Tag Archives: IT

April DSC Meeting Notes

Bill Kelly

  • Open Meetings
    • Provost calling on all EOs to evaluate compliance with bylaws
    • 5/15 deadline to be compliant
      • not compliant: à Provost OR Structure Committee of Grad Council
      • had not received any complaints in 15 years
    • Especially vis-à-vis student
    • Not honors system but a set of bylaws
      • Own program bylaws must be in compliance
    • Not going to go on “witchunt”/not going to be
    • Can submit complaint anonymously to Grad Council or Provost
    • Current legal opinion: Program Standing Committees not subject to NYS Open Meetings Law
    • Do not necessarily want single specifically spelled out regulations – takes away local control
  • Funding Gap
    • Used to have almost no fellowships, much less valuable fellowships
    • In most years, have increased value or increased work
    • Trying to be like other universities with fellowships
    • “striking breakthrough” this year
    • yes, is still funding gap
    • will try to build, but in meantime…
      • find way to reduce teaching load moving forward
        • doesn’t kick in until 2014
      • adjuncts
        • difficult at universities
        • determined at universities, determined by collective bargaining – not much he can do
      • dissertation fellowships
        • 89 this year
        • try to grow pot every year
      • this spring, money to small grants for research
      • tuition waiver and health insurance for all who work as adjuncts
        • extending beyond 5 years not high on list of things to send money to
        • will “take under consideration” possibility of making it 10 semesters used however you want
  • NYSHIP in Dissertation Fellowships
    • NYSHIP – have to be student employee, but Dissertation Fellowships usually work-free
    • Asked Provost’s Office to look at options over the summer
  • New Chancellor
    • Goldstein leaving as “huge loss” – “remarkable” leadership
      • Has evinced “unstinting” support from Graduate Center
    • Board will name Interim, then national search conducted
      • Probably BoT naming Trustees on committee, then faculty and student representation and an alumni rep
      • Probably asking UFS and USS to delegate someone
  • Maybe potentially CUNY university press
    • Potential partnership with University of Liverpool Press
    • Think it will happen pretty soon

 

Co-Chair for Student Affairs

  • Will figure out way to coordinate governance/meeting concerns
    • Be in contact with DSC
    • 6.4b on DSC Website – direct recommendation to graduate council
      • 10% of students sign on to petition if problems directly to Grad Council
  • elections still open, VOTE
  • OpenCUNY hiring coordinators
  • Looking for new Editor-in-Chief of Advocate

 

Communications

  • Creating Emeritus DSC Leadership Advisory Board
  • Parental Leave Working Group
    • Working Group executive summary of survey results and policy recommendation
      • All full time GC students without gender of method of family forming, without regard to fellowship status
      • Automatic extension of deadlines
      • 1 semester salary at half of GCF with minimum health requirement
      • retain status and tuition remission
      • full health care
    • Draft GC Policy
      • All kinds of parenting
      • Academic accommodation for all GC students
      • Negotiation: work accommodation available only to GC fellowship students, only people working within CUNY, or all GC students
    • Expect in place by September 1
  • Information Technology
    • Email project postponed/all off
    • Migration to CUNYFirst
      • Business End (admin parts of Banner): June
      • More info in fall
    • Student printing data collection: status quo
    • Pursuing GC portal through campuseai.org (open source)
    • Wireless upgrade
  • Institutional Research
    • Received results of Doctoral Students Survey
    • Master Survey underway
  • Auxiliary Enterprise: manage revenue
    • Rentals, dining primary sources of revenue
    • Money held in reserve for student housing
    • Looking at student housing site in Long Island City
  • Meeting with Pres. Kelly
    • Parental leave
    • Condom dispensers in bathrooms
      • Condoms and other barrier forms in bathrooms on 5th floor
  • Student Affairs
    • Update on stipend limits/term limits
  • Robinson will not be pursuing relocation of student center to C level

 

Business

  • Spend money in May
  • DSC Website: “Soft overhaul”
    • Update
    • Navigation and menu problem fixed
    • Aesthetic upgrade
  • Blood Drive coming up in June
    • Balance blood drive v. discriminatory practice

 

USS Delegate

  • FOAI emails received
  • USS continues to be

 

UFS Delegate

  • CUNY 2020 – skeptical
  • UFS passed resolution against extension of Pathways Committee

 

Internet Research Team: Chartered

 

DSC Budget 2013-2014

  • Will continue subsidizing medical tests for uninsured students
  • Small reduction in grants
  • Discretionary down for Steering, Exec
  • Less money for GC Advocate freelancers
  • More money for OpenCUNY, UFS delegate
  • Slightly smaller party budget
  • Slight smaller office supply budget

 

Bylaw Changes

  • Governance Task Force
  • USS Standing Committee
  • Changes to Grants Processes
  • Funding increase for start-up grants

 

Constitution Change

  • Add additional duties to USS Delegate (chair USS Student Advisory Committee)

 

Response to Open Meeting Letter

  • Potential lawsuit to apply Open Meetings Law to program standing committees
    • CUNY never applied OML without lawsuit
    • Push back on claim by CUNY Counsel that program student committees
    • Consultation with attorneys
    • Pretty much all we have left
    • Why do this?
      • Lots of leeway in interpretation of laws
      • Students on Exec have voice on all policy
      • What students allowed to hear and communicate to constituents varies by program and by issue
      • Applying OML would clarify what situations are actually allowed to be kept confidential
        • Which situations would actually be able to kept closed and not communicated
  • Could compile out-of-compliance governance documents
  • Engage in education campaign regarding rights to representation
  • Request to be present OML and governance issues at an all-EO meeting

 

Student Life and Services

  • Survey still open
    • Have reached N
    • Try to get more
    • Average respondent: Level III, not taking clases
  • Comfort stations will be happening
  • Looking for folks to lead meditations
  • Supplies for kitchenettes

 

Outreach

  • Queen College – first week of May
  • International Student Town Hall: April 30
  • Updated CUNY Power chart coming soon!
    • CUNY, GC, DSC, programs

 

Health and Wellness

  • Wellness Festival last week
  • Health posters and flyers available and up
  • Updates to website
    • Added to NYSHIP providers
  • Health and Wellness survey coming soon

 

Governance and Membership

  • Constitution and bylaws up to date on website!
    • each page will include date last updated

 

Funding

  • Grants

Library and Technology

  • Mac Lab on C level library – use it!
    • Can reserve room through IT website
    • In danger of losing it
  • Ideas about what to do with MacLab? Send them to kmoriah AT gc DOT cuny DOT edu
  • IT Student Equipment Loan Program – use them!!!
    • See IT Website: camcorder, flip cap, netbook, webcams, macbooks, recorders
  • Still have grants to disburse: Ad Hoc Committee for Student Tech Workshop Facilitation Grant

DSC Minutes, 9/21 Meeting

from Flan and John (representative report available here).

– Printing: For now, IT is only collecting data on print usage patterns. The 10,000 page quota is a “soft quota” – if you run out, you just have to ask the HelpDesk and they will reset it for you. The expectation, though, is that at some point there will be a “hard” quota/limit on the number of pages you can pring.

–  Free Microsoft Office and other software: If you log in to CUNY Portal and switch your “primary status” to Employee/Faculty (should definitely be an option for anyone teaching at one of the campuses and perhaps for others as well), you can go to the ‘eMall’ and get discounts and some free software, including Microsoft Office. I just tried it out, and downloaded the latest version of Office for Mac free.

– EndNote: if you want EndNote, you have to download it (which you can do for free) by the end of the year; it goes away Jan. 1

– Increased Access to Room Reservations: In the near future, all students should be able to reserve ALL rooms at the GC through the DSC website (until this change, only option were the DSC meeting rooms) – everything from a classroom to the Skylight Room. It remains to be seen how responsive the room reservation folks are to student requests, but in theory students should have good access. Note that this is available ONLY for student-led, student-run events (i.e. Center X cannot use this system for room reservations) – student orgs, study groups, etc.

– Writing Center: They’re in the process of hiring someone to establish a Writing Center, to be used primarily for 1) help revising diss chapters, articles, revise and resubmits, etc. and 2) working on job application docs

– Email: The email system will be changing around Jan. 1 – addresses will probably change. More details forthcoming.

– Blood Drives: DSC is continuing to try to work to get blood drives off-campus until the ban on men who have had sex with men from donating blood is lifted (see this recent GC Advocate story for details)

– $$$ for student events: There are DSC grants available (for up to $750) for student-run, student-led events, conferences, etc. – they are eager to have more applications and provide more support. For the first round of grants, the deadline is Thursday; more info and the application can be found here.

– Health Insurance/NYSHIP: Excellent resources on dealing with NYSHIP, recommended providers, and other health insurance issues are available here.

As always, if you have any questions, or an issue you’d like us to bring up at the next meeting (Oct. 26), please email us.