NEW! Getting Around YorkU and GTA Survival Guide

Welcome incoming and continuing FES graduate students!

It’s finally here! As requested from the GESSA survey results in Spring 2007, FES Graduate Students now have their own survival guide. Mostly non-academic based, the guide will provide essential information to what’s happening and where to go on and off York University – Keele campus and within the Greater Toronto Area. The guide can be accessed here in the PDF format.

GESSA/FES Internal and External Committees and Councils (2007-2008)

Call for Prospective Candidates
We are now seeking for interested and energetic graduate students to represent GESSA in the some of the various committee and councils positions available at FES and at YorkU for the 2007-08 school year. The prospective candidate(s) will be confirmed at the next General Meeting (GM) in accordance of Regulation C of the GESSA Constitution. Please go to the FES Internal and External Committees link in our website for more details.

Please submit your candidacy, with your name, program, the position your nominating yourself in, and a brief profile to Julian Rodriguez – External Communications Officer: external@gessa.ca, or at the GESSA office 136B HNES, or also email to gessa@gessa.ca

GESSA FES LIST-SERVE

GESSA FES LIST-SERVE : Register yourself as a GESSA LIST-Serve User and post on the forum where students talk to students about GESSA, FES and making studying at YORK a better experience Register @ GESSA FES List-Serve

GESSA RESEARCH & TRAVEL FUND UPDATE

GESSA FES LIST-SERVE : Register yourself as a GESSA LIST-Serve User and post on the forum where students talk to students about GESSA, FES and making studying at YORK a better experience Register @ GESSA FES List-Serve

Posted on: August 20th, 2007
RTF APPLICATION GUIDELINES HAVE BEEN UPDATED PLEASE DOWNLOAD RTF APPLICATIONS WITH GUIDELINES HERE

GESSA Funding for Groups, Clubs, Organizations and Individual Students

Posted on: August 20th, 2007

Dear MES and PhD students at FES:
In preparation for the new academic year, GESSA’s Finance and Executive Committees have allocated funds for student groups, and individual student projects and events. To disburse these funds equitably and efficiently, GESSA’s Finance Committee has devised two types of funding categories. Both these funding categories are meant to increase student involvement and enhance the overall social, academic, political and environmental learning aspects of the graduate student experience at FES.

One category of funding is an Operating Grant for FES related groups and organizations that rely on GESSA funding to carry out their essential operations and activities throughout the year. This form is ‘blue in colour’ and only student groups, clubs and organizations can use this to apply for funding. This application is due once a year on the last Friday of November and is for grants of $600 and over. Once a Group, Club or Organization applies to this funding they cannot apply for any GESSA funding for the rest of the year.

The second category of funding is meant to finance single student initiatives and is meant for aiding the student body and organizations with staging single events or projects. This application form can be used by both organizations and individual students. This form, is ‘green in colour. This application category is open to all students that wish to stage a project or event that may cost anywhere from $120 to $599. For this category of funding there is no set deadline and is ongoing through the months of September to the end of April.

GESSA has placed both of these application forms at the Main FES Reception Desk (Room HNES109) for all students and student organizations alike to fill out for their activities, events and projects. Please visit RM HNES 109 to look over these applications and consider funding from GESSA!!!

If you have any questions, please contact us via email at finance@gessa.ca or for general inquiries at gessa@gessa.ca or via voice mail at extension 416 736 2100 XX 20629.

Yours Sincerely,

Noman Khalid-Khan: Treasurer/VP Finance (GESSA) 2007.

On behalf of GESSA’s Finance and Executive Committees 2007
Sent on Behalf of GESSA: Chief Returning Officer By-Elections May, 2007.
ELECTION RESULTS
Hello all,

The election results for the positions of Chair and Student Advocacy Officer for
the GESSA Bi-Election are in: Amit Lahiri has been acclaimed Chair and Tanya
Sheikh has been elected as Student Advocacy Officer.

Thanks to all the candidates for putting themselves forward and to all of you
who participated in the election process.

Emily Sinclair : Chief Returning Officer By-Elections May, 2007.

GESSA BY-ELECTIONS 2007 FOR CHAIR & STUDENT ADVOCACY OFFICER

Hello all,

The Graduate Environmental Studies Student Association (GESSA) is seeking a
Chair and an Advocacy Officer for their executive board. A bi-election for these
2 positions is being held throughout the month of May. GESSA is seeking
energetic, dynamic people to fill these positions that help improve student and
academic life at FES. If you are interested in either of these positions, please
consider nominating yourself or someone you know to stand for election. For more
information on these positions, please see reading below
The election process is fairly straight forward – there are 3 distinct phases
that will each last 1 week:

·Nominations (May 7 – May 13) – You have 1 week to complete the attached form
and return it, by e-mail, to the Chief Returning Officer (esinc@yorku.ca). Once
received, you will be considered nominated for the position. If only 1
nomination is received, that person wins their position by acclamation.

·Campaigning (May 14 – May 20) – Once nominated, there is 1 week to campaign for
the position. You may put up posters in the FES building or communicate via the
FES_ALT listserve. For complete rules on campaigning, please see the
attachment.

·Voting (May 21 – May 27) – There will be one week for everyone to cast their
ballots electronically using Passport York. It is really important that you all
vote: this is a great way to ensure that your interests are represented in the
faculty.

Please consider running for either of these positions and make sure that you
VOTE come the last week in May. Participation in GESSA contributes to better
student life at FES and ensures that student’s ideas and concerns are
represented and respected in the faculty.

If you have any questions, please contact the Chief Returning Officer (Emily
Sinclair) at esinc@yorku.ca. I look forward to receiving the nominations and
encourage everyone to participate!

Hope you are enjoying the weather and your summers so far,

Emily

Position Descriptions
GESSA Chair and GESSA Student Advocacy Officer

Duties of Chair:

1.Upholds the Constitution
2.Is required to preside over all Association meetings to ensure order and decorum
3.Votes only in the event of a tie in all meetings
4.Assembles the proposed meeting agendas
5.Is a spokesperson for all decisions made by the Association
6. Writes a final report for the purpose of assisting the incoming Chair of the Association

Duties of Student Advocacy Officer:

1.Represent general student issues and administer surveys
2.Coordinate first and second year representatives
3.Assist GESSA Executive Committee initiatives

NOTE: Students elected to these positions by bi-election will serve until the end of December, 2007.

Rules and Regulations for GESSA Bi-Election

1. Nomination

a) Call for nominations sent out by the Chief Returning Officer (CRO) on the official FES listserve, detailing:
the term of the position (until December 31, 2007)
the responsibilities for the position

b) Nominations must be e-mailed to the CRO no later than the date prescribed.

c) In the event only 1 person is nominated for a position, that position is acclaimed.

d) In the event 2 or more people are nominated, the CRO will:
Contact nominees and clearly explain the election process
Forward required information to the Centre for Student Community & Leadership Development (SC&LD) for processing to produce e-vote setup.

2. Campaign

a) Nominees will campaign only during the prescribed period. Any campaigning before or after the official dates may result in disqualification.

b) Postering is allowed within FES building only as only FES students are eligible to vote.

c) Nominees are encouraged to send at least 1 e-mail introducing themselves and their platforms on the MES_ALT listeserve. Excessive e-mailing through the listserve for the purpose of campaigning is not allowed. All campaign literature must be respectful and purposeful attacks on character is not permitted.

d) Nominees can set up posters in the FES building only if they choose and are permitted to campaign through their own websites and networks.

3. Voting

a) There will be a 5 day on-line voting period administered by the Centre for Student Community & Leadership Development (http://www.yorku.ca/scld/).

b) CRO will send an e-mail on the official FES listeserve officially opening and closing the voting period.

c) Only currently registered MES students are eligible to vote.

d) Results will be tabulated by SC&LD and sent to the CRO.

e) CRO will contact GESSA executive and candidates and inform them of the results.

f) If there are no concerns, CRO will announce the results to the student body.

4. General

a) Any concerns should be addressed to the CRO.

b) Violation of these rules could result in the candidate being disqualified from the election.

Article 9: Elections and Referenda

From the GESSA Constitution (http://gessa.wordpress.com/constitution/)

1. The elections shall be administered according to the following regulations:

a) An election to determine the Officers for GESSA shall be held during the
month of November each year.

b) The election will be conducted by the Returning Officer, who is elected by the
GM but may not run for office.

c) The Returning Officer shall solicit nominations for the Officers of GESSA.

d) The Returning Officer shall call for nominations at least 2 weeks prior to the
first day of the election.

e) Nominations shall close a week prior to the first day of the election.

f) No candidate may accept nomination for more than one office in any one
election.

g) If only one person is nominated for a particular position that person shall be
elected by acclamation.

h) Any other necessary regulations and the polling procedure shall be determined by
the GM.

i) By-elections for vacant positions will be held at the discretion of the GM.

Thursday, March 29th, 2007 @ 4:30pm

Happy Spring MESers!

The Graduate Environmental Studies Students’ Association are inviting all MES students to attend our next General Meeting on Thursday, March 29th, 2007, from 4:30pm to 6pm in room 141 HNES.

This meeting bringing together the student members of the Association is of great importance as several contentious issues that could impact the community including the association’s annual budget (which must be voted on prior to March 31st) will be discussed.

Feel free to view the agenda for the issues being tabled. Details of the budget is forthcoming.

As well, we would like to follow up with our current representatives in any of the FES Committees or the Faculty Council by confirming their position and providing an update / report. This process will also help determine whether there is any notice of vacancies and begin a process to fill up these spots as the Spring/Summer term nears in preparation for next September.

Please forward any questions, scheduling conflicts or possible ‘new business’ items to gessa@yorku.ca and one of the execs will return your email message. For those representing committees/councils with a scheduling conflict, special arrangements could be made by preparation of a report and would be presented on behalf of GESSA – being that student’s attendance in a course that overlaps this GM is first priority.

We hope to see you there on March 29th.

With regards,
your GESSA 2007 executives

Next GESSA General Meeting

Monday, February 26^th, 2007 – 12:30pm

This critical meeting inviting all MES students as members of the association provides a valuable opportunity to raise any issues or concerns, receive answers, and have a snack with your new GESSA executives. ERRATUM: Please take note that the meeting is now taking place in room 140 HNES.

On the agenda: RTF and FES funding issues; MES Academic Progress – incl. quality of advising, grading issue & ENVS 5101; FES T-shirts; Improving the FES experience; GESSA financial priorities; FES committees & initiatives.

GESSA 2007: New Beginnings, New Execs

Happy New Year MESers!

As all FES graduate students begin the Winter ’07 term, we are happy to officially announce your new GESSA executives for 2007! First we would like to congratulate the outgoing 2006 GESSA executives for their splendid contribution and devotion toward rebuilding and recognizing the association’s vitality in the FES community.

As a new GESSA executive we are looking to facilitate positive change for MES students and the faculty at-large. These changes include facilitating exciting student (research) projects and initiatives, encouraging the growth of student-run organizations [i.e. Hy-FIY (Healthy food initiatives at York), Maloca Gardens and Plan-it York] as well as implementing effective collaborations with the faculty through committees, and associations at FES and York University.

Above all we are here for MES students!It is important that we understand the needs of the FES community. In order for GESSA to position itself as an agent for change, your input is valuable to us. Therefore, we urge all MES students to contact us and get involved by your actions, with your wild ideas, concerns, and creative comments. The best opportunity to raise these points is at the General Meeting – called one week before – several times a year – in order to provide notice that several critical issues needs discussion with all invited members of the association.

Feel free to Email us your thoughts at gessa@gessa.ca; or log-on to our website http://gessa.wordpress.com/ for further updates and information on upcoming GESSA events, elections, polls, deadlines, and news; or visit your new executives below during our office hours posted at 136B HNES across from OSAS.

A lovely winter welcome from the new 2007 executives!

Chairperson: Amit Lahiri
Finance Officer: Noman Khalid-Khan
Internal/Communications Officer: Fady Hanna
Research and Travel Fund Officer: Kadambini Pandey
External Affairs Officer: Julian Rodriguez
Social Coordinators: Joseph Schwarz
Advocacy Officer: Tanya Sheikh
Staff(2006-07): Danielle Wu

GESSA PUB FEBRUARY 2ND

NOTICE FOR THOSE FES GRAD STUDENTS GOING TO THE GESSA PUB AT THE
MADISON TOMORROW NIGHT:  WE HAVE A RESERVED AREA CALLED THE VIP ROOM ON THE SECOND FLOOR ADJACENT TO THE

POOL TABLE FACING MADISON AVE

(AT THE BACK).  

THE MENU WILL INCLUDE PIZZAS, BUFFALO WINGS, AND NACHOS.

SEE YOU THERE!

a GESSA Welcome

GESSA FES LIST-SERVE : Register yourself as a GESSA LIST-Serve User and post on the forum where students talk to students about GESSA, FES and making studying at YORK a better experience Register @ GESSA FES List-Serve

Greetings MES’ers!

We are pleased to bring in the fall ‘06 term with a snazzy new GESSA platform to provide better means of communicating important information to members! We are excited to get this semester rolling with some excellent social events and be of assistance facilitating your arrival to the unique world of FES (and Toronto!). We are pleased to help you find answers to queries regarding GA/RA/TA life, health plans, the research and travel fund and general student community issues.

We also urge all MES to speak with us for help facilitating student projects and initiatives as much as possible and invite your involvement and enthusiasm for great opportunities we hear about. Please check this website regularly for details on upcoming events, polls, elections, deadlines and news that you should definately know about. We also would love to hear from you – concerns, questions, suggestions – gessa@yorku.ca

An autumn welcome from the 2006 Executive!

Farrah Ali-Khan (Research and Travel Fund) : farrita@yorku.ca
Amanda Rappak (External Affairs) : arappak@yorku.ca
Janelle Rose (Finance) : jrose@yorku.ca
Eric Berard (Communications) : eberard@yorku.ca

Marie-Helen Brillinger (GA) : mhbrill@yorku.ca

(we gratefully drew from previous blogs which can be accessed at http://www.yorku.ca/gessa/ Thank you Rajiv!).