Harris Follies Clips

For those of you who missed it or if you just want to check it out again, here are some clips from the 2009 Harris School Follies.

Please enjoy!

“Harris Knock Life”

 

Introducing…the Harris Mock-scot!

 

Welcome

Welcome to the new PPSA blog – our belated attempt to join the 21st century!

PPSA hopes to use this site to keep you informed about whats going on at Harris; but more importantly, to let you know how we’re spending your Student Fees.

To your right, you will find the PPSA Calendar – complete with a snazzy RSS Feed! – to keep you up-to-date on Harris School events and activities.  Its best use, though, is to let you know when and where you can find free food and “beverages,” and so you can plan accordingly.

Up top, you will find the tabs for About PPSA, where you can learn more about who we are and what we do; Documents, which contain helpful resources for HSOs; Ombudsman, so you can send your complaints about the printers, mouse traps, and anything else you can think of; and PPSA Social, with more detailed information on Harris School social events.

We hope to update this site regularly, so please check back here often.  If you have any suggestions of things to add to the site, please add comments below or email me at ydoron@uchicago.edu.  Thanks.

 

PPSA Elections

Hello all! Last week PPSA held its annual first year representative elections. Voter turnout was fairly high with about 2/3 of first years voting. After the first round of voting all positions, but one had been decided. After a tie for the Career Services Representative position, we held a run-off election to determine a final winner. In the end, these are the new PPSA officers:

Secretary-General: Yoni Doron

Academic Representative: CC DuBois

Auction Representative: Alison Rozema

Budget Representative: David Wickstrom

Career Services Representative: Allison Joseph

Social Representative: Kristin Paulson

Congratulations to all of our new officers and a big thank you to all the candidates who participated!

 

Grad Council Meeting Summary – Oct. 6, 2008

The first Graduate Council meeting of the 2008-09 school year took place on Monday night.  Subsequent meetings will take place on Mondays from 6 – 7 pm, on the “even” weeks during the Fall Quarter, in GSB 010.

As Graduate Council Representative, I intend to write a brief summary of each meeting, including and especially any issues that come before the Council for a vote.  Please leave any comments, suggestions or feedback you may have in the Comments section below, or contact me at my school e-mail address: mdeuser (at) uchicago (dot) edu.

***

First things first, let’s introduce your Grad Council officers:

Internal Chair:
Anthony Green, Physical Sciences Ph.D. Candidate
AHGreen@uchicago.edu

NOTE: Anthony is the interim Internal Chair, and will soon be replaced by a vote of the Graduate Council.  His expected successor is Rod Edwards (redwards@uchicago.edu)

President:
Matt Kennedy
mkennedy@uchicago.edu

Vice President of Administration:
Julian Quintanilla
jquintanilla@uchicago.edu

ORCSA Liaison:
Jigna Shah
jigna@uchicago.edu

NOTE: The Grad School Planning Committee is seeking new members.  If you would like to join or request additional information, please contact Jigna at jigna@uchicago.edu.

***

Graduate Council Sponsorships:

The Graduate Council has $10,000 in funding available this year for graduate students and groups.  The stated purpose of the sponsorships is to provide funding for students, “unofficial” student groups and/or RSOs who either require additional funding beyond that awarded to them by ORCSA and their School, or who do not qualify for such funding for some reason.

You can apply for a sponsorship.  Sponsorships are awarded by a majority vote of Graduate Council members at each Graduate Council meeting.  In order to apply for funding, you will need to prepare a funding proposal, detailing the amount of money requested and and how you intend to spend it.  This can be something as simple as a single Power Point slide.  If you wish to apply for funding in person before the Graduate Council,  or if you wish to have me submit a written proposal on your behalf, please contact me at mdeuser (at) uchicago (dot) edu.

On Monday, a law student presented a sponsorship proposal for he and three other law students to attend a law conference in Detroit.  He requested $98.50 per person for food, travel, registration and lodging expenses, or a total of $394.  

I asked whether there were any guidelines on what criteria to use when awarding sponsorships, and Anthony Green told me there were none, officially.  I asked for a record of how last year’s sponsorship budget of $5,000 was awarded, and Anthony said it existed but was not available at that time.  He has since promised to send me a this spending detail before the next Grad Council meeting.

Since this proposal sounded like pork, and since I had no idea how to make an informed decision about whether to vote in favor of it, I voted against.  A resolution to award half of the requested funding ($197), with the additional provision that this funding grant be considered “unusual,” passed by a 7 – 2 vote.

 

Graduate Issues Committee:

I have been appointed Chair of the Graduate Issues Committee, which serves as a bridge between the graduate student community and the larger University student government.  General and global issues pertaining to graduate student life fall under the purview of this Committee, which will work closely with Bill Michaels, U of C’s VP of Student Affairs.

Among the major issues I intend to address via the Grad Issues Committee are: (i) bringing the CTA’s unlimited-ride U-Pass program to the University of Chicago; (ii) easing new city parking restrictions on streets south of the Midway (our fellow South Campus students at the Law School and SSA will also be interested in this issue); (iii) encouraging the University to make available space for a new Hyde Park Community Garden in case it builds, as planned, the new Milton Friedman Institute on the grounds of the current Community Garden at 61st and Dorchester.

Please contact me if there are other issues you would like the Graduate Issues Committee to investigate.

 

Graduate Student Funding Issues:

Cathy Cohen (cjcohen@uchicago.edu), Professor of Political Science and Deputy Provost for Graduate Education, spoke briefly before the Graduate Council about graduate student funding, healthcare, and teaching assignments.  These issues apply primarily to Ph.D. students.

Grad student representatives from the Humanities programs peppered her with questions and requests for additional funding.  Ms. Cohen replied that there is a feeling “among stakeholders” that grad students have gotten a lot lately, including last year’s $50 million graduate aid initiative, and that “other constituencies” feel it is their turn.  When pressed, Ms. Cohen admitted that the “other constituencies” are U of C departmental faculty. 

There have been recent discussions on a 10% school-wide increase in full-time, tenure-track professorships, and Ms. Cohen indicated that, given its keen support from faculty and the Provost’s office to, this initiative will likely receive funding priority.  By way of comparison, she pointed out that competitors like Princeton and Harvard have 50 faculty members in their Political Science departments, whereas Chicago has roughly 25.

If you have questions regarding graduate student funding, please contact Cathy Cohen directly.

 

Social Events:

The Graduate Council, in conjunction with Student Government, hopes to host at least two events per quarter this year.  Planned events include: (i) an Opera/Theater event, (ii) Sox/Cubs games; (iii) Jazz Club; (iv) Hubbard Street Dance; (v) Family Night; (vi) Speed Dating Afterparty; (vii) Bingo; (viii) a Blackhawks game.

 

-Michael Deuser