May General Body Meeting

Monday, May 4th 6:00pm

Zoom

1. Welcome

2. Kevin McDonald, VP for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

   • Heading the roll-out of the inclusive excellence framework, which is to progress diversity inclusion

   • Four pillars

     • Access and success

     • More faculty, staff, and students for campus climate inclusion

     • Education and scholarship to graduate UVA students and collaborate in a global marketplace

     • Institutional infrastructure: policies, practices, etc. that help or hinder and how they manifest themselves

   • How to engage in notions of community engagement?

   • If you’re interested in learning more, visit the UVA Office for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion website.

   • Looking for graduate student input

3. Updates, News, and Reminders

   • Check in with student requests for help

     • Six asks of the UVA petition (160+ signatories)

       • Extend time to completion and milestone requirements by one year for all PhD students

       • Extend and expand funding opportunities for all PhD students, including and especially late-stage PhD students and those on the job market

       • Allow MA Students the option of taking an additional semester to complete their thesis, enrolled under “Off-Grounds” status

       • Ensure graduate students on F-1 and J-1 visas are able to maintain their visa status, and that they have access to similar financial assistance as has been made available to US citizens

       • Provide affordable health care coverage for all PhD students, including those no longer covered by departmental funding

       • Provide formal channels for Student Instructors, TAs and RAs to join the decision-making process for remote teaching and research if social distancing continues into the Fall Semester

       • Link here to the six asks letter

     • Survey about online classes sent to some graduate students; may be sent out to graduate students as well

     • Financial support for graduate students to transition to online

   • Fall 2020 Committee and Chairs Summit Letter

   • Final Exercises Update

     • Not sent to all students

     • Two options: weekend preceding Homecomings and weekend after Final Exercises 2021

     • To be held on the Lawn

     • Realistically will be in the spring

   • Provost’s Committee on Graduate Education during COVID-19

     • New, formed last week

     • Only met once so far

   • Department updates

     • Email Tyler Wake who the department representative will be next year

4. Committee Updates

   • Honor Committee (Adam Huckaby & Charlotte McClintock)

     • Reports of landlords for failure to pay rent — made decision to executive drop all of the cases coming in

   • University Judiciary Committee (Kyle Chattleton & Jacob Botsford)

     • New representative incoming

   • Student Council (Jason Evans)

     • New president

     • Passed several resolutions (mostly internal)

     • There are plans for graduate student tours

   • Initiatives Committee (Rob Dyer & Natalia Perez)

     • No updates

   • Social Committee (Tyler Wake)

     • No updates

   • Research Committee (Shalmi Barman & Jeremy Eberle)

     • No updates

   • Finance Committee (MJ Nilayamgode)

     • Funding requests

     • No updates, no requests

5. [Elections]

   • Vice President of Communications

     • Brittany Acors nominated, voted in

   • Initiatives Committee Co-Chairs

     • Two positions open

   • Social Committee Co-Chair

     • One position open

   • Finance Committee Chair

     • Position open

   • If you are interested in any of the open positions, please contact Tyler Wake.

6. For the Good of the Order