GSAB Meeting Minutes

GSAB Monthly Meetings 2025-2026

  1. Delegates are needed to volunteer for the Big Event happening on October 18th.
  2. Consensus, IT Research Company, has reached out with regard to potential collaboration with the Graduate Studies department. More information on this will be issued in the next meeting.
  3. GSAB needs to strategize and work together to become more engaging in raising more funds for the One Day, One KU event.
  4. Formal and professional support is needed to assist international students in navigating current immigration laws and pursuing their ambitions
  5. GSAB members need to work on updating their online profiles (https://studentsenate.ku.edu/meet-gsab). Students needing assistance can reach out to me through Teams or email, and I can assist them in doing this as soon as possible. 
  1. Jin Wang, our new representative in GSAB, was formally welcomed to the team.
  2. Chair of the meeting, Graduate Student Body President, updated members of GSAB on the meetings that took place during the week.
    1. JED is currently working on certain initiatives, namely: Be Well and Mantra. JED has formed boards that will meet in February 2026. Matters raised then will be shared with GSAB.
    2. An update of the Consensus meeting was shared. The ideas of collaboration were shared. Issues behind their marketing approach were questioned. Their credibility and compliance with KU AI guidelines were questioned. Further discussions will be had on the same issue.
    3. An update of the Student Senate Executive meeting was shared. Boards were formed during this meeting, and further information will be shared when they start functioning.
  3. GSAB members agreed to share their personal professional headshots in the next 24 hours for a revamp of the GSAB online page.
  4. Appointment of the GSAB representatives for the School of Architecture & Design, Law School and Professional Studies is underway.
  5. Members of GSAB consented on the need for the appointment of the Community senator and International Graduate representatives, who will represent the GSAB in the KU Senate.
  6. Concerns about the proposed rule by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to change "Duration of Status" were raised and addressed in the meeting.
  7. The meeting was called to an end by the chairperson at 4:49 pm

In Attendance: 
Fredrick Karanja, Dr. Ric Steele, Ana Martines, Shawn Khokher, Jin Wang, Omowunmi Olaleye, Eduardo Suarez, Grahmm Funk
Not In Attendance: 
Rim Chaif, Peyman Jahanbin, Helena Ferreira, Anne Cao, Clement Feyjimi, Kennedy Frost

 

Meeting Information
Date: Wednesday, November 5th 
Time: 4 – 5:00 pm 
Zoom Link: https://kansas.zoom.us/j/87267936115  
Passcode: 2025

 

Meeting Agenda

1. Icebreaker session + Introductions: (10 mins)

  • Icebreaker: Would you rather fly or teleport?
  • New members:
    • Ana Paula Martinez – School of Education
    • Eduardo Munoz Suarez – International Students’ representative
    • Trenton Bilhimer – School of Law

       

2. Updates on Month Events (10 mins)

  • KU Senate 4th Cycle Meeting
    • 99% of student organizations bringing up information to Student Senate are undergraduate focused, while very few are graduate student organizations
    • GSAB members are always welcome at Student Senate Meetings -> 5th cycle is happening tonight at 6:30 in Alderson Auditorium in the Union
  • Fee Review Training Session
    • KU allows students to deliberate where their student fees go, and this process is consistently contentious
    • The training session will give participants balance sheets and historical information on previous fee review cycles
      • Training upcoming in December
    • Eduardo asked about the process and specifically about SafeRide being removed last year
      • Follow-up: Is it possible to bring SafeRide back to the table?
  • Consensus App Training (Nov 21st: 3-4pm)
    • Integrated AI with Google Scholar-type search for references
    • App has a collaboration with the KU libraries
      • KU has a full year contract
      • Training on November 21st from 3-4pm

         

3. Elections/Nominations (15 minutes)

  • The committees that need occupancy are the following:
    • Academic Computing and Electronic Communications (ACEC)
      • Assigned: Megan Carlson
    • Academic Policies and Procedures (AP&P)
      • Assigned: Jin Wang
    • Athletic Committee
      • Assigned: Fredrick Karanja
    • Calendar Committee
      • Assigned: Grahmm Funk
    • International Affairs (IA)
      • Assigned: Ana Martinez
    • Libraries Committee
      • Assigned: Shawn Khokher
    • Planning and Resources (P&R)
      • Assigned: Eduardo Suarez
  • Community Senator
    • A community senator is someone who will represent GSAB within the KU Student Senate (every Wednesday 6:30-9:00pm)
    • Have a graduate student from CLAS interested in being the community senator?

       

4. Brainstorming session: (15 minutes)

  • KU and Lawrence City partnership
    • Angel, Andrew (SBP), and Fredrick meeting with a mayoral candidate for Lawrence, Kansas
    • Jin suggested Music Therapy
  • Coat drive
    • Teaming up with the Office of Graduate Studies
    • Decorated box at OGS in Strong 213 with social media information distribution -> box will be there for 3 weeks
      • Fredrick decorating the box this week
      • Sabbatini Multicultural Resource Center always has a Community Clothing Closet but the need surpassed the supply of coats last year
    • Ana asked for a flyer/an email to forward to our respective schools and departments
  • Bi-weekly GSAB Internal meetings
    • Have not been happening this semester
    • Shorter and very focused
  • Physical once-a-semester meetup
    • Happy hour or a meal together once a semester

       

5. AOB (5 minutes)

 

Meeting closed at 5:03pm