On Tuesday, March 3, members of the Graduate Student Assembly (GSA) met in the Conover Room on the Shadyside campus to discuss events, opportunities, and problems relevant to the graduate student body.

Assistant Director of Student Affairs Hallie Arena began the meeting by discussing GSA’s budget.  There were no funding requests for the March meeting, so the GSA’s budget remains at $379.

If there are no funding requests at the next meeting—which will be GSA’s last for the semester—the remaining funds would be available for the GSA to use.  Arena asked members for ideas about how to use the funds if they remain available, and members suggested spending the money on t-shirts for GSA, an “abridged” version of Mug Club (which usually costs about $500 to host) open to all graduate students, or a social event at a local bar.  No official decision on the matter was made.

Next, Arena introduced upcoming events that are particularly relevant to graduate students.

Spring Break will take place on March 9 through 13, and Arena mentioned that there will be events taking place during that week for students who remain on campus.  These can be found on My.Chatham.

The next Graduate Student Lunch will take place on Wednesday, March 18 at 11:30 a.m.  This lunch will be available for students on the Shadyside campus because the last GSA Lunch occurred at Eastside.

The next Mug Club will be on Thursday, March 19 at 4 p.m. at Eastside, and the next installment of the graduate reading series Word Circus will be on Friday, March 20 at 7:30 p.m. at Most Wanted Fine Arts in Garfield.

GSA will be hosting a Penguins Watch Party on Saturday, March 21 at 9 p.m. at Buffalo Blues on South Highland Avenue.  This event is open to all graduate students, so Arena asked GSA members to spread the word because “the more people that come, the more often [we will] get funded to do these kinds of things.”

Point Park University’s graduate student assembly is hosting their Third Annual Global Trivia Bowl on Thursday, April 2 from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.  All graduate students in the city are invited to socialize and compete to win prizes.

Also on April 2, Chatham’s undergraduate organization Naturality is hosting One Night Without Shoes at 8 p.m. in the Rea Coffee House in partnership with the MFA in Creative Writing program.  This “barefoot party” and reading event is meant to bring awareness to world poverty.

Spring Carnival will take place on Saturday, April 4 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on the AFC Patio. This family friendly event will include an Easter egg hunt, an Easter bunny for entertainment, a bounce house, music, games, and crafts.  It is open to the entire Chatham community.

Next, the GSA discussed the GSA Excellence Awards. The application is available in the Leadership, Organization, and Closing Convocation Awards section of My.Chatham.

Students may nominate themselves and apply online. If a faculty member nominates a student, they will be notified by email and asked to apply on My.Chatham.

GSA discussed minor changes in the application’s wording to make it clearer and easier for students applying.

Finally, the group held their open forum.

To cover old business, the Eastside Water Filtration System has been fixed. The lights in the OT Lab Classroom are not burned out; they have been removed deliberately due to complaints about glare on screens in the classroom. The issue of AutoCad software ejecting students from the program has not yet been resolved.

Grievances introduced at the meeting included the Eastside Cafeteria closing earlier than scheduled, difficulties with the ID scanner on Eastside’s campus main door facing Penn Avenue, and the lack of a prayer room at the Eastside Campus. Arena said she would look into these issues.

The next GSA meeting will occur on Tuesday, April 4 at 5 p.m. in the Eastside Main Conference Room.