August 2023 Meeting Minutes

The meeting minutes from the BISC caucus August 2023 meeting can be found here.

Key Updates

Chair: 

- New BISC grad caucus chair needed ASAP.

- Miranda Dennis is currently running unopposed.

GSS:

- PHD students (specifically if you’ve rolled up) in the program for less than 4 years look out for an email, if you did not receive an email please reach out to Mike Hart

TSSU:

- The tssu submitted RA union cards to the labour board and on august 17th were waiting for the final decision on whether Ras are going to unionize. Look out for emails to stay informed.

Events:

- Fall Welcome BBQ, Faculty and Grad students invited!

- The BBQ will be hosted 4 to 10pm on Thursday, September 6

- Currently looking for volunteers to help setup and cleanup after the event. Please reach out (ramis.rafay@sfu.ca) if you would be interested in helping out.

July 2023 Meeting Minutes

 

Link to the full meeting minutes can be found here

Key Updates

Chair:

- Looking for an individual that would be eager to take over the chair position! Brett is resigning at the end of the semester. Email Brett with any questions about the position.

DGSC:

- Eligible students Masters (within the first two years) and PHDs (within their first four years) should keep an eye out a random TARA in the fall, as this is the BISC bump up. More information on if you will actually need to accept the TARA is coming.

GSS:

- PHD students within the first four years and a CGPA of 3.5 and higher will be eligible for an award of 5400$ for the year (split between the semesters). More announcements will follow closer to September.

- Senate graduate studies have proposed changes on leaves of work to no longer require doctors’ notes and remove the 3 term leave limit

TSSU:

- TSSU is trying to get RAs recognized as part of the union, so if you haven’t already, they are asking for you to sign the RA card. Come to our next meeting to learn more!

Events:

- Further planning on Fall Welcome BBQ will happen over Slack, will be held the first week of September. Don’t hesitate to join the slack if you have a passion for event planning or join the next meeting!

April 2023 Meeting Minutes

 The link to the April Meeting Minutes can be found here

May 2023 Meeting Minutes

Meeting Minutes can be found here

March Meeting Minutes

Full BISC Caucus Minutes of Meeting for March, 2023 can be found here.

TL;DR Highlights

• TSSU

• Strike vote is happening now on in until march 28th, vote yes. We want to construct a unified front
• Voting dates:

• Burnaby: March: 22, 23, 24, 27, 28
• Surrey: March 23, 27
• Vancouver: March: 22, 28

• Email Sherry Young if there were areas you were concerned about for health and safety reasons during the snow storms (areas that were not cleared). We also want to know if there are labs that are too hot or too cold.

• GSS

• Another donation to the grocery fund, now means there are more grocery cards available. You can apply each semester for the emergency grocery card program.

• DGSC

• Talk of having 2000$ increment to the stipend (from BASS funds) distributed via TARA awards, therefore if you will need a TARA award in the fall apply early.

• Faculty Meeting

• In fall $28,000 to all eligible students with the method of Tara awards, coming from BASS funding
• MPM admissions have been paused until future notice due to retirement of professors.

• DGS: Talk about a better alert system to show that students aren’t meeting their annual progress report.
• DUCC: Biology Day! On thursday march 23 from 4:30 to 6pm.

• Lab tours from 3:30 to 4:30

February Meeting Minutes

The meeting minutes for the February 9, 2023 caucus meeting can be found here.

TLDR:

• The general elections were held for the 2023-2024 BISC grad caucus executive. Check out the minutes to see all the new (and returning) execs!
• The new BISC Slack server is now live and can be accessed with a temporary join link (so long as you have an SFU email address). Feel free to reach out to our new webmaster Ramis at ramis_rafay@sfu.ca if you have any questions, comments, or suggestions.
  
• All BISC grads should have received an email from Kathryn regarding a one-time payment of $300(likely to be disbursed on Feb 24) to each eligible student. Please see the minutes if you're uncertain about eligibility.

January Meeting Minutes

 The meeting minutes from the BISC caucus January 19th meeting can be found here.

Some highlights include:

• The BISC EDI committee is looking for graduate representatives! If you’re interested in one of these positions, please reach out to Kevin Lam at klamf@sfu.ca or Isabelle Côté at imcote@sfu.ca.
• Spring General Elections will be held at this month's upcoming meeting!!! Nominations are currently open and all are invited to self-nominate on the sign-up sheet
• Dig into the minutes if you want to learn more about (i) a prospective department-wide BioRender account, (ii) plans to host a BISC Graduate Symposium, or (iii) the treasurer's super dope account updates.