- Marcus Whitehurst, Vice Provost of the Office of Educational Equity kicked off the meeting with a special presentation about the history, resources, and current projects in the office.
- In Executive reports, President Alex Zhao reminds those that intend to run for positions for the 71st Assembly make sure they fill out their intent to run forms or encourage others to apply for positions as well
- In New Business, a new Associate Justice was confirmed: Sam Atland; a 3rd year PhD Mechanical Engineering student.
- Bill 70-24 Remote Chocolate Tasting was passed which offers students an opportunity to learn about chocolate through a remote tasting event.
- Resolution 70-25 Constitutional Amendment (Meeting Minutes and Special Presentations) will be voted on next meeting which is a constitutional amendment to record and publicize meeting minutes and special presentations and formally add that to the constitution since the recording of special presentations has been relatively new.
- Resolution 70-26 Constitutional Amendment (Removal Proceedings) was tabled to next meeting and is a constitutional amendment to distinguish removal proceedings for absenteeism from the the removal proceedings as outlined in the constitution.
- Resolution 70-27 Bylaws Amendment (Climate Action Subcommittee) passed which is a bylaws amendment to recognize Climate Action as a subcommittee under the Community Outreach Committee
- The Advocacy and Diversity committee emphasized the support they offer the Asian-American community during the difficult times of recent events. It was also reported that a State College resident was involved in the assault of a capitol officer during the capitol riots.
Marcus Whitehurst, Vice Provost of the Office of Educational Equity kicked off the meeting with a special presentation about the history, resources, and current projects in the office. The Office of Educational Equity was established in 1990 after student demonstrations of requests for an office for equity. The vision for the office is a Penn State community that is inclusive and welcoming for all in our community. The office has scholar programs, mentors, and commissions to provide support for all students. They are working on a university-wide anti-bias training that promote inclusivity for the future
In Executive reports, President Alex Zhao reminds those that intend to run for positions for the 71st Assembly make sure they fill out their intent to run forms or encourage others to apply for positions as well. TA’s are considered Phase 1B as education workers when looking at how eligible they are for the COVID-19 vaccine. Vice President, Julia Keliher discussed her recommendations her and offices at Penn State have been brainstorming ways to help and support graduate and professional students’ mental health. Findings from this have shown that students are generally feeling isolated.
The Faculty Senate met yesterday and they covered a lot of budgetary concerns and the Graduate Council representative Claire Kelling discussed how a new policy has been proposed that there is no double-counting from a PhD title and dual title of 9 credits as a minimum requirement.
In New Business, a new Associate Justice was confirmed: Sam Atland; a 3rd year PhD Mechanical Engineering student.
Bill 70-24 Remote Chocolate Tasting was passed which offers students an opportunity to learn about chocolate through a remote tasting event. This event was influenced by the past popularity of the cooking with a professional chef events the Programming Committee has done. A doctoral candidate, Allison Brown has run and planned 4 chocolate tastings in a remote synchronous format and met various chocolate makers and will be doing an introductory talk on it.
Resolution 70-25 Constitutional Amendment (Meeting Minutes and Special Presentations) will be voted on next meeting which is a constitutional amendment to record and publicize meeting minutes and special presentations and formally add that to the constitution since the recording of special presentations has been relatively new.
Resolution 70-26 Constitutional Amendment (Removal Proceedings) was tabled to next meeting and is a constitutional amendment to distinguish removal proceedings for absenteeism from the the removal proceedings as outlined in the constitution. This is brought up due to the differences in removal procedures between removals due to absenteeism and general removal of members. The new wording will direct to removal procedures as outlined in the Bylaws.
Resolution 70-27 Bylaws Amendment (Climate Action Subcommittee) passed which is a bylaws amendment to recognize Climate Action as a subcommittee under the Community Outreach Committee. The vision of this subcommittee is to oversee that GPSA activities follow sustainable initiatives, promote climate change education throughout the graduate and professional student body, and work with administration and other student bodies to create a cleaner Penn State. Underlying all these initiatives and purpose of the committee, the subommittee will ensure that Penn State is following the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
In Reports, the Speaker of the Assembly Yasha Duggal reminded everyone that the next Assembly meeting is the last Assembly meeting of this term and that our next assembly, the Programming Committee will be submitting a sponsorship for catering for food for the Huck Life Sciences event symposium in a few weeks.
The Advocacy and Diversity committee emphasized the support they offer the Asian-American community during the difficult times of recent events. It was also reported that a State College resident was involved in the assault of a capitol officer during the capitol riots. The Professional Development Committee reported that the professional headshots and writing workshops are successfully in place and and have a LinkedIn workshop coming up as well.
The Programming Committee has Trivia Night and Virtual Craft Night coming up soon as well is wrapping up Grad Cup. The Community Outreach Committee has been working on the Takeout event that is in place for next Thursday. The Internal Development Committee is preparing for the last assembly meeting of the session.