November 11, 1998
6:09pm: Call to order.
Secretary's Report:
Chris asked for approval of the minutes for September and October. Todd moves to accept both with a second by Elena. Motion passes unanimously
Treasurer's Report:
Rich Pierce, Treasurer, distributed the following report:
Discussion:
Several people raised questions again about the mystery of the $140.00 paid for "reservations". Rich has tried repeatedly to contact Dean Huskey about both this and our 1997-1998 carryover, however Dean Huskey has yet to respond.
Rich has appropriated money to pay our dues to NAGPS, and Dean Huskey has told him how to go about actually getting the check cut.
Funding Request:
Jeryn from the Art History Dept. came to request funds for an Art History conference in March of 1999, entitled "Politics, Propaganda, and the Power of Image".
During her request she provided the following information: While this conference has in the past been limited to art history participants, the keynote speakers and topics have been chosen to encourage more interdisciplinary participation. The conference is entirely grad student run, and the organizers have sent calls for papers to art history, religious studies, womens' studies, foreign languages, and government departments. No other funding sources have committed money yet, because they've been told to come to GSASC first.
Discussion of the request centered around the budget. Council reiterated our inability to fund catering costs and honoraria. Several members suggested including in the funding request money to support travel to UVa for graduate students from other universities. There was also concern that we might not want to commit much money now since we are still uncertain about exactly how much we have left.
A motion was made and seconded to fund the conference at $700 right now with the understanding that we (1) expect a request next semester for between $400 and $700 more and (2) expect a report on the conference after it is finished. Motion passes unanimously
President's Report:
Discussion:
Erin brought up during the discussion of NAGPS insurance brochures that many TAs are eligible for UVA Hospital's blue card plan. This is an inexpensive alternative for grads making less than about $7000.
Chris mentioned that although Aaron and Patrick are grads on the StudCo cost of living committee, when he contacted them to ask if they had any data yet on cost of living both responded negatively. Aaron has indicated that the D. of Ed. grant is his main interest and Patrick is much more interested in the StudCo/QualChoice discussions. Oliver brought up that although both are on the cost of living committee, both did volunteer to fill the seats because of these other interests.
Old Business:
Elena passed out notes about her visit to the Presidential retreat. One of her main concerns at this meeting was that every time student issues came up, it was clear that only undergraduate concerns were being considered. In response to this a draft of a letter to Casteen was written to ask for more consideration of graduate student issues. Council members were asked to review the draft and decide whether to send the letter to Casteen. On a related matter, Elena requested and was granted one seat for a graduate student on one of the University Strategic Planning Commissions. There are four of these, one for Sciences & Engineering, one for Art & Performing Arts, one for Outreach, and one for International Concerns. There were very few responses when Elena requested nominees to forward to Anita Jones (from the Sci/Eng commission), and so the only names submitted were Elena, Chris, and another astronomy grad, Ronak Shah. No response has yet come from Anita Jones.
Kathy Nixon came to the meeting to report on progress on the Publishing Forum for which GSASC has pledged funding. The current target date is the 3rd week in February, 1999. The next required step to keep on schedule is for the rooms to be reserved. Kathy apologized for all of the problems with getting the Forum on track, citing her recent serious health problems as the cause. She is hoping to solicit more help from John Portmann to ensure that the Forum happens. She will be sending a more complete report out by email to gsasc@virginia.edu.
Chris made a very brief report on the progress of the Health Insurance Committee. A more recent draft proposal was passed around for all to read and comment on. Todd has recently spent a good deal of time with Dean Huskey, and was given a good deal of useful information. Chris reported that the draft proposal would be greatly revised to incorporate Todd's new info. The hope is to present the finalized proposal to GSASC for a vote for endorsement. Then, the endorsed proposal will be submitted to all GSAS dept. chairs (and possibly grad advisors) for their potential endorsement. We then intend to most likely enlist Dean Huskey or possibly one of his superiors to accompany us to present the proposal to the person most likely to be involved in accepting or rejecting it (Sandridge?).
New Business:
Meeting adjourned 7:40 pm