Category: Updates

Council of Graduate Students (April, 2020)

leow.11 on
1. COVID-19. Please fill out this survey: www.go.osu.edu/covid19studentneeds
The most important takeaway from this meeting is that they (the administration) don’t know what they don’t know, so we have to speak up out all of the issues we are encountering due to the pandemic (even though it’s not our job). The easiest way to do that is to fill out this form so CGS tries to fix it/find an answer, but you are also welcome to email people directly: (Provost) Bruce McPherson, (Dean of Arts and Sciences) Gretchen Ritter, (Dean of Graduate School) Alicia Bertone, and, of course, our chair Laura Podalsky.
1.1. the CGS chief of staff Jack Brandl.8 is part of the COVID-19 task force. If you’d like to be part of that or want them to address a specific issue, please reach out to him.
 
2. Hiring pause. There is a hiring pause of non-essential employees until June 30. I have spoken to Adam Keller and he said this does not apply to (few) GTAs that will be hired for the summer term.
 
3. Ray Travel Award and Career Development Grant. these two funding sources have been canceled for the first funding period of the next academic year. It was for travel from July – September. I believe there is an exception for the Career Development Grant if you were not applying for travel but for other reasons (taking a summer online course, for example).
 
4. Delegate elections. I have enjoyed serving as your delegate for CGS this year and hope to do it again next year, but applications are open until April 30. Elections are from April 24 to May 1. To apply, go here: https://cgs.osu.edu/get-involved/delegate-application

Council of Graduate Students (March, 2020)

leow.11 on
Change to our Contract dates. For some reason, the Graduate School is changing our contract start dates from August 15 to August 1 starting Fall 2020. If you can foresee any issues this might cause, please let Leila know. If you come across any issues when it does happen, please let me know as well. They still know know how/if this will have a negative impact on our lives.
Global Gateway Grant (deadline extended) until March 13. This is to support research dissertation abroad. More info here: https://cgs.osu.edu/funding-opportunities/global-gateway-grant/ 
 
Grad Student Health and Wellness Expo, Wednesday April 15th from 3PM-6PM in the RPAC (Meeting Rooms 1 &2). The event is run and hosted by grad students. The expo will feature free food and light refreshments, a multitude of student resource tables and health services, and lots of giveaways. Come and go as you please and enter to win a set of AirPods, giftcards, fitness packages, and more! 
Suicide Prevention: Out of the Darkness Campus Walk on April 4th from 9am-11am. The Out of the Darkness Campus Walk is sponsored by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. If you do not have a team to join, you are free to join the “Council of Graduate Students (CGS)” team! For more information – see here: https://suicideprevention.osu.edu/outreach/student-involvement/out-of-the-darkness-walk/.
Bike Hub. The Bike Hub by/at the RPAC will open after Spring Break.
Lyft. If you’ve had bad experiences with the partnership of OSU and Lyft (which replaced Student Safe Ride), please let me know. They are collecting this to make a case that this partnership is not serving the best interests of (grad) students.

Department Council (March, 2020)

leow.11 on

The Department Council met last Monday to discuss the General Education (GE) Implementation Plan. The College of Arts and Sciences Faculty Senate (ASC) will be voting in April on the Implementation Plan as well as on a motion (put forth by two ASC senators) related to the plan. Professor Podalsky wants to make sure that everyone is a) aware of the Plan and what it might mean for our department; and b) able to provide feedback to Eugenia Romero (as our senator) and Ana del Sarto (as our alternate senator) before the vote.

 

Professor Romero put together a PowerPoint listing the main components of the plan that I have attached to this email along with the GE committee’s final report if you’re interested in learning more.

 

The main take-aways are that a) Arts and Sciences students will still need 12 hours in a foreign language; and b) courses already approved for GE status will have expedited review for inclusion in the new GE. The faculty are at the beginning stages of discussing options for modifying current courses and creating new courses that will satisfy the new GE requirements. This is a long process as the new GE plan will not begin until Autumn 2022 with an option for students entering in 2021 to elect to complete the new GE.

 

Council of Graduate Students (October, 2019)

leow.11 on
1. New GEs. In AU2021 OSU is going to implement a new General Education Curriculum (more info here: https://oaa.osu.edu/general-education). According to CGS, they still have no idea how this is going to impact us in terms of teaching assignments and enrollment/admissions to graduate programs. If you have strong feelings and opinions about this, they are having a meeting to discuss these changes and potential impact on GTAs on October 24th at 4:30pm in the Ohio Union Senate Chambers.
2. Ray Travel Award/Career Development Grant. If you’re planning on presenting at a conference or will be part of an activity that takes place between Jan 1 and March 31 2020, the funding period for these two grants are now open and close on November 1st.
3. Emergency Funds. For the next 5 years (starting next year, I believe), the Graduate School will have $20,000 dollars per year to support graduate students in emergency situations that cause “a dire need.” Keep this in mind for the future, in case you need it. They are still working through the details, but I imagine you could potentially use this for unexpected expensive medical bills, for example.
For questions, please reach out to Leila:  vieira.31@buckeyemail.osu.edu