Boston College Graduate Student Association
Senate Meeting Minutes, October 12, 2012
The first meeting of the 2012-2013 Senate of the Boston College Graduate Student Association
began at noon on Friday, October 12th, 2012 at the Murray Graduate Student Center.
The meeting was convened by Victoria Pineiro and began with introductions of those in
attendance:
GSA Director of Advocacy and Outreach: Victoria Pineiro
GSA Director of Programming: Emily Halstead
GSA Director of Finance: Jon Piron
GEA: Charli Bryan
Grad AHANA: Veronica Hsu
GPA: Sara Keary and Erin Singer
GNA: Jessica Kim
GSSW: Alyssa Wehr
CSOM: Afsheen Namdaran
GISA: Shawn Savage
STM: Amelia Blanton
A&S: Elizabeth Tov, Derrick Harris
Director of Graduate Student Life: Darrell Peterson
The first order of business is to discuss housekeeping items on agenda.
College of Arts and & Sciences will have two representatives for now because their
association does not yet formally exist. Both representatives are working to form the
group and create a Constitution.
Victoria then read from the GSA Constitution in order to provide an overview of
Senate/Senator responsibilities. She emphasized the portion requiring that Senators must
fulfill their duties in order for their organization to receive funding. GISA requested that
we revisit the clause about freezing funds; we should not punish a group for one person’s
actions. Jon Piron clarified that we have not frozen funds before. Victoria agreed to read
minutes from the previous school year in order to determine the results of previous
discussions about this topic. She will email a summary to the Senate so that we can
revisit the topic at our next meeting and vote on an amendment if necessary.
Victoria explains that a request was made for the GSA to make minutes of past and future
meetings available to students online for the purpose of transparency. STM requests that
we have the minutes reviewed by attendees before the minutes are posted. Consensus
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reached. A&S asks if it would be worth emailing the minutes to the entire student body.
Jon Piron explains that there is a strict limit on the number of emails that can be sent to
students, but we can put a link in the GSL Newsletter. Consensus agrees with a link in the
newsletter.
Victoria requests feedback from Senators about the best time and day for future Senate
meetings. A consensus is reached that Fridays at noon are generally preferable. We will
meet again in November and December.
Victoria explains that she will attend a meeting of each organization this semester. Each
organization may decide whether she will participate or merely watch from the back.
Send heran invitation to the meeting that would be preferable. She would like to meet as
many organization members as possible.
The next order of business is to discuss the topics which Senators would like to see on future
agendas.
GISA: Can A&S be given a Constitution of each of the other existing organizations?
Victoria just emailed all Presidents asking for Constitutions, and she will make them
available to A&S leaders. GPA and AHANA express that their organizations may not
have Constitutions. Victoria explains that it is not necessary to have a constitution, but is
highly recommended to solidify expectations and accountability. Jon will send and GPA
a copy of Lambda’s Constitution. Denise and Darrell in GSL are also resources who can
help organizations with their structures.
Future agendas will contain a section for A&S to provide an update on their process of
organization. GPA requests that each Senator also have a report from their organization
at Senate meetings.
GISA asks that we evaluate current manners of communication so that organizations can
better work together. Victoria will place “upcoming events” from each group at the
bottom of the page on future agendas. GISA suggests that we have some integrated form
of communication outside of emails so that we can all collaborate and be more aware of
what others are doing. Discussion on the possibility of an integrated Google Calendar that
color codes who is invited to attend each event (eg, an event that is STM-only will be in
one color, whereas an STM event open to all will be in a different color).
The next order of business is to hear from a guest: Sandy Corsi, Manager of Member Services at
BC Campus Recreation, corsis@bc.edu. She will provide an overview of the grad student-Plex
relationship so that we can discuss its relevance to us at our next Senate meeting.
Sandy provided BC Rec brochures for Senators to peruse. She began by explaining the
fact that insurance will provide a $150 return to students who purchase a gym
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membership. Therefore, the cost of a year-long membership is ultimately $85 to a grad
student.
BC Rec is offering discounted classes this year.
BC Rec website now has a section in which students may provide suggestions and
requests. This feedback is truly taken into account by staff!
The current general status for grad students will not soon change; ie graduate students are
not soon to have automatic gym memberships. BC Rec is happy, however, to continue
receiving suggestions and requests from grad students.
STM asks whether graduate students can plan events at the gym. There is a section of the
website by which a group may request a space reservation. For events in which the group
is paying to use the space, individual attendees do not need to pay to get into the gym.
Events such as pickup games or intramurals, however, individuals must pay the $7 daily
rate in order to enter the gym if they are not already members. BC Rec has tried in the
past to implement a team rate for intramural participation, but such efforts have not been
successful. They’re willing to reevaluate.
CSOM asks whether they can assemble a large group of students who want to join the
gym and can receive a group discount for individual memberships. This is not likely
because BC Rec would need to work with the budget office and get university approval.
If someone wants to make this happen, they could start by working with Katrina. For
now, the price is $235 per person no matter how many students join at a time.
AHANA asks whether groups can purchase day passes and give them to students. This
can be done through an electronic transfer between departments, but BC Rec would need
to know what students receive the passes in order to put the pass on their account.
GISA asserts that you need to be a member of the gym for four months in order to get the
insurance reimbursement. GISA asks whether there is an ideal time for students to visit
the gym? Generally mornings are less busy, and 3-9 is the busiest time at the gym. Sandy
also clarified that “Free classes” are only free for gym members.
Victoria asks whether a group can by 12 packs of passes in bulk at a discount. GSA could
potentially buy these passes in bulk and then offer them to students at a discounted price.
A concern is raised that these passes might not roll over to following years, but Sandy
says that shouldn’t be an issue.
BC Rec is willing to donate packages to special events for a good cause.
The Plex will likely be remodeled in 5 years; it will not happen until after Edmonds
comes down.
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AHANA asks whether a semester membership exists. They do at a cost of $150. BC Rec
is also looking to create a monthly membership.
Sandy then left the meeting and Victoria explained that we will revisit the topic of BC
Rec at our next meeting.
Time is allotted for general discussion of other relevant issues.
STM: It would be helpful if efforts could be made university-wide to be more explicit
about events and resources that are only intended for undergrads (eg, concerts).
AHANA: There should be a manner by which grad students can give general suggestions
and input to the GSA. GISA proposed that we form some manner of assessment, and
Victoria and Darrell both clarified the fact that we cannot just send out a survey to all
grad students; however, Darrell is working on a survey that will hopefully go out next
semester. For now, the consensus is that we will make some type of online form by
which students can anonymously give input.
Jon Piron proposed that in next month’s meeting we discuss the possibility of funding
larger groups on a semester-to-semester basis rather than the current annual basis.
The meeting closed at 1:15 PM.
Minutes submitted by Emily Halstead, GSA Director of Programming
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