1. January Senate Meeting January 11, 2016 6pm-8pm The Radisson

2. Elections  The President, Vice-President, and Director of the Health Sciences Campus (HSC) will be directly elected by the Senate on February 8, 2016. Candidates will submit an Intent to Run form by the Senate Meeting by February 7.  The following is the process for the Board of Directors: Directors of Academic Affairs, Campus Affairs, Communications, Community Service, Diversity, Elections and Recruitment, Finance, Social Programming, Operations & External Affairs. Candidates will submit an Intent to Run form by 11:59PM (PST) February 12, 2016. They will then go through an interview process with the Selection Committee between February 15-26. The Selection Committee for each position will nominate a first choice and second choice candidate and submit these individuals to the Senate for consideration by March 7, 2016. Senators will be allowed to express concerns or pull nominations by March 13, 2016, and the deadline for the Selection Committee to respond to any concerns will be March 23, 2016. The slate will be confirmed by the Senate on Monday March 28, 2016 at the HSC Aresty Auditorium; if a nomination is pulled, the two nominations will have a direct election at the Senate Meeting on March 28, 2016.

3. Social Justice Fund Vice President Christina Gutierrez

4. Academic Affairs Committee Upcoming Events:  Explore @4: Careers in Social Sciences and Humanities Research  Januray 25 th 2016 Venue : DML 240  USC 8 th Annual Graduate Research Symposium  February UPC- 18 th, 2016 Venue: The Forum. TCC ; The Rosen Family Theatre, TCC  February 19 th, 2016 @ HSC Venue: MCA 149, HSC  Beyond the Phd:  March 9 th 2016 Venue: Radisson @ USC Ballroom.  Committee Meetings:  Thursdays 12:30 ppm – 1:30 pm  First Meeting : 1/14  Email : gsgacad@usc.edugsgacad@usc.edu  Facebook : USC GSG Academic Affairs Committee

5. Campus Affairs  HSC Printers  TAP Cards  Grad Affordability Survey (Feb)  Wellness Week (April)  Charged Up Challenge (April)  HSC Farmer’s Market

6. Public Relations  Spring office hours Mon-Wed, 1-2pm  Spring Recruitment with USG 11am-2pm, along Trousdale PKWY & Alumni Park; we have swag + fliers  Committee meetings 1:30pm every other Wednesday (1/13, 1/27, 2/10, 2/24, 3/2, 3/16, 3/30, 4/13, 4/27)  Rho Chi Event- Jan. 13 th @ 6pm. School of Pharmacy (HSC Campus) Rm. 104  Academic Research Symposium Deadline 1/11  GSG Intent to Run (on Facebook)  Daily Trojan Editor Application (on Facebook)  Like our social media @USCGSG & opt-in newsletter!

7. NAGPS Priority Issues FOUR AREAS OF FOCUS FOR 2015-2016

8. GRADUATE STUDENT LOANS/DEBT URGE CONGRESS TO:  REUNIFY THE UNDERGRADUATE AND GRADUATE RATES TO REVERSE THE CURRENT INEQUALITIES  REINSTATE GRADUATE-PROFESSIONAL STUDENTS’ ELIGIBILITY FOR SUBSIDIZED LOANS

9. OPEN ACCESS URGE CONGRESS TO SUPPORT LEGISLATION THAT ENSURES PUBLIC ACCESS TO RESEARCH THAT HAS BEEN FUNDED THROUGH TAXPAYER DOLLARS.  S. 779 and H.R. 1477 - Fair Access to Science and Technology Research Act (FASTR)

10. HIGHER EDUCATION FUNDING URGE MEMBERS OF CONGRESS TO SUPPORT LEGISLATION THAT:  INCREASES AND SUSTAINS RESEARCH FUNDING TO THE NSF, NIH, NATIONAL LABS, AND OTHER FEDERAL RESEARCH AGENCIES TO ACCOUNT FOR BUDGET CAPS AND SEQUESTRATION CUTS  REINSTATE AND ENSURE FUTURE NSF FUNDING FOR ALL TYPES OF POLITICAL SCIENCE RESEARCH  RESTORES FUNDING FOR THE JAVITS AND GAANN FELLOWSHIP PROGRAMS TO $39 MILLION

11. STUDENT VISAS SUPPORT BIPARTISAN APPROACH TO STUDENT VISAS AND LEGISLATION THAT:  ALLOWS FOR DOMESTIC RE-VALIDATION OF F-TYPE STUDENT VISAS  INCREASES THE NUMBER OF VISAS AND GREEN CARDS AVAILABLE TO NON-US BORN GRADUATE AND PROFESSIONAL STUDENTS

12. Handouts Domestic Renewal of Visas: http://nagps.org/wordpress/wp- content/uploads/2015/05/NAGPS-2015-Fall-DomesticVisaRenewal.pdfhttp://nagps.org/wordpress/wp- content/uploads/2015/05/NAGPS-2015-Fall-DomesticVisaRenewal.pdf Grad/Professional Student Loans: http://nagps.org/wordpress/wp- content/uploads/2015/05/NAGPS-2015-Fall-StudentLoans.pdfhttp://nagps.org/wordpress/wp- content/uploads/2015/05/NAGPS-2015-Fall-StudentLoans.pdf Open Access to Federally Funded Research: http://nagps.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/NAGPS- 2015-Fall-StudentLoans.pdf http://nagps.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/NAGPS- 2015-Fall-StudentLoans.pdf Funding Graduate Student Education (STEM, Arts, Humanities, Social Sciences): http://nagps.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/NAGPS-2015- Fall-Funding.pdf

13.  GSG Presents: Speed Dating  2 Forms :  Form 1: Must Sign Up To Attend The Event and Participate in Speed Dating  Form 2: Provide names and E-Mails of 3 individuals (who are not current Senators) from your respective graduate schools to help us advertise our event, GSG Presents: Speed Dating  PhD Movie Screening Part 1 & 2 with talk/Q&A Special Events Committee

15. Tuesday, January 26 th 8PM at Dodgers Stadium. Lottery opens on Wednesday, January 13 th 12PM-Friday January 15 th 12PM. Winners will be notified by January 17 th. GSG Presents…