Memorandum of Understanding (Academic Senate Committee on Committees)

On November 3rd [2020], representatives from the GSA and the Academic Senate met and agreed on the following points.

Based on our discussion, my understanding of our respective positions is as follows:
That the graduate students who are currently on the Graduate Council should attend future GSA meetings and report on the Graduate Council (as required in the GSA bylaws).
The GSA will recognize the current representatives as provisional representatives, subject to the vote of the full GSA council.
That the Graduate Council and GSA will issue a joint formal apology to the graduate students who were caught in the middle of this issue, apologising for the difficult position that the students were placed in.
That in future years, after student elections the Academic Senate should reach out to the incoming GSA Executive Board (particularly the President and the VP of Shared Governance) to coordinate the timeline for GSA nominations to committees.
That the incoming GSA VP of Shared Governance will work with the Academic Senate and keep them apprised of the status of the nomination process.
That in the future the Academic Senate will respect the GSA’s autonomy and recruitment process, though the Academic Senate and individual committees may make recommendations about representation and put forward criteria for nominees.
The Academic Senate will not nominate their own graduate students if they reject a nomination, but will first raise concerns and give the GSA the opportunity to replace candidates.
That the Academic Senate encourage students they want to see on a committee to apply through the GSA, following our nomination process.
That the GSA and the Academic Senate will discuss timelines for nominations that meet the needs of the Academic Senate committees.
That the GSA commits to respect the Academic Senate’s timelines and will submit nominations by an agreed-upon date.
The GSA VPSG will track committee attendance and will replace those with poor attendance/engagement within a rational amount of time.
The Academic Senate and the Graduate Student Association will work to establish regular information exchange meetings.