College	Department	Name	Attendance
	Art	Karla Lagunas	☑
	Film	Victoria Marshall	☑
	Music	Lukas Hutchinson	☑
	Theatre	Nick Case	☑
College of Hospitality:	Hospitality & Hotel Administration	Jaimi Garlington	☑
Integrated Health Sciences:	Health Physics & Diagnostic Sciences	Clare Bennett	☑
	Kinesiology & Nutrition Sciences	Donya Shahamati	☑
	Physical Therapy??	VACANT	☐
	Brain Health	Steph | Stephanie Apodaca	☑
Boyd School of Law:	Law	Dionne Stanfill	☑
College of Liberal Arts:	Anthropology	Emily Edmonds	☑
	English	Carlos Tkacz	☑
	History	Tyler Rodney	☑
	Political Science	Lila Hearn	☑
	Psychology	Hoor Ul Ain	☑
	Sociology	Drue Sahuc	☑
	World Languages & Cultures	VACANT	☐
School of Medicine:	Couple & Family Therapy	Melissa Ceballos Can’t find in updated seat tracking	☐
	Medicine	Daniel Aynlender	☑
School of Nursing:	Nursing	Laura Chechel Kevin Dangler - Proxy	☑
College	Department	Name	Attendance
School of Public Health:	Environmental & Occupational Health	Emylia Terry	☑
	Healthcare Admin & Policy	Sisinyous Zerihun Mengesha	☑
	Epidemiology & Biostatistics	Amruta Godbole	☑
	Social & Behavioral Health	Ana Gonzalez	☑
College of Sciences:	Chemistry & Biochemistry	Jenny | Jennifer Napoles	☑
	Geoscience	Sierra Ramsey	☑
	Life Sciences	TJ | Thomas Crippen	☑
	Mathematical Sciences	Ali Balooch	☑
	Physics & Astronomy??	VACANT	☐
College of Urban Affairs:	Communication Studies??	VACANT	☐
	Criminal Justice	Elisha Longoria	☑
	Journalism & Media Studies	Leena Atout	☑
	Public Policy & Leadership	Christine Nolan	☑
	Social Work	Emily Arriviello	☑
Interdisciplinary Programs:	Integrated Health Sciences	Katie | Katherine Bricarell	☑
	Data Analytics & Cybersecurity?? This is different than the seat tracking	Anne Poole	☑

*Members may have been appointed by their department between the time of agenda posting and the meeting. All other members present will be available in the Minutes and listed below.

Members-at-Large: Amrit Shahi – Civil and Environmental Engineering Kevin Navarrete-Parra – Political Science Miriam Borvick – School of Medicine Joe Cadiz – Nursing

Members of the Public Present: ☑Virginia Smercina – Business Manager ☑Bill Robinson – Faculty Advisor John Colombo – Faculty Advisor ☑Dr. Deanna Merino-Contino

AGENDA

1. CALL TO ORDER

Called to order at 5:36 pm

2. ROLL CALL

Quorom has been established.

3. PUBLIC COMMENT                                                                            INFORMATION ONLY

(See foregoing notation regarding public comment)

Dr. Deanna Merino-Contino introduced herself and the input GPSA can provide for student life.

Carlos Tkacz provided an update with NGSW and are collecting union authorization cards.

4. APPROVAL OF MINUTES                                                                 FOR POSSIBLE ACTION

4a) The GPSA Council will consider approval of the minutes from the September 2024 Council Meetings (44-05) as posted to the public GPSA Drive.

Moved by Hoor Ul Ain, seconded by Kristine Bartolome. Passed unanimously.

5. REPORTS & RECOMMENDATIONS                                              INFORMATION ONLY

5a) Executive Board

1. 1. President

President Marie will report to the GPSA Council concerning UNLV related issues or events important to the UNLV graduate student body.

• Faculty Senate Updates:

• G.R.A.D at Football recap:
• Tiny Home Update:

President Marie discussed the proposed tiny home project for graduate student housing at the North 40, a 2,000-acre lot near Nellis Air Force Base. Concerns were raised about the sustainability, cost, and potential heat issues due to the lack of trees and shelter. President Marie encouraged attendees to provide feedback through surveys when they become available. President Marie also discussed the potential development of tiny homes on campus, highlighting concerns about their longevity and maintenance costs. President Marie expressed concerns about the impact of such a project on graduate students, who are already isolated from campus.

1. 2. Vice President

Vice President Carr will report to the GPSA Council concerning UNLV related issues or events important to the UNLV graduate student body. Updates about sponsorship program.

VP Carr discussed the sponsorship program's budget, recent decisions, and the challenges faced due to a finite funding pool. She noted that they were over budget and had to make adjustments for the next cycle, with a total request of $63,000 in the previous cycle. GPSA also offered to conduct a workshop on budget travel and encouraged departments to communicate with their students about the competitive nature of the program. Dante Washington announced the opening of the Scholarships and Fellowship Portal from October 1st to December 1st, emphasizing the importance of submitting a complete package to avoid missing out on awards.

1. 3. Treasurer

Treasurer Lopez will report to the GPSA Council concerning UNLV related issues or events important to the UNLV graduate Student body. This includes the budget report for the past month.

No reports.

1. 4. Secretary

Secretary King will report to the GPSA Council concerning UNLV related issues or events important to the UNLV graduate Student body. Provide a brief training on Robert’s rules.

No reports.

5b) President’s Cabinet

• • • Director of Communications & Marketing

Delight encouraged everyone to follow their GPSA social media handle for updates and announced the upcoming Grad Rebel Appreciation at the dining hall on October 16th.

• • • Director of Engagement & Outreach

Ariadna discussed the Grad Appreciation Nights, Homecoming on October 23rd, and the 1st Gen. Event on November 5th.

• • • Attorney General (vacant)

5c) GPSA Business Manager & Advisor

• Business Manager Virginia Smercina will report to GPSA Council concerning UNLV related issues or events important to the UNLV graduate student body.
  • Changes to the Graduate Commons Space
• GPSA Faculty Advisor Dr. Bill Robinson will report to GPSA Council concerning UNLV Related issues or even important to the UNLV graduate student body.

Dr. Robinson expressed concerns about the timing of a proposed fee increase and highlighted the financial difficulties faced by the company that manages the Gateway building.

• GPSA Faculty Advisor Dr. John Colombo will report to GPSA Council concerning UNLV Related issues or even important to the UNLV graduate student body.

5d) GPSA Committee Reports

Ways and Means:

Sponsorship:

Constitution & Bylaws:

5e) UNLV Campus-Wide Committees

Representatives serving on any external committee on GPSA behalf may use this time to provide updates.

5f) UNLV Departments/ Units

5. • • Graduate College:
6. UNFINISHED BUSINESS                                                                                FOR POSSIBLE ACTION

Unfinished Business is any motion or action item that was under discussion and was postponed or moved to this meeting at the discretion of the public body as approved by the chair.

6a) Graduate Campus Committees                                                                   INFORMATION ONLY

Secretary King requests time for the discussion of the campus committees that have seats available GPSA students. 2 mins

Interest Form here:  https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScsEFMzEmahR7EpegLQ4tvAdjQA8K2ERHGZ7xNLNZnqE8MeDQ/viewform

6b) Internal Committee Interest                                                                       INFORMATION ONLY

Secretary King requests time for the discussion of the campus committees that have seats available GPSA students. 2 mins

Interest Form here:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSctJ2ExkI0bcRAITBsiolOTgyZwd2xK1-a-SkDRm9QZTbDefg/viewform?usp=sf_link

7. NEW BUSINESS                                                                                               FOR POSSIBLE ACTION

New business is any motion that is new to this meeting. All items will be for possible action unless otherwise stated.
 

7a) UNLV Ombuds Presentation                                                                      INFORMATION ONLY

Dr. Schwartz requests time to give a presentation about the Ombuds’ offices on campus. 15 mins

President Marie introduced Dr. David Schwartz, the Ombuds at UNLV, who was present to provide information about campus activities. Dr. Schwartz explained his role and mentioned that he is currently recruiting for an assistant. They also outlined their duties, which include listening to people's problems, conducting one-on-one consultations and group workshops, facilitating mediations, and reporting systemic issues. President Marie clarified what an ombudsman does not do, such as deciding who's right or wrong, investigating wrongdoing, or advocating for individuals.

7b) UNLV Office of Information                                                                      INFORMATION ONLY

Chief Information Officer Oner requests time to give a presentation regarding updates from the office of information and technology. 15 mins

Kivanc Oner and the OIT team discussed the current technology fee structure at UNLV, highlighting a proposed increase in the technology fee from $11 per credit to $18 per credit. The increase is to support current and future technology needs, including new services such as a technology device assistance program.

7c) Update on the Pre-School Expansion                                                         INFORMATION ONLY
President Marie requests time to update the council on the goal related to getting into the conversations about the pre-school expansion project 2 mins

President Marie provided a brief update on the Pre-School expansion.

7d) Update on the CAPs Expansion to Shadow Lane                                     INFORMATION ONLY
President Marie requests time to update the council on the goal related to getting information on the CAPs expansion to Shadow Lane Campus. 2 mins

President Marie provided an update on the CAPS expansion to Shadow Lane.

7e) October Graduate Appreciation at the Dining Commons                       INFORMATION ONLY

Director of Engagement and Outreach Gutierrez requests time to talk about the second graduate appreciation event at the dining commons held Wednesday October 16^th, 2024. 5 mins

Volunteer Sign Up:

https://doodle.com/sign-up-sheet/participate/a31d5f2c-55b4-409b-9466-10f9b7f6d11d/select

7f) UNLV Homecoming (October 21-October 25)                                          INFORMATION ONLY

Director of Engagement and Outreach Gutierrez requests time to talk about UNLV homecoming and the events GPSA has for that week 5 mins

Volunteer Interest Form: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1jRg7xK3aMQsJ7SxgkgwIb6BFT7KSCDmhVPyCJjg2HVQ/edit?gid=0#gid=0

7g) Welcoming our second GPSA Faculty Advisor – Dr. John Colombo     INFORMATION ONLY

President Marie requests time to welcome Dr. John Colombo from the Dental Medicine School as our second faculty advisor of GPSA for the 44 session. 5 mins

7h) Call for New Business Items

Items for consideration at future meetings may be suggested. Discussion is limited to description and clarification of the subject matter of the item, including the reasons for the request; emergency items  added at the discretion of the President (GPSA Bylaws Article IV, Sec.3).

8. ANNOUNCEMENTS                                                                                        INFORMATION ONLY
   - Graduate/Professional Rebel Appreciation Day at the Dining Commons October 16, 2024
   - Homecoming October 21-25, 2024.
   - Research Forum 2025 April 12, 2025.
   - Next Meeting will be November , 2024 @ 5:30pm
9. PUBLIC COMMENT                                                                                        INFORMATION ONLY

(See foregoing notation regarding public comment)

Dr. William Robinson clarified the pronunciation of Pida Plaza.

10. ADJOURNMENT                                                                                             FOR POSSIBLE ACTION Adjourned at 7:37pm