Graduate and Professional Student Council

Meeting Minutes for October 9, 2007

Kaskaskia Room, Student Center, 7:00 PM

I. Call to Order

The meeting was called to order at 7:02 PM.

II. Roll Call

Trey Gossett (Art and Design), Tim Hudspeth (Law), Lance Camp (Law), Cord Wittig (Law) Alex Strong (Philosophy), Mike Stahl (Zoology) Kristina Dzara (Sociology), Kyle Stevens (Law), , Andrea Jones (Law), Christina Bearden-White (History), Nathaniel Taylor (History), Ashley Phillips (Mass Communication and Media Arts) Alecia Eubanks (Psychology), Cornelius Fair (Speech Communication), Claudia Torres-Ambriz (Graduate Council) Janet Mayher (Graduate Council), Jason Hammond (Graduate Council), Jonathan Remo (Graduate Council), Sara Samson (Vice President for Administrative Affairs), Shelly McGrath (Vice President for Graduate School Affairs).

III. Approval of the Agenda

Steven Middleton proposed to the delete guest speaker from the agenda. The agenda was approved as amended.

IV. Approval of the Minutes from September 25, 2007

The minutes were approved as presented.

V. Officer Reports

A. President: Steven Middleton

1. Steven Middleton, the USG president, and the student trustee to the Board of Trustees held a town hall meeting that was attended by a small group of students, both graduate and undergraduate. Issues discussed were student fees, campus safety, retention and recruitment.

2. Dr. Koropchak wants to set up a monthly luncheon with grad students to talk about issues graduate students face.

3. There are several committees that have openings. Please contact Steve if you are interested in setting of any of the following committees: Graduate Technology Surcharge Committee, City of Carbondale Liquor Advisory Board, City of Carbondale Human Relation, SIU Student Radio Board, and the Dean Search for the College of Engineering.

4. Congratulations to Sara Samson for passing the Illinois Bar.

B. Vice President for Administrative Affairs: Sara Samson

1. Two student workers have been hired. One will be starting Thursday, the other will start next Friday.

C. Vice President for Graduate School Affairs: Shelly McGrath

1. The Graduate Council discussed that SIU graduate students have less resources and space at their disposal. To remedy this problem, the school has proposed building a new building. However, it would require a 20% match from SIU, which would come from fees.

2. Master’s Fellowship application is being revised to include essays in addition to the GRE score and undergraduate GPA.

VI. New Business

A. Fee Allocation Board Recommendations

1. The Fee Allocation Board did not make any recommendations to fund the Prairie Garden Planting. Shelly McGrath motioned to fund the event up to $50 for advertising, and $547 for seeds on the condition that advertising is approved and distributed one week prior to the event. The motion was approved 20-0-2.

2. The Fee Allocation Board recommended funding Native American History Month up to $50 for advertising and up to $450 for the keynote speaker on the condition that the advertising is approved, completed and distributed by November 22nd. The recommendation was approved 12-2-6.

B. Fine Arts Activity Committee

1. GPSC had a meeting with the committee chairperson and Dr. Dietz to resolve issues GPSC has with the Fine Arts Committee. While the issue was not resolved the committee agreed to have 2 more spots available on the committee to students not in the Fine Arts department. It is GPSC opinion that this is not expectable. The council felt a better proposal would be to have seven student from those not in the Fine Arts department and seven that were and no faculty members on the committee.

C. Discussion of the Poshard Issue

1. GPSC decided not to issue a resolution in support or against President Poshard in regards to the plagiarism issue.

VI. Committee Reports

A. Parking and Traffic Committee

1. Lot 49 has undergone some changes, shifting spaces, adding some services space.

2. Also improvement to the lighting at the parking lot behind the rec center.

VII. Roundtable Discussion

A. None.

VIII. Announcements

A. There will be a lecture on Friday October 12, 2007 at noon in the Museum Auditorium by Kelly Hunt (biological anthropologist ).

IX. Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned at 7:57 PM.