Officers Present: Carlos Lopez, President; Ian Richmond, Vice President; Zoltan Maliga, treasurer; Stephanie Abundo, Secretary.

Departments NOT Represented: Anthropology, Astronomy, Business Economics, Chemical Physics, Classics, Comparative Literature, Earth and Planetary Sciences, East Asian Languages and Civilizations, Economics, Germanic Languages and Literature, Government, History, History of Art and Architecture, History of Science, Inner Asian and Altaic Studies, Molecular and Cellular Biology, Organizational Behavior/Decision Science, Philosophy, Political Economy and Government, Psychology, Public Policy, Slavic Languages and Literature, Sociology, Statistics, Study of Religion

1. Announcements
   • GSC Conference and Summer Research Grants: Application deadline is Monday, May 10. Completed applications are due in the GSC Office by 5:00 p.m.

   • Excellence in Mentoring Award: The deadline to nominate faculty mentors for this award is March 15. Nomination forms are available at the GSC office, or web-site. The awards will be presented at a reception Thursday, April 29 at 5:30 p.m.

   • GSC Open House: Wednesday, March 17, 1999 5 p.m.-6 p.m. This open house is a chance for those interested in running for a GSC office to learn more about the officer positions from the current GSC officers.

   • GSAS Commencement Marshal Nominations: Deadline is March 15. Marshals lead the commencement procession. Selection is based on Harvard community involvement. To nominate someone, contact your department administrator.

   • GSC Student-Parent Brunch: Saturday, April 10, 11 a.m.-2 p.m. in Dudley House. Food, fun and enetertainment for parents and their children will be provided.

   • Meeting with President Rudenstine: Monday, March 22, 1999 5 p.m.-6 p.m. This is the GSC's annual meeting with President Rudenstine. University-wide issues of concern to graduate students will be discussed. Those interested in attending the meeting should email the GSC.

   • April GSC Meeting: April 7 in the Graduate Student Lounge, Dudley House. Elections for officers for the 1999-2000 academic year will be held.

   
   
   
2. Matters Arising from the minutes of February 1999 meeting: None.

   
   
   

3. President's Business
   • Open Meeting with GSAS Dean Wolff: This agenda-less meeting was held February 17. Childcare and summer financial aid were discussed. No funding is available through GSAS for childcare. GSAS is moving towards 12-month funding for graduate students.

   
   
   
4. Opening of Nominations for 1999-2000 GSC Officers and Committee Representatives
   • Nominations were opened for officer and committee representatives. Nominations close on April 7. Elections will be held at the April 7 GSC meetings.

   
   
   
5. Treasurer's Report
   • The GSC approved $300 in group-funding for the Harvard East Asia Society. There is still plenty of funding available for student groups for this academic year.

   
   
   
6. Committee Reports
   • FAS Library Committee:A Harvard ID is now required to enter Widener. The Harvard-MIT data center has received a NSF grant for a virtual data center. The renovations of the Widener stacks are on schedule. After commencement, the Massachusetts Avenue entrance to Widener will be closed, and sections of the stacks will be closed for renovations.

   • Graduate Student Health Advisory Committee (GSHAC): GSHAC will hold its next meeting March 9, at 4 p.m. in the Fireside Room of Dudley House. Those interested in graduate student health issues are invited.

   • Harvard Graduate Council: The HGC is planning a party in April, and a Fun Run in mid-April.

   • Excellence in Mentoring Awards: As of March 3rd, 54 nominations were received for 36 faculty nominees.

   • Ad-hoc Group meeting with Dean McCavana and Ellen Fox: : The GSAS Student Affairs Office is offering Advising Workshops: This term workshops will cover advising in the early years of graduate student life. Next fall, panels will discuss advising in the later years. Advising in the Natural Sciences will be held March 11, 4:00-5:30 p.m. in Science Center 309.

   
   
   
7. Discussion: Proposed changes to the GSC Constitution and Bylaws
   • The draft of the proposed GSC constitution and bylaws was distributed to the GSC together with the current constitution. The main changes from the old constitution are: the facilities officer position was eliminated, an executive committee was added, and four at-large representatives were added.

     RESOLVED: The proposed changes were accepted to be voted on in May.

   
   
   
8. Graduate Advising
   • The faculty report "Faculty Committee on the Structure of Ph.D. Dissertation Advising Report" was mailed to all FAS faculty. The GSC document "A Proposal on Strategies for Effective Advising" was approved by the FAS Committee on Graduate Education, and will be sent to faculty and Directors of Graduate Studies.

     These documents are meant to initiate dialog on advising between faculty and students within the departments. They can be viewed from the GSC web site.

     The results of the GSAS Advising Survey, which was conducted at fall registration, are now available. The results will be distributed to student contact-people within the different departments.

   
   
   

Respectfully submitted,
Stephanie Abundo