GSA Recap – Feb. 12

The UCLA Graduate Students Association is the voice of graduate students on campus. The association meets for forum every three weeks and takes positions on current issues affecting graduate students. Forum meetings are at 7 p.m. in the Ackerman Viewpoint Lounge.

Agenda

• The forum unanimously voted to allocate $1,000 from GSA discretionary funds to help fund a customized UCLA version of a safety app. GSA members said they may still allocate more funding to the app at their next forum.

Officer Reports

• GSA President Nicole Robinson discussed a master’s and Ph.D. symposium that would enable students on campus to meet with professionals who work outside academia. The symposium event is scheduled for May 1. Robinson said that she met with University of California President Janet Napolitano on Wednesday to discuss non-residential supplemental tuition for graduate students.
• Nina Drucker, vice president of internal affairs, encouraged graduate students to use the Graduate Student Resource Center. She said she is considering writing a letter asking for the Graduate Student Resource Center to obtain more space in the Student Activities Center.
• Cody Trojan, vice president of academic affairs, said the Graduate Summer Research Mentorship Program expanded its eligibility criteria for scholarship money so more students have the opportunity to apply for funds.
• Hope McCoy, vice president of external affairs, said she thinks UCLA should improve its alumni engagement efforts and discussed ways other UC campuses engage their alumni.

Special Presentations

• Avi Oved, the internal vice president of the Undergraduate Students Association Council, presented to the forum about a customized UCLA version of the safety app called Circle of 6. Oved asked GSA to help fund the app’s development.

• Cindy Stanphill, the director
  of GSA elections, asked the forum to consider decreasing the amount of
  petition signatures required for students to run for office from 50 to 25.
  She said that this change should be considered for candidates who
  run for office next year.

• Ted Everhart, president of the GSA Social Sciences Council and a member of the diversity committee, presented a draft of a resolution that calls for UCLA to improve its campus racial climate. As it stands, the resolution supports the creation of a diversity-related education requirement and diversity-related trainings for all graduate student teaching assistants. Everhart said he plans to edit the resolution based on student feedback and bring it back to forum week nine this quarter.

• Cody Trojan, vice president of
  academic affairs, said graduate students are still pushing for certain parts of UCLA’s leave of absence and in absentia policies to change. In 2012, the policies were updated to reflect UC-wide policy changes, which sparked backlash from some graduate students.

• GSA President Nicole Robinson discussed
  whether GSA should pay membership fees to the University of California
  Student Association, after not paying for the past six years. Robinson said being a member of UCSA would provide GSA institutional support and that student fees could amount to about $15,000.