General Meeting
4:00 - 5:05 PM, November 4, 2002
Texas Union, Sinclair Suite

1. Call to Order: The Assembly was called to order at 4 p.m. in the Sinclair Suite of the Texas Union by co-chairs Joyce Banks and Eric Opiela.

2. Verification of Attendance: The attendance sheet was circulated by Treasurer Greg Hammond, acting on behalf of Secretary Marian Barber, who was out of town.

a. Officers Present

Joyce Banks, Art History, Co-Chair
Eric Opiela, Law, Co- Chair
Greg Hammond, History, Treasurer, Acting Secretary
Audrey Trainor, Special Education, Special Events Coordinator
Don Drumtra, Information School, Electronic Resources Coordinator

b. Representatives Present

American Studies, Karen Gonzalez
Anthropology, Dan Gilman
Art History, Lynn Boland
Biomedical Engineering, Kristen Carlson
English, Sylvia Gail
Melanie Ulrich, English
Government, Howard Donnell
Information, Prentiss Lee
Latin American Studies, Ken Ward
Linguistics, Makiko Lrie
Mathematics and Statistics, Michael Lamar
Mechanical Engineering, Andy Dare
Nursing, Dorothy Darby
Psychology, Robyn Honig
Senate of College Councils, Jonathan Lee
Spanish and Portuguese, Anna Pyeatt
Women and Gender Studies, Sara Cross

c. Alternates Present: None.

d. Guests Present: None.

3. Adoption of Minutes of Previous Meeting. Co-Chair Joyce Banks asked that the minutes of the October meeting be modified to show that the Assembly voted to equalize the stipends of the special events, publications, and electronic resources coordinators with those of the secretary and treasurer only, rather than with those of all officers including the co-chairs. The title of the minutes as submitted was changed to indicate they were the minutes of the October meeting. Dr. Teresa Sullivan's new title was corrected. It is "executive vice chancellor for academic affairs at The University of Texas System." The name of the contact for the Preparing Future Faculty program was provided. It is Elizabeth Brown Lee. With these changes, the minutes were adopted.

4. Reports of Officers

a. CO-Chairs, Eric Opiela & Joyce Banks. Joyce reported that President Faulkner had announced that the committee on expression and assembly had submitted its report and that the report was available on-line. Opportunities for comments will be available. Electronic Resources Coordinator Don Drumtra will make this available on the GSA website in December. Joyce also reported that the Administrative Committee of the Graduate Assembly will reconsider plus and minus grading. She said that concerns were raised that implementing such grading might lead to the lowering of GPAs, but that faculty members did not feel this would be critical. Discussion ensued as to the pros and cons. Joyce indicated that graduate student input will be sought. Eric and Joyce reported that they had met with Interim Graduate Dean Robert May. Discussion ensued about the graduate dean situation and the prospect that the Graduate School might be placed in the portfolio of the provost. They also reported on a possible tax loophole for TA's and AI's regarding tuition reimbursement and said that President Faulkner said the issue of the Gregory Gym outdoor pool would be presented to the Regents next August.

b. Secretary, Marian Barber. Marian was out of the country and had no report. (She thanks Greg Hammond for taking the notes on which these minutes are based.)

c. Treasurer, Greg Hammond. Greg reported on funding issues. He outlined the then-current budget situation, specifically the confusion over the $7000 for supporting grad department groups. He distributed copies of the proposal for the application guidelines for the Assembly's consideration and answered questions regarding the process.

d. Special Events Coordinator, Audrey Trainor. Audrey gave details of the planned bagels and coffee event scheduled for 11/19 at Einstein's on the Drag. Discussion ensued about use of left over funds from previous events at the Copper Tank. It was noted that it is useful to check for UT ID and this procedure will be followed at Einstein's.

e. Publications Coordinator, Ginger Gossman. Ginger had no report.

f. Electronic Resources Coordinator, Don Drumtra. Don asked for e-mail updates and for names and information of reps to be added to or deleted from the website.

5. Reports of University Committee Representatives. Committee reps then reported on organizational meetings.

a. Outstanding Graduate Coordinator Committee: The committee has been discussing proposals to reduce the number of awards. They are encouraging letters from students. Publicity on the awards program is done by departments.

b. Shuttle Bus: Because of financial concerns there is a need to reduce service on less-utilized routes. Discussion ensued, including mention of reviving the campus loop route, splitting the North Riverside route, and starting kiosk service of shuttle schedules.

c. TA/AI Rights and Responsibilities: The issue of taxability of the TA/AI tuition benefit, including the possibility that redefining the benefit could change its tax status, was discussed. The timing of release of the payment was also discussed. The committee continues to work on revising the portion of the Graduate School website concerning graduate workers and seeks student input.

d. Graduate Assembly Academic Committee: The committee has passed a proposal to change the designation of the architecture degree. Dissertation proposals are to include new approvals. The Option 3 program of the Engineering School was altered.

e. Student Fee Committee: UT is facing a state-imposed fee cap, limiting our ability to address crucial issues. Each time we surpass the cap, we need approval of the students, either through SG vote or referendum, the former being preferable by cost. A question was raised about where the money from "We're Texas" is. Discussion ensued as to where this money went in relation to the infrastructure fee.

f. Faculty Council: Anna Pyeatt reported that the Faculty Council has been discussing the situation of non-tenure track faculty and the fact that they are essential to the functioning of the University. Discussion ensued about various proposed reforms in this area. It was reported that the academic departments have resisted regular review and mandatory pay increases for these workers.

g. Parking Committee: Don Drumtra reported on loss of parking as construction on the Blanton Museum commences.

6. Reports of Ad Hoc Committees. None.

7. Unfinished Business. Discussion on the GSA budget ensued. The draft criteria for receiving GSA funds were presented and discussed. Several changes were made to the application guidelines. The most recent version is appended to the minutes.

8. New Business. No new business came before the Assembly.

9. Announcements. Elizabeth Brown Lee of the Preparing Future Faculty program discussed the PPF internship program and seminars. For more information, she can be reached via e-mail at ebarber@mail.utexas.edu. Student Government reps announced that SG is working to establish a grievance process for student workers designed to provide a more effective appeals process for non-classified staff. For more information or to contribute ideas, contact brianhaley@hotmail.com.

10. Adjourn. The meeting was adjourned shortly after 5 p.m.