Graduate Student Association
Meeting Minutes
November 3rd, 2013 – Taylor 302
“Serving the needs, the welfare and the interests
Of past, present, and future graduate students at
James Madison University”
ATTENDANCE
Executive Council and Program Representatives present: Casey Musselman (President), AJ
Good (VP & Communications), Dane Sosniecki (VP & Programming), Amanda Latham (VP &
Membership Development), Alex Templeton (MPA), Barry Edgar (Biology), John Hollander
(Psych. Sciences), Tara Ott (Art Design & History), Cameron Shirley (History), Courtney
Dameron (School Psych), Mary Johnston (Assessment and Measurement), Ben Martin (EFEX).
Student members present: Chessa Simpson (School Psychology), Nahal Khalatban (School
Pysch), Nicole Jones (School Psych), Joanna Showalter (MAT - ED), Hueni Masambia (CHBS).
Programs not represented: CSPA, SSLS, CDPC, Accounting, Adult Ed/HRD, Business, ,
CSD, Computer Science, English, Exceptional Education, Health Sciences, ISAT, Kinesiology,
Mathematics, Music, Occupational Therapy, PA Studies, WRTC.
APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES
The minutes were amended to update attendance for School Psychology at the October 6th, 2013
meeting. New minutes are revised and stand approved.
ANNOUNCMENTS

Introductions of new attendees

GSA Prospective student tours
Executive council members have been giving tours to prospective graduate students.
Program reps were asked if they would be willing to conduct tours for students interested in
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GSA Meeting Minutes - November
their program. It was noted that tours aren’t a huge commitment, don’t use a lot of resources,
but provide a very useful service that many other universities don’t offer to graduate
students.
A general outline of current touring procedures was discussing. A manual for these tours was
suggested to make available to program reps.

GSA Online Forums
The forums will be used as a primary mode of communication to talk about current issues
and think about the future. They will be available when the GSA Cascade page is live.

Representation at SGA meetings
The executive council expressed a need to be present at the SGA weekly meetings.
Volunteers were asked for. Further, the GSA has two open chairs that need to be fill for the
2014 – 2015 school year.

Contingency Funding
The GSA can apply from $3,000 - $10,000. The GSA will need to apply before the end of
the year to fund events in the spring.

Executive Council Elections
Members were encouraged to begin thinking about applying for the 2014 – 2015 Executive
Council. Start thinking about it now to ensure continuity with the GSA.

Faculty/Staff & Student Impact Awards
This has been very successful in the past, and will continue next year. Look for the link on
our Cascade page. Award ceremony at end of the semester.
DISCUSSION

GSA Committees (Please refer to power point handout for more information).
The GSA would like to split into three committees, which are:
o Graduate Services Committee
o Outreach and Engagement Committee
o Organizational Development Committee
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GSA Meeting Minutes - November
Each Committee will also be comprised of subcommittees, which are:
o Graduate Services
o Social Events, Prospective Graduate Tours, Scholarship and Awards
o Outreach and Engagement
o Communications, Membership Recruitment, Community Engagement
o Organizational Development
o Organizational Development
Program reps were asked to review the committee charter and structure documents and
respond with initial thoughts. An email will be sent out requesting everyone to please
respond if interested in being a part of the committees.
(Please refer to powerpoint attachment for more specific information
on committees)

GSA Mission and Values Revisited
Executive Council stated that the mission of the GSA is “promote interdisciplinary unity
between James Madison University Graduate Students. Currently the GSA:
o Disseminates helpful and relevant graduate student information through social
media outlets
o Provides tours to prospective graduate students
o Recognizes graduate student excellence
It was also stated that the GSA is looking to grow to be the exclusive Graduate Student
organization. Currently there are challenges that need to be addressed by program reps
and council. Those challenges are:
o Relatively new organization
o Difficult mission translation
o Small graduate student body
o Intergenerational and socio-economic diversity
o Continuity and high turnover (2 year programs)
o Limited funding
By addressing these issues as a consolidated voice, compose of the graduate student
body, program reps, and executive council, we can overcome these obstacles.
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GSA Meeting Minutes - November

Effective Program Representative Practices and To-do list
o Respond to GSA email about committees
o Conduct prospective student tours
o Provide feedback on emails and meetings
o Highlight your program news
o Recruit peers and start the search for someone to be the next program rep
It is also important to send in any important program news, achievements, or events to
GSA. It will be pushed out through GSA social media outlets.
It was noted by the School Psychology rep that School Psychology awareness week was
soon, and that an email would be sent to the GSA.
Meeting was adjourned and concluded at 4:50 pm
REMAINING MEETINGS DATES
February 2nd, 2013 – Taylor 302
March 2nd, 2013 – Festival #4
April 6th, 2013 – Taylor 302
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GSA Meeting Minutes - November