Feb. 20, 2025

 

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The UNLV Graduate & Professional Student Association

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

NOTICE OF PUBLIC MEETING

GPSA EXECUTIVE BOARD MEETING 44-13

MINUTES

Thursday, February 6th, 2025

3:30 PM

HYBRID PUBLIC MEETING:

IN PERSON: GRADUATE COMMONS CONFERENCE ROOM

LIED LIBRARY 2ND FLOOR

VIRTUAL: https://unlv.zoom.us/my/gpsa.meeting.room

PASSCODE: GPSAUNLV

IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT THE AGENDA AND PUBLIC MEETING NOTE:

PERTAINING TO VIRTUAL MEETINGS:

This meeting will be held via teleconference only pursuant to Section 1 of the Declaration of Emergency Directive 006 (“Directive 006”) issued by the State of Nevada Executive Department. If a physical location is required for the meeting, participants may be able to access the livestream by visiting the Graduate Commons at the Lied Library 2nd floor.

Public Comment may be submitted via email to gpsapresident@unlv.edu.

Messages received by 9:00 AM on the Monday prior to the meeting may be entered into the record during the meeting. Any other public comment form submissions and/or voicemails received prior to the adjournment of the meeting will be transcribed and included in the permanent record.

Members of the public wishing to listen to the meeting may do so via: https://unlv.zoom.us/my/gpsa.meeting.room

CONTINUED:

Below is an agenda of all items scheduled to be presented and considered at the meeting. Notification is hereby provided that items on the agenda may be taken out of the order and presented, two or more agenda items may be combined for consideration, and an agenda item may be removed from the agenda or discussion relating to an item on the agenda may be delayed at any time.

Some agenda items are noted as having accompanying reference material. Copies of the reference materials that are distributed at the meeting may be requested by emailing the Executive Board at gpsa@unlv.edu.  

This meeting’s agenda has been posted in accordance with NRS 241.020. Copies of the agenda and reference material will be made available as follows: 1. Digitally at the UNLV.edu/GPSA/Agendas and the Nevada Public Notice Website, 2. Physically located on the First Floor of the Lied Library at 4505 S. Maryland Parkway, Las Vegas, NV, 3. Physically located in the Carol C. Harter Classroom Building Complex (CHB) at 4505 S. Maryland Parkway, Las Vegas, NV.

Reasonable efforts will be made to assist and accommodate persons with a disability attending the meeting. Please email the GPSA Manager at gpsa@unlv.edu in advance so that arrangements may be made.

PUBLIC COMMENT:

Public comment will be taken during this agenda item. No action may be taken on a matter raised under this item until the matter is included on an agenda as an item on which action may be taken. Comments will be limited to three minutes per person. Persons making comment will be asked to begin by stating their name for the record and to spell their last name. The Board Chair may elect to allow additional public comment on a specific agenda item when that agenda item is being considered. In accordance with Attorney General Opinion No. 00-047, as restated in the Attorney General’s Open Meeting Law Manual, the Chair may prohibit comment if the content of that comment is a topic that is not relevant to, or within the authority of, the Body, or if the content is willfully disruptive of the meeting by being irrelevant, repetitious, slanderous, offensive, inflammatory, irrational or amounting to personal attacks or interfering with the rights of other speakers.

EXECUTIVE BOARD

PRESIDENT

VICE PRESIDENT

TREASURER

SECRETARY

☑ Teresa Marie

☑Aliciah Carr

☑ Devin Lopez

☑David King

PRESIDENT’S CABINET (EX-OFFICIO, NON-VOTING)

Engagement & Outreach Director

Chief of Staff

Director of Communications & Marketing

☑ Ariadna Gutierrez

◻VACANT

◻ Delight Ejiaka ABSENT

Members of the Public Present

☑Virginia Smercina – GPSA Business Manager

☑Bill Robinson, Ph.D. – GPSA Faculty Advisor

☑John Colombo, Ph.D. – GPSA Faculty Advisor

Valarie Burke, Ph.D. – Graduate College Representative

CALL TO ORDER

Called to order at 3:35pm

ROLL CALL

Quorum has been established

  1. PUBLIC COMMENT                                                                                                INFORMATION ONLY

(See foregoing notation regarding public comment)

  1. APPROVAL OF MINUTES                                                                                   FOR POSSIBLE ACTION

Minutes from the 44-10 & 44-12 will be voted on at this meeting

                    Motioned by Treasurer Lopez, seconded by Secretary King. Passed unanimously.

  1. REPORTS & RECOMMENDATIONS                                                                  INFORMATION ONLY

3a) GPSA Executive Board & Committees

    1. President

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

  • Total in scholarships for grad students was about $350k
    • Disbursed on past due fall balances, spring purge balances, and anything remaining toward summer balances.

President Marie reported on the Board of Regents meeting in December, where UNLV was required to report on their fee spend down at every quarterly meeting due to concerns about spending. Marie also discussed the distribution of $350,000 to graduate and professional students for fall and spring balances, and the failure in relicensing Elsevier/Science Direct

    1. Vice President

Vice President Carr will report to the GPSA Executive Board concerning UNLV related issues or events important to the UNLV graduate student body.

VP Carr reported that they had approved 14 out of 20 applications in the previous cycle, spending $14,430.68, and had a budget of $14,375 for the upcoming cycle with 49 applications. They also passed a wait list procedure for applicants who didn't receive funding.

    1. Treasurer

Treasurer Lopez will report to the GPSA Executive Board concerning UNLV related issues or events important to the UNLV graduate Student body.

Treasurer Lopez reported a revenue of $187,000 from fees in January and an ending balance of $204,000.

    1. Secretary

Secretary King will report to the GPSA Executive Board concerning UNLV related issues or events important to the UNLV graduate Student body.

Secretary King mentioned shared grievances about licensing issues with Elsevier/Science Direct.

3b) GPSA Business Manager & Advisor


Business Manager Virginia Smercina will report to the GPSA Executive Board concerning UNLV related issues or events important to the UNLV graduate student body.

  • Forum

BM Smercina discussed the upcoming Research Forum, scheduled for May 3rd, and the challenges faced in getting approval from the county for the event. BM Smercina also mentioned the need to update the Forum website with new presenter links and the issue of closing off the abstract and judge sign-up links. BM Smercina also discussed the need to unpublish non-ADA compliant announcements and the idea of conducting a town hall meeting to discuss fee revisions and program expansions. Additionally, BM Smercina suggested requesting additional GA lines for FY 26 and FY 27, and proposed bringing in Dean Crittenden for the next Executive Board meeting to help with the proposal planning process.

3c) GPSA Faculty Advisors

       

  1. Faculty Advisor Bill Robinson will report to the Executive Board concerning UNLV related issues or events important to the UNLV graduate student body.

GPSA discussed the budgetary challenges faced by the university, with a significant hole of 300 million dollars in the governor's budget. The legislature is likely to mandate a substantial fee increase to cover the budget change, which could negatively impact students. GPSA emphasized the need for students to lobby against the fee increase, highlighting the university's history of taking the brunt of budget problems. The university's budget has remained largely unchanged over the past 15 years, with the burden falling on students, faculty, and staff. GPSA also mentioned the potential impact of the Federal health data report, the funding cuts to NGOs, and the cancellation of the DEI VP search. The university's lack of transparency and communication was criticized, with GPSA expressing concern about the lack of planning and support for students.

  1. Faculty Advisor John Colombo will report to the Executive Board concerning UNLV related issues or events important to the UNLV graduate student body.

Dr. Colombo announced the approval of a scholarship dispersal of around $650,000 for the incoming 1st year dental student class next fall. The scholarships range from full-ride to $5,000, and are funded by student access fees. The Board of Regents scholarships are renewable and require a 3.4 GPA for maintenance.

3d) GPSA President’s Cabinet

  1. Engagement & Outreach Director
  • Spring orchestra event update?

Director Ariadna announced that they are working on the Grad Appreciation at the Wind Symphony, and that's going to be on Saturday, April 12th at Ham Hall at 2 Pm.

  1. Director of Communications & Marketing

  1. 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.

4a) Tiny Home Project                                                                                             FOR POSSIBLE ACTION

  • President Marie requests time to discuss and possible action on a town hall for graduate students to discuss the tiny home proposal by UNLV Leadership.

President Marie discussed that there is no support for the Tiny Home project from the graduate student community and higher levels. They suggested to invite President Whitfield and Provost Heavey to the GPSA Council meeting to discuss the plan for the Tiny Homes further.

                                                                                                                                               

  1. NEW BUSINESS                                                                                                    FOR POSSIBLE ACTION

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

5a) Fee Increase Proposal updates                                                                         INFORMATION ONLY

President Marie requests time for updates regarding GPSA fee increase.

  • Survey disbursed 1/27/25
  • First town hall completed 1/27/25

5b) Memorandum to UNLV Leadership Addressing Student Concerns                 FOR POSSIBLE ACTION Relating to New Federal Administration Mandates

President Teresa Marie requests time to discuss and possible action on a GPSA executive board memorandum to the UNLV leadership to request guidance for graduate and professional students on how to address potential ICE raids on campus and what rights students, faculty, and staff have regarding such requests.

The executive board discussed the need for a unified policy to protect graduate students, teaching assistants, and part-time instructors in the event of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raid on the UNLV campus. They expressed concern about the lack of clear guidance and communication regarding ICE raids and the rights of graduate students. They proposed developing a university-wide policy and protocol to respond to ICE raids, creating training modules for graduate employees, and disseminating written materials summarizing relevant laws. President Marie also discussed the importance of a consistent message being shared with all relevant parties, including teaching assistants, to ensure everyone is prepared to respond appropriately in the event of an ICE raid.

5h) Call for New Business Items                                                                                INFORMATION ONLY

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).

  1. PUBLIC COMMENT                                                                                                   INFORMATION ONLY

(See foregoing notation regarding public comment)

  1. ANNOUNCEMENTS                                                                                                 INFORMATION ONLY
  • GPSA Awards

Spring 2025 Events                                                                                                      INFORMATION ONLY

President Marie requests time to discuss the graduate commons open house, spring elections, networking ideas, and spring swag order.

  • Dining Commons events in the spring:
  • Wednesday, April 9, 2025 (during National Graduate-Professional Student Appreciation Week, Apr 7-11, 2025)
  • GPSA Fee Increase Town Halls
    • February 28th 12pm
  • GPSA & Grad College event Importance of Gendered Pronouns 01/29/2025 4-5pm SU Ballrooms
  • February Council Meeting 2/6/25
    • Mental health graduate group CAPs
    • Election committee
  • February Lobbying Trip 2/27
  • March Elections Open
  • March Date for Tiny Home Open House
    • President Marie will be taking RTC to and from nellis a few times through the next few months to calculate the time it takes to take public transportation
    • Possible help in doing personal car drive times during the week and peak hours would be appreciated
  • April 17th Graduate Appreciation with the Orchestra
  • May 1 meeting – initiation of new Executive Board
  • May 3rd Forum

  1. ADJOURNMENT                                                                                                  FOR POSSIBLE ACTION

Adjourned at 5:07 pm