Inside the Current Issue

Meet the DSC Executive Committee

Stephanie Domenici,
Co-Chair for Student Affairs

Hi! A special greeting to all of new students and welcome back to the rest of us! I am a student representative from the Environmental Psychology Program. This year is my second year serving as Co-Chair for Student Affairs. As a long time student at CUNY, I realized that while we may be at different campuses all over the city, we all have the same needs. The Doctoral Student's Council is your voice in the university. As graduate students you are all members of the Council through your student activity fee (the DSC is funded solely through that fee). Each program has at least one elected representative. Your program is entitled to a departmental allocation that your rep can apply for each semester. In addition, the DSC distributes separate cultural affairs funds to groups holding academic/cultural events or producing a publication. In addition, your student funds support the wellness center and the travel and research fund. Through the DSC you can also learn more about the various existing Chartered Students Organizations or even start your own group! Know who your rep is so you can be sure that the interests of your program are represented at the DSC. One of my main goals as Co-Chair has been to increase the awareness about the Doctoral Students Council among both students and administrators around the university. We are printing business cards for departmental representatives and they in turn can order cards for you. We can all be more visible and be seen as a part of a terrific university, as well as part of a powerful student organization. Although we are all based at the Graduate Center, we may be taking classes or working at various campuses around CUNY. The DSC, along with your program's representative, will schedule meetings at campuses to meet you and share information on your issues. In order to make this year as successful as our last, I need to hear from all of you! Come to a plenary... a party... help host one of our events... represent students by joining a committee and advocating for student issues. Look for a participation survey in your department office. Visit our web site (http://dsc.gc.cuny.edu) regularly as we will be posting our schedule of meetings, events and updates on issues and opportunities. Or contact us directly for information on participation.

Tina Lee,
Co-Chair for Business Management

Welcome to all new GC students and Welcome Back to all returning students! I am a fourth year student in the Anthropology Department and this is my 3rd year serving on the DSC. My main job at the DSC is to manage our budget and make sure that student activity fee funds are spent for student needs. We use student fees to finance services for individual students and Cultural Affairs Grants for student events - see our website for details and take advantage of them. In addition, each department and chartered organization is entitled to an allocation each semester. I encourage you to find out who your department representative is and tell them what you would like to do with this money. I am also working with members of our Steering Committee to create guidelines for a newly created Conferences, Publications, and Professional Development grants program. Groups of students can apply for money to run a conference, to publish research results/materials, or to hold a workshop on an aspect of professional development such as proposal writing or public speaking skills. Look for more information about this soon! I hope to make the process of using student funds as painless as possible. Forms and other guidelines are on our website, and I am available by phone (212-817-7892), email (tlee@gc.cuny.edu), or in my office (5499) to answer any questions or concerns you may have. I look forward to meeting you as the semester goes on, and I hope everyone has a successful, productive, and enjoyable year!

David Hamilton Golland,
Co-Chair for Communications

Greetings from the Doctoral Students' Council! My name is David Hamilton Golland, and I am the 2005-06 DSC Co-Chair for Communications. I am a fourth-year PhD student in the History program, with an MA in American History from the University of Virginia, and I am currently in my third year as a Graduate Teaching Fellow at Brooklyn College. Last year I served both as Vice Chair for Graduate Affairs of the University Student Senate and as Chairperson of the DSC Subcommittee on Wellness Center Issues. The most important thing I did last year was work to save the Wellness Center. Later this month, we will be going forward with the referendum to increase the student activity by $12 to offset the student-funded share of the Wellness Center Operating Budget. The goal at the university level continues to be full access to all campus Wellness/Health Centers for all CUNY students. Another issue that I have been concerned with is graduate tuition. Unfortunately, the Board of Trustees raised graduate tuition last June, despite my organization of two protests and several meetings with administrators at the college and university level. On the bright side, tuition remission funds for students employed in the university will be increasing by the same amount. I intend to continue working on this issue as we move towards out goal of permanent tuition remission for all students of the Graduate Center.