This academic year, graduate and medical students will be able to access group fitness classes for free at the Jonathan Nelson ’77 Fitness Center, said Adam Spierer GS at the Graduate Student Council’s first meeting of the semester Wednesday evening.
Spierer, who was a graduate community co-fellow for health and wellness last year, requested funding from the GSC to support the initiative in May, The Herald previously reported.
The GSC also laid out its priorities and voted on its budget for the semester at the meeting. Their priorities include helping graduate students with housing, reforming the leave of absence policy, enhancing financial support for master’s students and increasing resources available to graduate students at centers like CareerLAB.
The GSC budget for the fall semester, which the council voted to approve, totals $78,715, an amount that comes from the student activities fee paid by graduate students. GSC Treasurer Kathryn Thompson GS noted that this year’s budget is very similar to previous GSC budgets. GSC allocated $21,000 to social events, $15,000 to conference and project funding and $10,000 to orientation. The Graduate Center Bar will receive $13,365, a fee the GSC pays so that the GCB can provide subsidized drinks.
The budget also included a new allocation of $500 to support GSC initiatives that do not fall under the jurisdiction of existing working groups or committees. Such projects will be called ad hoc internal committees.
GSC Chair of Student Life Shekinah Fashaw GS updated the GSC body on the Distinguished Speaker Series, which aims to bring speakers to Brown who cater specifically to graduate students, The Herald previously reported. The first speaker, whose talk will take place in October, is a correspondent on the National Public Radio’s podcast, Codeswitch, Fashaw said.
GSC President Alastair Tulloch GS gauged interest in workshops about personal finance for graduate students. Tulloch explained that these workshops might offer insight on taxes, which students in attendance noted can be complex for graduate students, especially international students, to navigate.
Executive board members also briefed GSC body members on openings in the nominations, finance, social, master’s advocacy and international advocacy internal committees. Each of these committees are overseen by a member of the executive board. GSC members then volunteered to join these committees.
