GPSA

The Graduate and Professional Student Association at PSU

1.20 Assembly Meeting Recap

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  • Some of the current initiatives of the Student Disability Resources include:
    • Recognize social integration in addition to academic integration as a core responsibility
    • Promote campus climate evolution
    • Serve as an adviser to faculty
  • Those returning to state college to go on campus or within 20 miles of campus should request the arrival testing from Penn State.
  • In New Delegate Confirmation, Bristol Gunderson from the Smeal College of Business was confirmed.
  • Bill 70-12: Virtual Cook-Along with a Professional Chef was passed and would consist of an event cooking alongside Greg Franklin, a Creole inspired Louisiana based Chef for three cooking events.
  • Bill 70-13 Professional Headshots was passed which will help provide graduate and professional students with headshots during a COVID-19 era while maintaining COVID-19 guidelines during the photoshoots that will happen three times this semester.

 

The meeting kicked off with a special presentation from Leah Zimmerman, Executive Director if Student Disability Resources at Penn State. She discussed the resources that the office offers specifically graduate and professional students and what accommodations they can provide. You can follow them at instagram @psudisabilityresources. Some include:

  • Qualifying and Comprehensive Exams:
    • Extended time on exam
    • Notes (oral proposal or thesis defense)
    • Record discussions
  • Flexibility on
    • attendance policies
    • deadline extensions
    • exam rescheduling
  • Adjustments on
    • teaching responsibilities/work hours
    • comprehensive exam location

Some of their current initiatives include

  • Recognize social integration in addition to academic integration as a core responsibility
  • Promote campus climate evolution
  • Serve as an adviser to faculty

In Executive Officer Reports, President of GPSA, Alex Zhao, discussed that those returning to state college to go on campus or within 20 miles of campus should request the arrival testing from Penn State. Vice President, Julia, said no change was made to the February 9 wellness day despite it being during the covid remote period. Those who did a walk-up test need to do the mail-in arrival testing as of right now, but no penalties have been discussed for not doing the mail-in test.

In New Delegate Confirmation, Bristol Gunderson from the Smeal College of Business was confirmed.

Bill 70-12: Virtual Cook-Along with a Professional Chef was passed which is from the programming committee and would consist of an event cooking alongside Greg Franklin, a Creole inspired Louisiana based Chef for three cooking events. There will be a limit of 45 participants who will be given a $45 Grocery Store Gift Card to buy the ingredients necessary for the event. They will touch base with the chef if the event can be recorded for those not able to attend.
Bill 70-13 Professional Headshots was passed which will help provide graduate and professional students with headshots during a COVID-19 era while maintaining COVID-19 guidelines during the event. They will have a photographer on campus for three days a week this semester for three hour sessions. Each headshot takes approximately 5 minutes, allowing up to 72 participants. Headshots will 17 be taken by photographer Joaquim Diego Santos, whose work can be found at 18 https://jdphotography9734.mypixieset.com
In Reports, Speaker of the Assembly, Yasha reminds members to find a proxy if they cannot attend. For Advocacy and Diversity, Diego reminds that their meetings are Wednesdays @5 p.m. They will be sending out a survey regarding mental health and encourage others to fill out the survey. They will also be releasing a response to what happened on Jan. 6 at the U.S. capital and discuss how they can advocate for safety for students during this hard time.
In Professional Development Committees, they meet every other Thursday at 5 p.m. Chair, Farhan, discussed their initiatives this semester such as a LinkedIn Professional Workshop and more. For the Programming Committee, they meet bi-weekly Mondays from 1 p.m.- 2 p.m. In Community Outreach, meet bi-weekly on Thursdays, they will try to plan a diversity night where they have speakers from different countries talk and learn about their culture, and more.
The Internal Development Committee plans to meet up with Vice President of Student Affairs with regards to the idea of incorporating a reporting mechanism to allow graduate and professional students to report concerns directly on the website. Their first meeting will be Mondays 6 p.m.- 7 p.m.