The Graduate Students Association is the voice of graduate students on campus. The association meets for forum every three weeks and takes positions on current issues affecting graduate students.
A regular forum meeting was scheduled to occur Wednesday. Because of the shooting and the lockdown earlier that day, the Graduate Students Association held the meeting at 4:15 p.m. Thursday in Kerckhoff 316.
Agenda
- In light of the murder-suicide Wednesday, the forum discussed whether school administration should introduce systemized instructions for similar lockdowns in the future. They suggested increasing accessibility of the BruinAlert system to all students and visitors on campus. They also suggested organizing shooting drills on campus for students to prepare for such emergencies.
- GSA president Michael Skiles presented the revised 2016-2017 baseline budget proposal for the association. Skiles said $3,000 remain in the pre-surplus 2015-2016 budget. This year, with the anticipated surplus of $22,000 that Associated Students UCLA will allocate, the total pre-surplus 2016-2017 budget is $25,000. Skiles added he hopes the budget can support more events for graduate students.
- On behalf of vice president of external affairs Andrés Schneider, Skiles presented a budget of $38,750 to refurnish the GSA office in Kerckhoff 316. Skiles said the budget roughly covers replacement of desks, chairs, a couch and new carpets. He added the budget will also include taxes, fees of delivery and future maintenance. The GSA Discretionary Fund will cover the costs.
Officer report
- Forum member Lindy Comstock said her office is investigating the potential shortage of teaching assistants in the next school year because of an increase in the enrollment of undergraduate students. She urged forum members to help distribute inquiry surveys to each of their departments to get confirmation about the shortage and potential solutions.