GSA Assembly Meeting Minutes
LC23 Uptown Campus
September 6, 2013
Call to Order (6:11pm)
Minutes from May Assembly Meeting were not approved because they were not on the website
Approved 9.6.13 Agenda
President, Caitlin Janisewski started with E-board Introductions
President read University Council Reps Report (Gary Roth’s Report since he was not presentexplained CSNE’s departure)
President explained the situation with the Webmaster and how documents will be added to the
website soon and apologized for any inconvenience.
President explained the Lead Senator (Pavel Terpelets) resigned and stated that she would be
appointing a temporary Lead Senator later on in the meeting.
Executive Board Reports
*Full Reports will be sent via listserv and will be posted to the website ASAP
MCAA Report from Joel Balbi
 Explained De-Colonization Series (Food Programs)
 MCAA Chair explained his meetings with Dr. Betty Shadwick and her office and that the
GSA MCAA budget will be used to co-sponsor several upcoming events including the
Welcome Reception next Friday, September 13 from 3-5, Brown Bag Series, Holiday
Gala, Spring Fling
 He discussed his Campus Safety Committee and Cam pus Engagement Committee.
Campus Engagement Committee is holding UAlbany Promise Event- to get students
college ready on September 25th- need graduate students to teach- any volunteers should
contact gsamcaa@albany.edu
 Civil Rights to Hip-Hop Events
VP Report from Nic DePaula
 Cradles to College Program- anyone interested to contact Nic, at gsavp@albany.edu
 Summer RGSO Budget only 3-4 groups participated with a total of $1,300 used- the rest
of the budget rolled over to Fall RGSOs
 Deadline for Fall RGSO Applications are September 20th- Sent online to Nic at
gsavp@albany.edu
 VP explained RGSO revision and new b y-laws
Grant Report from Kimberly Berg
 Summer Grant details
 Project the Grant system was to make the Grant Process easier and more efficient for
students.
 Process now includes Professional Development Grant
 The process was not anonymous- make the process more transparent
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GSA Assembly Meeting Minutes
LC23 Uptown Campus
September 6, 2013
Treasurer Report from Jessica Aubin
 Explained the transition process to electronic voucher system
 Online Voucher system will go in effect this Spring- there will be multiple training
opportunity for RGSOs
 RGSOs are required to have at least one member of their E-Board trained on the new
online voucher process- They need to send the name and contact info of that person to
Jessica by October 1st at gsatreas@albany.edu
 Discussed Budget as of 9/1/13
 Explained the $40,000 surplus at the end of last year, explained the new budget format
for the assembly so that they understood why the format was different
 Will reevaluate budget in the spring based on how much we receive from GSA fee
 Built in more ways to avoid debt and have roll over
 President explained in the past that $40,000/ $50,000 roll over is normal. She has
assigned an Office Manager (OM) a financial project to find what our rights are as an
association.
Motion to approve President’s Report- Passed 24 Yes
President’s Report from Caitlin Janisewski
 Apologized for not having documents uploaded to the website
 GSA Picnic 8.30.13
 Programing Chair Resigned
o Chelsea Tobin resigned for personal reasons
o We will have a new Programming Chair by October Assembly Meeting
 Explained the need for a programming handbook, with a deadline of the end of the
semester. This handbook is a “how to guide” for the chair of how to navigate the SUNY
Albany bureaucracy when planning events – what has to happen when, whose approval is
needed, etc.
 Meeting with Administration and established Committee Attendance- has assigned an
OM to be in charge of coordinating committee members and collecting report
 New Newsletter for the GSA (3x a semester) includes offices like Sustainability, GSEU
 Campus Center Expansion Project- When or if the GSA moves we will be in CC-307 and
308
 Opening of Downtown Office
 CSNE Separation – Need more information
o President Janisewski will be participating at the legislative hearing on September
24th to provide written testimony- Any comments, please email Caitlin at
gsapresident@albany.edu
Motion to Amend Agenda a to add to business of electing a Judicial Board Member
Passed: 20-0-0
Motion to approve a secretary – Kat Syle
Passed: 26-0-1
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GSA Assembly Meeting Minutes
LC23 Uptown Campus
September 6, 2013
Motion to approve an Assembly Speaker- expected to learn Robert’s Rules of Order (Rep
between E-Board and Assembly)
No one volunteered for Assembly Speaker – this will be decided at the October meeting.
Motion to approve Grants Chair, Kimberly Berg- passed 28-0-0
Motion to approve 1/8 stipend of Programming Salary and give to Chelsea Tobin for her work on
the picnic- passed 27-1-0
Budget Discussion
 Grants vs. RGSO amounts. There was a motion to move $5,000 from Grants to RGSOs.
It never went to an official vote since there was not enough support.
 Questions about what RGSOs can do? Who do they report too?
 Treasure and VP explained the reason for the proposed budgets.
 President explained the proposed changes to budget compared to last year’s budget
 Motion to approve budget 7:20pm- Passed 26-1-1
Discussion of new printers for Downtown and East Campus
 Got 2 quotes one from Cannon and Xerox
 Xerox cheaper option to buy out right $4,319.38 for East Campus and $5,905.78 for
Downtown
 Motion to approve new printers- passed 24-0-0
Wages and Benefits Committee
 James from GSEU spoke about what this committee would do- help have representation
about student debt, Conditions graduate students work in, etc. Motion to create a Wages
and Benefits Committee- Passed 25-0-2
Lead Senator Resigned & Temporary Lead Senator Needed
 Need to create a special election committee- Anyone interested e-mail
gsapresident@albany.edu need to be created ASAP so that there can be an October 7th
election with the candidates to speak at the October 4th Assembly Meeting
 President proposes Melissa Murata to be acting Lead Senator
 Motion to pass Melissa Murata as acting Lead Senator- Passed 24-0-1
 Motion to approve Senator Appointees Genevieve Kane, Bryant Barksdale, and Christine
Prebble- Passed 25-0-3
New Grant Guidelines discussion and changes
 Changes including how much students are allowed to receive, faculty recommendation
letters, applications online.
 Reviewed New Grant Guidelines handout and actual documents via computer step-bystep
 Grants deadline October 1st
 Motion to approve New Grant Guidelines- Passed 25-0-0 (7:54pm)
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GSA Assembly Meeting Minutes
LC23 Uptown Campus
September 6, 2013
Table CNSE Resolution until next Assembly Meeting
Judicial Board – needs 3 people
Melissa Murata
Gary Rainstorm
Christine Prebble
Motion to approve Judicial Board Members- Passed 22-0-1
Motion to adjourn meeting- Passed 7:59pm
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