Executive Board Reports

In Executive Board reports, President Schönn Franklin shared that he had a meeting with Damon Sims and discussed separate issues that different student governments are working on. UPUA is working on literacy at Penn State and an administration program with Days for Girls to have menstrual cups in all bathrooms. He is still working with the Interim Dean and VP of external relations for the role of Graduate School development officer and responsibilities as well as criteria for the candidates. Assistant/Associate Directors for Well-Being and Professional Development at the Graduate School searches continue. The Graduate Dean search committee has not yet been recalled into action, it is expected to happen sometime in April.

Treasurer Matt Billups shared that there is $29,000 available for funding events and programs. He also reached out to all committee chairs to discuss funds for the rest of the fiscal year. He also showed an Excel template for chairs to use to have an estimate of how much money events will cost, and this template can be filled out and sent to him to review. Furthermore, he shared a presentation on funding for the GPSA’s election, noting that the GPSA was authorized to spend up to $2000 on elections. This money can be used by candidates for promotional materials or GPSA itself for election needs.  There were different proposals with different amounts split between candidate reimbursement and recruitment.

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 coming to the meeting late. He also said he will be sending out the newswire tomorrow so please submit any event announcements or graphics by noon tomorrow. The elections page is ready and will be publicized after this meeting, if you go to gpsa.psu.edu/elections you can find it, he asked members to publicize it and the intent to run form.

Faculty Senator Lillian Schaeffer did not have anything to report. Faculty Senator Ali Watts mentioned that there will be a forum on the 22nd about the process for selecting senators, especially student faculty senators, and they will talk about increasing recruitment.

Graduate Council Claire Kelling shared that the Graduate council meets next Wednesday. They will discuss a new policy on dual-title programs. The proposed policy says that credits required on the dual-title masters or doctoral program may be counted towards the student’s graduate major requirements but any double-counting allowed or any limits need to be made clear when the program is approved.  There is also a policy on concurrent degrees that will be discussed but not voted on.

Speaker of the Assembly Sandeep Krishnakumar said thank you to everyone who filled out the attendance form and to keep signing it and to please reach out to him if you have any questions or updates. We have a large remaining balance on funding, which means that it should be used in the best way so please keep planning events. Also he asked committee chairs to send him attendance and notes by tomorrow at 12.

New Chief Justice Ian Tennison shared that today Alex posted the new intent to run form and there is until March 23rd to apply to run. There is a new version of the bylaws available on the shared drive.

New Business

Committee Reports:

• Advocacy and Diversity: Chair Megan Minnich shared that two Sundays ago was the PRIDE Brunch, and it went great. As well as she shared that they have discussed cosponsoring an event or bringing in a speaker.
• Professional Development: Chair Niladri Sekhar Mandal shared they met yesterday to discuss events, and that they are working on a writing bootcamp for early March, a consultancy workshop, and an international student workshop on how to approach job searches as an international student.
• Student Engagement: Co-Chair Ama Agyapong shared that the new committee met and decided to have a Co-Chair system. They have two events coming up around outreach, a student showcase, game nights, and coffee hour, as well as events for programming. Co-Chair Ram Neupane shared that the bike safety event draft is ready and sent to UPUA to finalize it since it is a joint event.
• Internal Development: Chair Travis Rusell did not have a report.

Liaison Reports:

• Noah Schiro, Executive Liaison for CCSG, shared that anyone can reach out to him if want to collaborate. They had a council meeting this weekend, in which they had a sustainability summit. The council passed various pieces of legislation, one in support of the Pell Grant Preservation and Expansion act of 2021 from governmental affairs, one in support of including OER and OAER signifiers and terminology in line with past class searches, and one in favor of housing and food services providing electronic receipts. He also discussed recent hate speech events at some Commonwealth Campuses and that CCSG is looking to have a unified student government response against these acts.

Advisor Adam Christensen shared that his office decided on a launch date for the next sexual misconduct survey, which April 4th.

Special Presentation

Kelly Mroz from Student Legal Services shared what the office does and what services they provide for students. They are located at 248 E. Calder Way, Suite 303 in downtown State College, and their service is free and confidential. They advocate for the best for students that come to see them. Furthermore, she shared that 97% of students that come see them are satisfied with their service. She also mentioned how they are bringing to the Student Fee Board a proposal to have a pilot conflicts counsel program, in which they would pay a consultation with a lawyer for students with landlord tenant issues that SLS can’t work on.

Executive Board Reports

In Executive Board reports, President Schönn Franklin shared that he mentioned to the interim Dean the plan for a Graduate Development Officer and they are working on how to fill that position. He also added they are still working on the graduate and professional student trustee position to be added to the agenda of the relevant Board of Trustees committee and then setting a meeting in February to bring it up. Lastly, he mentioned that the graduate dean search committee was reconstituted and they would continue searching for suitable candidates to recommend to the provost.

Vice President Jalen Jeter shared that the Sexual Misconduct and Response Office is working on new projects and doing assessments to see what students want from their office. He then shared they are planning a town hall meeting for the coming months. Lastly he shared he will be serving on the Council of Commonwealth Student Government’s elections committee and there he will be assisting them with approving candidate platforms and with questions during the elections as well.

Treasurer Matt Billups shared that the available funds are now at $29,000 and that the co-sponsored criminal justice reform conference was canceled so that money came back to the available funds. He then mentioned that as events are being planned to let him know and ask him questions so things that have to be paid are resolved from the beginning.

Secretary Alex Zhao shared that the next edition of the newswire will go out tomorrow and for people who wanted items included to email him by noon tomorrow. He also called on committee chairs to send him attendance records.

Faculty Senator Lillian Schaeffer said that yesterday was the Faculty Senate day and that March 7th will be the transition day to the new president from President Barron. Then in the meeting, they talked about SRTEs and how to better protect faculty and students from violent and discriminatory SRTEs. There were also multiple reports around issues of diversity, university relationships, and free speech. Faculty senators in general expressed frustration with the treatment of Oliver Baker in the context of Barron’s remarks to the Senate about the need to defend free speech.

Graduate Council Claire Kelling shared that they had a council meeting last Wednesday and that they had a very long discussion around changes to the graduate minor policy. She presented the results of the survey and GPSA’s resolution and that they will keep discussing. She mentioned that the Committee on Graduate Student and Faculty Issues is working on the personal time policy, and they proposed 20 days of personal time to each graduate student per academic year but they will keep discussing this as well.

Speaker of the Assembly Sandeep Krishnakumar said thank you to everyone who filled out the attendance form and to keep signing it and to please reach out to him if you have any questions or updates. Chief Justice Sam Altland mentioned that the intent to run forms for this year’s elections will appear within the week.

New Business

Presidential Appointments

• Ava McCartin, nominee for Law School delegate, shared why she wants to be in this position as well as her experiences and specific interests. Voting took place and she was confirmed by the Assembly.
• Rola Tarek, nominated for At-Large delegate, shared why she wants to be in GPSA, her experience, and her interests. Voting took place and she was confirmed by the Assembly.

After the confirmation of presidential appointments, Resolution 71-11 was brought up, which proposed ByLaws changes that would reorganize the standing committees of the GPSA. This would entail combining the Community Outreach Committee and the Programming Committee into a new Student Engagement Committee. Since the two committees share overlap in their work, it was argued that combining them would allow them to work better by increasing their bandwidth and staffing. Questions and discussions continued for a long time, with concerns about the new committee being too focused on programming and not enough on service opportunities and community outreach. After a long discussion of the pros and cons of the proposal, voting took place and the resolution passed.

Reports:

• Advocacy and Diversity: Chair Megan Minnich shared that the Pride Brunch is happening this Sunday over Zoom. Additionally, she mentioned that their meetings are Wednesdays at 5:30PM before Assembly meetings and anyone is welcome to join.
• Professional Development: No report.
• Programming: Chair Ama Agyapong shared that they have their upcoming coffee hour next month, and they are planning on having a showcase to show cultures and talents of different students, and that draft of the bill is being created. As well as they have meetings every other Wednesday at 6 pm and anyone is welcome to join.
• Community Outreach: Chair Ram Neupane shared that the committee is meeting tomorrow at 9 am. As well as they are working with UPUA on having a bicycle helmet giveaway.
• Internal Development: No report.

Liaison Reports:

Alex Zhao shared that the Student Transportation Advisory Committee met recently, seeking feedback on how to improve the Lyft late night rides program, and that both Schonn and him conveyed concerns around CATA cuts on Sundays affecting graduate and professional students. Furthermore, he mentioned that the Graduate Exhibition subcommittee has finalized the details for the Graduate Exhibition, except for the virtual component due to contract issues.

Executive Board Reports

In Executive Board reports, President Schönn Franklin shared that he has his monthly meeting with the interim Graduate Dean next week, as well as with the Associate Dean of the Graduate School. As well as he has a meeting with the University President and his leadership team later this month. He then shared the priorities he will be focusing on this semester. The first priority is finalizing the development officer for the Graduate School position. He is working with the interim Graduate Dean and the VP for development and alumni relations  to have this completed by the end of the semester. The second priority is having a graduate/professional student trustee position added to the Board of Trustees, which he is approaching in two ways. Schonn has reached out to have it added to the Governance and Long Range Planning committee’s February agenda so they can discuss it, and secondly, he reached out to the Governor’s secretary for Governmental Relations to talk to him and to see if he can have the Governor appoint a graduate/professional student. Lastly, President Franklin will also work on the leadership for GPSA for the next school year, including elections.

Vice President Jalen Jeter shared that the Board of Trustees will be in the coming month. He then added he will keep working with the Sexual Misconduct Prevention and Response office and those meetings will also resume in the next month.

Treasurer Matt Billups shared that GPSA’s remaining funds for the fiscal year are about $20,000. That amount might increase as unspent money from other events is freed up. Matt also mentions that if delegates are purchasing goods or services for events, they should reach out to him in order to help speed that process along.

Secretary Alex Zhao asked committee chairs to please send him attendance records. He also said that tomorrow’s newswire is the first one of the year so please submit any event announcements or graphics by noon tomorrow.

Faculty Senator Lillian Schaeffer shared she has the first meeting with the Faculty Senate will be in the next few weeks and will share more then.

Graduate Council Claire Kelling shared to please share feedback on the Graduate Minor policy changes proposed by the Graduate Council as their first meeting is next week and they are looking for as much diverse feedback as possible. The feedback form is on our social media and is at tinyurl.com/minpolicy

Speaker of the Assembly Sandeep Krishnakumar shared that committee members and chairs should schedule their meeting times as soon as possible and to get any initiatives they might have underway as soon as possible.

Chief Justice Sam Altland mentioned that the judiciary was working on the intent to run form, which they plan on having available by the end of the month.

New Business

Presidential Appointments

• Drake Broussard who is doing a Master’s of Higher Education shared why he wants to be an Associate Justice, his experience, and what he wants from the position. Voting took place and he was confirmed by the Assembly.

Reports:

• Advocacy and Diversity: Chair Megan Minnich shared that their committee met before this meeting and they decided to move the PRIDE Brunch that was going to be held on Sunday, Jan 16th to an online event as well as move it to a later date that is to be determined.
• Professional Development: Chair Niladri Sekhar shared that they will update the priorities of this semester next week, as well as the events they are planning on.
• Programming: Chair Ama Agyapong shared they have not met this semester but there is a Doodle poll for the programming committee that is due to be filled this Friday, and she asked that committee members fill out the poll.
• Community Outreach: Chair Ram Neupane shared they haven’t met yet this semester and will meet next week.
• Internal Development: No report

No liaison reports were delivered, and no other reports were delivered.

During comments for the good of the order, Vice President Jalen Jeter mentioned that next week the director of Student Legal Services will give a presentation, and Graduate Council Student Caucus Chair Claire Kelling once again reiterated the need for feedback on changes to the Graduate Minor policy.

Two changes to the agenda were considered during this meeting. At the start, a motion to remove Resolution 71-09 was proposed but did not garner enough votes, and a motion to reopen the agenda to add the confirmation of a presidential appointment was done for Ian Tennison’s nomination to be Associate Justice.

Executive Board Reports

In Executive Board reports, President Schönn Franklin shared the meetings he has had since the Assembly last met, among which included the Student Leader Scholarship committee, a presentation to the Student Fee Board on the GPSA and candidate interviews for a new Assistant Graduate Director for Student Life. He also noted a few important additional meetings, including with Zack Moore to set up conversations with the Governor’s office and leading candidates for Governor of Pennsylvania to discuss appointing a graduate and professional student to one of the gubernatorial trustee appointments, a Student Insurance Advisory Board meeting where serious discussion around a likely health insurance premium hike is coming for those on the Student Health Insurance Plan, and efforts around hiring a development office for the Graduate School.

Vice President Jalen Jeter discussed his meetings with the Legal and Compliance Committee of the Board of Trustees, wherein they discussed a new system for notifying individuals about Timely Warnings, and with the Office of Sexual Misconduct Prevent and Response advisory board to better market what the office does and what programs it provides.

Treasurer Matt Billups shared that the available funds from the Student Fee Board are now approximately $27,000. He also shared that the ASA will not be processing any more personal checks until January, and the deadline to submit invoices is December 10th. He also said to reach out to him with questions about purchasing on behalf of GPSA, and event planning.

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 that tomorrow’s newswire is the last one of the year so please submit any event announcements or graphics by noon tomorrow.

Faculty Senator Lillian Schaeffer said that during the Educational Equity committee’s meeting there were discussions around concerns in switching away from SRTEs towards a new course evaluation system. She then shared how they have been working on how Penn State can acknowledge that itself and other universities were created through profits from the sale of indigenous lands and they went over the history of it. Suggestions for remedies that were suggested included offering free or in-state tuition rates for indigenous students.

Graduate Council Student Caucus Chair Claire Kelling shared that the next Graduate Council meeting will occur next Wednesday, where if Resolution 71-09 passed it will have an impact on the vote for changes to policies around graduate minors. Speaker of the Assembly Sandeep Krishnakumar said thank you to the committees and that it has been an exhausting semester with coming back in-person but he thanks everyone for their efforts. Chief Justice Sam Altland informed all delegates that on Friday an electronic vote on Bill 71-18 (Co-sponsorship for Iranian Student Association) would open and reminded them all to vote in a timely fashion on the legislation.

Presidential Appointments

• Ian Tennison, a first year student in the School of International Affairs, explained why he wants to be Associate Justice and his experience in student government. Voting took place and he was confirmed by the Assembly.

New Business

The first piece of new business discussed were changes to GPSA’s structure proposed by President Schönn Franklin. The biggest part would be changing the executive branch of GPSA from more of a board structure to a branch structure, where there would be five proposed departments (Communications, Finance, Environmental Sustainability, Equity and Diversity, and Graduate and Professional Wellness) that report to the Vice President, who reports to the President. The Departments of Communications and Finance would be headed by people in similar roles to the current Secretary and Treasurer, respectively, while the three new departments would each have a director and staff that are responsible for maintaining various relationships with offices and organizations at Penn State and helping Assembly committees with their plans. The second part of the proposed changes involved combining the Programming and Community Outreach committees into the Student Engagement Committee and adding Academic Affairs to the name of the current Professional Development Committee.

The first piece of legislation considered was Bill 71-16 (GPSA Contribution to the Wellness Fund), which would contribute $3000 to the UPUA/UHS Wellness Fund. The fund’s purpose is to cover healthcare costs for students that do not have insurance or have a gap in insurance, and is available to all students at University Park, including graduate and professional students. Voting took place and the bill was passed.

Next was Bill 71-17 (GWIS Empower Conference Co-Sponsorship), which would contribute money towards co-sponsoring the GWIS Empower Conference by paying for the speaker fees for Dr. Mona Minkara. This conference is a professional development event held each year and it has around 100-150 graduate, undergraduate, and professional students attend. The conference will be held on February 5, 2022 on Zoom. After an amendment to increase the amount of the co-sponsorship to $2500, voting took place and the bill passed.

Afterwards was Resolution 71-09 (Denouncement of Overlapping Credit Change to Graduate School’s Academic Policy GCAC 611 on Graduate Minors), which detailed GPSA opposition to changes proposed by the Graduate Council around graduate minor policies. Specifically, the resolution strongly recommended that the policies, including one limiting the number of credits that can overlap between a graduate major and minor to 3, not be passed, not be retroactive if passed, and not be implemented prior to benchmarking and justification from a variety of sources. After extended discussion, including a failed motion to table the resolution, voting was conducted and the resolution passed.

Finally was Resolution 71-10 (Designating Election Days as University Non-Instructional Days), which calls upon the Penn State administration to mandate that local, state and federal election days be designed as University non-instructional days via a University Faculty Senate Approach. After discussing additional concerns around graduate and professional students who might need additional accommodation (due to only conducting research), voting was conducted and the resolution passed.

Committee Reports

• Advocacy and Human Diversity: Chair Megan Minnich mentioned that they had just heard from Libby Jones from the Office for Off-Campus Student Support, and that they are working on the Pride Brunch scheduled for January 16.
• Professional Development: Chair Niladri Sekhar Mandal shared that this Friday they are meeting and will talk about the wrap-up of this semester and plan for the next semester.
• Programming: Chair Ama Agyapong said that the committee was wrapping up this semester with one final virtual coffee hour event next week that will be advertised soon.
• Community Outreach: Chair Ram Neupane mentioned that the committee’s planned legislation for Lyft coupons for COVID-19 booster shots will be delayed until next semester after a survey to determine what sites worked best for graduate and professional students.
• Internal Development: Nothing to report

Liaison Reports

• Travis Russell, State College Borough Council Graduate Student Representative, said that the State College Borough Council wants to make sure that graduate and professional students staying in town for the holidays should feel free to reach out if they need any resources, as they are valued members of the State College community
• Alex Zhao, liaison to the Graduate Exhibition Committee, mentioned that after their most recent meeting the Graduate Exhibition is moving forward as an online conference similar to last year, but that they will incorporate additional live feedback through the use of Gather.town
• Alex Zhao, liaison to the Student Transportation Advisory Board, said that after their most recent meeting RIDEPass is not looking to change prices until the 2023-2024 academic year and that working on a policy for case-by-case exemptions to the RIDEPass distance exclusion policy would begin. Difficulties for graduate and professional students due to recent CATA cutbacks were conveyed to this board as part of a larger presentation.

Special Presentation

Claire Kelling from the Student Fee Board shared the history and background of the SFB, including how the various different student fees (activities fee, facilities fee, technology fee) were combined or rolled into tuition. She also shared the facilities projects they have under consideration that would utilize the fee, like a new HUB addition, a new Natatorium, a well-being building with an office for CAPS, Campus Recreation and more.

Executive Board Reports

In Executive Board reports, President Schönn Franklin discussed his meeting with the Diversity Equity and Inclusion Office in Student Affairs where they discussed plans for the Love is Louder event held last week and the counter protests to the Milo event. He also attended the town halls for the first four candidates for the Vice Provost of Graduate Education and Dean of the Graduate School, as well as a private meeting with each. Furthermore, he had a meeting with Associate Dean Sarah Ades about the establishment of a Development Officer and the pursuit of new forms of revenue-raising.

Vice President Jalen Jeter announced he will be attending the Board of Trustees meeting tomorrow and 11/12, and that he attended a Student Leadership roundtable meeting on 11/8.

Treasurer Matt Billups shared the available funds from the Student Fee Board and said to reach out to him with questions about purchasing on behalf of GPSA, and event planning.

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.

Faculty Senator Lillian Schaeffer shared that they are still discussing the work that the Educational Equity Committee of the Faculty Senate is doing around recent reporting requirements and to increase student access to Title IX resources. Graduate Council Claire Kelling shared that the next meeting is November 17th and proxies need to be appointed.

Speaker of the Assembly Sandeep Krishnakumar asked members to please fill out the attendance form if you can’t attend the meeting and that if you need a proxy to let him know. As well as he asked members to check their Slack regularly and to be active in committee meetings.

New Business

Confirmation of Presidential Appointments

• Lilian Schaeffer and Schonn Franklin were confirmed as Graduate Council Alternates.
• Qian Zhang explained why she wants to be Engineering Delegate and her experiences. Voting took place and she was confirmed by the Assembly.
• Sara Albrecht Soto explained why she wants to be an At-Large Delegate from the College of Liberal Arts and her experiences. Voting took place and she was confirmed by the Assembly.
• Gerren Graham explained why he wants to be the School of International Affairs Delegate and his experiences. Voting took place and he was confirmed by the Assembly.

Next was Resolution 71-08 which is in support of the Schreyer Gender Equity Coalition’s Sexual Misconduct Survey recommendations, which the GPSA would be endorsing. Voting took place and the resolution passed.

Reports:

• Advocacy and Diversity: Chair Megan Minnich discussed how the committee was focused on the PRIDE Brunch scheduled for January 15th.
• Professional Development: Chair Niladri Sekhar Mandal shared that they are wrapping up this semester’s events and planning mentorship programs for next semester.
• Programming: Chair Ama Agyapong shared that they have around 129 people involved in Grad Cup, and asked for anyone who wants to volunteer for the events to contact her on Slack. She also shared that next month the coffee hour event will be back.
• Community Outreach: Chair Ram Neupane shared that they met last week about hosting an event discussing agriculture from a legal perspective, but they are waiting to hear from the speakers.
• Internal Development: Nothing to report.

Liaison Reports:

Eli Fields, liaison to the Student Legal Services Advisory Board, shared that Student Legal Services recently hired a lawyer for Commonwealth Campus services. They are handling more civil cases than criminal cases and usage has gone up. Additionally, the recent name change fund from UPUA has been well utilized and there is a landlord/tenant education module that is being released soon.

Katie Warczak, liaison to the Center for Performing Arts Student Advisory Board, shared their meeting discussed sustainability events for spring and how to keep them COVID safe. She also said to let her know in Slack if you have ideas of want you want to see the Center for Performing Arts do.

Farhan Sadique, liaison to Campus Recreation Student Advisory Board, shared concerns about how graduate and professional students often have partners that want access to facilities for physical health, and mentioned that there is an ability to access with a different cost, and that tennis courts are likely to get updated equipment.

Student Trustee Janiyah Davis was not present but will provide a written report following the Board of Trustees meeting for the next Assembly meeting.