BGSA Meeting Agenda: 4 April 2016

  1. President’s report (Aliyah) – call to order 1:34pm
  2. New room location (1195 BST) until August
  3. Will move to the O’Hara Ballroom if needed
  4. Replacing current program reps & EB members
  5. Every program needs at least onerepresentative. It is the responsibility of the existing rep or the program director to find a new representative, should the current rep step down from the position.
  6. Abby is filling in for Beth as VP of University Relations, but we would like to hold elections this month if someone is interested in holding this position officially. Contact Aliyah if interested.
  7. PHICC volunteering this Friday, 4/8
  8. This is a 4RS and BMES sponsored event that BGSA has provided financial support and competitors to
  9. Volunteers will escort judges and teams, receive up to 3 meals, and valuable networking opportunities
  10. Contact Aliyah if interested.
  1. VP of Records: Review and approval of March minutes (Abby)
  2. Eileen took the minutes last month, edits were submitted by Aliyah
  3. Voted to approve last months minutes
  4. Last months minutes pass
  1. VP of Finance report (Jennifer)
  2. Account finances were declared
  3. Need to provide copy of credit/debit card statement in the event of electronic receipts for reimbursement
  4. Please give Jennifer some notice if you expect to receive an electronic receipt only for an event
  5. Putting together a Financial Report to begin requesting donations from School of Medicine programs
  6. We have additional funding from the Grad Student Office that we will spend by mid-May 2016
  1. VP of University Relations report (Abby/Beth)
  2. Past Events
  3. TedEx, March 26 - talks will be available on YouTube in the future if you missed it!
  4. Glassblowing, April 3
  5. Upcoming Events
  6. Graduate Student Appreciation Week
  7. PhD Comics Movie, April 4 (tonight)
  8. Laser Tag, April 7
  9. GPSG Formal
  10. April 15 at the Pittsburgh Aquarium
  11. Tickets are on sale on Eventbrite for $30
  12. Future
  13. Captain America Screening in May
  14. GPSG Orientation
  15. Travel Awards
  16. Applications are currently open for GPSG Travel awards for travel reimbursement from March 1-April 10
  17. See the GPSG website for more details
  18. GPSG will typically reimburse$300 for poster[l1], $500 for talk[l2] depending on how many applicants there are each month
  19. Town Hall Meeting with Dr. Sbragia, Vice Provost for Graduate Students, April 11
  20. Soliciting questions – need 1 question from BGSA
  21. The Vice Provost for Graduate Studies is responsible for the encouragement of high quality graduate programs
  22. She works with committees to establish minimum standards and to review and make recommendations on proposals for all new graduate and professional programs.
  23. She is the liaison to the Provost’s Advisory Committee on Women’s Concerns, one of several activities aimed at improving the status of women at the University of Pittsburgh
  1. WSMA update (Alyce/Rachael/Nyla)
  2. Women in Medicine and Science Forum happening April 7-8
  3. Science Writing Initiative
  4. Working with Public Communication for Researchers (PCR) at CMU
  5. Retired science writer from Pittsburgh Post-Gazette is our contact
  6. Email Aliyah if you would like to be involved with the group
  1. VP of Communications report (Greg)
  2. Logo redesign & banner
  3. Banner will be made this month
  4. The design will be sent around to everyone eligible to vote for approval
  1. Grad office report (Clare/Lauren)– absent
  1. Past events
  2. Ski Trip (Ben)
  3. Attendance has been low due to organizational issues
  4. Many students drove due to last minute time change
  5. Suggestions
  6. Hold event no later than mid-February
  7. Encourage car pooling instead of paying >$700 for a bus
  8. SORC provides university vehicle rentals
  9. 7 person or 12 person rentals for <$100 for the day (driven by students)
  10. Look into alternative ski resorts in the area with more beginner slopes
  11. Helmet rental was not included in sign up prices
  12. Ski trip planning – first year rep or more senior member?
  1. Pittsburgh Glass Center (Eileen)
  2. 20 BGSA attendees, 2 non-BGSA attendees
  3. Subsidized $25 per person;BGSA spent $15 per BGSA attendee
  1. Upcoming events
  2. Grad Student Appreciation Week (Aliyah)
  3. Breakfasts throughout the week, check the website!
  4. Tuesday – BSPII 8am, Rangos 9am, Oakland 8:30am
  5. Wednesday – Hillman, 9:30am
  6. Friday – Magee 9am, Biomedical Informatics 10am
  7. Volunteer opportunities
  8. Mars Elementary School Science Fair (full – 9 volunteers) – third year attendingthis event, held on April 5
  9. STEM Saturdays, Chatham Carnegie Science Center (open) - April 9, 9:30-3pm
  10. Currently have 3-4 volunteers, now open for co-ed volunteers!
  11. Please let Aliyah know ASAP if you would like to attend
  12. Flight Trampoline Park event (Jennifer) - Bridgeville, PA
  13. Will be held a Saturday afternoon in May (the 7th or 21st)
  14. $20 for 1.5 hours, $24 for 2 hours, $3 for special socks
  15. Tickets cost $10, subsidized $17, up to $600
  16. Voted to approve $600 for the Trampoline Park trip for tickets and some snacks
  17. Symposium update (Agustin/Adolfo)
  18. Speaker has been confirmed
  19. End-of-semester outing at Postnatural History (Aliyah)
  20. Thursday or Friday in May/June
  21. Room rental, $150 max
  22. We need to provide drinks and snacks, catering
  23. Expected cost $800-850
  24. Charge $5 for tickets
  25. Will vote to approve budget once the cost is better estimated
  26. Summer Career Seminar Series
  27. Discussion tabled until next month – want to have 3 speakers (not science writing or all industry)
  1. Old business
  1. New business
  2. Pitt/UPMC event “Open Learning Environment for LBGTQIA”
  3. Society of Fellows, Harvard University
  4. 3 year research fellowship without teaching or mentoring obligations
  5. Open to recent PhDs (within 1 year)
  6. Applications due August 12, nominations from PI
  7. Kayaking [l3]event upcoming this summer

[l1]$300-350

[l2]$400-$500

[l3]We aren’t allowed to do white water rafting