1. Announcements

• The deadline for submitting applications for the Spring Conference Grant competition and for Summer Research Grants was 5:00 p.m. on Monday, May 5. The grant committee will meet next week. Students are also reminded that they can apply in the Fall retroactively to fund Summer conferences.
  
  
• The new master of Dudley House, announced at the May 6th Faculty Meeting, is Everett Mendelsohn, Professor of History of Science.
  
  

2. President's Business

• The Core Curriculum Review committee has recommended a new Core area entitled Quantitative Reasoning. It is expected that this new area will cause a shift in the number of students enrolled in Core courses in each department, and thus in the number of graduate student teaching positions available per department. The GSC will express to the Review committee the importance of considering the effects of Core reform on graduate student teaching and will stress that appropriate accommodations for graduate students be a necessary part of Core reform.
  
  
• A new committee to examine graduate student financial aid has been created by the Dean. Membership in this committee is restricted to senior faculty.
  
  
• The Harvard Law School Child Care Center will be closing after 26 years of providing child care service for many University-affiliated families. A petition to Law School Dean Robert Clark was circulated for those who wish to protest this.
  
  
• Gabriella reported as liaison between the GSC and the Coalition for Diversity. The Coalition acts to promote a more diverse atmosphere in the faculty and student body. Their next event will be a demonstration on Graduation Day. Those interested (graduating students or otherwise) should e-mail gonzalez@wjh.
  
  
• There has been consternation expressed by students whose Internet accounts expire extremely shortly after graduation. Many contend that though their official affiliation with Harvard is over after graduation, they still have remaining business at Harvard (such as finishing papers, providing letters of recommendations for students, etc.) that merits the continued provision of an account. Adam reports there is little progress on this issue despite constant pressure from the GSAS student representative on the FAS Information Technology Committee. However, the Dean's Office can intervene on a student's behalf on a case-by-case basis; contact the GSC at gsc@gsc.student.harvard.edu for more information about pursuing this option.
  
  

3. Matters Arising from the minutes of April 2, 1997

• The proposal to allow graduate students to take language courses for a grade of Satisfactory or Unsatisfactory was not voted on in the May 6 faculty meeting due to time constraints and resultant loss of quorum. This proposal, which has passed the Comittee on Graduate Education and the Faculty Council, will be voted on at the 20th May meeting of the faculty.
  
  
• Paul reported on the recent Committee on Graduate Education meeting at which the GSC's proposal for regular review of graduate student progress was received quite coolly. The proposal was deemed unproductive by the Faculty members, though other proposals for the same process were offered. The GSC will examine time-to-degree data by subfield and compare it with similar departments from peer institutions to determine whether there are Harvard departments which take much longer than average to graduate students. There was much discussion on this issue, trying to determine whether complaints about poor student review processes were dependent on the discipline, the faculty, or perhaps the institution itself. CGE will be discussing Faculty advising and mentorship in general during the 1997-98 academic year.
  
  

4. Athletic Facilities Concerns

5. Treasurer's Report

• The last budget committee meeting was held Monday, April 5. At the meeting, $292.54 was awarded to the Harvard University Lingustics Club (HULC), and $490.00 was awarded to the Harvard Organization of Portuguese Speakers (HOPS).
  
  
• The latest Financial Statement, covering the period to May 1, was presented to the Council.
  
  
• The protocol for reimbursement shall be more strictly adhered to in the future, in order to adhere to newly-enforced guidelines on taxation. This means all groups must get Tax Identification Numbers and separate bank accounts. The treasurer of each organization shall arrange for reimbursements to be paid by Harvard to that account, then subsequently reimburse individuals from that account.
  
  
• Receipts for events funded by the GSC must be received by June 30, the end of the GSC's fiscal year. However, the Treasurer will not refuse receipts submitted as late as the beginning of the next academic year.
  
  
• A "Graduate Student's Guide" to Harvard was proposed. The guide would contain academic and bureaucratic details particularly important to graduate students. Up to $2000 was allotted to produce this guide (editing, publishing, etc.), with the goal to seek advertising for the booklet to reduce or perhaps eliminate its net cost.
  
  

6. Proposed 1997-98 Budget

Other Business