GRADUATE STUDENT COUNCIL MEETING NOTES
November 8, 2007
6:30 – 8:00, Medical Research Building III, Room 1220
I. Approval of Agenda Agenda
– with addition to Honor Council section
II. Approval of Minutes from October Meeting
III. Election of At-Large Members
Amy McLachlan – Anthropology
Dominik Stich – Physics
Macy Loveless – BME
Nathan Mutic – IGP
Stephen Killingsworth – Psychology
IV. Officer Reports
A. President: Josh
a. Upcoming seminar on sexual harassment
– Elizabeth Vargas helping Josh Brooks and the Women’s Center to put it together
– Narrowing down a date for next semester
b. Income Tax Seminar
– Next semester (January) will have IRS agent and tax specialist in grad student taxes on panels
c. Reaching out to underrepresented departments
– Making progress
– Continue to work to get people to come from other departments or at least ask people in those departments if they have any concerns so they can be represented
c2. Still working on getting Frank Warren for GSRD, not looking likely due to funding
– Have other people in mind, let Josh Brooks know if you have any suggestions
– May try to get Frank Warren some other time if we can find the money
d. National Conference on Grad Student Leadership
– Josh Brooks, Sarah Kersh, and Kelli Richardson are going, this weekend
– Same topics from last month’s meeting, let Josh know if you have any questions or particular areas of interest
– They will be taking plenty of notes to pass along to us when they get back
e. Increasing participation
– Met goal of increasing participation and getting more people at meetings
– VPs are doing a great job of getting events planned and getting the word out
– Please offer to help with events when asked, more events means more people are needed to help
– Building momentum, so let’s keep it going!
– Where do we want the GSC to go in the future?
f. Goals for next semester
– GSC elections will be in February, start thinking now if there is a role you’d like to play
– Like to have a smooth transition
– Talk to officers if you have any questions about what each office does
B. Vice President of Academic Affairs: Sarah
– GS research symposium on 3/31/08, all-day event, poster sessions, speaker at noon, oral paper presentations
– To be held at the Student Life Center
C. Vice Presidents of Social Affairs: Megan and Josh
a. Recaps
– Corn Maze – 40-50 people came, try to do again next year, much fun
– AHA heart walk, GGSC helped sign up many people for volunteer list before the walk
– Fall Social last week, raised $200 for Second Harvest food bank plus donated food
– 10/24 had 75 at Predators game, 11/15 game – email next week about 50 tickets
b. Upcoming events
– Tailgate this weekend for Vandy UK game with Owen, in tailgating lot by football stadium, GSC will provide food and drink, will email
– Preds game tickets sell fast, $5 per person
– Happy Hour last night, try to get other grad schools involved in the future
– Bowling in early December with the med students
D. Treasurer: Ingrid
– Budget still on track
E. Secretary: Laura
– Wiki making progress, please continue to contribute
F. Honor Council President: Erica
– Guest speakers, Maddy Clark and Jennifer DeBoer on Intellectual Property Rights for grad students
– Spurred by current Vandy student who had his work “borrowed” by a professor while working on his masters at another university
– Professor published the work without crediting the student or asking permission
– Vandy currently has no guidelines in place outside the honor code, so trying to be proactive instead of reactive before it becomes a problem
– Honor code applies mostly to undergrads, grad students don’t have to sign it but it states that students will not plagiarize or cheat on assignments, does not offer protection against others taking credit for student work
– Honor code is very explicit with regards to cases and punishments, so model what we do on this so there are consequences for violation
– Faculty have honor code manual as it pertains to students, but do not explicitly have their own code, there is a violation reporting website but is very student-focused
– Proposed protection code: more than just requiring compliance, rather enumerate a value regarding academic integrity for all involved in the university, include principles and broader policy implications, would also include specific descriptions of what a violation entails and violation reaction procedures/accountability
– Used examples from other schools that currently have explicit policies
– History exists at many universities of litigation resulting from violations
– Where do we go next and what do we want?
1) Is there a place for this here at Vandy? Definitely!
2) Intellectual Property code should contain….
– Consequences? kick offending person out of the university, legal action – what is the jurisdiction? issues with being a private university
– Evaluate where existing models have succeeded and failed when deciding what we want
– What currently exists varies wildly from place to place, depends on what the university sees as “theirs”
– Individual contracts versus overarching policy implications
– What are the school/department-specific issues? Some department policies in place
– To adapt, need to change depending on type of work being done
– Technology transfer office with engineering school provides protection? Able to keep detailed dated notes on progress, patents, royalties
– Easier to track than theoretical articles
– Consider financial issues
– Consider punitive vs preventative, code should keep many instances from happening but what are repercussions for if it happens
– University does not have an ombudsman to mediate conflict resolutions independent from the university
– Potentially contact the university legal council/person in the law school who teaches intellectual property
– Could contact Office of Compliance, they currently don’t work with students but could expand the role
– Also go to the Faculty Senate, won’t get off the ground unless the faculty are involved, Honor Council is student run so need faculty support
– Just because it hasn’t been reported doesn’t mean it hasn’t happened here, maybe need to start at reactive instead of preventative
– Main goal in coming tonight was to make sure there is general interest in pursuing, will continue to investigate, frame as preventative as to not put the faculty on the reactive
– Steve Smartt is interested in helping make it happen, agrees that honor council and office of compliance are not the best venues
– Suggests talking to Kevin Davis, associate council in general council office
– Please let Josh Brooks know if you would like to help out and he’ll put people in contact with each other
– Should put up some of the examples and cases of what has happened before and what Vandy currently has in place
G. Webmaster: Alli
– Send Alli department email lists if you haven’t done so
V. University Committee Reports
A. University Parking – Amy Pyle
– Will not be handicapped access to new pedestrian bridge until mid-late December
– Meter spots across from Ben & Jerry’s on 21st now an extra hour
– New spots for F Permits (undergrads, we think)
E. Freshman Commons
– Haven’t met, but general interest in how to integrate graduate students into filling gaps in the commons
F. Student Insurance – Josh Brooks
– Locked into plan with Koster for 3 years, met with Theresa Koster last month
– We still have “wibble” room even though we have a plan, let Josh or Steve Smartt know if there are benefits we’d like to see
– Contact Jennifer Swails-Wenger on campus for policy questions jennifer.swails@Vanderbilt.Edu
G. GSPPD – Steve Smartt
– Met last month and next week as well
– May be able to help with sponsor for Frank Warren talk
– Conducted dissertation writing seminar 75-80 people came, generally positive reviews
– GradStep from Center for Teaching in January
– Working on grant writing and professorial track seminars as student resources, may not make it until next academic year
– Susan Kuyper in Buttrick Hall is currently a resource for this, look at GSPPD website from main Grad School website
H. University Library
– Haven’t met, chancellor search theme was improving Central Library – thoughts?
– New head librarian after this academic year, so now is a good time to make changes
-Bring up thoughts to Dennis Hall next month
– Have new search engine on library website, try it out, called AlphaSearch
J. OAK Advisory Board
– Haven’t met because OAK is being upgraded, changes are forthcoming
VI. Old Business
A. Meal Plan
– Josh contacted Dining Services about getting students onto the faculty/staff meal plan, work is being done
– Problem is figuring out who would subsidize it
– Don’t really want a special meal plan, just a discount like faculty/staff get
VII. New business
A. What is missing with the graduate student experience and what can the GSC do?
– Chancellor search committee theme was that G education isn’t as high as the rest of the university
– Nick Zeppos and Dennis Hall will be here next month, so think about things we’d like to discuss with them about how to make grad school more “fun”
– Housing around campus, i.e. we can’t afford to
– Childcare for grad students
– Places for grad students to hang out, meet with students, work – GS “space”
– Make time to come in December, bring people with you because of the guests
B. Still working on the Free Ride situation
“The person who controls your life is your mentor, obviously, and your committee chair.” – Josh Brooks