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GSA General Meeting
4:15-4:55 PM; Monday, April 7, 2003
Dean's Conference Room, Gebauer Building
MINUTES
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1. Call to Order. Co-chair Eric Opiela called
the meeting to order at 4:15 p.m., noting that co-chair Joyce
Banks was at the Capitol waiting to testify on tuition deregulation.
Prior to the call to order, Eric presented certificates to departmental
nominees for outstanding teaching assistant, research assistant,
and assistant instructor. He also presented the awards in each
category to: Youn Mee Ermel, Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering,
Outstanding TA; Hye-Young Jang, Chemistry and Biochemistry, Outstanding
RA; and Jennie L. Phillips, Radio Television Film, Outstanding
A.I.
2. Verification of Attendance. Secretary Marian J.
Barber circulated a sign-in sheet for verification of attendance.
(See Attachment 1.)
3. Adoption of Minutes of Last Meeting: The minutes
of the March 3, 2003. meeting
were unanimously approved as written.
4. Reports of Officers
a. Co-Chairs, Eric Opiela and Joyce Banks. Eric reported
on pending legislation, including measures that would delete
the tuition benefit for out of state graduate students and could
allow tuition for students in the Graduate School of Business,
the Law School and the School of Pharmacy to rise by up to four
times. He said that a measure that would eliminate health benefits
for all University of Texas employees working fewer than 40
hours a week is not yet being considered, but could come up
at any time.
b. Secretary, Marian Barber. Marian Barber reported
that she had completed the survey of departments and programs
necessary to the annual recertification of reps to the GSA.
She thanked current and past reps for their assistance. Eric
noted that the list of reps would be voted upon under old business.
c. Treasurer, Greg Hammond. On behalf of Greg Hammond,
Ginger Gossman reported that she continues to work with the
Office of Graduate Studies on distributing the $7,000 in developmental
funds for graduate student organizations. She anticipates that
the procedure will be for recipients to submit receipts to OGS
via Maggie Keeshan, and apologized for the delay.
d. Special Events Coordinator, Audrey Trainor.
Audrey Trainor reported that the planned tax workshop fell
through, but that notice would shortly be going out about a
happy hour at Spider House Thursday, April 17. She also noted
that because she is graduating, the Special Event Coordinator
position would be open.
e. Publications Coordinator, Ginger Gossman.
Ginger Gossman noted that the nominations for Outstanding TA,
RA, and AI were a resounding success and that the GSA Executive
Committee would be formalizing the guidelines for future competitions.
f. Electronic Resources Coordinator, Don Drumtra. Don
Drumtra said he had no report.
5. Reports of University Committee Representatives
a. Faculty Council: Anna Pyeatt reported
on a joint meeting of the UT Faculty Council and the corresponding
group from Texas A&M. She noted that A&M President
Robert Gates said that A&M's student body and faculty
are 85% white and 82% male, which poses a problem with an
increasingly diverse state legislature. Unless universities
diversify, Gates said, they run the risk of losing the support
of the legislature. John Opperman of the Lt. Governor's
Office reported to the joint session that of states with
budget problems, only 1/3 opted to meet the situation by
increasing taxes. He also said that tuition deregulation
would help eight of the state's public institutions, but
would not help the remaining 30. Anna also said that word
at the meeting was that Sen. Ron Wilson's bill that would
extend the 10% plan to Texas graduate schools should be
taken seriously. She reported on a recent study that indicates
that outreach by the two flagship universities to the population
of the state of Texas indicates that while Texans take pride
in the schools, they do not feel intimate ties to them.
Eric Opiela added that at the March Faculty Council meeting
a measure endorsing the Texas Compact was approved unanimously.
b. TA/AI Responsibilities, Rights, and Welfare Committee:
Marian Barber reported that the comprehensive update
of the TA/AI Webpages and the online TA/AI handbook is now
complete. She recognized Educational Administration rep
Erik Malmberg, the University's Logan Wilson Fellow, and
last year's Logan Wilson Fellow Charlotte Sullivan, for
their exemplary work on the project. She also reported that
as part of the streamlining of the Office of Graduate Studies,
Interim Dean Victoria Rodriguez and the committee are exploring
ways to exempt the tuition benefit to graduate employees
from federal income taxation.
c. Graduate Assembly:
(1) Paula Hartman reported that at its March 26
meeting the Assembly changed the name of the Nutrition
program to Nutrition Sciences and agreed to separate Radio
Television Film into smaller degree programs. They also
discussed their concern about ensuring sufficient support
for out of state graduate students to attract outstanding
applicants. They are also concerned about diversity, but
note that the pool of applicants is not diverse. Paula
said that she would be supportive of GSA sending a message
to the Graduate Assembly stating that graduate students
need to be treated differently from undergraduates.
(2) Craig Carroll also reported on the Graduate
Assembly, noting that the survey on + and - grades was
still in progress. He said preliminary results indicate
that most opposition comes from students who are about
to graduate. One method of dealing with the change might
be to make the change effective in 2004-2005, he said,
noting that the proposal is only for graduate student
grades, not those of undergraduates. He also pointed out
that since he is graduating, there will be an opening
for a rep to the Graduate Assembly. He clarified that
the Graduate Assembly is a faculty committee that deals
with graduate programs and is not to be confused with
the Graduate Student Assembly, the representative body
of students enrolled in graduate programs.
d. Parking and Transportation: Don Drumtra reported
that parking fees have gone up as planned.
e. Library: Don Drumtra reported that a subcommittee
has been working on clarifying the ways that figures and
illustrations may be incorporated into dissertations.
6. Reports of Ad Hoc Committees. There were no reports
of Ad Hoc Committees
7. Unfinished Business -
a. Approval of GSA Membership List, Marian Barber.
Marian Barber presented the new list. It was approved
unanimously. (See Attachment
2.)
b. Resolution on Discrimination Policy, discussion, amendment,
approval. The resolution was tabled because an electronic
version had not yet been made available for examination by the
Assembly.
c.
Resolution on the Establishment of 1.5 hour Courses for
Individual Studies, Individual Research, Theses, and
Dissertations, Robyn Honig. Sponsor
Robyn Honig asked that the resolution be tabled while the topic
is researched further.
d. Other Unfinished Business. There was no other unfinished
business.
8. New Business
a. Election of officers.
(1) The following persons were nominated, and their
nominations seconded.
Co-chairs: Marian J. Barber and Don Drumtra
Secretary: Joyce Banks
Treasurer: Dan Gilman
Special Events Coordinator: Melissa Midkiff
Publications/Publicity Coordinator: Ginger Gossman
Electronic Resources Coordinator: Erik Malmberg
(2) It was suggested that the positions of treasurer
and publications/publicity coordinator be combined. After
brief discussion, it was informally decided that the positions
should remain independent, but that in recognition of the
broadened portfolio Ginger has undertaken in the publications/publicity
position, it should be renamed "Public Relations Coordinator."
It was agreed that a formal change would be sought in the
coming year.
(3) Because all of the positions were uncontested,
the nominees were elected by acclamation.
b. Discussion of Tuition Legislation Proposals. Discussion
of tuition legislation proposals was deferred until after adjournment.
c. Other new business. Don Drumtra moved that the Assembly
publicly thank Eric Opiela and Joyce Banks for their service
during the 2002-2003 academic year. The motion was unanimously
approved.
9. Announcements. There were no announcements.
10. Adjourn. Co-Chair Eric Opiela adjourned the meeting
at 4:55 p.m.
[The Graduate Assembly would like to thank Julie Sederholm
of the staff of the Dean of Liberal Arts for her assistance
in holding the meeting in the Dean's Conference Room.]
Attachment 1
GSA Attendance
April 7, 2003
Kartik Agaram, Computer Science, akkartik@cs.utexas.edu
Marian J. Barber, History
Maria Baroco, School of Information, mebaroco@yahoo.com
Martha L. Bernal, OR/IE Engineering, ml-bernal@mail.utexas.edu
Karl Brown, History, brownkarl@yahoo.com
Kristen Carlson, Biomedical Engineering, kristencarlson@mail.utexas.edu
Allisa Carter, Educational Admin, Allisa@mail.utexas.edu
Dorothy Darby, Nursing, ddarby@austin.rr.com
Carol Delville, Nursing, cdelville@mail.utexas.edu, visitor
Don Drumtra, Electronic Resources Coordinator/Webmaster
Jean Love El-Harim, Comparative Literature, elharim@yahoo.com
Selim T. Erdogan, Computer Sciences, selim@cs.utexas.edu
Sylvia Gale, English, sylviag@mail.utexas.edu
Dan Gilman, Anthropology, dan_gilman@mail.utexas.edu
Markus Glodek, Philosophy, markus@uts.cc.utexas.edu
Karen Gonzalez, American Studies, kcg@mail.utexas.edu
Ginger Gossman, Public Relations Coordinator
Robyn Honig, Psychology, rhonig@mail.utexas.edu
Makiko Irie, Linguistics, mirie@mail.utexas.edu
Erik Malmberg, Educational Admin, qball@mail.utexas.edu
Melissa Midkiff, CSD, melissa_midkiff@hotmail.com
Victoria Naipavel-Heiduschke, School of Information, venh@mail.utexas.edu
Eric Opiela, Co-Chair
Anna Pyeatt, Spanish & Portuguese, apyeatt@mail.utexas.edu
Shawn Saladin, Special Ed, shsaladin512@aol.com
Francisco Serna, Biomedical Engineering, KSerna@mail.utexas.edu
Lori Stuntz, Economics, stuntz@eco.utexas.edu
Audrey Trainor, Special Events Coordinator
Joel Tropp, Comp. Applied Math, jtropp@ices.utexas.edu
Ariela Tubert, Philosophy, atubert@mail.utexas.edu (Alternate)
Marci Tuck, Architecture/Community and Regional Planning, mjtaustin@excite.com
Bridget Wadzuk, Civil Engineering, bwadzuk@mail.utexas.edu
Ken Ward, ILAS, kcward@alumni.reed.edu
Attachment 2
Graduate Student Assembly Representatives,
2002-2003
Verified
List Compiled and Presented by
Marian J. Barber, Secretary
April 7, 2003
School of Architecture
Community and Regional Planning
Representative: Marci Tuck, mjtaustin@excite.com
College of Communications
Communications Sciences and Disorders:
Representative: Melissa Midkiff, Melissa_Midkiff@hotmail.com
Communications Studies
Representative: Kristen Hoerl, khoerl@mail.utexas.edu
Alternate: Scott D'Urso, dursos@mail.utexas.edu
Journalism
Representative: Kate Harrington, klhharrington@hotmail.com
Alternate: Melissa Bray, msbray@mail.utexas.edu
College of Education
Educational Administration:
Representative: Alissa Carter, allisa@mail.utexas.edu
Representative: Roberto Rodriguez, j.roberto@mail.utexas.edu
Representative: Erik D. Malmberg, qball@mail.utexas.edu
Alternate: Shelly Gehrke, shellygehrke@yahoo.com
Special Education
Representative: Paula Hartman, hartmanpa@mail.utexas.edu
Representative: Shawn Saladin, saladin_Shawn@hotmail.com
Alternate: Cathy Thomas, cthomas23@austin.rr.com
College of Engineering
Biomedical Engineering
Representative: Kristen Carlson, kristencarlson@mail.utexas.edu
Alternate: Francisco "Kiko" Serna, kserna@mail.utexas.edu
Civil EngineeringRepresentative: Bridget Wadzuk, bwadzuk@mail.utexas.edu
Materials Science and EngineeringRepresentative: Caroline
Pastre Merrill, cpastre@mail.utexas.edu
Mechanical Engineering
Representative: Lisa Ramirez, lmr@mail.utexas.edu
Representative: Andy Dare, jadare@mail.utexas.edu
Operations Research and Industrial Engineering:
Representative: Martha Bernal, mlbernal@mail.utexas.edu
College of Engineering:
Representative: Raouf Isaac Malek, raouf@che.utexas.edu
Representative: Qiu Wu, qwu@ece.utexas.edu
College of Fine Arts
Art History
Representative: Lynn Boland, lboland@mail.utexas.edu
School of InformationInformation
PhilosophyRepresentative: Mac McGuire, mmcguire@cox-internet.com
Information Studies
Representative: Victoria Naipavel-Heiduschke, venh@mail.utexas.edu
Representative: Prentiss Lee, prenlee@mail.utexas.edu
Representative: Maria Baroco, mebaroco@yahoo.com
Alternate: Abby Haywood, abbyhaywood@hotmail.com
Alternate: Becky Kyle, bekintex@swbell.net
American StudiesRepresentative: Karen Gonzalez, kcg@mail.utexas.eduAnthropology
Representative: Dan Gilman, dan_gilman@mail.utexas.edu
Representative: Lauren Wagner, aicha@mail.utexas.edu
Comparative Literature
Representative: Jean Love El Harim, elharim@yahoo.com
Alternate: Matthew Russell, mrrussell@mail.utexas.edu
Economics:
Representative: Lori Stuntz, stuntz@eco.utexas.edu
English and Creative Writing:
Representative: Sylvia Gale, sylviag@mail.utexas.edu
Representative: Melanie Ulrich, mel-u@mail.utexas.edu
French and Italian:
Representative: Jenny Philips, jennyphilips@mail.utexas.edu
Government
Representative: Howard Donnell, hdonnell@mail.utexas.edu
Alternate: Jeremy Teigen, jteigen@gov.utexas.edu
History
Representative: Karl Brown, brownkarl@yahoo.com
Latin American Studies
Representative: Ken Ward, kcward@alumni.reed.edu
Alternate: Claire Campbell, chmc@mail.utexas.edu
Linguistics
Representative: Makiko Irie, mirie@mail.utexas.edu
Philosophy
Representative: Markus Glodek, markus@uts.cc.utexas.edu
Alternate: Ariela Tubert, atubert@mail.utexas.edu
Psychology
Representative: Robyn Honig, rhonig@mail.utexas.edu
Alternate, Ashlynn Kinney, ashcan@mail.utexas.edu
Slavic Languages and Literature
Representative: Ruby J. Jones, rubyj@mail.utexas.edu
Sociology
Representative: Veronica C. Aravena, aravena@prc.utexas.edu
Alternate: Daniel Cortese, dkhcortese@mail.utexas.edu
Spanish and Portuguese
Representative: Taran Johnston, taranw@mail.utexas.edu
Alternate: Anna Pyeatt, apyeatt@mail.utexas.edu
Women's and Gender Studies
Representative: Sarah Cross, sarahhelen@igc.org
Alternate: Tracey Swan, tcbswan@yahoo.co
College of Natural Sciences
Astronomy
Representative: Eva Noyola, eva@astro.as.utexas.edu
Computational and Applied Mathematics
Representative: Joel Tropp, jtropp@ticam.utexas.edu
Marine Science
Representative: Amy Townsend-Small, amy@utmsi.utexas.edu
Mathematics
Representative: Michael Lamar, mlamar@math.utexas.edu
Molecular Genetics and Microbiology (MGM)
Representative: Bettina Lengsfeld, blengsfeld@mail.utexas.edu
College of Nursing
Nursing
Representative: Dorothy Darby, ddarby@austin.rr.com
Representative: Ronda Levin, rondalevin@mail.utexas.edu
Graduate Student Organizations
Student Government
Representative: Paul Navratil, pnav@cs.utexas.edu
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