April General Body Meeting
Monday, April 6th 6:00pm
Zoom
Welcome
Dean Ian Baucom (Dean of the College and Graduate School of Arts and Sciences) and Dean Dinko Počanić (Associate Dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences)
Encourages graduate students to think about what kind of support they need from their Deans: time-to-degree, jobs, qualifying exams, stipends, fellowships, disruptions of upcoming academice rewards for research, etc.
Would like to know key concerns and questions from graduate students
Working with the university to waive summer fee — if the university does not agree, Dean Baucom will take additional action
Working on potentially adding a year of funding for current students
Honoring all offers for new incoming students for Fall 2020, but the waitlists are currently frozen — incoming classes may be slightly smaller than usual
Working on a contingency plan for the fall, which may be disrupted due to the pandemic
Updates, New, & Reminders
Update on UVA response to COVID-19
Notes from joint townhall
Councils have moved their meetings online, but are still open to the student body
Student Council has set up a mutual funds account to give students access to resources for financial support (see below for more information)
Committee of graduate students, undergraduate students, and student affairs to make recommendations for graduation
Likely to be some virtual event in May and some physical event in the fall
Graduate RAs should still be receiving stipend money
Feedback
Classes are going (more or less) smoothly, from both the student and TA/instructor perspective (but depends on the department)
Classes are both asynchronous and synchronous
Extended support letters
Community petition regarding university response to COVID-19
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jPHh9FXX0pkCkXq85452z-6zN5Zxs9c4EbYRIkhDaMo/edit?usp=sharing
Hourly workers may be able to file for unemployment
Committee Updates
Honor Committee (Adam Huckaby & Charlotte McClintock)
Temporarily suspended all case processing
Converting all processes online
Some landlords are threatening eviction for not paying rent
These cases will be suspended currently, even though it is something that can be reported in the Honor Committee bylaws
Incoming committee will handle the rest of this
New executive committee chosen on April 3
University Judiciary Committee (Kyle Chattleton & Jacob Botsford)
Extraordinary circumstances have resulted in many changes in the UJC operation
Members of the executive committee will be staying on until May
Case processing has been suspended
Still evaluating complaints as they are coming to the executive committee
Students can still continue filing complaints to UJC online
Some Asian and Asian-American students in the committee facing discrimination, and they can be brought to UJC
Members of the community not following the social distancing guidelines and policies implemented by the state and federal government can be brought to UJC as well
Student Council (Jason Evans)
Food pantries on Grounds are closed
Student Council is working on how to deliver food to students in need in the area
UVA mutual aid has opened, matching program for students in need can be matched; need to request via online form
As of March 29, there is $14,000 available
Please fill out the these two forms if you are able to DONATE and offer critical resources to students in need.
Non-Monetary Resources Donation Form (i.e. housing, transportation, storage, food, etc.): https://forms.gle/25zRVKskgx6eQ2nu7
Monetary Resources Donation Form (i.e. $$, travel vouchers, frequent flyer miles, etc.): https://forms.gle/VkJFc1LLbe7q2Y958
Please fill out the last form if you need to request MONETARY RESOURCES or travel assistance. UVA StudCo will pair you with a donor and offer up to $100 of assistance.
Monetary Resource Request Form: https://forms.gle/ReQ8VxkAJHhYik2k9
If you need non-monetary resources (housing, transportation, etc.), please refer to the public spreadsheet with resources posted. Please reach out to the donor with the resources you need. They are here to help!
If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please reach out to Isabella Liu at (415) 660-8319 or email igl7ph@virginia.edu.
Initiatives Committee (Rob Dyer & Natalia Perez)
Gym access – still working on it, but not a priority due to the current pandemic circumstances
If you would like to contribute to a draft for information for incoming graduate students, please contact Natalia Perez
Social Committee (Tyler Wake)
Possible Zoom groups for board games, happy hour, etc.
Research Committee (Shalmi Barman & Jeremy Eberle)
Huskey Research Symposium went well in early March,
Good feedback and attendance
Finance Committee (MJ Nilayamgode)
No requests
[Elections]
President
Tyler Wake nominated, voted in
Vice President of Administration
Kelley Rose nominated, voted in
Vice President of Communications
Position open
Vice President of Finances
MJ Nilayamgode nominated, voted in
Honor Committee representative
Vivian Reed nominated, voted in
UJC representatives
Ieva Juska nominated, voted in
Aaron Thompson nominated, voted in
Sam Powers nominated
Student Council representative
Jason Evans nominated, voted in
Initiatives Committee Co-Chairs
Two positions open
Social Committee Co-Chairs
Jay Crowell nominated, voted one
One position open
Research Committee Co-Chairs
Jeremy Eberle nominated, voted in
Katie Daniel nominated, voted in
Finance Committee Chair
Position open
If you are interested in any of the open positions, please contact Emma Cronin. Elections for opens positions will occur during the May 4 monthly GSASC meeting.
Congratulations to those already on the Council for 2020-2021!
For the Good of the Order