 per semester to host an event. Q: Have you been successful in crossing the divide between students and faculty? A: That has been the post difficult. Many have wanted to maintain the divide. Some junior faculty have attendant the parties. Open position (Sara Kempner) There will be an election for VP for Finance next month. There is a $1,000 stipend. Click here for information on the position. Housing Update (Shana Watters) Housing committee is looking for students for a video project. Currently the Graduate School is worried that they are not giving information about housing options to incoming graduate students. As a result, they want to include a video section on the CD they send to incoming students which would include video interviews with graduate students who live in different neighborhoods. The videotaping will take place on Oct. 7th, 10th, 17th, and 18th. The videographer can come to your home. Shana asked for volunteers and received four. Strategic Positioning Update (Sara Kempner) The different taskforces want to receive as much feedback as possible. You can click here for more information. Of the many taskforces, there are a few the affect graduate students in particular. There are Town Hall meetings scheduled for: Graduate Education Taskforce Nov 10 5-6, 303 Coffman. College Design: GC/CEHD Taskforce which looks at the merger of General College, the College of Education and Human Development, and the College of Human Ecology. Nov 28 3:15-5:15, 102 Fraser Hall. More information here. It is important to get involved and share your ideas. Survey (Sara Kempner) Handed out preliminary set of survey questions as well as a sheet of 14 issues which the reps were asked to rank in order of importance. The survey will allow us to document what the main issues are concerning graduate students. Currently we only have anecdotal information meaning we cannot claim to represent the concerns of the entire graduate student. There was an open discussion about the type of questions missing on the survey, including: Do you found funding outside the University? Do you plan on securing adjust positions at local colleges? Are you an international or international student? Do you have worries about job market? What is your age, race, total household income, etc.? Where you are originally from? Are you married or have a domestic partner? Do you attend athletic events or use the recreation center? Did you get your undergrad degree from the U? There was also a suggestion that the survey be divided into one for MA students and one for Ph.D. students. Updates Job Search for Vice President for Access, Equity, and Multicultural Affairs The public forums for the four finalists will be held in the Nolte Room of the Radisson University Hotel, 615 Washington Avenue Southeast: Njeri Nuru-Holm--Wednesday, November 9, 2005, 3:00 p.m Roberto Ibarra--Thursday, November 17, 2005, 3:00 p.m. Robert Hampton--Monday, November 21, 2005, 3:00 p.m. Mrinalini Rao--Monday, November 28, 2005, 2:00 p.m. Stadium (Kris Houlton) Currently the state has not signed a bonding bill and there is no plans for a special session to discuss the funding for a stadium. The TCF naming rights contract expires at the end of the year and the Best Buy contract expires in February. Right now we are reaching out the faculty to write letters of support against making graduate students pay a mandatory fee. Recently the DGS in Math wrote such a letter to Bruininks. Last semester the Graduate School Executive Committee passed a resolution supporting the claim that graduate students should not be required to pay a mandatory fee. There was also a general conversation about COGS' current position on the stadium issue. Social Science P&R (Will Cremer) We approved a new MA in Accounting in Carlson School. A short list of courses were also approved. A series of five classes in Bioethics was not approved but power was delegated to the committee to approve the courses in light of pending information. There is also need for a graduate student to serve on the committee which reviews course and program proposals. There is also a need for graduate students to volunteer to be in the grievance committee pool in the rare event that there needs to be a grievance hearing. Dean Dubrow addressed the COGS open letter. Health Sciences P&R (Denise Feda) Passed some course proposals and approved the merger of History of Medical and Biological Sciences with the History of Science program. Resolution urging Administration to negotiate with AFSCME in good-faith (Meyerhoff, Will Cremer, Tatiana Abatemarco) This resolution calls for the Administration to negotiate with the AFSCME locals in good faith. They are simply asking for a contract similar to the Teamsters locals which include a 2.5% wage increase this year including retroactive pay, 2.5% in 2006, and 1% pay increase in 2007. The AFSCME workers are the lowest paid workers at the University and these are bare minimum increases which barely keep up with the cost of inflation. Q: This resolution does not include benchmarks for what a "livable wage" includes. A: This resolution is not about specifics but serves to show that COGS is aware of the issue. The resolution passed 36-3 with 1 abstention. Resolution supporting UDS' use of cage free eggs (Wendy MacCannell, Kris Houlton) Currently the University Dining Services in considering using cage free eggs. However, they do not know if there is student support for this decision. Because many graduate students eat here on campus, it makes sense that we tell UDS that we support cage free eggs on campus. Q: Would this only include food prepared on sight. A: Anything UDS controls. Food in the vending machines or a Brugger's Bagles, for example, would not be encouraged to use cage free eggs. Q: What is the difference in cost? A: Cage free eggs are about 7 cents more per egg. For example, if a two-egg omlette cost $3 now, it would cost $3.14 with cage free eggs Q: Does this include free-range meat? A: Currently the UDS is not considering free-range meat. This resolution is in response to a specific plan by UDS and we fear that opening up the scope of the resolution would decrease the change of it getting ratified. Q: Would this increase the cost of the meal plans? A: We are not able to predict this but there are many factors including fuel costs which would also raise the cost of meal plans. It doesn't make sense that raising the cost of eggs would increase the cost of the meal plan by that much. There was then a long discussion about Avian Flu and the problem with chickens being left outside and being allowed to intermingle. This lead to a series of amendments with the final draft looking like this. There was an 18-18 vote to table. There was a call to question and the resolution passed 21 to 10 with 4 abstentions.