The GA, the ASUC, and the Graduate Student Organizing Committee are hosting a forum on the student code of conduct in response to the charges against more than 100 students resulting from their participation in protests last semester. The forum will be held tomorrow night, Wednesday, February 17, from 6:30 – 8 pm in 2050 VLSB. The event flier is below. 
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Earlier this month, the Graduate Assembly (GA) held its first delegates’ meeting of the spring semester. Upcoming elections for positions on the GA’s Executive Board were the first topic of conversation. Many people will be stepping down at the end of this term and the delegates will vote on their replacements at the meeting scheduled for March 3rd.
Campus Affairs Vice President, Philippe Marchand, sought feedback on the changes that are being made to the Dean’s Normative Time Fellowship (DNTF). The DNTF is available only to students in certain departments and provides one year of funding for students who advance to doctoral candidacy within normative time. The changes to the award stipulate that if you accept the DNTF, you will no longer be eligible for financial support from your department after normative time for graduation. (Normative time has two dimensions: the time between entering a program and advancing to candidacy, and the time until the dissertation is filed.) This change will take effect for the 2010-2011 cohort. If you have comments or concerns, please email Philippe at cavp@ga.berkeley.edu.
Finally, UC Office of the President Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies, Steve Beckwith, spoke about his position and answered delegates’ questions about budget cuts and decisions about how to allocate funding. His office distributes research funding and oversees research policy for the UC system. They also communicate to the outside world about the value of graduate training; as he said, learning to research is learning to produce knowledge. Some of the challenges his office faces currently are maintaining support for graduate students while the budget is in decline and maintaining an adequate balance of funding across the disciplines.
The Graduate Assembly delegates meet the first Thursday of every month and the full minutes from their meetings are published on the GA website.
The Graduate Minority Students’ Project is hosting a Graduate Students of Color Beginning Meditation Workshop this evening. The workshop is geared toward beginners and will be led by Mushim Ikeda-Nash, who teaches at the East Bay Meditation Center. Dinner will also be provided.
- When: Wednesday, February 3, 2010 from 5:30-7:30 pm.
- Where: Anthony Hall
On November 5th, UCB Vice Chancellor Frank Yeary along with a representative from the external consulting firm Bain & Company were invited to speak to delegates of the Graduate Assembly (GA) about the University’s “Operational Excellence” (OE) project.
Launched on October 1st, the project to improve the efficiency of campus operations is currently in an initial six-month “diagnostic phase.” Bain & Company was hired at a cost of $3 million to conduct the project, which is supervised by a steering committee made up of administrators, faculty and two student representatives (the ASUC and GA presidents).
Answering a question from the assembly, the Bain & Company representative said that they measure efficiency from three types of criteria: cost, time and quality. According to Yeary, “Ideally, there’s tens of millions in saving we could achieve.” The Vice Chancellor added that these savings must be measured against the consequences for service and quality.
Most of the OE project seems to focus on administrative services with which students might have limited interaction (human resources, procurement, etc.). Nevertheless, graduate students present at the meeting made a number of suggestions to the speakers, many of them motivated by environmental concerns, such as energy-efficiency and waste reduction. One such idea was to create a “lab equipment library” to share resources across research groups and departments, and increase the use of equipment that would otherwise be idle most of the time.
One student at the meeting mentioned that in their previous work at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, Bain & Company had recommended the centralization of libraries. This led to concerns about the academic impacts of the project. The Berkeley OE website states that “direct aspects of teaching and research that are under faculty governance, as well as options to increase revenue such as registration or education student fees” are out of the project’s scope, a point reiterated by Vice Chancellor Yeary, who said, “Our primary area of focus in on these activities that support teaching or research. [...] The goal is that the maximum resources go directly to teaching and research.”
Graduate students are invited to attend a brainstorming session with Bain & Company representatives on Tuesday, December 1st to share their ideas. It will be held from 5:30pm to 7:30pm in the Graduate Student Lounge in Stephens Hall.
Link:
- Operational Excellence project: http://berkeley.edu/oe
Feeling overwhelmed as the end of the semester draws near? The Graduate Women’s Project (GWP) is offering two great activities tomorrow and Saturday to help you relax and focus. On Friday from 12-2pm, GWP is hosting a free yoga and meditation workshop in the Madrone Room on the fourth floor of the MLK Student Union. Come learn about and experience the benefits of these two practices. No experience needed. Please bring a yoga mat or a blanket and wear loose fitting clothing. Then, on Saturday, November 14th, GWP is hosting a study hall from 11am-6pm with free food and hot coffee. The location has yet to be announced, so check back for the final details.
Elsewhere on campus, Cal Performances is holding a competition to win free tickets to the opening night of “The Walworth Farce,” next Wednesday, October 18. Submit a caption for this picture for your chance to win!
There may not be leiderhosen, but there will be hot dogs, beer, and grad students from across campus at the Graduate Social Club’s annual Oktoberfest party.
When: Thursday, October 29, from 6 pm to 9 pm.
Where: Pauley Ballroom, MLK Building.
Who: Grad students with grad student ID and proof of age. Non-Berkeley graduate students are welcome as guests. Entry is $5 and includes 1 hot dog (or veggie option) and beer (with free refills). Bring your own cup and save $1.
This month the Graduate Women’s Project (GWP) has put on three great events: a study hall, a workshop on self defense, and a workshop on sexual communication. GWP events are fun and informative, often have free food, and create a comfortable space for graduate student women. If you’re interested in joining in, keep an eye out for GWP events coming up in November and December. A workshop on yoga and meditation, a dinner with the Women of Color Initiative, an afternoon of rest and relaxation, and more study halls are all in the works.
What: A workshop on the basics of self defense taught by Som Pourfarzaneh of the YWCA and sponsored by the Graduate Women’s Project. Please wear loose clothing and no hand jewelry.
When: Friday, October 16, from noon to 1 pm.
Where: Stephen’s Hall on the 3rd floor of the Martin Luther King Jr. Student Union.
What: The Graduate Women’s Project Fall Mixer, featuring free wine, cheese, and food from Rick and Ann’s catering; music by DJ Pegah; a raffle; and a chance to meet up with friends, old and new.
When: Thursday, September 17th, from 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm.
Where: Anthony Hall patio.
Who: By and for graduate women, but all are welcome.
All that’s needed for this free event are your student and photo IDs. For more information, email gwp@ga.berkeley.edu.
The Graduate Women’s Project (GWP) is one of seven projects sponsored by the Graduate Assembly (GA). Established in 1981, the GWP works to address the personal, social, and academic needs of graduate women. In addition to mixers, the GWP hosts a variety of workshops, lunches with female leaders from the campus community, a distinguished women lecture series, and the Graduate Women’s Caucus. To learn more about these activities visit the GA website or contact the project coordinator. Better yet, stop by the mixer!
Members of the Technology Committee meet and sign up new recruits.
Thursday night, the Graduate Assembly (GA) held its first delegates’ meeting of the 2009-2010 school year. Budget cuts and campus responses to them, including an at times heated debate of what official position the GA should take, dominated the evening’s discussion. Befitting an introductory meeting, GA officers also gave an overview of the structure and mission of the GA and GA committee chairs reported on their accomplishments from the previous year along with their goals for the coming year.
Mitch Celaya, Chief of the UCB Police Department, and Claudia Covello of University Health Services (UHS) discussed how their departments were coping with budget cuts. The Police Department has had 19% of its budget cut and UHS lost 23% of its campus funding, which amounts to roughly $2 million. Both departments have responded by cutting positions; the police department has lost seven officers and UHS has eliminated 20 staff positions. To meet their budget shortfall while continuing to provide care six days a week, UHS has also decided to add fees. Beginning September 21st, students will be charged a co-pay for visits to primary and urgent care. A primary care visit will now cost $15 and an urgent care visit will cost $30. The average graduate student uses campus medical services 2.2 times per year and can expect their medical costs to go up accordingly. Both these departments want to increase their engagement with students and encourage student input. You can email Mitch Celaya at ucpdchief@berkeley.edu or contact UHS via lmigdal@uhs.berkeley.edu.
Emotions ran high as delegates debated a resolution proposing that the GA support the faculty walkout on Thursday, September 24, and endorse the letter circulated by the Graduate Student Organizing Committee in favor of the walkout. (Follow these links to view the full text of the open letters to UC graduate students and UC faculty that have circulated this week.) The letters and walkout protest how the budget cuts have been managed by the University of California administration. After extensive debate, the GA passed a modified resolution directing the President of the GA to draft a letter from the GA in support of the faculty walkout. This letter will be written with input from the delegates and posted on the GA website. Over the course of the evening, delegates struggled with how to balance the time-sensitive nature of this resolution with having adequate time to discuss these issues with students in their department. The budget cuts and GA actions regarding the budget cuts promise to be an issue throughout the semester, so contact the delegate(s) from your department and let them know what you think.
For more detailed information, consult the meeting minutes, which will be posted on the GA website.