Graduate Student Council

The Graduate Student Council (GSC) last night approved its yearly operating budget and also discussed the possibility of expanding their already substantial travel and research grant program.

Roughly 40 students of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GSAS) unanimously approved the $37,735 budget, allotting $14,500 towards grants the group doles out to graduate students looking to attend conferences in their field or conduct summer research.

The budget also shows that GSC has $36,000--about one year's operating expenses--saved in the bank.

The extra money has accumulated in past years as GCS failed to spend all of the money taken in through the $15 fee charged to grad students on their term bill.

GSC Treasurer Kenji Schwarz told the group he hoped to increase the amount of grant funds available by seeking money from outside sources.

GSAS students at the meeting expressed concern about losing control of their grant program and running into bureaucratic red tape if indeed they were able to get funding from an outside foundation.

Schwarz said he would further investigate the matter and report back to GSC.

Also at last night's meeting, the GSC announced that their Excellence in Mentoring award will be an annual event. The council created the award last year in an effort to recognize professors for exceptional graduate student advising.

The students in attendance last night approved $635 for the program.

"The quality of graduate student advising is an important issue," said Adam P. Fagen, information coordinator for GSC and former president of the group. "The Excellence in Mentoring Award is meant to recognize good advising."

Fagen said he he hopes GSC will address the issue of quality advising in their meetings this year.

"There was an attempt last year to put together a document highlighting the issues for the administration," Fagen said. " But it never really got dealt with. It sort of got lost in committee."

GSC member Kyriell Muhammad said he thought graduate students will be aggravated by the renovations at Widener.

"We're going to here about the library and what an inconvenience it is with the construction, lost carrells and books being moved to the Depository," he said.

The GSC meeting also heard reports from the Graduate Student Health Advisory Committee and the Faculty of Arts and Sciences Library Committee.