GSA NOVEMBER 1st - ANNOUNCEMENTS GSA SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT

I. Oxfam Hunger Banquet sponsored by GSA and GLC Fellows (2ND POST) You're cordially invited to an Oxfam Hunger Banquet sponsored by Graduate Student Assembly and GLC Fellows. The banquet will take place on Wednesday November 9th from 7:30-9:00pm in Squires Old Dominion Ballroom. Participants will engage with invited guest experts in an interactive meal depicting the global economic stratification, through which they will learn about the causes of hunger worldwide and how to make a difference. Catered dinner will be served. Suggested admission is $5 or 4 non-perishable goods to be donated to Interfaith Food Pantry and Oxfam America. Please RSVP: https://survey.vt.edu/survey/entry.jsp?id=1319117833290. Questions, contact Swetha Kumar at swethak@vt.edu GSA VP of Programs.

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II. 2nd LUNCH WITH GRAD DEAN DEPAUW, PROVOST MCNAMEE, AND PRESIDENT STEGER SIGN UP NOW - (FINAL POST) Friday, Nov 4, 11:30am-1:00pm, the Inn at Virginia Tech. Attend the second of 3 graduate luncheons of the fall semester with President Steger, Provost McNamee, Graduate Dean Dr. DePauw and VP of Student Affairs, Dr. Spencer at the Inn at Virginia Tech. Spaces are limited, so if you are interested in attending, please fill out this survey and include any issues (positive or negative) that you believe need to be discussed: https://survey.vt.edu/survey/entry.jsp?id=1318189603738. Please indicate if you are unable to attend this luncheon and whether you wish to be considered for future lunches. Graduate students selected for attendance will be contacted by Wednesday, Nov 2. Contact Michelle McLeese at mmcleese@vt.edu or bovgradrep@vt.edu with any questions III. GRAD STUDENT INPUT NEEDED ABOUT VT POLICY ON CONFLICT OF INTEREST DRSCAP (2ND POST) DRSCAP a committee of the Commission on Graduate Studies and Policies would like to meet with several graduate students who are funded by a faculty-owned company to hear their experiences. The committee has been asked to provide input on protections for graduate students as part of the revision of the university's policy on conflict of interest. Hearing about experiences from a variety of perspectives would be helpful in thinking through proposed policy options, which will help to improve the working environment for the graduate students in the future. DRSCAP would be especially interested in talking to graduate students who: -Are funded by a grant or contract where the source of funds was their advisors private company -Are paid directly by the faculty-owned company -Are working for a faculty member on his or her outside consulting They will meet again on NOV 15th from 4:00-5:00 p.m. in room 238 GLC, Graduate Schools Conference room. If you are willing to participate in the discussion on one of those two dates, please send your name, department, and preference date all to: Akiko Nakamura nakamura@vt.edu - GSA Representative on the CGS&P

Questions/Suggestions contact: Shaimaa Abdallah GSA VP Membership (shaimaa@vt.edu )

GSA NOVEMBER 1st - ANNOUNCEMENTS

CROSS LISTED ANNOUNCEMENTS: I. Hygiene Drive for New River Valley Homeless Shelters (2ND POST)

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November 7-15, GLC Lobby National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness week is November 12-20, 2011. The GLC Fellows and GSA are asking for hygiene donations for local New River Valley homeless shelters. Some needed items include (must be new and unused): toothbrushes, toothpaste, travel-size shampoo and conditioner, body wash, razors, shaving cream, soap, tissues, deodorant, q-tips, hand sanitizer, brushes, combs, and washcloths. Bring your items for donation to the front desk of the GLC Lobby between November 7-15! Thank you and stay tuned for more events in November recognizing these important issues of hunger and homelessness! Questions: Contact Megan Stuart, stuartma@vt.edu

UPCOMING EVENTS I. ACADEMIC - (2ND POST) AEL* Presents: the Last Lectures Series with University Distinguished Professor: Nikki Giovanni on Wednesday, November 9th, at 5pm in the Holden Auditorium (Next to Norris, Campus Map Grid L-3, and Building 130). The Last Lecture Series provides an opportunity for the audience to interact with motivational speakers and draw inspiration from their professional and personal lives. Free and open to all. Please join us. Click here to enjoy the Last Lecture of Dr. Michael Hochella, Jr. presented on September 28th. *Alpha Epsilon Lambda is a national graduate honor society founded upon leadership and scholarly merit. II. EVERDAY LESSONS HOW TO: CAR CARE FOR WOMEN 101 Join Barbara Maxwell, Service Advisor for Duncan Honda, at the Womens Center for an interactive session on Car Care Basics. The session is held on Wednesday, November 9th from 4-5pm at 206 Washington Street. She will discuss basic auto maintenance, what to do when. and a few how tos as well as answer questions. There will be an automobile available for some hands-on demonstration. For further information, please contact Jessie Meltsner jmelts@vt.edu

CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS I. GSA Graduate Undergraduate Mentoring Program (GUMP) COMMITTEE We are seeking volunteers for this years revised program. The intention is to create a shadowing program where undergraduate students shadow a graduate mentor. This new program is based on successful programs at other universities whereby undergraduates can get a taste for graduate school while forming real relationships with graduate students whom they can contact for advice in the future. Students will spend 2-4 hrs per week with a graduate student observing routine activities. They will rotate every two weeks for a set period of six weeks in the spring semester, allowing for a diverse experience with three different mentors. Committee volunteers are needed to help with advertisement materials, recruiting graduate students, hosting one short orientation meeting in the fall semester, and hosting one program completion meeting in the spring semester. Questions/Information contact: Risa Pesapane rpesapan@vt.edu GSA GUMP Chair.

Questions/Suggestions contact: Shaimaa Abdallah GSA VP Membership (shaimaa@vt.edu )

GSA NOVEMBER 1st - ANNOUNCEMENTS

II.GSA HEALTH CARE COMMITTEE (HCC)

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The VT Graduate Student Assembly Health Care Committee is dedicated to improving the health mental and physical of our graduate student body through facilitating discussions and advocating policy changes with the administration of Virginia Tech. Our dedicated consecutive members/team after three years of hard work, last year had a major success and a break through leading to great improvements. We were able to get a new Health Insurance vendor, AETNA, with better benefits and service quality, a 90% subsidy for Grad Students. This year we are seeking volunteers to follow on our HCC PLAN 2011-2012. Check our FB page (no account is needed!) for more information about earlier work milestones: http://www.facebook.com/pages/VT-GSA-Health-Care-Committee/105179039565894#!/pages/VTGSA-Health-Care-Committee/105179039565894?sk=info Questions/Information contact: Amit Amritkar amritkar@vt.edu - GSA HCC Chair (2011-2012).

REPEATED I. GSA WEEKLY ANNOUNCEMNTS ARE ALL POSTED ONLINE ON OUR FACBOOK PAGE http://www.facebook.com/VTGraduateStudentAssembly#!/VTGraduateStudentAssembly?sk=app_128 953167177144 II. GRADUATE REPRESENTATIVE TO THE BOARD OF VISITORS-HAVE YOU MET YOUR REP YET? Meet Michelle McLeese, your 2011-2012 graduate representative to the board of visitors (BOV). There are many reasons to know about the BOV and to have your voice heard and be represented! Michelle is your direct liaison to the BOV and she also works with the graduate student assembly (GSA) every month to present information from the BOV directly to you and your departments. Consider visiting Michelle in the Graduate Life Center (23A) or emailing her for more information at mmcleese@vt.edu. III. LISA STATISTICAL COLLABORATION SERVICE LISA (Virginia Tech's Laboratory for Interdisciplinary Statistical Analysis) provides faculty, staff, and student researchers with quality statistical support for free. LISA's statistical collaborators are trained to help design experiments, analyze and plot data, run statistical software, interpret results, and communicate statistical concepts to non-statisticians. For best results, request a collaboration meeting with LISA before you collect your data. LISA recommends meeting with a statistician before collecting data to ensure the experimental design will provide appropriate data to answer the research questions. If you are seeking our advice on data analysis or report writing after collecting data, please bring to the meeting a clear idea of your overall research goals, specific research questions, cleaned data you may have already collected, and the results of any analyses already performed - including any plots or graphs. LISA strongly encourages everyone to plot their data! All LISA Courses are from 5-7pm this semester in either Fralin Auditorium or 3060/3080 Torgersen Hall. For Full schedule & Registration check: www.lisa.stat.vt.edu/?q=short_courses For more information about LISA's services, please visit our website (www.lisa.stat.vt.edu). IV. FACEBOOK FAN PAGE: facebook.com/VTGraduateStudentAssembly

Questions/Suggestions contact: Shaimaa Abdallah GSA VP Membership (shaimaa@vt.edu )