David Bender,
Thank you for your post. I believe I am clear on the F.Y.I. spirit of your
e-mail and greatly appreciate the review of use and dissemination practices
for the listserv and website. However, Mr.Bender I believe this is
information should be disseminated widely to all members of the graduate and
professional student community. It appears from the email you sent me that
this post did not go out to all members of the community. I understand your
post and appreciaet your informational post but find that my use of the
listserv to date has been prudent and in line with the parameters you've
outlined and thus my confusion at your need to post me is met with this
reply.
The GSA has an arduous task as one of the primary organizations that is
supposed to advocate, organize and represent the graduate and professional
student community. In light of the complexity and depth of the organizations
role in the community I understand that sometimes the primary demands of
being a graduate student on the board of the GSA come first. And, thus the
oganizational responsibilities inherent in that post are secondary to our
scholarly pursuits and we find that we have to address things from a
position of 20/20 hindsight...Possibly that is why I have been sent the
F.Y.I. now, three months into the academic year that address the use or the
GSA electronic modes of communication. Again, my use of the listserv to date
has been prudent and in line with the parameters you've outlined.
In the past the GSA has not operated from a position of parity and equality
in regards to information dissemination and many students from the
non-majority community did not have access to information or to
opportunities that students from the majority and those specifcally working
with the GSA had. Although this may not be wholly an issue at this writing
it is still a concern. As you know the bulk of the community does not
attend the GSA meetings or events, so the listserv is currently one of the
primary modes of communication for graduate and professional students at
Miami University.
In an effort to be colleagial an to address you and the GSA board from a
position of collaboration and respect I offer my F.Y.I. I have posted the
MUGSA listserv with only relative information, I do not post the list with
jokes, gossip or personal rhetoric. Having no other formal means to
communicate with the graduate student body, except the listserv until you
F.Y.I. post, how was I or other students to share information on
jobs,surveys, events, scholarships, etc.with the community?
Per conversations I have had with the past GSA board partners and your
current president there are two listservs and the website that were
established by the GSA in 1999. One of the listservs is for communications
created and disseminated by the GSA board and there is another one for the
general communication of the entire graduate community and the website is
yet another resource and source for community and organizational
information.
Both list are to be moderated by a member of the communications committee
and the webmanager is to update the website with notices, links, minutes,
etc. The listserv's purpose is for sharing timely information relative to
the graduate and professional student at Miami University. In the past two
GSA administrations the community GSA list has not been activated and the
website has been poorly maintained. Both listservs should be refreshed each
academic year by MCIS, meaning all graduate students are put on the list and
at the beginning of the year a notice is supposed to be sent out to students
from the GSA telling them the purpose of each list and how to unsubscribe.
To date that has not happened, nor has the GSA made it clear that the
listservs and the website are resources for the community or how to use
them.
To date the GSA website had not been updated regularly and the student body
has had not received a message from the GSA explaining the use of any of the
electronic modes of communication, and thus when I have information relative
the graduate and professional student community at Miami University the
MUGSA listserv has been the venue in which to share said information.
In response to your comment about to e-mails:"the listserv >does a wonderful
job of communicating everything to everyone, however many>people do not like
excess email, and thus have expressed their concern as such. >The website is
a much better medium to dispense information to the grad student >population
as a whole." My only response is this is a technological age and we all get
too many emails, we all are on listservs for academic and personal
enlightment needs and we all can make an informed, intellectual decision
about reading or deleting post that we are not interested in. I disagree
that the GSA listserv has [done] "a wonderful job of communicating
everything to everyone", it has not. Most folks do not know the web address
of the GSA website or that one exist, nor do they share infromation relative
to the community. The most active and relative list for graduate students
at M.U. to date is the GSCA listserv that I am also a member of that we
established formally in 1999. The GSA organization has not posted any
electronic or hard copy notices about any of the electronic communication
venuesscope and purpose to date.
To date the GSA has not put out many emails on the listserv and some of
those posted have not been timely,clear or had anything to do with graduate
students; for example the message about the 2009 Committee which addresses
the plan for Miami Univeristy in 2009 and beyond. That plan addresses first
and foremost the institutions committment to undergraduate education and has
little to nothing to do with the annual 1,500 or so grad students that
attend M.U. annually. So, why would the president send the message to the
listserv/grad students for them to work on a committee (the message was
cyrptic at best) that has no benefit to them as a community. Why would we
toil on a committee that does not address our needs?
Futhermore, the GSA's notices for meetings are posted the day before or the
same day as the meetings. The organizations website provides no real
indication as to the mission of the organization, current advocacy projects
(parking, stipends, insurance,professional development opportunities,meeting
minutes, constituition and by-laws and until this month board partners
contacts were not available on the website you wish us to refer to.
I believe this post is an appropiate, reciprocation of you post and
hopefully we all are better prepared to communicate via the GSA modes of
electronic communication. Please remember in all you do, get an
understanding and be clear.
Cordially
Yolanda R. Brown
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
To decide to live at the level of choice is to take responsibility
and be in control of your life. Arbie M. Dale
Be prepared, curious and vigilant! Yolanda R. Brown
Be the change you wish to see in the world. Mahatma Gandhi
Vision looks inward and becomes duty.
Vision looks outward and becomes aspiration.
Vision looks upward and becomes faith. Author unknown
=============================================================
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>From: [log in to unmask]
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: listserv
>Date: Mon, 22 Oct 2001 13:30:08 -0500 (EST)
>MIME-Version: 1.0
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>From [log in to unmask] Mon, 22 Oct 2001 10:35:39 -0700
>Message-id: <[log in to unmask]>
>
>Please regard this message as an informational one only. If you have
>messages
>for the entire community of grad students at Miami concerning GSA or GSCA
>events, please use the Listserv to communicate them. If you have
>information
>regarding scholarships or other deadline sensitive material that does not
>involve the GSA per se, please email them to me ([log in to unmask])
>and I
>will post them immediately to our website (www.muohio.edu/gsa). The
>listserv
>does a wonderful job of communicating everything to everyone, however many
>people do not like excess email, and thus have expressed their concern as
>such.
>The website is a much better medium to dispense information to the grad
>student
>population as a whole.
>
>I will enthusiastically post any information that you have regarding grad
>student materials to the website with proper notice. I will not send the
>information via email in order to avoid email overload on a part of our
>existing GSA population.
>
>Thank you for your understanding in this matter.
>
>David Bender
>GSA Webmaster
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