2009-2010 GSA Secretary

Trina Filan is the 2009-2010 GSA Secretary.

Trina is a Ph.D. candidate in the Geography Graduate Group. Although she is no great fan of wiki'ing (if that's not a word, it should be - someone contact Stephen Colbert and Merriam-Webster!), she nonetheless will attempt to maintain an informative and timely wiki page for the benefit of the graduate student community at UC Davis.

Officer report, 06-09-10. Two items:

• Commuter grad student and post-doc survey (done this academic year) has resulted in a slew of data that I will be turning into several reports (to be given to the Retention Taskforce, TAPS, and the Institute of Transportation Studies) that hopefully will benefit grads and post-docs. I also will be creating a webpage on the GSA wiki highlighting commuter resources (such as hard-to-find TAPS items and podcasts for your commute) and a new Facebook group to connect commuters either for commuting purposes or as a way to foster off-campus, interdisciplinary intellectual community.
  

• SHIP meeting held June 3. Basically a discussion of the new GSHIP program UCD will be participating in. This system-wide plan makes the UC system the leader on the nation for innovation in grad student health insurance plans. Medical will be provided through Anthem Blue Cross; vision through Anthem Blue Cross; dental through Delta Dental. New benefits begin fall term 2010. Costs: $682/term; $1023/semester; $2046/year. Details are still in flux - will be updated on Student Health Center website soon. Some details currently known: 90/10 payment; $10,000 annual cap on pharmacy benefits; dependent coverage will be available; COBRA and conversion options to maintain coverage after leaving school. USHIP will try to enter a system-wide program, based on the experiences of creating the GSHIP program (and to forestall huge fee increases in the 2011-12 academic year). Not sure how committee structure will work for this new system-wide program. It's nice to have an on-campus committee helping to make decisions or at least give feedback to UCOP GSHIP committee.

Officer report for 03-03-10 GA meeting. Two items:

• The 2/16 stress-reduction workshop had 8 people – pretty good, I think! If you would like to organize a workshop for your group/program/department, just email Thomas Roe – troe@ucdavis.edu. He will be happy to help you.
  

• 02-25 SHIP committee meeting – vote to add a 1-800 Nurse Line to the plan for next year – only $1.56 added to fees for the year. GSHIP fees – assuming we are still on the current plan– will increase about 4% from $1959 to $2048.

Officer report for 12-02-09 GA meeting. Two items:

• If you are freaked out, distressed, ticked off, or depressed about the general state of the university these days - favorite study spots being closed without you getting a say, departments shrinking, funding disappearing - then you may need a mental health break. Friday, January 15, from 12-1:30, Moss Room (3rd Floor, MU), a CAPS counselor will lead a mental health break/stress reduction workshop for graduate students. This is a chance to find ways to work through your stress or even vent a little, but it's not a chance to protest. Come and be chill with us!
  

• The House offers excellent stress-reduction resources without having to make an appointment with CAPS. The House has a yoga room, a meditation room, a biorhythms room, and - best of all - a massage chair, which is very, very soothing. The House also offers peer counseling, but the counselors this year are undergrads. If you are interested in becoming a grad peer counselor, training begins in spring for the subsequent year.

See also 2008-2009 GSA Secretary.

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