Fruits of "behind the scenes" labor.

The GSC has been working very hard primarily behind the scenes this semester and we now have started to see some fruit of that labor.

We have our elections for a new executive board coming up on Jan. 22nd. As of right now we have one nominee for each position and we would love to have contested races. So, if you're interested in being a part of this great organization and it's continued growth please contact Becky or myself. Last year the changed the constitution to elect new officers in January instead of May. The goal behind this change is to bring more continuity to the organization. For too many years new officers have come in blind and lost a great deal of time trying to figure out what the issues and who the contacts were. By creating 18month terms we have built in 6-month shadowing opportunities for the out-going officers to bring the elected officers up to date and comfortable with their new responsibilities.

Last year the GSC tackled alot of pressing issues like housing and funding. With those now in hand, we turned to making the contacts neccessary to stop future trouble before it starts. In response to the new Mental Health and Counseling fee we had Dr. Mark McLeod and Dr. Dana Wyner from the Counseling Center attend our Dec. 4th meeting. Dr. McLeod is the Chair of the Center and Dr. Wyner has expertise in stress management. They reviewed the reasons why the fee has been put into place and some of the things that it is being used for. Please read through the minutes for our Dec. 4th, 2008 meeting for a full summary. Dr. McLeod also asked us to post his e-mail address so that any comments, suggestions, or questions can be posed to him directly. Please do not hesistate to contact him at rmcleod@emory.edu . It was suggested at the meeting that someone from the Counseling Center be present at GS orientation and the GSC will be looking into arranging this next year. Dr. Wyner also suggested that the GSC can sponsor a "workshop" in the Graduate Student Lounge to demonstrate some of the new bio-feedback equipment and techniques that the fee is funding. So, you may be hearing more about some of these programs in the near future.

I have also met with the new Vice President of Transportation at Emory, Lisa Underwood. She is currently examining all of the programs at Emory including shuttle routes, car-pooling, van-pooling, and MARTA passes to determine which are the most beneficial and indicated that based on these findings funds may be redistributed to bolster the options that are most utilized. Further information on this front will be forthcoming next semester.

The Career Center at Emory would like to reach out to graduate students. They will be working on a page just for graduate students which will promote the services most useful to us. Some of the current programs that graduate students may find most useful include a dossier service and skills assesments (http://www.career.emory.edu/students/students.html). They are also interested in doing workshops specifically for graduate students. I suggested that it might be beneficial to seperate humanities and social sciences from natural sciences as these two groups have different requirements. I am in the process of putting together focus groups from these two consituents to determine which topics they would most like to see covered. If you are interested in being a part of these focus groups please contact me directly at tkrober@emory.edu .

On Dec. 1st the GSC hosted another Town Hall with Dean Lisa Tedesco, Assistant Dean and Cheif of Staff Rosemary Hynes, and Assistant Dean for Student Progress Virginia Shadron. This is a forum that we hope to host once per semester during which the Dean can address the students and the students can ask questions in an open forum. At this session Dean Tedesco introduced Campaign Emory and what it will mean for the Graduate School. Katie Busch, the Director of Development for the Graduate School, will attend our Feb. 5th meeting to further elaborate on the Campaign. Dean Tedesco also spoke our current economic climate and wanted to let us all know that she appreciates the troubles the graduate students face now. She is going to be instituting a "Dean's Hour" in the Spring semester during which students can meet with her in a more intimate setting to discuss their concerns at this critical time. More information on those will be forthcoming, watch for e-mails from us as well as the Graduate School. Rosemary Hynes spoke to students our their fees and how those fees are used. She provided great insight into this subject that often seems elusive from a student perspective.

These are just a few of the things that we have been working on. My thanks go out to all of these people who have taken the time to speak to me, another officer, or come to a meeting. The GSC will be continuing its efforts next semester and, as always, if you have an issue or a concern, or there is someone within the Emory Administration that you would like to hear from, please contact me with your concerns.