Graduate Council Meeting
April 28th, 2008
Minutes

Attending: Rod Edwards, Anthony Green, Matt McFeeley, Jenn Gregory, Frank Bednarz, Kent Qian, Leso Munala, Jeff Schneider, Suzanne Sellers

I. GC Open Forum with Julie Peterson, VP of Communications
A. Overview of Communications
1. UChicago has less investment in communications than other universities – perhaps due to a mindset of emphasis on scholarship over publicity
2. However, the academic world is an increasingly competitive place; communication is important for supporting funding efforts and attracting new students and faculty

B. Goals/Projects
1. To develop a communications strategy – what messages to broadcast about the University, to whom and how
2. To re-structure and pull together the communications office, which until recently was small and decentralized
3. To create a new, modern website (first update in 10 years)
-web content with an emphasis on storytelling, communicating to people outside the university, relationship to the community/city of Chicago
4. To improve internal communications
5. To equip University students to be ‘brand ambassadors’
6. To expand communications in various areas – diversity, the arts, sciences, the new lobbying office in DC, international presence

C. Questions & Comments
1. Jenn: It’s somewhat confusing to navigate from the homepage to division pages
-NSIT is still working on shortcuts, academic index, etc
2. How do we motivate University people to be ‘brand ambassadors’?
-tying it to fundraising would be great incentive for grad students
3. How could communications support recruitment of students?
-dispel the image that all students do is study – sell other aspects such as life in Chicago, campus activities
-improve ease of access/visibility of student groups and programming for grad students
4. Matt: How do you find stories for the website’s front page?
-network of 200+ communications staff in charge of finding such stories
-five news writers on staff to cover different areas
-also just by asking students, organizations, staff
-people can submit ideas through the website
5. Matt: How do you work with department/division websites?
-NSIT is starting to work on re-designing those sites as requested, though resources are finite
6. Anthony: Do you have communications network include people involved with RSOs or ORCSA?
-not presently, but staff members and students can be added

II. GC Reports
A. Minutes
B. Board of Trustees
-Erica will be meeting with the board next week
C. Finance Committee
D. Activities
E. Issues

III. Old Business
A. White Sox Game
1. Ticket price was $5, sold via UBazaar
2. Had 29 leftover tickets; $145 lost
3. Net gain/loss for both games
+$500 for Cubs
-$295 for White Sox
total: +$205

IV. New Business
A. Cathy Cohen, Deputy Provost for Graduate Education
1. Graduate Teaching Committee
-We have gathered a lot of info, both good and confusing
-Goal: to get at least some of the recommendations about compensation implemented by next year – time crunch to get recommendations in before the budget is set
-Goal: to monitor what happens in classrooms (i.e., making sure student teachers aren’t given unreasonable workloads)
-Goal: to review and improve pedagogical training for grad students
-We would like to get written accounts from grad students about their experiences, both positive and negative
-We would also like to get 4-5 students to talk to administrators about their teaching experiences – Mondays 3-4pm
2. Advanced Residency Committee
-The committee is formed, but has yet to meet (priority was on GTC)
-Recommendations would probably not happen until next winter
-Goal: to re-evaluate programs and find a way to decrease residency time
3. Questions
-Is health insurance for grad students being considered?
-yes, possibly tied to teaching compensation
-Is there going to be some kind of built-in yearly raise in teaching salaries to account for rising living costs?
-maybe not a fixed rate, but there should be recommendations about periodic review of salaries
-Are the stipend/compensation systems at other institutions being considered in comparison?
-yes, and also the differences between divisions themselves, plus the New Graduate Aid Initiative

B. Council Liaison By-Law Changes
1. Rod is working on the full by-law wording changes
2. Opinions about liaison approval/removal process?
-should the processes be uniform for both councils?
-approval via majority vote or appointment?
-should the liaison have to be approved by the other council, or would having a removal procedure be sufficient?
-does this have to be such a formal process? — any problems could be resolved through communication
3. Motion to approve amendment to go before the Assembly: (11-0,0) PASSED

C. Student Activities Fee Distribution (Sharlene Holly)
1. Overview
-2008-2009 fee will be $70/quarter for undergrads, $47/quarter for grads
-100% of the undergrad fee goes to central funding
-48% of grad fees will go to divisions, 52% to central funding
2. Questions to Consider
-Centralized funding vs. dividing by group type (ie separate funding process for publications, cultural groups)
-Central SG or divided by undergrad/grad?
-Where should ‘new’ fee money be allocated?
-Thoughts on the Uncommon Fund, big speakers fund, other new bodies?
3. Discussion
-We could lower the GC budget if there were a separate fund for groups that don’t qualify for SGFC
-Should we have funding set apart for central grad student activities?
-mixers for just 2-3 divisions at a time, as well as general ones
-Over-regulation of Uncommon Fund eligibility would probably kill it
-Why doesn’t CC have its own budget like GC?
-GC began as a ‘graduate coordinating council’ to distribute money allocated by Bill Michel
-SG committees/councils can actually ask for money from SGFC
-It would be good to have a general guide to campus funding bodies

D. SG Elections
1. Elected: One Campus (Slate), Brian Cody & Aliza Levine (Liaisons)
2. Higher turnout than usual, but still a very low percentage of student body
E. GC BBQ
1. We currently have about $6000 allocated
-it will cost about $5000 for food, $700-$900 for drinks, $300 for decorations and such – will be slightly over current budget
-last year we ran out of food early, should we get more?
-better attendance was the goal, which will require more food

F. Retail Committee presentation
1. Please review/consider before we meet with Bill Michel next time
2. Goals: to evaluate student perceptions of amenities/retail, make recommendations on supporting stronger student community/quality of life, recommend short and long-term retail/amenities improvements, and encourage active student participation in community
3. Feedback goes to Kim Goff-Crews, CFO & other VPs

V. For the Good of the Council
During the course of the SG Elections, a highly unprofessional incident occurred. Due to this incident, GC will be proposing an amendment to the bylaws concerning the professional standards of SG Officers and Members.

VI. Next Meeting
A. SG Assembly Meeting: May 8th
B. GC Meeting: May 12th