GOVERNANCE
President/Vice-President: Two co-presidents will lead the GSA: at minimum, this role involves overseeing all committees and running one general body meeting per semester which all grads are expected to attend. Presidents should evaluate the function of our GSA at the end of each academic year, and spearhead any necessary changes. Co-presidents will each serve a two year term to pass on institutional memory. Incoming second-years choose one person among themselves by July (before they start their second academic year); whomever is chosen will then serve as co-president for the subsequent two years.
Treasurer: The outgoing president will serve as Treasurer during their fourth year, managing all budgets, collecting receipts from events, submitting reimbursements, and passing on their financial knowledge to the senior co-president. The treasurer will stay up-to-date on funding guidelines from the Graduate & Professional Student Assembly (GPSA) Finance Commission (which funds nearly all the GSA’s events outlined in this document).
Faculty Meeting Representative: Meetings generally take place several times every semester at somewhat regular intervals, i.e. always at 3 pm on a set day of the week. At each meeting the rep should take notes on the announcements, discussion and any decisions that faculty vote on. After the meeting, the rep should compile these notes into an email (usually 1-2 pages) that succinctly summarizes the major points from the meeting, and highlight those that in some way affect the graduate students (e.g. course curriculum, new hires, TA-ships, etc.). Note that the grad rep works with the chair to determine what can and can’t be shared from the faculty meeting. The grad rep thus has some responsibility to advocate for graduate students before, during, and after the meeting.
SKILL SHARING/ADVOCACY
Equity: This committee works to increase equality and inclusion in EEB, and to reduce implicit bias in our community. Equality committee members serve as liaisons among graduate students, faculty, administration and other groups on campus such as The Office of Academic Diversity Initiatives, the Office of Inclusion and Student Engagement, The Office of Global Learning International Services, etc. This committee will organize
and facilitate at least one annual equity-oriented workshop. Additionally, it will invite leaders from other groups on campus to facilitate equity-oriented workshops for EEB. Finally, this committee will perform a climate survey every three years to assess the wellbeing of our community, analyze and compile results, and facilitate focus groups to discuss the results and next steps.
Consider Cornell [2025 tentatively not happening]: This recruitment weekend is focused on bringing prospective students from diverse backgrounds to Cornell for workshops and a preview of what life as a Cornell Graduate Student is like. This effort has recently become a University-Wide program.
DEPARTMENTAL SERVICE
Richard B. Root Invited Speaker: The seminar occurs during the normal EEB seminar time in the Spring semester. Transportation and lodging arrangements should be made at least three months prior to the speaker’s arrival. About a month before the seminar, the committee should begin planning the speaker’s schedule while at Cornell. The committee can also coordinate a departmental potluck, usually held at a faculty member’s residence. While the speaker is in Ithaca, the committee is responsible for the speaker’s transportation to and from the airport, to and from campus, and to various other locations. Once the seminar is over, the committee is in charge of starting the nomination process for the next year, coordinating the voting process, and contacting the winning speaker. This selection process should be complete by April. Meet with previous organizers to transition responsibilities and institutional knowledge.
EEB Departmental Symposium: The graduate symposium is a two day mini-symposium of presentations by graduate students and post-docs in EEB and other departments held in December. The committee is in charge of scheduling the Morrison Room, compiling abstracts, and setting a schedule for the speakers as well as moderating the sessions and hosting a reception afterward. Meet with previous organizers to transition responsibilities and institutional knowledge.
Recruitment Weekend: This committee is in charge of planning most of the events for recruitment weekend and admitted students weekend including a “special” SNEEB and post-dinner talks on Friday, plus a dinner. Meet with and/or email previous organizers to transition responsibilities and institutional knowledge (See GSA google drive to find past documents for this committee).
Staff Appreciation: Committee members are responsible for hosting and planning a Staff Appreciation event that occurs around early- to mid-May. Schedule the event around mid-April. A typical venue is the Corson-Mudd Atrium at 10:30-11:00 AM to ensure staff can be there. The committee recruits baked goods from grad students, creates thank you cards for the staff, and sets up and cleans up the event!
Art/Apparel (NEW 2024): The art/apparel committee organizes an art competition in the department to select a design to be printed on merchandise (with prior approval from Cornell for printing). Organizers are also responsible for soliciting orders and distributing merchandise in the fall semester. In the spring, each member of the committee will lead an art making event of their choosing.
RESOURCES
Webmaster: Webmaster’s responsibilities include upkeep of the EEB graduate student website and maintaining the EEB grad list-serve (e.g., delete those who have graduated and add incoming cohort members). Additional maintenance of the EEB grad website includes refreshing the grad photos by reaching out to folks currently in the department for their awesome field or lab photos, as well as posting upcoming departmental events. In late August/early September, coordinate with the past webmaster to ensure knowledge and resources are transferred. Throughout the academic year, work with the resources/publication board organizer to post about the updated ‘Grants Database’ and/or highlight graduate student publications and kudos (aka recognition of EEB grad students)!
Resources/Publication Board: (1) Pub Board: Three times each year, update the bulletin board near the second floor entrance with recent publications authored or co-authored by current grad students. Send an email to the grad list requesting copies of new publications to update the board around September, January, and May. Prioritize updating the pub board before recruitment weekend in the spring! (2) Grants Database: At the beginning of each fall semester, send out requests for new grants received by EEB grad students. Ask for the grant name, contact (website), keywords (eligibility, types of projects funded), approximate deadline, whether passing your a-exam was necessary, and students who have successfully been funded by this grant. Responsibilities include updating the site as needed. Coordinate with the webmaster to post these awards on the EEB grad website. See PubsBoard Folder located in the EEB GSA drive (EEB GSA → Committee Documents → Descriptions → PubsBoard Folder) for more information and resources.
SOCIAL
Fall Welcome Picnic: Near the beginning of the academic year, the department hosts a picnic to welcome new graduate students as well as returning department members. The committee is responsible for purchasing ingredients for grilling and some beverages that the department will pay for. The committee is also responsible for coordinating dishes amongst the department, including side dishes, desserts, and beverages. Additional committee responsibilities include renting either Taughannock State Park or Stewart Park pavilions, setting up/cleaning the pavillion, and coordinating carpools/rides so everyone can come to the picnic. In past years, the committee has sent a shared/editable spreadsheet to recruit volunteers to give rides, be the grill master, bring shareable food/drinks, and help set-up/clean-up!
Tea Time: The committee organizes an afternoon or morning dedicated to tea and socializing at least once a month (more tea times are greatly appreciated and encouraged). Baked goods are usually donated by whomever would like to, while tea and coffee are funded by the GSA budget. At the beginning of each semester, the tea time coordinators will send out a sign-up sheet for other people to bring in cookies and host tea. Each week, the host will help the tea coordinator to set up tea and send email reminders to the grad list.
SNEEB: The committee helps with around 5-6 SNEEBs EEB hosts per semester. SNEEB committee responsibility includes convincing and encouraging faculty to sponsor a SNEEB, helping the faculty and their lab set up and clean up, and ordering pizza. Please meet with and/or email previous organizers (see most up-to-date members on EEB grad website) to transition responsibilities and institutional knowledge.
Holiday Party: The Holiday Party happens around the first or second week of December in the Corson-Mudd Atrium. The committee is responsible for asking volunteers to bring food (e.g., pot-luck style) and sending a sign-up sheet prior to the party for dishes and the dessert competition.Judges for the dessert competition are chosen by the Holiday Party committee. Additionally, one committee member will contact someone or everyone in the new cohort for their cohort video to share with everyone at the Holiday Party. The committee is also responsible for decorating, setting up before the event, cleaning the place until it is spotless, and packing up/returning all the stuff that was brought. Outside of the dessert competition and the cohort video, the committee will decide as a team any additional activities. In past years, there has been raffles, trivia, and academic karaoke during dinner. For any questions, please meet with and/or email previous organizers as soon as possible in September/October to facilitate the transition.
Additional Social Events
Halloween (NEW 2024): Advertise for, and facilitate, the EEB/NBB door decorating competition/family friendly trick-or-treating event. Occurs during the late, spooky October time (aka on/or close to Halloween when folks have costumes). The committee also sets up a voting poll for folks to vote on their favorite door.