DTSA Board Meeting Minutes
11/20/2013
Present: Bess Rowen (President), Chloë Edmonson (Second Vice President), Benjamin
Gillespie (Admissions and Awards), Pamela Thielman (Curriculum and Exams Committee
Representative), Stephanie Vella (DSC Program Representative), Maria Mytilinaki
(Representative to the Graduate Council), Brooke Christensen (First Vice President), Kate Sidley
(Professionalization Committee Representative), and M. Shane Breaux (Secretary). Absent:
Shiraz Biggie (Treasurer).
Meeting called to order by BC at 6:30pm in Room 3107.
MSB moves to add DTSA website to the agenda. BR moves to approve. MM seconds. All vote in favor. Revised agenda approved.
BC moves to approve Oct. 30 minutes. PT seconds. All vote in favor. Minutes are approved.
Reports & Business
Bess Rowen, President
Alumni Reception: Together with David Savran (DS), Lynette Gibson (LG), and Alumni
Coordinator MM, we have decided that the Alumni Reception will be Thursday, December 12 th
, and the End-of-Semester Event will be Thursday, December 5th (after the Professionalization
Event).
Prospective Student Open-House: BR thinks it went very well.
Brooke Christensen, First Vice President
Nothing to report.
Chloë Edmonson, Second Vice President
The Booth Award committee has been formed. Emails continue to be exchanged with Elevator
Repair Service, and I am trying to sort out a date to make an archival video.
Maria Mytilinaki, Representative to the Graduate Council and Alumni Engagement
Representative
As a GC Council Rep :
Nothing to report.
As an Alumni Engagement Rep :
We finalized the party date, and we will begin the preparations. I expect to be in touch with LG regarding decisions about budget for food, drinks, etc. I am responsible for adhering to the requirements of the DSC for the funding we will receive, and for that I will need the board’s help.
Kate Sidley, Professionalization Representative
I met with the committee comprised of Jim Wilson (JW), Judy Milhous (JM), and David Savran
(DS) about the Spring 2014 Professionalization Events. Many of those are standardized, but
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some new ones that I requested for us, which they were receptive to, are more pedagogy workshops and an event focused on non-academic career options for PhD students.
There are only two more PE's in the fall semester. This Thursday 11/21 will be Applied
Pedagogy and then on Dec 5 we will have a baby PE with a Wellness Center representative in the Thesis Room before the event that evening.
Big thanks to those who covered for me at the mock-interview marathon on Friday.
Shiraz Biggie, Treasurer in absentia
I have been in touch with Kalle Westerling (last year’s Treasurer) to get access to the files regarding the DTSA budget.
Pamela Thielman, Curriculum and Exams Committee Representative
There has been no action on the C & E survey, but that will be forthcoming now that ASTR is over. I administered a Dissertation Experience Survey for alums from the last ten years on behalf of the faculty.
Stephanie Vella, DSC Representative
The next DSC is Friday, November 22, so I will not have anything major to report until then.
However, we will be voting on a resolution to expand graduate student library loan periods to
120 days, which I am personally pretty excited about.
Benjamin Gillespie, Admissions and Awards
Nothing to report.
M. Shane Breaux, Secretary
Nothing to report.
Old Business
PRIMP

Good event—BR and BG presented.

Discussion of selecting dates for the spring events to announce at the end of the semester to help improve attendance and give students time to consider work they might submit for presentation.

KS suggested printing the PRIMP schedule on the other side of the Professionalization
Event calendar.

Proposed dates: Feb. 5, March 5, April 2, and May 7. Dates will be confirmed later.
Open House

It was a great event, and all those students and faculty who spoke were effective.

Ten perspective students attended and a good number of current students (both those one the DTSA board and those not).
 Discussion of the available space for next year’s event.

Discussion of adding this responsibility to the job description of the Admissions and
Awards Board Member to ensure these events become an annual event.
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
In terms of outreach, the turnout was strong, but going forward, we should invite people earlier in the semester to help boost attendance.

Discussion of catering the event. There was a nice spread of food and wine.
Booth Award

The committee is currently comprised of six people.

Video project is still in the development stage—scheduling with the ERS is the next step.

Discussion of accessing the ERS archive. Dan Venning was suggested as a possible resource for the archive.
 Discussion of the importance of incorporating students’ speaking about the ERS in the video to showcase how the artists’ work has influenced their work.

Discussion of the possibility of voting in the spring for the next Booth Award recipient to begin the process earlier each academic year. Further discussion about how this move from the fall to the spring would affect the involvement of incoming students.
New Business
End-of-Semester Event

Thursday, December 5, 2013.

Discussion of funding possibilities for the event.

We will cater the event the same way we catered the new-student welcome event in
September with the possibility of slightly increasing the amount of food.

PT offered to put together a list of best practices regarding food allergies in preparing food for these events.

BR will request the remote control for the projector so we can play music and feature the
Yule log video.
Alumni Party

Thursday, December 12, 2013.

The Theatre Department will fund most of the cost for this event, and the DTSA will offer some funding as well—discussion followed about the DTSA budget and the possible amount the board can offer.

Discussion of taking photos at the party—particularly of alumni and current students.
Peter Eckersall Welcome Event

Discussion of the possibility of hosting this event at the beginning of the spring semester to welcome him to the department.

BR is in conversation with Jean Graham-Jones (JGJ) about pulling this together; further details about a date and funding will be crystallized later.
Paper Cups

KS reported that we are nearly out of cups for the tea service (cups must be able to handle hot liquids).

Discussion of funding possibilities to cover the cost.
DTSA Website

SB will work on getting access to the site and making edits.
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
BC will begin the conversation about the status of the Green Room newsletter and its distribution as well as solicit student bios and other content.

Discussion of creating a specific email address for the Admissions and Award
Representative to assist in answering prospective students’ questions to post on the website for questions.

Discussion of creating an FAQ page for prospective students on the site.
 Discussion of creating a collection of information of processes for each board member’s role and posting them online to assist with transitions between boards. Idea to create a google calendar and google document that resides in the cloud and has access protection capabilities.
KS will run the next DTSA Board Meeting.
BC moves to adjourn the meeting. KS seconds. Approved and meeting adjourned at 7:34 pm.
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