COGS - Council of Graduate Students

Minutes of the COGS General Assembly Meeting
Tuesday, March 21, 2006
Coffman Memorial Union, President’s Room Meeting: 5:15pm

Minutes prepared by Sue Davern.
Sara Kempner, President, presided.

COGS Graduate Student Survey 2006

There were some problems with accepting questionnaires the first few days of the Survey collection. The problems have been solved. If anyone filled out the questionnaire but couldn’t get it accepted, please send it in again. The system is working fine now and your answers are important.

Sara has some early results, but is hoping to get an even larger response.

Stadium Advisory Committee

The Stadium Advisory Committee has been meeting. The University is gong ahead with the stadium. It still includes a student fee, but current legislative action supports students financial interest. Some legislators are questioning naming rights and whether they want the stadium named after any individual business when the bulk of the financial support is really coming from all the people in Minnesota.

Resolution

A resolution in support of Minnesota State Senate Bill 2460 and House companion Bill 3423 authored by Kris Houlton (COGS Stadium Rep.) and Keith Cunnien (former COGS Stadium Rep.) was introduced.

Jaoa Boavida introduced a friendly amendment and it was accepted by the Resolution’s author Kris Houlton to strike the following: “Whereas this bill would fund the University of Minnesota stadium without the private naming of the stadium;”

The Resolution passed unanimously.

There was a sign-up sheet passed around for people to sign up to help lobby at the Legislature in support of these bills.

Elections for 2006-07 School Year Elections

The following positions were filled quickly and unanimously. They were all single slates:

Executive Committee
President, Aeleah Soine Executive
Vice President, Bryan Gordon
Vice President for External Relations, Will Cremer Vice
President for Communications, Caroline Hilk
Vice President for Internal Relations, Denise Feda

Policy and Review Chairs
Biological Sciences, Carol Powers
Education and Psychology, Sara Kempner
Engineering, Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Jaoa Boavida
Health Sciences, Starr Sage Language,
Literature and Arts, Eden Kaiser
Social Sciences, Eli Meyerhoff

Senators for Fall 2006
Susan Kang, (Senator for Fall Semester only)

It was decided to wait until Fall, 2006 to elect the remaining Senators, Senate Alternates, Parliamentarian and a Representative for Senate Committee on Educational Policy. There was recruitment to fill in open positions on the Spring 2006 P&R Committees.

State Property Tax Refunds Resolution

A resolution opposing the inclusion of tuition waivers as income in determining Minnesota State Property Tax Refunds authored by Kris Houlton was introduced.

There was a lot of discussion about including the following wording: “Whereas the auditing of an unusually high number of international (non-citizen) students has been reported to the Council of Graduate Students (COGS):” The discussion centered on the word “auditing” and whether it could be proved that they had been audited.

The Resolution passed by a majority vote.

Social Ideas for Graduate Students

Graduate students have been asking about the possibility of creating some social activities. A sign-up sheet was passed around for those interested in working on this and a short meeting was held by some of the people following the meeting.


	Home About COGS Current Issues Meetings Publications Getting Involved Representatives The Endowment Resources and FAQs Contact COGS		Minutes of the COGS General Assembly Meeting Tuesday, March 21, 2006 Coffman Memorial Union, President’s Room Meeting: 5:15pm Minutes prepared by Sue Davern. Sara Kempner, President, presided. COGS Graduate Student Survey 2006 There were some problems with accepting questionnaires the first few days of the Survey collection. The problems have been solved. If anyone filled out the questionnaire but couldn’t get it accepted, please send it in again. The system is working fine now and your answers are important. Sara has some early results, but is hoping to get an even larger response. Stadium Advisory Committee The Stadium Advisory Committee has been meeting. The University is gong ahead with the stadium. It still includes a student fee, but current legislative action supports students financial interest. Some legislators are questioning naming rights and whether they want the stadium named after any individual business when the bulk of the financial support is really coming from all the people in Minnesota. Resolution A resolution in support of Minnesota State Senate Bill 2460 and House companion Bill 3423 authored by Kris Houlton (COGS Stadium Rep.) and Keith Cunnien (former COGS Stadium Rep.) was introduced. Jaoa Boavida introduced a friendly amendment and it was accepted by the Resolution’s author Kris Houlton to strike the following: “Whereas this bill would fund the University of Minnesota stadium without the private naming of the stadium;” The Resolution passed unanimously. There was a sign-up sheet passed around for people to sign up to help lobby at the Legislature in support of these bills. Elections for 2006-07 School Year Elections The following positions were filled quickly and unanimously. They were all single slates: Executive Committee President, Aeleah Soine Executive Vice President, Bryan Gordon Vice President for External Relations, Will Cremer Vice President for Communications, Caroline Hilk Vice President for Internal Relations, Denise Feda Policy and Review Chairs Biological Sciences, Carol Powers Education and Psychology, Sara Kempner Engineering, Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Jaoa Boavida Health Sciences, Starr Sage Language, Literature and Arts, Eden Kaiser Social Sciences, Eli Meyerhoff Senators for Fall 2006 Susan Kang, (Senator for Fall Semester only) It was decided to wait until Fall, 2006 to elect the remaining Senators, Senate Alternates, Parliamentarian and a Representative for Senate Committee on Educational Policy. There was recruitment to fill in open positions on the Spring 2006 P&R Committees. State Property Tax Refunds Resolution A resolution opposing the inclusion of tuition waivers as income in determining Minnesota State Property Tax Refunds authored by Kris Houlton was introduced. There was a lot of discussion about including the following wording: “Whereas the auditing of an unusually high number of international (non-citizen) students has been reported to the Council of Graduate Students (COGS):” The discussion centered on the word “auditing” and whether it could be proved that they had been audited. The Resolution passed by a majority vote. Social Ideas for Graduate Students Graduate students have been asking about the possibility of creating some social activities. A sign-up sheet was passed around for those interested in working on this and a short meeting was held by some of the people following the meeting.