GSC President's Blog

Campus Crossings at Briarcliff

2009-02-17T04:32:00.000-08:00

The new graduate housing complex, Campus Crossings at Briarcliff, is scheduled to open on June 1st, 2009. The complex now leasing and has a model available for touring. The staff has a table at the DUC on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays 11am - 2pm and on Wednesday Feb. 18th there will be shuttles running from the Housing Fair at the DUC to the complex for tours 11:15am - 3pm. For more information including rates, floor-plans, and pictures visit their webiste at http://www.campusapts.com/Home.aspx?PageID=51&Proj=143 . Most of the questions commonly asked by graduate students are answered on this site under the "leasing" tab. If you cannot find an answer to your question, please contact me at tkrober@emory.edu, so that I can bring it to the attention of the developer. If you have comments after viewing the site, please post them as comments on this blog. I am very interested in the general impression that students have of this project.

Fruits of "behind the scenes" labor.

2008-12-04T10:54:00.000-08:00

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.

Q&A on Sage Hill Housing

2008-09-18T03:40:00.000-07:00

At our last meeting (Sept. 11th) we discussed the new complex at Sage Hill and there were a number of unanswered questions. Below is an excerpt from an e-mail from Mr. David Hanson following up on those questions:

Q. What is the exact mix of 1, 2 and 3 BR apartments?

A. There will be 42 Single Bed Room Units, 121 Two Bedroom Units, and 38 Three Bedroom Units (201 total units and 398 total beds)

Q. Will pets be permitted (assumption is no, but wanted to check)?

A. No pets will be permitted in the complex.

Q. Will there be a pool in the courtyard?

A. Yes.

Q. When will rental information (rates) be available?

A. Campus Apartments, Inc. expects to have rental information and rates available to share in late October to early November, 2008.

Q. Will leases be 9, 10 or 12 months?

A. Leases will be for 12 months.

Q. Will there be a work-out room in the facility?

A. Yes, one is planned.

Q. Will guests need a parking pass to access the garage/facility?

A. At the moment, no. However, visitor access may change in the future depending upon the amount of spaces (on average) required by visitors and or an increased demand for more permanent resident parking.

Q. Will laundry equipment be provided within each unit?

A. Yes. Washer & Dryer.

Sage Hill Graduate Housing Update

2008-09-11T17:53:00.000-07:00

First of all, welcome back for a new academic year... although I'm sure most of you never left!

The GSC is going to be very busy this year with a number events aimed at keeping graduate students informed. In fact, we have already hosted one informational session on our student health insurance. Representatives from Chickering/Aetna Student Health Insurance and Dr. Huey of student health took to the time to give a brief overview of the plan and its evolution over the years to those in attendance before taking numerous questions. Overall, it was a very successful event and we hope to host another of these sessions in the Spring. Keep an eye out for more sessions like this one throughout the year!

We held our first general body meeting on Sept. 11th, at noon in the DUC as usual, and were fortunate to have a guest speaker. Mr. David Hanson, Associate Vice President for Administration and Special Assistant, was present to update us on the progress of the Sage Hill Graduate Housing Complex and to answer questions. Here is a brief summary:
Emory University has leased the land at Sage Hill to a private developer, Campus Apartments Inc. (http://www.campusapts.com/findanapartment.htm), who is building and will manage the complex. Slated to open August 1st, 2009, the complex will have 401 beds in a combination of 1,2, and 3 bedroom, fully furnished apartments. The rates will be set early in 2009 and at that time the GSC hopes to host another town hall with representatives from the Office of the Executive President for Finance and Administration and Campus Apartments. When the complex opens, graduate students will link to the leasing site from Emory's Housing site (http://www.emory.edu/HOUSING/GRAD/sagehill.html). However, leases (of a still undetermined length) will be given on a first come, first served basis. The facility will be served by free Cliff Shuttles, but the schedules have yet to be finalized. Emory has also committed to improve sidewalks from the property to Sage Hill (Kroger) and from Sage Hill along Clifton Rd. to the main campus. More information will be available as the delivery date draws closer and I encourage you to check back with our site (and our meetings) for more information on this and other projects related to graduate students.