Graduate Welfare Commitee Meeting

13 Feb 2004

Present: Todd Tinsley, Janice Trinidad, Arban Uka, Reid Smith, Phil Morrison, Sonia Paban, John Keto, Arno Bohm
We discussed the following topics (and * indicates a task that we are working on):

NO FIRST YEAR REPRESENTATION

We do not have a first year on the board and Arban is our only sub 4th year member.
  • *Dr. Morrison will talk to the Chairman (Schwitters) about appointing a first year student so that we have that point of view represented.

FUTURE ELECTIONS

It was suggested that the Graduate Student Representative Board ALWAYS have elections at the end of the fall semester in order to begin with the newly elected representatives in January.

CONFERENCE ROOM CONTACTS

It might be useful for graduate students wanting to have a room in which to hold office hours or to give talks a list of email and phone contacts for each of the conference rooms. Since each different conference room in RLM is maintained by a different group, they are very decentralized. A contact list will make using them much easier. It was also suggested that we could set up a daily tea time (with cookies, of course!) for graduate students at the same time and place every day by using one of the conference room.
  • *We will gather the contact information and post it on the gradissu website.
  • *We will look into times when various conference rooms are available for cookies and coffee and tea.

COMMON SPACE

We talked about the issue of graduate students not having enough desks or offices or any safe place to stow their books. The GWC informed us about whom to talk to (The Space Committee).
  • *We will go and talk to that person about trying to set up more space for graduate student offices and desks.

GRILLING SESSIONS

  • *We will talk to Schwitters about how to set these up.

GRADISSU WEBPAGE

  • *We will talk to Eric Patkowski about linking the gradissu page directly (or one link away) from the physics page

NO PARKING LOT

There seems to be a contingent of people angry about the front/side of RLM being turned into an impromptu parking lot while construction is being done on other buildings. They want their common space back. People used to eat lunch on the walls and benches in that place. Now there are trucks there. The GWC did not seem to have any definite answers about whom to talk to.
  • * We will try to talk to either the space committee or Schwitters.

RECRUITMENT WEEKEND

Perhaps it would be good to have more graduate student input on how recruitment weekend is set up and run, since we know what worked to get us here and why people we know went elsewhere.
  • *We will talk to Richard Fitzpatrick, who is running recruitment weekend, to determine whether he would like our input or help.

NEXT MEETING: March 5 11am – 12 noon.

Do you have issues you would like us to work on?
Email us at gradissu@physics.utexas.edu
THANKS!!!

FUTURE MEETING NOTES AT: http://www.ph.utexas.edu/~gradissu