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GRADUATE STUDENT GOVERNMENT (GSG) UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND COLLEGE PARK REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT 9 DECEMBER 2005
1) On Dec. 1, the GSG Presidential Cabinet met for the first time. 8 of 10 appointees were present and the conversation was very informative. As a result of the meeting, legislation is under development and should be ready for your consideration early next term.
2) I’m happy to announce that earlier this week I successfully completed the first phase of the negotiations with the Graduate Council’s Student Affairs Committee to establish vacation days for all Graduate Assistants. The Committee has yet to iron out all the details on the actual policy, but we’re all in agreement on the principle and the policy’s general structure. After the Committee has finalized the text, the policy will go to the Graduate Council for their consideration. I expect the policy to pass without too much difficulty. I’ll keep you posted as things develop on this front.
3) This week, the staff and I also met with Pat Mielke from Student Affairs to get an update on graduate housing developments. I’m happy to report that Student Affairs is ready to move forward with a planned graduate housing project. Yesterday, Dr. Mielke went before the Facilities Council to get preliminary approval to issue a direct-debt bond for the construction of a new graduate housing building. I haven’t heard yet the results of that meeting, but Dr. Mielke was supremely confident that the measure would pass.
Once Facilities Council approves the bond, Dr. Mielke, Vice President John Porcari, and others will present the bond to the Board of Regents for their approval. We are trying to get on the agenda for the Board’s January meeting. As a sign of how serious the University is about graduate housing, it is extremely usual to go to the Board mid-fiscal-cycle with a bond proposal such as this. However, all parties are extremely optimistic that approval will be granted. Apparently, awareness of the graduate housing crisis has peaked, both within and outside the University.
Once the finances are secured, and Student Affairs knows how much money they will have to work with, they can move forward with site location and developer negotiations. I’m very excited about all these developments. More progress has been made on graduate housing development in the past two years than was made in the previous ten. If authorized, this new building would be the first constructed directly by ResLife in 25 years! Dr. Mielke was optimistic that a new building could be opened for the Fall of 09. I’ll keep you posted as things develop on this front.
Questions?
Posts: 104 | I am: PhD, education | Registered: Aug 2004
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