Graduate Student Council
General Meeting Minutes
May 7 @ 12:00pm
Waters 137
1. Approval of Agenda
 Approved with additions
-
Additions to the Agenda
o Presentation of 2011-2012 GSC Committee/Board certificates.
o Presentation of Sarachek Predoctoral Honor Fellowship & Scientific
Travel Awards to Eric Olson and Vijayalakshmi Iyer
o Presentation of GSC Student Teaching Awards to Robert Sparrow,
Masters GTA and Santosh Ghimire, Ph.D. GTA
2. Approval of April 2, 2011 General Meeting Minutes
 Approved as distributed
3. Quality of Graduate Student Life Survey – Overall Results (Dr. Shanklin)
 Dr. Shanklin provided general results from the Quality of Graduate Student Life Survey.
Preliminary results show that most graduate students are satisfied with their experience
at K-State. Further analyses will be conducted to provide more detailed results from the
survey.
4. Reports:
 Officer Reports
o President - Tammy Sonnentag
 Tammy reminded those present that positions were still available for next
year on several GSC committees. Please email egsc@k-state.edu for
details.
o President-Elect – Taylor Wadian
 Not present, No report
o Secretary – Jennifer Miller
 Jennifer will be sending out an email within the next week or two to ask
groups to begin re-registering for next year.
o Treasurer – Kavitha Penugonda
 SGA FY12 Travel Grant Funds
Spent $ 13,060.62
Allocated $ 20,500.00
Available $ 7,439.38
 These funds have all been allocated, the balance reflects travel
awards for which travel reimbursement has not been
submitted.
 SGA FY12 Operating Funds
Spent $ 341.05
Allocated $ 500.00
Available $ 158.95
 KSU Funds
Foundation Funds $ 2,490.55
State GSC Funds $ 2,407.86
o Advisors - Drs. Carol Shanklin and Duane Crawford
 Commencement is Friday May 11th. Dr. Shanklin reminded the Council
that an honorary PhD would be given to Dr. Robert Gates, which is the
first given in nearly 30 years.

All paperwork that has been submitted to the Graduate School that is not
commencement related will be dealt with following commencement.
 Dr. Shanklin reminded those who are graduating to order copies of the
complete transcripts prior to commencement so that they will not have to
pay the fee.
Dr. Crawford thanked everyone who participated in the focus groups and provided input for the
Graduate School’s strategic plan.
 Graduate Student Senator Reports
o Gustavo Correa
o Eric Dover
o Craig Johnson
o Winston Wolf
o Abbie Polys
o Kat Lopez
 Kat reported that the last meeting of Senate involved the approval of
appointments to the executive and judicial branches.
 She also shared that all the Graduate School senators will be participating in
senate committees this next year.
o Adam Ragoschke
 Committee Reports
o Allocations – Graciela Andrango
 Not present, No Report
o Research Forums – Joe Standard
 Not present, No Report
o Student Affairs – Gayla Adams-Wright
 Not present, No Report
o Professional Development Seminar – Sherrill Cropper
 Not present, No Report
o Health Insurance – Grazelda MacDonald
 Not present, report given by Dr. Shanklin
 Dr. Shanklin reported that policy for 2012-13 for the GTA/GRA/GA health
insurance is caught up in federal court due to new health care guidelines.
Once the federal court makes the decision, the Kansas Board of Regents
Health Insurance Committee is ready to sign the contract with United
Health.
o Fundraising – Shaniece McNabney
 Not present, No Report
o Awards and Recognition – Elizabeth Frink
 Not present, No Report
 Representative Reports
o Union Governing Board – Kyle Probst
 Not present, Report given by Kat Lopez
 Kat announced several decisions that had been made by the UGB.
o The first was an agreement was reached between the Union and the
radio station to keep their spot in the Union.
o The second decision was that the store, Greekdom, would be moving
to the basement of the Union where Sheer Dynamics once was. Also,
the campus computer store would return to its original location, where
Greekdom is currently.
o The third decision was that rates for Union room rentals will increase
10% for next year. Additionally, there will be a 6%increase in the
price of food throughout the K-State Union, including catering.
o The Union recently completed a satisfaction survey, and the overall
results were that respondents were pleased with the Union but would
like longer hours and lower food prices.
o The Union Recreation area (bowling and billiards) will be increasing
the cost of food and beverage in order to cover costs of the rising
prices charged by Union Catering.
o International Student Affairs Committee – Dajung Woo and Manpreet Rai
 Not present, No Report
o Library Committee – Jessica Reyes
 No Report
o Campus Master Plan Committee - Pinakin Sukthankar
 The committee met for a brainstorming session during the first part of May.
 He shared some potential changes in the future relative to building upgrades,
new buildings, and traffic flow. These include the addition of new buildings
for general sciences and business and the closing off of Claflin Rd through
campus with the opening of Jardine Drive across campus to make it more
pedestrian friendly.
 All changes/suggestions will be submitted by Early October.
o 8020 Committee – Courtney George
 Courtney stated that the last meeting was simply a wrap-up meeting. This
position will be open next year.
o State Affairs – Laura Teague
 Not present, No Report
o Women of K-State – Tammy Sonnentag
 Wednesday, May 9th—Brownbag Event—Finding Your Passion 11:30-1:00 in
Big 12 Room, K-State Student Union
 Wednesday, May 23rd—Brownbag Event—Women Leaders in the
Community 12:05pm Sunflower Room, K-State Student Union
5. Announcements
a. W e l c o m e Back GSC Pizza Party – August 31, 12:00p.m., Waters 137
b. Next General Meeting – September 10th KSU Student Union 212
c. Kat Lopez is exploring the feasibility of creating an Ambassador Program for
the Graduate School. The group would facilitate new student transitioning to KState and assist with recruitment activities. If you are interested in participating,
please email Kat (klopez@ksu.edu).
d. The baseball tailgate was poorly attended due to weather. Because of this, there are
left-over shirts that will be distributed at other GSC events until they are gone.
6. May Calendar of Events:
 Graduation
o May 11th @ 1:00pm, Bramlage Coliseum.
7. Adjournment