List of Meeting Minutes
BGSA Meeting, 23 March 2022
Agenda
- Welcome and expressions of gratitude to BGSA officers and members
- Upcoming officer nominations and elections
- Make sure to nominate yourselves and/or others by March 30 @ 5pm: https://ufl.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_eyOTGQyb3S1XoNM
- Becoming an official student association through UF
- Selling merch situation? — Need to look into this.
- Folks to check in with about FMSA – Aditi, Adania, Tal
- Financial update
- Need additional fundraising, haven’t broken even from supply costs and grants
- How to work with faculty on specific BGSA committees – Sharing challenges and success on how to make sure the work is not all transferred to graduate students?
- Mentoring committee not doing anything 🙁 rep is asked to take initiative if they want to do anything – bring this up in faculty meetings, on how to balance the work and share it, rather than have it all fall to the students
- Grad rep on hiring committees, search process can be difficult, but is changes from committee to committee based on committee makeup
- Overall communication between grad students on committees and faculty is lacking and needs to be improved
- Recruitment committee/weekend, communication from faculty was not great, nobody really knew who was supposed to do what, and in the end the faculty made schedule for the weekend without consulting grad committee even though they were in communication with them for a while; schedule of events was not widely shared in a timely manner, it was a frustrating experience; in the end the recruitment weekend went well though and there was a lot of online participation!
- Budget was given two days before and still asking for doing more things; and requested that work be done that was beyond the budgeted amount
- Communication was often to the “wrong” people, and was very late, feedback was expected outside of normal working hours
- Logistics about recruitment weekend were decided with very, very little time; a lot happened the Wednesday and Thursday right before the recruitment weekend
- Often unprofessional behavior may not make grad students want to volunteer for committee positions
- Grad students are not often not treated as colleagues
- Need to have an honest conversation with Brad and faculty meetings
- Code of conduct – Please see link for current Code of Coduct that is up for revision
- Caitlin = CoC Rep
- CoC should be signed at the initiation of their roles
- Propose any revisions if you have any suggestions
- Everyone (all Biology) should have access to the doc, but only need signatures from BGSA officers
Member Reports
- President: Jeanette Pirlo
- We try to meet with Brad every other week unless there is something that comes up/break/no updates/etc.
- Vice-President: Mike Belitz
- Don’t have too much to report, we’ve been meeting with Brad
- Important thing for current officers – how to establish better communication between grad students and faculty, make sure that the job is not punted to the grad student reps
- Secretary/Treasurer: Jessie Pelosi
- Need additional fundraising, haven’t broken even from supply costs and grants
- Elections!
- Make sure to nominate yourselves and/or others by March 30 @ 5pm: https://ufl.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_eyOTGQyb3S1XoNM
- Curriculum Rep: Sam Shablin
- Graduate Rep: Kayli Sieber
- Graduate committee is concerned with two points currently: (1) graduate student mentality/morale, and (2) graduate student funding (i.e. our low wages). I’ve had meetings with Brad and the graduate committee and they have suggested designing a department retreat that is focused on graduate students to help raise morale. Alternatively, they have suggested “town hall” type meetings where graduate students can meet with Brad and members of the graduate committee to share their current feelings about the department and their status as students. As for wages, the committee expressed desire to find a way to raise wages (top 5 students deserve top 5 wages). However, there are multiple issues at the college and provost levels that need to be resolved before there can be any increase in wages. Namely, changes cannot be made at the department level. It seems that the Biology faculty would like to find a way around this, but they are struggling to find the “right” people to talk to to get this moving forward.
- We made edits to the graduate student handbook. I don’t believe these edits have been finalized as of yet.
- Space and Facilities Rep: Kara Taylor
- Nothing of note to report
- No space activity among faculty
- Graduate student lounge, not really used a whole lot because of COVID; would be nice to establish things like scheduled study breaks in the lounge at some point
- Colloquium Rep: Shelly Gaynor
- Dr. Nyeema Harris was selected to be the graduate student invited speaker for Fall 2022. Dr. Harris will be the August 30th, 2022 seminar speaker and will be hosted by Mike Belitz.
- IT Rep: Kasey Pham
- Got permissions from Joel and Juan to change the theme on the BGSA website, should be easier to navigate now, the links shouldn’t be broken
- Would like to add pictures?
- Many pages are process-based, but are older (e.g., 2013) and haven’t been updated, maybe these should be on the Sharepoint instead
- Can we make a list of these pages and who would be able to move those pages = Kasey 🙂
- GSC Rep: Wesley Dillard, Kayli Sieber
- Kayli here, I just wanted to suggest something. The graduate committee found it helpful that I was both on their committee and was a GSC rep this year because it helped them stay in tune with what GSC has been discussing and doing (especially in regards to the recent problems with graduate student wages). I just suggest that maybe one GSC rep also be in communication with the graduate committee regularly, especially for these important issues that are relevant to the graduate committee.
- Suggestions for committees GSC reps should communicate with: graduate committee, curriculum committee (maybe), public relations, mentorship committee, mental health committee, climate committee.
- PR and Fundraising: Chris Nolte, Md Monjurul Islam Rifat
- Greenhouse Rep: Alex Abair
- Nothing new, but greenhouses have been white-wash painted (helps diffuse light entering greenhouse)
- Whitney Lab Rep: Katie Feerst
- REU program did not get refunded by NSF, so that is up in the air, some faculty are against doing it at all, so graduate students are trying to set this up
- Whitney is getting new building, many grad student offices are in the building that is being demolished
- Seminar series with folks outside of academia
- Bartram-Carr Woods Rep: Thomas Murphy
- Bylaws Revision Rep: María Camila Vallejo-Pareja
- Bylaws haven’t a lot of changes since previous revisions
- Revisions re: Faculty and Departmental meetings, but since last email faculty hasn’t responded
- Only has gotten to meet with the committee once
- Mentorship Committee: Steven Cassidy
- Mentoring committee not doing anything. 🙁 Rep is asked to take initiative if they want to do anything – bring this up in faculty meetings, on how to balance the work and share it, rather than have it all fall to the students
- Retreat Rep: Makenzie Smith
- Brad suggested that he wanted something graduate research focused. Mathew noted that the forestry students give talks each year. I said that it sounds like punishment and it would be a challenge to go and figure out how to select students to speak.
- Melissa Meadows has come up with a cost estimate for Brad on using the Cypress Lodge, swimming and boating facilities at Lake Wauburg. I am hoping to track down some gaming consoles and games to play. We are waiting to hear on Brad’s decision though the estimate came out this afternoon (3/22).
- International Student Rep: Manassee Weerathunga
- I’d like to report that the International Potluck held last Fall was a huge success and thank everyone who helped to make it a success.
- Also, I’d like to make another notice for everyone, especially for those who’d be having new international students in their labs next Fall. The International Student Starter Packet available on the BGSA website has a lot of information covering things such as finding housing, visa application, things to bring, life in Gainesville etc. If they wish to inform and prepare new students to help settle down, I’d recommend looking into it and sharing it with them.
- Just a suggestion, if people are interested, we can do something similar at the end of this spring semester as well (re: potluck).
- URAP Committee: Jessie Pelosi, Claudia J. Garnica Díaz, Juliette Rubin
- Awarded $1000 in “stipends” for new Engagement Grant, with $500 donation from Matt Gitzendanner
- Will award two Grants in Aid of Research this semester
- Deadline to apply: April 11 @ 5pm
- URAP Symposium is April 15 2-5pm, in Bartram-Carr/Dickinson courtyard, encourage your undergrads to participate!
- Deadline for abstracts: April 1 @ 5pm
- Will need judges
- One of the pros of being an official association through UF, the undergraduate students that participate in the symposium will be able to have a discount in the impression of posters
- Awards Committee: Niyomi House, Shamindri Tennakoon, Juliette Rubin
- Went well, big grad student time investment in this committee, some confusion about which faculty members were on the committee
- Fun to read about everyone’s projects and what folks are doing 🙂
- Welcoming Committee: Maria Beatrice de Souza Cortez, Gabe Somarriba, Lauren Whitehurst
- Virtual welcome event:
- Introductions – Lauren, Brad’s greeting, Welcome Address – Jeanette
- Welcome Committee Introductions, New Student Introductions
- Spoke about FMSA and BGSA
- Icebreaker – Maria (Mention shirts)
- Break-out Rooms and Ice-Breaker Questions
- Games – Gabe: Codenames, Family Feud
- T-shirts given to that cohort
- Faculty attendance was lower than would have been preferred
- Did request from Brad to get faculty to attend; mostly ended up being Brad saying they had to go because it’s in their job description; it’s a shame that they aren’t there to welcome their students
- Introductions – Lauren, Brad’s greeting, Welcome Address – Jeanette
- Virtual welcome event:
- Recruitment Committee: Ashley Kusel, Stephanie Wheeler, Steve Cassidy
- See statements above
- Finally got prizes for recruitment! Went to FMNH to purchase gifts with Sara Shepard
- Mental Health Committee: Lauren Whitehurst, Ashley Hamersma
- Surprise: It is currently Mental Health Awareness Week! My current Mental Health has limited my output as a member of this committee severely! (LW)
- Still dedicated, still here, have been wanting to arrange a training or CWC information session in Bartram/Carr, will send out an email today regarding this week’s scheduled activities etc.
- Climate Committee Reps: Min Zhao, Ashley Hamersma, Kasey Pham
- Not much to report
- Kasey is also working on IDEA committee — BGSA Climate Committee is in a strange position because the IDEA committee took over the climate report last year. Need to consult with them in the future on whose responsibility this should be.
- IDEA committee is planning on workshop on anti-racism in academia with focus on previous climate report in biology April 13 2-4pm, to be announced via email soon.
- Code of Conduct Rep: Caitlin Campbell
- Code of conduct – Please see Sharepoint for current Code of Conduct that is up for revision
- Feel free to suggest edits in this document.
- Alternatively, email Caitlin with suggestions: caitlincampbell@ufl.edu
- CoC should be signed at the initiation of their roles
- Propose any revisions if you have any suggestions
- Everyone (all Biology) should have access to the doc, but only need signatures from BGSA officers
- To do: add to BGSA Website
- Code of conduct – Please see Sharepoint for current Code of Conduct that is up for revision
BGSA Meeting, 11 October 2021
Attended: Jeanette Pirlo, Jessie Pelosi, Katie Feerst, Shelly Gaynor, Maria Vallejo, Alex Abair, Steven Cassidy, Kasey Pham, Caitlin Campbell, Kara Taylor, Maria Cortez, Manasee Weerathunga, Michael Belitz, Thomas Murphy, Eric Trotman, Ashley Kusel, Claudia Garnica-Diaz, Min Zhao
- Committee Updates
- Kara (Building and Facilities) – no updates.
- Shelly (Colloquium Rep) – no updates.
- Kasey (IT Rep)
- Updates on URAP website
- Call for updates on BGSA website
- Added International Student Guidebook to BGSA website
- Alex (Greenhouse Rep)
- Greenhouses are in sad shape because of COViD.
- Collections being built up again.
- State of greenhouses are improving.
- Katie (Whitney Rep)
- Updating Whitney Graduate Handbook
- Getting new lab building, working with director on needs
- Old lab building will not be torn down
- Working on funds to make a Whitney GSA travel grant
- Thomas (Bartram-Carr Woods Rep)
- Planning an event to clean up the woods (garbage, invasive species)
- BioBlitz?
- Maria V. (Bylaws Rep)
- Clarification on status of graduate students at (?)
- Steve (Mentorship Committee) – no updates.
- Manasee (International Student Rep)
- Updated guide for international students and posted to BGSA website
- Potluck? – need to decide on whether this is a possibility.
- Jessie (Undergraduate Research Rep)
- Updating URAP Website – thanks for help with this Kasey!
- New grant – Engagement Grant, worth $500! Please share with students! 🙂
- Maria C. (Welcoming Committee)
- The event was not very well attended as it usually is. We think there was some issue with the reminder email that Gabe sent earlier on the day of the event and didn’t get passed through to all in the department. However, it was nice to get to know a few of the new grad students.
- We are still waiting for shirts that were ordered for the new students to come through. The PR committee said they had to order some more shirts because they were out. As soon as we get the shirts we will give them to the new students
- Ashley (Recruitment Committee) – no updates.
- Min (Climate Committee) – no updates.
- Caitlin (Code of Conduct Rep)
- We are due to send out a survey to assess the Code of Conduct.
- Work on recommended trainings.
- Now an official position (no longer ad hoc) – Kasey to make update to website.
- Steve (Zoocial Committee)
- Concluding poll about Zoocial today, then meeting with committee.
- Zoocial might be coming back in the next two weeks-ish.
- Integrate student welcoming event to Zoocial event?
- Sarah M. is going to try to start up Botantea – reach out to her if you want to help out!
- House Bill 233 Update
- Begins September 2021, but data from survey conducted by UF will not be available until Fall 2022.
- Outlined the bill (see below)
- Set up a meeting time with GSU for student questions/feedback
- We can do this if folks are interested
- Jeanette will set up a meeting for spring 2022
- Graduate students are more protected with union representatives
- From Chris Hass, Associate Provost for Academic and Faculty Affairs:
House Bill 233 Intellectual and Viewpoint Diversity Act was signed into law and took effect on July 1, 2021. Universities across the state have collaborated in efforts to uniformly implement, to the extent possible, the various portions of the law. We are providing initial guidance regarding practical applications of a portion of the law (recording lectures) based on these conversations and UF’s legal review. Please note that the new legislation affects courses offered at all campuses and instructional sites and in all modalities (e.g., face-to-face, online, hybrid).The following statements provide guidance to students and instructors.- A Student may record a class lecture for three specified purposes as outlined in House Bill 233/Section 1004.097, Florida Statutes:
- For the student’s own personal educational use;
- In connection with a complaint to the University where the recording is made
- As evidence in, or in preparation for, a criminal or civil proceeding.
- Students may audio or video record a class lecture for a class in which the student is enrolled. Students do not need advance permission, or to provide notice, to record.
- A class lecture is defined as an educational presentation delivered by faculty (instructor of record) or guest lecturer, as part of a University of Florida course, intended to inform or teach enrolled students about a particular subject. Lecture is inclusive of faculty-led discussions that are integrated into the educational presentation.
- A class lecture does not include lab sessions, student presentations, clinical presentations such as patient history, academic exercises involving student participation, assessments (quizzes, tests, exams), field trips, private conversations between students in the class or between a student and the faculty or lecturer during a class session.
- A recording of a class lecture may not be published without the consent of the lecturer.
- Publish is defined as sharing, transmitting, circulating, distributing, or providing access to a Recording, regardless of format or medium, to another person (or persons), including but not limited to another student within the same class section.
- A recording, or transcript of the recording, is considered to be published if it is posted on or uploaded to, in whole or part, any media platform, including but not limited to social media, book, magazine, newspaper or leaflet.
- A student who publishes a recording without written consent may be subject to a civil cause of action instituted by a person injured by the publication and/or discipline under UF Regulation 4.040 Student Honor Code and Student Conduct Code.To help inform and guide faculty, additional information can be found on the Provost Office website and an optional syllabus statement is under review by the Faculty Senate
- Kasey – UFF is filing a suit to challenge it, so if anyone knows faculty who have decided to change course content because of it, they might be interested in that
- A Student may record a class lecture for three specified purposes as outlined in House Bill 233/Section 1004.097, Florida Statutes:
- COViD Updates (As of August 6, 2021)
- Effective immediately, in light of new guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, we expect everyone to wear a mask at all times when inside any UF facility, even if you are vaccinated. This includes our students, faculty, staff, vendors and visitors. Recent studies and guidance from the CDC state that both unvaccinated and vaccinated individuals can transmit the current COVID-19 variant to unvaccinated persons.
- If you are not vaccinated, get vaccinated. If possible, students should aim to be fully vaccinated but if unable, should strive to have at least one shot of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine no later than August 22. Vaccines are readily available at no cost and have been demonstrated to be safe and effective against the COVID-19 virus. Our UF Health experts tell us that even if you’ve had COVID-19, you still need to get vaccinated. Having had COVID does not provide nearly as much protection as the vaccine. Visit this link for details on where to get your shot, including options that do not require an appointment: https://coronavirus.ufhealth.org/vaccinations/vaccine-availability/. Students who receive the first dose of the vaccine wherever they are currently can still receive their second dose on campus.
- COVID-19 testing remains available both on and off campus. Testing locations and schedules are available at https://coronavirus.ufhealth.org/screen-test-protect-2/how/screen/#locations . In addition, please complete the Weekly COVID-19 Symptom Screening you receive via email. This will help our UF Health Screen, Test & Protect team identify and contain any potential COVID-19 outbreaks.
- If you are sick, stay home and self-quarantine. Please visit the UF Health Screen, Test & Protect website about next steps, retake the questionnaire and schedule your test for no sooner than 24 hours after your symptoms began. Please call your primary care provider if you are ill and need immediate care. UF Health Screen, Test & Protect offers guidance when you are sick, have been exposed to someone who has tested positive or have tested positive yourself. Visit the UF Health Screen, Test & Protect website for more information.
- Please continue to follow healthy habits, including best practices like frequent hand washing.
- Continue to regularly visit coronavirus.UFHealth.org and coronavirus.ufl.edu for up-to-date information about COVID-19 and vaccination.
- Faculty Meetings
- Students attending faculty meetings vs. departmental meetings, etc.
- Students are welcome at faculty meetings (except when the topic deals with tenure and promotion)
- We follow Robert’s Rule of Order (https://robertsrules.com/)
- If chat gets hectic, they will disable to chat
- Faculty meetings are 3-4:30ish on Wednesdays (Jeanette/Mike/Jessie will send agenda + links as they come up)
- Construction and road closures
- Information about current construction projects: https://facilities.ufl.edu/projects/current-projects/construction-projects/
- Road closures PDF: https://uflorida.sharepoint.com/:b:/t/UFBiologyGraduateStudentAssociation/ETvB4smTQGFMvAD2gLnamqcB7MeQlmReXjo6R9w_v2zh-g?e=1LuAra
- Updates are periodically posted on Twitter: https://twitter.com/UFPublicSafety/
- Shelly — Campus Accessibility Map: https://campusmap.ufl.edu/#/ (Click on left sidebar to see ADA-accessible routes; Dickinson Hall is totally inaccessible.)
- Faculty Hiring Committee (Physiology)
- Still looking for a graduate representative – contact Jeanette.
- Additional Questions
- Does UF publish its COViD waste water data?