At the start of the meeting, Resolution 71-05 In–person GPSA Assembly Meetings was removed from the agenda.
Special Presentation
Sonya Wilmoth, Director of the Center for Sexual and Gender Diversity gave a special presentation on the center and what they do. She shared they moved their office from Boucke Building to the lower level of the HUB. They have themed month celebrations, student programs, staff support, and more, including graduate programming (coffee chats, graduate socials, showcases, and
lectures and speakers) that will be upcoming. Their largest events are in October with LGBTQ+ History Month, November with Transgender Awareness Month, and Pride Month which is celebrated in April instead of June because of the academic schedule.
Executive Board Reports
In Executive Board reports, President Schönn Franklin thanked Alex, Matt, and Paola for their continued efforts. As well as he thanked the chairs. He then shared he is preparing for the Board of Trustees meetings that will be happening soon. Additionally, he shared he had a meeting with the Graduate Dean and the Associate Deans, where they discussed the Student Engagement Network granting programming for graduate/professional students, as well as pushing for the Dean to be a Vice President rather than Provost for a direct connection to the University President.
Vice President Jalen Jeter shared how he will be going to his first meeting as a member of the Legal and Compliance committee. Treasurer Matt Billups asked committee chairs to think about the budget for the upcoming year and to think about planning events to help constituents as best as they can. Also shared that they should think about doing safe in-person events since these help with connections. Secretary Alex Zhao asked Committee chairs to please send him attendance records after each committee meeting. He also said he will be sending out the newswire tomorrow so please submit any event announcements or graphics by noon.
Faculty Senate Ali Watts shared that the first regular session of the Faculty Senate was yesterday and that President Barron and Provost Jones gave presentations covering different topics, including how much money Penn State lost last year. Furthermore, she said the conversation largely focused on COVID-19 restrictions because the administration has not responded yet to the vote of no confidence.
Graduate Council, Claire Kelling shared that the Graduate Council met today. They went over GSFI committee and finalized the parental leave policy as a committee (6 weeks of paid leave). Also said that the ombuds program is now live and has confidential resources for graduate/professional students. Furthermore, she talked about the announcement that went out a few weeks ago that said all fall exams can be remote, but there was a clarification a few days ago that unless you’ve gone through an exemption they had to be in-person, this was a shock to graduate students and faculty. Ultimately, the Dean of the Graduate School provided a universal exception for remote exams, with the caveat that if the students want to be in-person they can.
New Business
The first items of new business were the confirmation of presidential appointments:
- Kena Gomalo, shared his past experiences and introduced himself, as well as shared why he wants to be Associate Justice. Voting took place and he was confirmed by the Assembly.
- Shakzoda Tuychieva, shared her background and why she is interested in being an At-Large Delegate. Voting took place and she was confirmed by the Assembly.
The next item was Bill 71-07 about Virtual Pottery Painting, which would be a virtual Zoom event for painting pottery, bringing it to the studio, and then picking it up when completed. It would be one event per month with 60 kits per event, with the possibility of it being in-person at one point. Voting took place and the bill passed.
The next item was Bill 71-08 about Virtual Coffee Hour, which would be a Zoom event where gift cards to 3 coffee shops would be provided and people can go buy their coffee and join the Zoom. There will be breakout rooms to socialize, and the event will be held 4 times over 4 months. Voting took place and the bill passed.
The next item was Bill 71-09 about Professional Headshots. It will be a new round of professional headshots for graduate/professional students in mid-October and it will be an outdoor event. Voting took place and the bill passed.
Reports
Sandeep Krishnakumar asked members to please fill out the Google Form if you are going to be late or absent, and that your proxy can’t be a voting member of the Assembly.
- Advocacy and Human Diversity: Chair, Shah Soligné, shared that from their last meeting they have been working on a survey to follow up on Resolution 71-01.
- Professional Development: Chair, Niladri Sekhar Mandal, shared that the sign-ups for the writing boot camp are out and that he is looking for volunteers to help run the event. He also shares that the professional headshots event is moving forward and that he plans on it happening around Oct 13th-15th.
- Programming: Chair, Matt McGee, shared that some events are coming up and there is a discussion of more in-person events. And that there is a tentative date of September 26th for the welcome back picnic.
- Community Outreach: No report
- Internal Development: Chair, Travis Russell, mentioned that their first meeting was yesterday and they discussed priorities for the upcoming year. Of note, they want to outline responsibilities and processes for starting and evaluating a sub-committee.
Liaison Reports
Alex shared that there are a lot of new programs for transportation like the Bike Den, Smart Lyft, and Spin Bikeshare. Travis shared that the Borough passed a masking ordinance for indoors masking and it will go into effect soon.