At the beginning of the meeting, Speaker Sandeep Krishnakumar motioned to add the presentation of awards to the agenda, which was seconded and passed with no objections.
Executive Board Reports
In Executive Board reports, President Schönn Franklin shared he had a meeting with Dr. Ades and the Dean’s office about elections and how they are running. Additionally, he mentioned that the Student Fee Board is wrapping up its deliberation meetings with final recommendations for the Student Initiated Fee to follow soon after. He also shared that he held two office hours in regards to the executive board elections.
Vice President Jalen Jeter shared that he has been working alongside Megan and Sandeep to hold a virtual town hall next week on March 30th from 6 to 7:30 pm, and it will be in a Gather.town space. They need four additional moderators who will help with questions, and so he asked to let him know if you can moderate.
Treasurer Matt Billups shared that the budget that is left for this fiscal year (until June 2022) is $2,558 assuming that all spending legislation passes and is used, and he showed a spreadsheet that contained all the information from co-sponsorships and events that have been held this year and the expenses from those.
Secretary Alex Zhao asked committee chairs to please send him attendance records after each committee meeting and to please let someone know if you are not coming to the meeting. He also said he will be sending out the newswire tomorrow so please submit any event announcements or graphics by noon. He also encouraged members to run for elections for the next Assembly term.
Faculty Senator Lillian Schaeffer shared that the undergraduate Student Caucus meeting was on Tuesday and they are still working on getting election day as a non-instructional day. For the Faculty Senate meeting, there were 4 revisions to standing rules which were minor and technical. Also discussed was having the April Faculty Senate meeting in person.
Graduate Council Claire Kelling shared that they met last Wednesday and there were reports from the interim Dean and she mainly focused on admissions. They also discussed the dual-title policy where Katie introduced a motion to change the wording in the policy so that every change to double counting policies has to be justified, that motion passed. She also reminded all Grad Council and Faculty Senators that their terms end at the end of the academic year, not when the assembly changes. She also thanked everyone for their support and work, and for the community that she has found in the past five years of service in the GPSA.
Speaker of the Assembly Sandeep Krishnakumar thanked everyone and he showed his appreciation for everyone in the Assembly, especially the chairs of the committee because they experienced some obstacles that they were able to overcome. He shared that if you are interested in taking on the role of Speaker next year, to please reach out to him as he can give advice.
Ian Tennison, Chief Justice shared that the deadline for the intent to run form is tonight (3/23) and elections will be March 30th. He also shared that the application is answering questions about yourself and why you want to be in the GPSA.
Old Business
The first item of business was Resolution 71-12 (Reorganization of the GPSA Executive Branch). This resolution is a constitutional amendment that reorganizes the Executive Board as the Executive Branch, with several important changes. The resolution establishes the Department of Finance, Department of Communications, and the Department of External Affairs. Additionally, the Executive Directors of these departments become voting executive officers, with the roles of Treasurer and Secretary being changed to Executive Director of Finance and Executive Director of Communications, respectively. Lastly, these roles are changed such that Treasurer and Secretary are not elected positions, and instead all Executive Directors are to be chosen by the GPSA Steering Committee through annual public applications. There was a lot of discussion and changes made to the resolution. The resolution was voted on by roll call vote and passed, with changes coming into effect following the 72nd Assembly’s elections, on April 1st, 2022.
New Business
The first item of new business was was Bill 71-24 (Huck Life Science Symposium). This bill authorized the GPSA’s co-sponsorship of the Huck Graduate Student Association’s in-person Life Science Symposium event that promotes collaboration between the branches of life sciences. The Huck GSA will work with delegate Ram Neupane in terms of planning the event, and sought the GPSA to sponsor the food and drinks from local restaurants for their event. Voting took place by roll call vote and the bill was passed.
Next was Bill 71-25 (Pan-APA Conference 2022). This bill authorized GPSA’s co-sponsorship for the Penn State Pan-African Professional Alliance’s annual conference held on April 9th. They are requesting that GPSA sponsor the lunch for the conference, and are working with delegate Sherif Olanrewaju to plan the conference. Voting took place by roll call vote and the bill passed.
Following the two co-sponsorship bills was Resolution 71-13 (Supporting LGBTQIA+ Students During Harmful Developments in the Legal Landscape). This resolution includes recommendations for Penn State to support their students during recent anti-trans and anti-queer legislation and actions across the country, includingadding gender-neutral bathrooms to all buildings, adding correct pronouns on departmental websites, updating UHS forms to be gender-neutral, and providing queer and trans sensitivity training to employees. Voting took place and the resolution passed by roll call vote.
Up next was Resolution 71-14 (Amending the Duties of the Assembly in the By-Laws). This is a proposed amendment to the ByLaws of the GPSA to incorporate outreach efforts, specifically around orientations, disseminating GPSA communications, and soliciting election candidates, into the duties of all college delegates. After statements of support from GPSA members, voting took place and the resolution passed by roll call vote.
The last piece of legislation for this meeting was Resolution 71-15 (Transition of the GPSA Executive Branch). This resolution outlines a plan on how the GPSA will handle the Executive Branch transition, and it outlines different meetings to support the transition. After some discussion and modification, voting took place by roll call vote and the resolution passed.
Finally, President Schönn Franklin concluded business through the presentation of awards;
- George Atherton Outstanding Dedication to Penn State Award
- Winner: Niladri Sekhar Mandal
- Kenneth Martin Exemplary Service Award
- Winner: Megan Minnich
- Philip J. Burlingame Advocate for the Arts Award
- Winner: Nora Tucker
- Delegate of the Year Award
- Winner: Ama Agyapong
- Zhao-Kelling Executive Officer Award
- Inaugural winner: Sandeep Krishnakumar
Reports:
- Advocacy and Human Diversity: No updates.
- Professional Development: Chair Niladri Sekhar Mandal thanked the members of the committees for their help this year. He also shared there is a resume review event upcoming in May.
- Student Engagement: Co-Chair Ama Agyapong shared there are 5 performers for the THIS event and they are looking for feedback by end of day Friday.
- Internal Development: No updates.
Liaison Reports:
- Eli Fields shared that there is a landlord-tenant consult service being proposed by Student Legal Services
- Claire Kelling shared that the Fee Board is having deliberations and discussions about offices and initiatives funded by the student fee, and they will give the final recommendation in a few days
- Katie Warzack shared that there are updates on events upcoming for the Center for Performing Arts
- Alex Zhao shared that the Gather.town portion of the Graduate Exhibition is canceled