Graduate Student Government Senate Meeting
December 04, 2019
1:00 pm – 2:30 pm
333 Curry Student Center
AGENDA
- Officer update – Gagan Dep Prabhu, President
- Regional Campus – Divya Subbaian, Vice-President of Marketing and Outreach
- Student Organization Recognition – Lucas Troup (Civil and Environmental Engineering Graduate Student Council)
- Questions by the Senate
- Lunch
ITEMS DISCUSSED
1. Officer update – Gagan Dep Prabhu, President
The President welcomed all senators to the final senate meeting for the Fall 2019 semester. Presentation utilized memes to used break away from the monotony by making them fun and relevant. The following topics were discussed
- CPS referendum success – Acknowledged and thanked the team for successful inclusion of the College of Professional Studies (CPS) to the Graduate Student Government (GSG) with the popular mandate of 85.14%
- Future goals of GSG – Budget Priorities Survey, Regional Campus
- Budget Priority Committee – Work on a survey distributed to graduate and PhD students to receive feedback and determine funding allocation for the academic year. Tentatively $15,000 would be allocated for graduates and $96,000 would be allocated for group funding. Discussed the salient results of the survey through the years
2014-2015: Student life, funding support, academic support, career support
2015-2016: Community building, happiness index, funding: RA/ TA; grants
2016-2017: Student life, support for students who are parents, shuttle services, professional development
2017-2018: Academic affairs, dining services, PhD network, services: Redeye; care.com
2018-2019: Conference funding, PhD network, mental health, career services
2. Regional Campus – Divya Subbaian, Vice-President of Marketing and Outreach
- GSG in Regional Campuses – The values of ‘One’ Northeastern, diverse network, academic excellence, global university, inclusive community, and experiential learning resonate through its 7 regional campuses. Starting with Seattle and San Francisco, GSG proposes to expand its network in three different phases to further reinforce these values
- Phase 1: Pilot, where GSG, Boston would be introduced to regional campus students and involve them as affiliated members. This would help build a graduate network and a community for further interactions across all Northeastern campuses
- Phase 2: Assess the result of phase 1 and continue to involve regional campus with GSG, Boston or launch independent GSGs if required. Also, initiate a permanent model
- Phase 3: Focus on growth within regional campuses
- Benefits: Facilitate students’ experiences beyond academics and their representation in decision making. It would also directly align with the ‘Northeastern 2025’ goal to initiate a diverse graduate and alumni network at the University.
- Senators will be recruited to work in a Regional Campus committee. Interested Senators should reach out to Divya Subbaian via email at gsgmarketingoutreach@northeastern.edu /divyasubbaian@northeastern.edu
3. Student Organization Recognition – Lucas Troup (Civil and Environmental Engineering Graduate Student Council)
- Luke highlighted the lack of a forum for interaction among students from the department.
- The group organizes informal events initially called ‘Happy hours’ and later ‘Socials’. This enabled students to reach out and ask an array of questions from restaurant recommendations, tips on navigating through Boston and organizing cultural potlucks to develop an inclusive community.
- Result: Approved (100% senators voted yes)
4. Questions
Gagan Dep Prabhu addressed questions by the Senate:
- When will funding and Student Activity fee collection for CPS students commence?
Answer: The funding for activities (other than for conferences) by GSG with Student Finance Office will commence from spring 2020, but the student activity fee collection will only begin from Summer 2, i.e. July 2020. Funding for conferences will also commence from Summer 2.
- How to form a student group?
Answer: The first step is to talk with the GSG Executive Board and to check if there are any similar groups. Deependra Singh, Vice President of Student Affairs will take the team through the steps and will work with the Center for Student Involvement (CSI) to form the constitution. The group would attain tentative recognition for a period of 4 months and then attain permanent recognition.
Luke, representing Civil & Environmental Engineering Graduate Student Council (CEE GSC) addressed the following questions by the Senate:
- How do you reach out to students?
Answer: Through email, WhatsApp and WeChat.
- Are there any resource for students who are interested in research?
Answer: Discussions are underway with the department to set up a formal committee to help students interested in research.
5. Lunch
The usual fare was sweetened by the addition of doughnuts celebrating the success of the CPS referendum.
ADJOURNMENT
The senate meeting was adjourned at 2:30 pm by the President.
Meeting Attendance
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