Graduate Student Council

Advocacy Committee

Chair: Anna Beck
Members: Rosemary Rohde (URS Advocate), Evans Boney, Ronnie Bryan, Dan Bower, Danielle Brown, Joel Louwsma, Havala Pye
Meetings: noon on the 3rd Thursday of the Month at the Caltech Y multipurpose room
gscadvoc@caltech.edu

The Advocacy Committee is responsible for representing graduate student interests to the institute.

Healthcare

Housing

Stipends

Discrimination and Harassment

New Grad Health Care Survey! Click here to take survey. It closes on October 3, 2008. Prize drawing for those who complete it!
In 2007, based on a student body wide poll, the GSC recommended to the administration that we keep our current level of coverage and suggested that graduate students would be willing to pay a small fee to help cover the rising costs (poll results). For the most part, these recommendations were followed: over the next two years, graduate students pay an additional $150 and then $300 annually. This plan will expire, bringing us back to the drawing board for a new plan that will begin 2009/2010. The GSC plans to work with the administration to choose a plan that covers the areas most important to graduate students -- in order to do so, we need your input. Email us with your thoughts, comments, or questions. The GSC was proud to offer graduate students discounted West Side Rentals memberships, funded by MHF, for the first time in Spring 2008. Nearly every membership was used, showing the graduate student interest in this type of housing search option. More subsidized rental subscriptions will hopefully become available either this Fall or by lottery time (around March) in Spring 2009. Until then, keep checking the website for updates and very soon (October/November) for the Housing and Standard of Living Survey!

Virtual Suggestions/Comments Box:
Please email GSCHous-list@caltech.edu with any comments or concerns related to Caltech Housing and suggestions for assistance the GSC can provide in searching for non-Caltech accomodations in the area. The Graduate Studies Office annually makes a minimum stipend recommendation based on their estimate of the cost of living in Pasadena. These recommendations are then either followed or not, on an option by option basis. Our most recent data indicates that 9 options have at least 1 graduate student paid below the recommended minimum, and 1 option's mean stipend is below the recommended minimum. The GSC Advocacy Committee plans to keep this issue in the Institute dialogue and hopefully find a solution to help support these students.
Attention students with children:
Caltech Child Care Assistance Program is accepting applications August 18 to October 1, 2008. The GSC Advocacy Committee also works to provide the graduate community with resources to deal with discrimination and harassment on campus. Our newly created position of Under-Represented Students (URS) Advocate will work with the relevant offices to raise awareness about these issues and disseminate practical information about what to do if you feel discriminated against or harassed. These offices are:
Minority Student Education
Women's Center
International Students Program
Counseling Center

Healthcare	Housing	Stipends	Discrimination and Harassment
New Grad Health Care Survey! Click here to take survey. It closes on October 3, 2008. Prize drawing for those who complete it! In 2007, based on a student body wide poll, the GSC recommended to the administration that we keep our current level of coverage and suggested that graduate students would be willing to pay a small fee to help cover the rising costs (poll results). For the most part, these recommendations were followed: over the next two years, graduate students pay an additional $150 and then $300 annually. This plan will expire, bringing us back to the drawing board for a new plan that will begin 2009/2010. The GSC plans to work with the administration to choose a plan that covers the areas most important to graduate students -- in order to do so, we need your input. Email us with your thoughts, comments, or questions.	The GSC was proud to offer graduate students discounted West Side Rentals memberships, funded by MHF, for the first time in Spring 2008. Nearly every membership was used, showing the graduate student interest in this type of housing search option. More subsidized rental subscriptions will hopefully become available either this Fall or by lottery time (around March) in Spring 2009. Until then, keep checking the website for updates and very soon (October/November) for the Housing and Standard of Living Survey! Virtual Suggestions/Comments Box: Please email GSCHous-list@caltech.edu with any comments or concerns related to Caltech Housing and suggestions for assistance the GSC can provide in searching for non-Caltech accomodations in the area.	The Graduate Studies Office annually makes a minimum stipend recommendation based on their estimate of the cost of living in Pasadena. These recommendations are then either followed or not, on an option by option basis. Our most recent data indicates that 9 options have at least 1 graduate student paid below the recommended minimum, and 1 option's mean stipend is below the recommended minimum. The GSC Advocacy Committee plans to keep this issue in the Institute dialogue and hopefully find a solution to help support these students. Attention students with children: Caltech Child Care Assistance Program is accepting applications August 18 to October 1, 2008.	The GSC Advocacy Committee also works to provide the graduate community with resources to deal with discrimination and harassment on campus. Our newly created position of Under-Represented Students (URS) Advocate will work with the relevant offices to raise awareness about these issues and disseminate practical information about what to do if you feel discriminated against or harassed. These offices are: Minority Student Education Women's Center International Students Program Counseling Center