a. Marian Barber (Co-Chair). Marian noted that Don Drumtra and special guest Victoria Rodriguez were at the Tuition Recommendation Ad-Hoc Committee meeting and would be stopping in momentarily. She asked that representatives note their names and departments when addressing the Assembly. Representatives should sign-in on sheet with name, program, and email.

Introduction of Vice Provost and Dean of Graduate Studies, Victoria Rodriguez.
Dr. Rodriguez welcomed everyone to UT and explained that she and Co-Chair Don Drumtra will be leaving the meeting shortly to attend the Tuition Policy Ad-Hoc Committee. The Committee has already met twice and will continue to meet twice a week in order to formulate a recommendation for President Faulkner by mid-October. There will several Town Hall meetings following the committee’s recommendations to get feedback from graduate representatives, their constituencies, and all other students.

Two important issues being addressed in the coming months are new tuition rates and benefits for graduate students. Over the summer the University decided to commit to funding benefits for current and recently admitted graduate student employees. They are currently discussing what the policy will be for future admits.

Another major issue is determining new admissions and financial aid policies relative to the affirmative action decision by the U.S. Supreme Court. Right now the admissions process is very decentralized and generally handled by departments but financial aid is a different situation. Financial aid for undergraduates is very different than for graduate students and the Michigan case left financial aid possibilities for graduate students very ambiguous. The Office of Graduate Studies has a new Associate Dean in OGS in charge of Recruitment and Admissions, Dr. Darlene Grant from Social Work.

Dr. Rodriguez announced that she has started a reorganization of OGS and she outlined the current structure of that office. Fellowships and faculty development are two pillars of the office and are under the purview of Associate Dean, Dr. John Dollard. Darlene Grant, as she mentioned, is now heading Admissions and Recruitment. Student Services is another component and is headed by Terry Kahn. The Intellectual Entrepreneurship Program has become Professional Development and Community Engagement and is headed by Dr. Tommy Darwin. The former head of IE, Rick Cherwitz has returned to teaching duties in the College of Communication. Anything that has to do with the graduate catalogue, written policies, or the Graduate Assembly is being handled by Tom Belinoski.

Dr. Rodriguez has spoken to Co-Chairs Marian and Don and announced her interest in being the GSA’s faculty sponsor.

Dr. Rodriguez fielded a question from Sylvia Gale (English) regarding the University’s commitment to covering health insurance for current students. Was this commitment for this year only or into the future? Dr. Rodriguez assured the Assembly that current students will continue to be covered at the same level into the future. The administration also committed to doing this for students who had been offered admission for this fall.

Francisco Serna (alt. Biomedical Engineering) asked why some students are covered and others are not. Dr. Rodriguez clarified that if you are 19 hours or less or not a TA this semester you are not eligible for benefits.

Ken Ward (alt. LLILAS) asked about a policy of shifting benefits eligible positions to part-time or ineligible. She noted that this has happened and they are looking into it.

Don Zigman (Government) asked if the University is looking into switching into a new health care plan. She answered that yes, they are looking into all kinds of possibilities. She will be keeping us informed and decisions will be made this semester.

Robyn Honig (Psychology) asked whether a graduate student who didn’t TA this semester but will in the spring be eligible for the same level of benefits? Dr. Rodriguez said that her understanding is yes, but that this may be wrong. Will the benefits continue through the summer months as they have before? Whether it extends into summer depends on how they are hired—she doesn’t know but will look into it.

She encouraged students to email her with any questions they might have.

Don Drumtra (Co-Chair) introduced the GSA objectives that have been approved by the Excom and will be voted on in New Business and urges students to vote in support of Dr. Rodriguez for faculty sponsorship.

Marian announced that officer reports and committee reports will be available on the Blackboard site prior to the General Meeting. Marian encouraged representatives to contact their Graduate Coordinators in order to determine the number of students in their programs. Some programs may allow for more than one representative to the GSA and we would like to see more people involved. She also noted that in accordance with the GSA by-laws it is important for representatives to be elected as opposed to self-appointed or volunteered. Erik Malmberg (Electronic Resources Coordinator) noted that interested students should check into student organizations registered with CCI (Campus and Community Involvement) because they are also allowed representation at the GSA. CCI is the organization that registers officially recognized student organizations on campus.

For additional information on the Co-Chair’s activities, please refer to the Blackboard site and feel free to email Marian and Don with questions or comments.

b. Secretary, Joyce Banks. Marian (Co-Chair) read the Secretary’s report that had been submitted to Blackboard and copies handed out. All representatives are reminded to fill out the attendance sheet that is circulating and provide legible contact information. Certification of representatives will be conducted by Joyce in late October. Committee representatives are asked to file a brief written report of activity in their committees to the Blackboard site as soon as possible but no later than 9:00 on the day of the GSA’s General Meeting.

c. Treasurer, Dan Gilman. Report is deferred to new business when the budget will be discussed and voted on.

d. Special Events, Melissa Midkiff. Report is deferred to new business when the barbecue will be discussed.

e. Public Relations, Ginger Gossman. Refer to written report posted online at the GSA blackboard site and copies handed out.

f. Electronic Resources, Erik Malmberg. Refer to written report posted online at GSA blackboard site and copies handed out.

A. Resolution on Discrimination Policy, Withdrawn by Co-Chair Marian Barber.

B. Resolution on the Establishment of 1.5 hour Courses for Individual Studies, Individual Research, Theses, and Dissertations, Withdrawn by Robyn Honig (Psychology).

A. Feedback on the Annual GSA Barbecue. Melissa Midkiff (Special Programs Coordinator) reported that about 1600 people turned out for the barbecue which went very well. Melissa is looking forward to an even greater turnout next year and is looking into potential sponsors. To this end, she is meeting with the Texas Exes and other groups in the near future. She would like to have tables with educational information for next year. She asked for volunteers for a committee to help plan next Fall’s barbecue and would like to have most of the details worked out during the Spring semester.

Melissa is in the process of planning a bowling event in the Union for the end of September or beginning of October. This should be set by the end of the week and representatives should look for details to come from Ginger Gossman (Publicity Coordinator).

Ken Ward asked why there were no tables allowed for the Texas State Employees Union. Marian (Co-Chair) explained that tables for organizations of interest to graduate students is something that the Excom members discussed having for this year but there was no time to organize it for this event. It will be looked into for next year and TSEU will definitely be invited to have a table if we go forward with this.

B. Faculty advisor. Dr. Victoria Rodriguez, Professor, LBJ School of Public Affairs and UT Austin Vice Provost and Dean of Graduate Studies was unanimously approved as the GSA’s new faculty advisor.

Marian (Co-Chair) asked that the GSA officially thank Rick Cherwitz in written form for serving as our faculty advisor and consultant in the past. This motion passed unanimously.

C. GSA Objectives for 2003-2004. Tabled until next meeting when representatives have had a chance to read them online and written copies are available at the meeting.

D. 2003-2004 GSA Budget. Dan Gilman (Treasurer) explained that the 2003-2004 budget is already set from the prior year. The 2003-2004 budget was unanimously approved.

E. 2004-2005 proposed GSA budget. Approval of the 2004-2005 budget was tabled pending Dan (Treasurer) calling a meeting of his Finance Committee and getting feedback from representatives. Dan encouraged members to contact him with any questions about the budget as it is not yet set in stone and asks for volunteer to serve on his committee.

Paul Navratil (SG and Student Services Fee Committee) urged anyone part of an organization that received GSO funds last year to come forward with their story of what these funds did for them. Last year the awarding of these funds was contentious and we would like to see them continue to be awarded.

Ken Ward (alt. LLILAS) asked where students could go for information regarding GSO funds. Dan noted that SOP 3 regarding these funds is currently being revised and improved. In the meantime you can see the old version of SOP 3 on the GSA website.

Pete Haney (Anthropology) asked what Student Development was as listed in the 2003-2004 budget. It was explained that these are primarily social events such as the barbecue and happy hours where students from different departments can become familiar with the GSA and meet graduate students in other programs. Discussion ensued about shifting funds from one point of allocation to another, but Marian (Co-Chair) reiterated that this year’s budget is, for the most part, already set in stone and not flexible.

F. Survey of Graduate Students. Erik Malmberg (Electronic Resources Coordinator) was asked by Debbie Hirsch and Associate Dean John Dollard if the GSA would be willing to conduct a survey of its membership regarding the OGS Website. The OGS is planning a retreat on October 3, 2003, and one of the main priorities for that meeting is redesigning the OGS Website.

The Assembly expressed interest in this survey and Erik noted he would create a link from the GSA website and send out an email. A motion to conduct this survey for the Office of Graduate Studies is unanimously passed.

G. Academic Integrity. Erik (Electronic Resources Coordinator) explained his involvement in the drafting of two documents being considered in Student Government and Senate of College Councils: the Student Bill of Rights and an Honor Pledge/Academic Integrity Policy. Work is rapidly progressing on these and their goal is to have Student Referendum on these by the end of the academic year. By the next meeting Erik would like to put together an ad-hoc committee to get graduate student feedback and have a resolution for first reading.

Marian (Co-Chair) noted that we can expect the Honor Pledge to receive a lot of publicity in the near future and be mentioned in President Faulkner’s State of the University address on September 17th. This Pledge is very different from an Honor Code which would be much more legally binding and more all-encompassing.

A representative from the School of Information asked a question about graduate students that are also full-time employees. Marian asked that he contact Paul Navratil or Greg Hammond (both graduate student representatives to the committees drafting these documents) to provide feedback. Erik reiterated that we will revisit this topic in October.