GSC Meeting Minutes

October 6^th, 2004

Graduate Student Lounge

Minutes taken by Abhinav Bhandari, GSC Secretary

These minutes are intended to reflect the gist of discussion. Questions and statements have in general, been paraphrased, though in general their original meaning has been retained. If you have questions about or corrections to these minutes, please contact Abhinav_Bhandari@brown.edu

Present:

Officers

President: Jeff Reingold

VP-Social: John Raiti

VP-Administration: Lei Wang

Treasurer: Xiaofei He

Technology Officer: Daniel Doro Ferrante

Secretary: Abhinav Bhandari

Representatives who attended the meeting:

 American Civilization: Angela Mazarsis & Ani Mukherji

 Applied Math: Lisa DeKeukelaere & Akil Narayan

 Bio-Med(Bio;EEB): Kristin Bishop

 Bio-Med(Bio;MCB): Christina Sowards

 Chemistry: Marcus Faust

 Classics: Robin McGill

 Cognitive & Linguistic Science: Sharon Goldwater

 Community Health: Julia Finkelstein

 Comparative Literature: Ghenwa Hayek

 Computer Science: Matt Lease & Victor Naroditskiy

 Economics: Adrienne Lucas

 Education: Marci Woods

 Engineering: Dhananjay Tambe

 English: Daniel Block & Lisa Brocklebank

 French: Kathryn Chenoweth

 Geology: Jeremy Fisher

 History of Art & Architecture: Sarah Maron

 Mathematics: Graeme Wilkin

 Modern Culture & Media: Michael Siegel

 Old World Archaeology & Art: Lisa Anderson & Sarah Dawson

 Physics: Matthew Hirsch, Kio Kim & Wessyl Kelly

 Psychology: Daniel Kauwe

Minutes of May and September meeting were approved unanimously.

a. Social Report- John Raiti, GSC VP Social, made the announcement about the next social to be held on the 15^th and the Halloween party on the 29^th October from 9-2 am.

b. Xiaofei He, GSC treasurer, encouraged all reps to submit the departmental rebates as early as possible.

c. University Environmental Task Force- Jeff Reingold, GSC president, made the reps aware that the University Environmental Task Force needed one representative. No volunteer was available at the meeting. It was decided to forward an email to all the reps.

d. External Committee Reports- Jeff presented the Library Committee report on Rob Hillikar behalf, as he was unable to attend the meeting.

Report on Library Committee and University Librarian Search Committee:

This past year has been a busy one for the Library Committee.

Our first task was to help prepare a report for the URC. One of the main goals of the committee was to have the administration recognize the centrality of the library system to academic life at Brown, something we felt was at that time underrepresented in the Plan for Academic Enrichment.

Later that year, the libraries were reviewed by an advisory board made up primarily of Brown alumni. Several committee members, including myself, made presentations to that advisory board, which later met informally with the President and the Corporation. The overall agreement of the library staff was that we had made a positive impression of the board while emphasizing some of the challenges faced by the library and areas of underdeveloped potential.

Next we were visited by a group of Head Librarians from other universities, who were here to meet with the various groups interested in the library and, if my memory serves, to report on their findings to the Provost. Their overall impression, too, was that Brown's libraries have a lot going for them, but also a number of challenges, especially with the unresolved union negotiations.

Finally, after the then-University Librarian Merrily Taylor decided to leave Brown, a number of the committee members, including myself, were named to a search committee for a new University Librarian. We met several times last year to discuss what qualities we were looking for in a University Librarian, and to devise a job posting. This year we have already met once to discuss the first batch of applicants for the position, and we will meet again next week to winnow out a short list of people to invite for on-campus interviews.

In the meantime, the Library Committee will have its first meeting of this academic year this afternoon, so I should have a great deal to report next month as well.

3. Miscellaneous

a. Funding Request, 2005 MEPHISTOS Conference- Mephistos is an international graduate student conference in the History, Philosophy, and Sociology of Science, Technology and Medicine. The purpose of the conference is to stimulate open discussion among graduate students. The graduate community at Brown University, in association with the Committee on Science & Technology Studies, is hosting the twenty-third annual edition of the event, which will be held on March 5-6, 2005. Lisa Brocklebank made a funding request for 400 dollars for the conference. It was also made aware that there is no registration fee for Brown students. A motion to fund the conference for $400 was made and passed at the meeting.

b. “Grad Forum” Update- A survey was done to anticipate the percentage of graduate students interested in the project. 125 responses were received from 34 departments. 65% of the respondents were for while 25% were against the project.

Following this, the presenters laid out a more detailed plan about the project. A number of questions were raised in the discussion such as the implementation and sustainability of the project and if the GSC would be liable for any of the content on the website.

A motion to allot 400 dollars was forwarded and defeated at the meeting. Another motion to have the presenters come back with an itemized plan for a smaller plan and for a lesser funding and long term sustainability was passed at the meeting.

A motion for meeting to be adjourned was passed. The next meeting will be held on November 6^th, 2004 (7pm @GSL).