Computer Science (CS), Applied Math, and Statistics grad students gathered for a departmental meeting on December 8, 2008. CS GSA reps Chris Crick and Eli Kim hosted.

GPSS Physical Sciences Senator Leigh Momii introduced herself and spoke briefly about upcoming mixers at GPSCY and the annual GPSS ski trip.

CS TA Liaison Dan Leyzberg introduced himself and invited CS grad students to voice any complaints regarding TA hours, assignments, or workflow to him.

Chris and Eli updated students that

• GSA is continuing its ongoing effort to lobby for affordable dental care for grad students. We told students that while the Grad School searches for viable options, emergency funding or loans are always available to students who face emergent dental problems.
• GSA continues to advocate for the return of discounted prescription birth control for grad students.
• GSA is exploring advocating for discounts to prescription plus coverage as an alternative to dental coverage.
• the Grad School has, as of Fall 2008, guaranteed 12-month funding for all graduate students. This is an improvement for mathematical science, humanities, social science students who previously were guaranteed 9-month funding, with questionable summer funding. Whereas CS grad students have in the past left campus to pursue summer internships, they now have a guaranteed option to stay and conduct research at Yale.
• Whitehall residents who faced the closure of half the units in their graduate family apartment complex, and the functional destruction of their communal space, to make room for expanded faculty childcare through Edith B. Jackson Child Care, sought GSA's and other advocates' help, and had prompted Yale's Provost to meet with them to halt changes to Whitehall. UPDATE: As of January 20, 2009, Yale has announced the cancellation of plans to cut into Whitehall.

We also suggested effective ways for students to have their complaints addressed, regarding various Yale services. We recommended that whenever they encounter a problem with, for example shuttles, housing, or the gym, that students contact the Yale administrative office directly responsible for that service, as well as Chris, Eli and Dean Butler. Lately, Yale administrative offices are increasingly responsive to student feedback. When they are not, GSA and Dean Butler can advocate for improvements.

We asked students to let us know their concerns. Students raised the following:
* Grad students feel excluded from many parts of campus life and feel disconnected from undergrads in particular. Students described this as feeling like, "second class citizens," citing denial of access to physical spaces and encounters with undergrads who seemed largely ignorant of graduate students' existence, work, or lives. Several students suggested that perhaps higher level administrators are simply not aware that many grad students share this sentiment, and requested that GSA conduct a survey of grad students' feelings of exclusion at Yale.
* As always, CS grad students raised questions about taxes. Do we file them differently from regular employees?
* Students asked whether dental care was on the horizon.
* Students thanked GSA for organizing a 2-4 review of the PhD in CS in Fall 2007, citing the actualization of requested improvements, such as increased hires of young faculty, particularly in applied CS areas like Systems.

Following the meeting one student complained that Eli spoke too fast to be comprehensible. Eli apologized and will note this in the future.

We observed that the inclusion of Applied Math and Statistics students was neither disruptive nor difficult, and that it resulted in interest from one student in representing Applied Math students to the Assembly.