In the beginning of this academic year I got an e-mail from a graduate student looking for legal services through the GSO over a tenant-landlord issue. I replied, "I'm sorry we don't offer those services but I will look into that option for future services that could be offered." I checked out other universities and colleges in the SUNY System and noticed that some structure for legal services were available to graduate students. Then I got another e-mail from a different graduate student requesting legal services again. I asked around to see who serviced graduate students with legal issues, but found that those services didn't exist for graduate student. This time I brought it before the E-Board and mentioned that it should be something to let the next E-Board consider since our fiscal budget was already set for the year. Then I got another e-mail, and another... All of them had to deal with tentant-landlord issues.
Spring semester, I was in the GSO office speaking with an international graduate student at the end of January, beginning of February and once again another individual was having a tenant-landlord issue and was seeking legal services. I thought to myself, well, sure GSO will definitely consider having legal services (legal clinic to advise, not represent), but the fundamental issue in each of these cases had to do with housing!
Though a good number of graduate student do not have difficulty finding off-campus housing I was concerned especially for the International Students. They have a limited time to find housing when they arrive since their visas only allow them to come a number of weeks before the academic year starts. Many of them don't have cars which makes it even more difficult to go to different neighborhoods to see if the area is right for them. Some of them pick the first thing they find and then find they aren't happy there but have already signed a lease. Their issues with OCH is amplified as they're not only getting used to a new University, but also a new country, new language.
I started investigating this. For On-Campus Housing currently there are over 50 spots available for graduate students in Empire Commons. This coming academic year 2007-2008 only 48 spots will be made available to graduate student. By the 2008 - 2009 academic year on-campus housing will be completely phased out for graduate students. Graduate Students looking to live on campus will not have that option to do so. Whether or not they are planning to build graduate student housing for the future I'm not sure, I hope so, but at the moment nothing I know of is planned.
The reason for this is because there is inadequate housing available on campus. In fact because of this delema, as of this year sophomores are not required to live on campus anymore either. It wouldn't be as big of an issue, but UAlbany doesn't have an Off-Campus Housing Office. There is a virtual "Off-campus housing" listing by a third party linked to the ResLife webpage, but as far as an actual Off-Campus Housing Director and Off-Campus Housing office that was phased out over 6 years ago. Where the other 3 SUNY University Centers, Binghamton, Buffalo, and Stony Brook have Off-Campus Housing Services Albany doesn't. Graduate students are the most affected by not having these services!
So, what is being done about it? I had meeting with University Life Council last Thursday with Off-Campus Affairs and Safety, International Student Services, ResLife, along with the rest of the faculty and staff on the committee and discussed this issue. After presenting them with a service comparison between the 4 SUNY University Center's the problem on our campus and the solution was clear. We need Off-Campus Housing Service for all UAlbany students and a legal clinic for graduate students.
And I found out that information on tenant rights and moving guides are available through the Off-Campus Affairs and Safety office as Tom Gephart had presented at the meeting, but since their office is called "Affairs and Safety" most people would not think to ask them since they're looking for the word "Housing" instead of "Affairs and Safety". ULC will be working toward centralizing the information on the Off-Campus Housing website and it is on the table to discuss a position for an Off-Campus Housing Director.
The meeting left on a very positive note that we can do something about this issue and we must. The number of incoming students have increased these past few years and the projections is for the trend to continue. Building new housing facilities will take at least a few years. Renovating housing on campus will also take a few years. It only make sense for the University to provide Off-Campus Housing Services.
For many students a service like this will help smooth the transition of living off campus and allow us to concentrate more on our academics rather than struggle with tenant-landlord issues.
Friday, April 6, 2007
Wednesday, April 4, 2007
What can $7 do for you? - Reasons to vote to increase the Graduate Student Activity Fee.
When you think about your last meal out at a restaurant, the last time you went to a coffee shop for a fancy beverage and biscotti, or the last time you went to see a movie, more than likely you spent close to or over $7.
This coming GSO Election we will put on the ballot to increase the Graduate Student Activity Fee by $7. At the moment our student activity fee is $20. This will raise it to $27.
Why specifically would we want to do this? Well, there are a number of reason why we feel this increase would benefit the services we provide to you and the graduate student community. The following are some of the main reasons:
1. RGSO Funding
2. Grant Funding
3. Legal Services
4. Director of Operations (Office Manager)
5. Services for the Downtown and East Campus
6. Programming and additional Buses for Trips to NYC and Boston
7. Lowest Graduate Student Fee of the four major Universities in NYS
1. RGSO Funding - This past Fall Semester, RGSO groups had requested over $47,000 in funding for activities and events they wanted to have with their group. Many of these groups are graduate student groups with professional and departmental focuses. We allocated $26,000 in the GSO budget since we used the projections from the last academic year. RGSO groups were able to request funds from the MCAA and Programming chairs, but we would like to increase RGSO funding to benefit the departmental, cultural and activities groups to support events, professional development and the building of their student organization as well. Part of the $7 would be used to increase the over all budget for RGSO funding.
2. Grant Funding - This has been a tremendous service for graduate students presenting at conference or conducting research. We give up to $650 for travel and research grants per individual three times a year. The total allocation is $30,000 this year for this service, which was an increase from $27,000 last year. We would like to increase the funding for this as well since it is so well used and as UAlbany is one of the four University Research Center in New York State we would like to support students research. (There is never roll over funds from this budget allocation!)
3. Legal Services - We are looking into sending out an RFP to lawyers in the area to provide legal services for graduate students on campus. The undergraduates fund their own legal clinic, but these services are not extended to graduate students since undergraduates pay $125 for their student activity fee and we only pay $20. With $7 increase we can start a legal clinic for students in need seeking that service.
4. Director of Operations (Office Manager) - We are in the process of hiring a Director of Operations for the GSO. This person will be a part-time non-graduate student staff who would be able to bridge year to year between GSO Administration and help bring a greater sense of continuity and stability for our organization. One chief complaint I gotten in the beginning of this administration's year is that Office Managers (who are graduate students) graduate or find other positions and we lose their institutional knowledge in the GSO office. Gaps are created that complicate the daily transactions of the services we provide to graduate students. We would like to better service graduate students by hiring a more permanent person for the organization who would be in charge of operations. In order to do this we need to be competitive in our benefit's and salary offering. All this said, we still plan to have two graduate student Office Manager positions available but having one permanent non-graduate student staff would help the organzation greatly. (By the way, this year we were very fortunate to find a very dedicated group of office managers who enjoy serving our community. They have been amazingly wonderful and have made this a very smooth year for our organization. I encourage all graduate students to express your appreciation this month on Adminstrative Assistant's Day on Wednesday, April 25th)
5. Services for the Downtown and East Campus - The GSO Comprehensive Plan will include a section to provide services for the East and Downtown campus. If any RGSO group would like to collaborate with the GSO in hosting a satellite GSO Office at either campus we can make funding available to provide printer or copier services there as well. An increase of the graduate student fee would insure the ability for start up and maintenance of these sites and services.
6. Programming and additional Buses for Trips to NYC and Boston - This year our Programming has been so popular that we have exhausted the budget for the rest of the fiscal year. With an increase in the Graduate Student Activity fee we could add a few more buses to NYC and Boston, gotten tickets to see Jerry Seinfeld at the Palace Theatre, a few more GSO Socials at Noche, Skyline, Pearl Lounge, etc...!
Also, we would like to increase the budget for the Graduate Student Orientation Picnic. It was a very well attended event where incoming and returning graduate students are invited. We budgeted $4000 for the event. Even though Amirah ordered a substantial amount of food there still wasn't enough food for everyone. Ofcourse there was well over 400 graduate students who attended the 2006 GSO Picnic. This year we project that even more students will attend!
7. Lowest Graduate Student Fee of the four major Universities in NYS - For years now our GSO has done more with less. I did a fee comparison between the four major University center in New York State and where our fee per semester is only $20, Buffalo has the highest fee per semester at $49, Binghamton is $40, Stony Brook is $22 and will increase their fee to $27 this coming year. Outside of legal services we offer more services than the other Graduate Student Organizations. We are the only GSO that offers copier and printing services. Our office is opened longer than any of the other GSO offices (45 hours per week). Plus we provide many of the services they offer as well!
I hope this has helped explain why we hope to increase the Graduate Student Activity Fee. If we all agree and vote on this we will be able to expand and improve services for our community for less than a ticket to see a movie. During the GSO Elections, please vote to increase the fee! Thank you.
This coming GSO Election we will put on the ballot to increase the Graduate Student Activity Fee by $7. At the moment our student activity fee is $20. This will raise it to $27.
Why specifically would we want to do this? Well, there are a number of reason why we feel this increase would benefit the services we provide to you and the graduate student community. The following are some of the main reasons:
1. RGSO Funding
2. Grant Funding
3. Legal Services
4. Director of Operations (Office Manager)
5. Services for the Downtown and East Campus
6. Programming and additional Buses for Trips to NYC and Boston
7. Lowest Graduate Student Fee of the four major Universities in NYS
1. RGSO Funding - This past Fall Semester, RGSO groups had requested over $47,000 in funding for activities and events they wanted to have with their group. Many of these groups are graduate student groups with professional and departmental focuses. We allocated $26,000 in the GSO budget since we used the projections from the last academic year. RGSO groups were able to request funds from the MCAA and Programming chairs, but we would like to increase RGSO funding to benefit the departmental, cultural and activities groups to support events, professional development and the building of their student organization as well. Part of the $7 would be used to increase the over all budget for RGSO funding.
2. Grant Funding - This has been a tremendous service for graduate students presenting at conference or conducting research. We give up to $650 for travel and research grants per individual three times a year. The total allocation is $30,000 this year for this service, which was an increase from $27,000 last year. We would like to increase the funding for this as well since it is so well used and as UAlbany is one of the four University Research Center in New York State we would like to support students research. (There is never roll over funds from this budget allocation!)
3. Legal Services - We are looking into sending out an RFP to lawyers in the area to provide legal services for graduate students on campus. The undergraduates fund their own legal clinic, but these services are not extended to graduate students since undergraduates pay $125 for their student activity fee and we only pay $20. With $7 increase we can start a legal clinic for students in need seeking that service.
4. Director of Operations (Office Manager) - We are in the process of hiring a Director of Operations for the GSO. This person will be a part-time non-graduate student staff who would be able to bridge year to year between GSO Administration and help bring a greater sense of continuity and stability for our organization. One chief complaint I gotten in the beginning of this administration's year is that Office Managers (who are graduate students) graduate or find other positions and we lose their institutional knowledge in the GSO office. Gaps are created that complicate the daily transactions of the services we provide to graduate students. We would like to better service graduate students by hiring a more permanent person for the organization who would be in charge of operations. In order to do this we need to be competitive in our benefit's and salary offering. All this said, we still plan to have two graduate student Office Manager positions available but having one permanent non-graduate student staff would help the organzation greatly. (By the way, this year we were very fortunate to find a very dedicated group of office managers who enjoy serving our community. They have been amazingly wonderful and have made this a very smooth year for our organization. I encourage all graduate students to express your appreciation this month on Adminstrative Assistant's Day on Wednesday, April 25th)
5. Services for the Downtown and East Campus - The GSO Comprehensive Plan will include a section to provide services for the East and Downtown campus. If any RGSO group would like to collaborate with the GSO in hosting a satellite GSO Office at either campus we can make funding available to provide printer or copier services there as well. An increase of the graduate student fee would insure the ability for start up and maintenance of these sites and services.
6. Programming and additional Buses for Trips to NYC and Boston - This year our Programming has been so popular that we have exhausted the budget for the rest of the fiscal year. With an increase in the Graduate Student Activity fee we could add a few more buses to NYC and Boston, gotten tickets to see Jerry Seinfeld at the Palace Theatre, a few more GSO Socials at Noche, Skyline, Pearl Lounge, etc...!
Also, we would like to increase the budget for the Graduate Student Orientation Picnic. It was a very well attended event where incoming and returning graduate students are invited. We budgeted $4000 for the event. Even though Amirah ordered a substantial amount of food there still wasn't enough food for everyone. Ofcourse there was well over 400 graduate students who attended the 2006 GSO Picnic. This year we project that even more students will attend!
7. Lowest Graduate Student Fee of the four major Universities in NYS - For years now our GSO has done more with less. I did a fee comparison between the four major University center in New York State and where our fee per semester is only $20, Buffalo has the highest fee per semester at $49, Binghamton is $40, Stony Brook is $22 and will increase their fee to $27 this coming year. Outside of legal services we offer more services than the other Graduate Student Organizations. We are the only GSO that offers copier and printing services. Our office is opened longer than any of the other GSO offices (45 hours per week). Plus we provide many of the services they offer as well!
I hope this has helped explain why we hope to increase the Graduate Student Activity Fee. If we all agree and vote on this we will be able to expand and improve services for our community for less than a ticket to see a movie. During the GSO Elections, please vote to increase the fee! Thank you.
Tuesday, April 3, 2007
Meet Minerva - GSO Office Resident
Minerva - Roman goddess of crafts and wisdom* is swimming in the GSO Office next to the phone and fax machine!
Yes, we got a betta fish and named her Minerva. Daughter of Jupiter and Metis, she was considered to be the virgin goddess of warriors, poetry, medicine, wisdom, commerce, crafts, and inventor of music.* No other fish can compare to her warrior like movements, spreading the expanse of her long beautiful blue fins which drape in majestic poetry and flow gracefully as she dances around in her fish bowl.
Minerva was not born in the usual way, but rather Jupiter had a horrible headache and Vulcan opened up his head and out came Minerva dressed in armor and holding a shield.* We had to convince her to come back to the office with us from the pet store by promising a world of studious intellects, quiet reflective evenings, and a lifetime supply of betta treats. We knew right away there was something special about her. Come and visit and ask her what the answer to life is!? She knows all.
*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minerva
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
