Graduate Student Government Senate Meeting
February 01, 2020
12:00 pm – 1:30 pm
333 Curry Student Center
AGENDA
- Officer updates by the Executive Board
- Questions by the Senate
- Lunch
ITEMS DISCUSSED
1. Officer updates by the Executive Board
a. Vice-President of Programs and Operations – Karan Kamlesh Parikh
Karan welcomed all senators to the second senate meeting for Spring 2020 semester. The following topics were discussed:
- Spring 2020 Brunch – an event organized for welcoming new students to provide them a platform to socialize and make new connections over food. A convenient date for the event was discussed – tentatively shortlisted as of February 22, 2020.
- Programs and Operations committee
b. Vice-President of Academic Affairs – Harshita Gupta
Responsibility: Deals with academic issues of graduate and PhD students
- RISE Awards 2020: an event where students present their academic research. The event aims to provide insights on research being conducted in Northeastern University by our contemporaries. GSG sponsors the Graduate Innovator Award (GIA). Event date: April 9th, 2020.
- Academic Affairs committee
- Survey: A semester wise survey pertaining to academics at Northeastern. Responses will be collected, analyzed and reported at a future senate meeting to understand issues to focus and improve on.
c. Vice President of Marketing and Outreach – Divya Subbaian
- Consensus on meeting schedule: Senators voted on senate meeting day for the semester. Options included Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday. Most senators voted for Saturday meetings.
- Accessibility: efforts by GSG to connect with students on a personal level to be more accessible to all. Focus on maximizing participation from different colleges by considering their specific needs and finding a common ground.
- Primary approach: Attend all 9 college’s orientations to spread awareness about GSG and evaluate feedback to develop better relationships
- Marketing and Outreach committee: meeting minutes, social media, website updates, photography, design of promotional materials, identify strategies to enhance GSG’s presence
- Student Organization involvement: Representation at senate meetings. This will enable them stay in touch with students interested in joining them.
- Regional campus: a pilot run of extending GSG’s benefits to the Seattle campus to check feasibility and make it an initiative involving not just GSG but all Northeastern. The values of Northeastern of ‘One Northeastern, diverse network, academic excellence, global university, inclusive community, and experiential learning’ resonate through its 7 regional campuses.
d. Vice President of Student Affairs – Deependra Singh
- Student group data: transition from OrgSync to Engage/CampusLabs; Some data lost during transition, but a significant portion received from Center for Student Involvement (CSI). Focus on rebuilding the database.
- Recognition of groups: update on the usual process with a 6-month trial to gauge performance, sustainability, etc. on a budget of around $500 to ensure the student activity fee is better utilized.
2. Questions by the Senate
- Difference between Student Affairs and Academic Affairs committees?
Answer: Academic Affairs deals with problems regarding curriculum, and professors. Student Affairs is concerned with forming and improving coordination between various student clubs
- Why should students join or reach out to GSG?
Answer: GSG is student-run and has a collective pool of students who can relate to the issues better. GSG also has leverage in reaching out to the right offices to address issues.
- Shashwata Naik, Senator, Marketing and Outreach committee suggested GSG host more informal events like lunch to network among GSG patrons and share insights, information and resources.
3. Lunch
ADJOURNMENT
The senate meeting was adjourned at 1:30 pm by the Executive Vice-President.
Meeting Attendance
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