805 Sherbrooke Street West, Burnside Hall, Montreal, Quebec

Minutes - January 19th, 2018 - General Meeting

Published: January 25th, 2018

Minutes of the CAOS General Meeting

prepared by: Sonja Drueke

Location: Burnside Hall, Room 934

Begin: 11:35 amEnd: 13:40 pm

Attendance: 22 graduate students are present (51 % of graduate students)

The CAOS General Meeting • January 19th, 2018 • 1

1 Welcome by the President

The president Eric welcomes and thanks all graduates students for coming to today’s general

meeting.

2 Approval of the Agenda

The agenda is approved unanimously.

3 VP By-Election

Matthew Henry is elected as the new Vice-President unanimously.

4 Announcements of Events for the Term

4.1 Recurring

• The coffee time takes place every Wednesday from 2:00 - 2:30 pm before student semi-

nars or from 2:00 - 3:00 pm if there is no seminar. There will be free coffee and cookies.

• Every Friday the CAOS Happy Hour Get2Gether will happen at 5:00 pm at Universel

Déjeuner et Grillades on 2055 Rue Peel.

4.2 Winter Term

• In late January the CAOS will organizes a games night in the graduate student lounge

(room 942). All participants are invited to bring their favorite board games, the CAOS

will provide snacks. Eric will send out a doodle poll concerning the date soon.

The CAOS General Meeting • January 19th, 2018 • 2

• On February 1st, the CAOS will organize a joint 5-à-7 with students in the atmospheric

and oceanic sciences program of UQAM. It will take place at Universel Déjeuner et

Grillades on 2055 Rue Peel.

• The CAOS invites all graduate students to a snow-shoeing/snow-tubing day trip on

Mont Royal in early February. The 2-hour guided snow-shoeing tour costs $20 per

person - minimum 15 participants. Tubes for snow-tubing can be rented on Mont Royal

for $9 per tube (group rates for 12 participants and more are available upon reservation

on weekdays). Furthermore, ice skating is also available on Mont Royal.

• The CAOS is proposing an over-night trip to either Ottawa or Quebec City in late

March. As an alternative, a weekend trip to Ottawa in Spring for the Tulip Festival

(May 11th - 21st) is suggested. Graduate students show interest in the proposed trip to

Ottawa in May. A doodle poll and further information will be sent out in April.

• At the end of March the Spring General Meeting will take place in the seminar room

934. Reports from current executives will be presented and new executives will be

elected. The CAOS will provide a pizza lunch. Further information and the agenda will

be distributed well in advance.

• The 3rd annual Burnside Mixer in the Thomson House basement with Math Depart-

ment (and eventual with the Geography Department) will be organized in coopera-

tion with the president of the Math graduates student organization in late March. The

get2gether with dinner and trivia is a great opportunity to meet students of other de-

partments in Burnside Hall.

• The trip to the Sugar Shack will be organized for early April. It will probably take

place at Chez Osias in St-Alexis-de-Montcalm. The expected costs to be covered by

participants are $25 per plate. It is a BYOB event and the CAOS might provide some

beers/wine. In addition, the CAOS will provide transportation.

• The bake sale as a fundraiser for CAOS activities will take place on April 4th in the

Burnside Hall basement. Volunteers to bake goodies and to man the table throughout

The CAOS General Meeting • January 19th, 2018 • 3

the day are needed. Further information will be sent out in late March.

• Furthermore, the idea of a joint happy hour with graduate students of the Earth and

Planetary Sciences and Environmental Sciences Department is suggested.

5 Introduction of New Student Workshop Series

A new student workshop series given by students with the goal to transfer and distribute

AOS related knowledge is introduced. Planned workshop topics include python, FORTRAN

debugging, MATLAB, git and GitHub, WRF and other numerical model, Linux, bash scripting

and remote working and more. The workshop will be recorded and by uploading the videos

on the CAOS’ YouTube channel, the workshops will be made available to other students. All

graduate students are invited to give their own workshops and gain valuable teaching experi-

ence. The efforts of all lecturers will be recognized by McGill through MyInvolvement on the

co-curriculum record. The first workshop will be given by Chris at the end of February. The

topic will be an introduction to python. It is followed by a workshop in March by Andres with

the topic of FORTRAN debugging. For April a workshop about MATLAB by Eric is planned.

6 Presentation and Discussion of Results from Surveys

6.1 Departmental Infrastructure

The analysis of the Infrastructure Survey amongst graduate students in the Atmospheric and

Oceanic Sciences Department at McGill conducted by the CAOS between October 10th and

18th, 2017 is presented. The CAOS secretary Sonja explains the results as attached in the

presentation "Analysis of the Infrastructure Survey".

In her concluding remarks, Sonja addresses the decluttering offices - Lucy and Calin are

preparing actions -, the general cleaning of the graduate student lounge - has to be done

The CAOS General Meeting • January 19th, 2018 • 4

by students themselves -, and the wish for color printer - can be addressed with creative

solutions to prevent abuse.

Questions about the purpose of the computer lab are raised by students and the issue will be

addressed by the two faculty representatives David and Chris during the next faculty meeting.

Students reiterate that the floors in offices need to be clean urgently and more regularly. Some

students who took it upon themselves to clean their office floors describe the difficulties they

had to go through to borrow cleaning material. Others addressed the issue that their offices

have carpet floors also in dire need of cleaning. David and Chris will raise the issue during

the next faculty meeting and ask for an increased frequency with which the floors are going

to be clean or the provision of cleaning material as well as the removal of the carpet floors.

After a short discussion a rotating cleaning schedule for the graduate student lounge including

the microwave, sink, drying rack area and stove is agreed upon. Eric is going to take on the

first cleaning task.

6.2 Financial Situation of Graduate Students

The analysis of the Financial Situation Survey amongst graduate students in the Atmospheric

and Oceanic Sciences Department at McGill conducted by the CAOS between November 1st

and 30th, 2017 is presented. Sonja and Chris explain the results as attached in the presenta-

tion "Analysis of the Financial Situation Survey".

In the discussion about the results of the survey the reasons for graduate students not working

as a TA in the department are polled:

• due to time restraint

• no ’true’ teaching experience is offered, no benefit beyond earning the additional money

• first-year students did not have the opportunity to apply

After the discussion the vote to task the two faculty representatives David and Chris to nego-

The CAOS General Meeting • January 19th, 2018 • 5

tiate with the department with the goal to increase the stipend for graduate students is cast

(yes - 19, no - 0, abstain - 3).

The General Meeting mandates Chris and David to start the negotiation with a demand for a

one-time $1000 increase of the annual stipend (yes - 22, no - 0, abstain - 0) plus the switch

to an inflation-indexed stipend including the increase of tuition (yes - 21, no - 0, abstain - 1).

This way the annual take-home stipend of graduate students stays constant. The demands

are identical for Ph.D. and M.Sc. students.

In case the AOS department offers an stipend increase by including the TA-ship salary in the

stipend for all graduate students the, David and Chris cannot accept the offer (yes - 0, no -

21, abstain - 1).

7 Discussion

7.1 Effort to Purchase Reusable Dishware

Eric presents the effort to purchase dish- and flatware for events such as coffee times, Ph.D. de-

fenses, pan cakes breakfast, etc. by CAOS and AOS Department with the aim to reduce waste.

For this purpose the CAOS and the AOS department will apply to McGill’s sustainability fund

(Tiny Stream application process - https://www.mcgill.ca/sustainability/spf/

apply-spf/submit-application-tiny-stream). The deadline is Feb. 1st, 2018.

The planned purchase includes 60 dessert plate for $47.40 + tax, 20 mugs for $19.80 + tax,

30 glasses for $24.95 + tax, 60 dessert forks for $69.90 + tax and 60 dessert spoons for $

69.90 + tax. The expected total costs (incl. tax) are $269.00. It is proposed that the CAOS

covers $50.00 from their regular budget, the AOS department contributes $50.00 and that an

application to the sustainability fund for the remaining $169.00 is written.

In order to prevent loss of dish- and flatware, the CAOS further proposes that all plates, mugs,

glasses and cutlery will be tagged and that only a small size (∼10 of each) will be available

The CAOS General Meeting • January 19th, 2018 • 6

for the daily use in the graduate student lounge. The majority of plates, mugs, glasses, forks

and spoons will be stored safely and can be rented for events from CAOS/AOS department.

The General Meeting mandates the executives to continue their efforts and given approval

of the funds by the sustainability fund to purchase the dish- and flatware (yes - 19, no - 0,

abstain - 1).

7.2 Student Seminar

Graduate students and a few faculty members suggest an alternative organization the student

seminar. Following the suggestion no faculty member would be present at the student seminar

since the presence of a professor might intimidate students and prevent students from asking

questions. Given that faculty members often provide valuable guidance for students, the

suggestion is rejected.

After further discussion, students express their wish to present for fellow graduate students

(yes - 18, no - 0, abstain - 2). It is further decided that the first question should be asked by a

graduate student (yes - 10, no - 0, abstain - 8). Chris and David will present both suggestions

at the next faculty meeting.

7.3 Student Union Affiliation

PGSS representative Charles presents the prospect of an upcoming - likely later this year -

referendum regarding the PGSS’ affiliation to a provincial students’ union. PGSS is currently

without affiliation to a provincial student federation. The advantage of joining a larger stu-

dent federation is the increased advocacy capacity in higher political instances. But it is a

long-term investment in efforts and financial resources.

There are two new student federations in Quebec, AVEQ with 45k members and UEQ with

75k members. The main difference between the two unions is the voting system - AVEQ has

1 round one-association-one-vote whereas UEQ has a double majority voting system with the

The CAOS General Meeting • January 19th, 2018 • 7

1st one-association-one-vote round and a 2nd proportional vote.

Currently PGSS only observes QSU, following recommendation from the previous External

Affairs Officer. Charles will share further details as they become available to him. Graduate

students request that both choices will be on ballot.

8 Other

8.1 Diversity and Equity Article in Constitution

Charles proposed to form a working group that crafts an Equity and Diversity article for the

CAOS constitution. All graduate students are invited to participate. During the next General

Meeting, the CAOS will vote on the article.

8.2 Next Faculty Meeting

In case graduate student have encountered issues they like being addressed during the next

Faculty Meeting, they are invited to talk to David and Chris.

Analysis of the Infrastructure Survey Amongst Graduate Students in the Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences Department at McGill conducted by CAOS

October 18th, 2017

Level of Participating Students

PhD55%

Master38%

PostDoc5%

Visitor2%

• 42 Graduate Students, PostDocs and Visitors of the AOS Department participated

• Survey was conducted between October 10th -18th, 2017

• The Council of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences (CAOS) prepared and analyzed the survey

Students without Computer

PhD, 23

With Computer, 22 Wit

ho

ut

Co

mp

ute

r, 1

Master, 16

With Computer, 10

Without Computer, 6

Post

-Do

c, 2

V

isit

or,

1

Satisfaction with Provided Computer

Satisfied, 27

Unsatisfied, 8

Monitor, 3

Peripheral, 3

Performance,6

Satisfaction with Office

74%

9%

17%

Desk

69%

17%

14%

Chair

Satisfied Neutral Unsatisfied

79%

12%

9%

Shelves

Students brought lamps (1), chairs (3), peripherals (3), desks (2), cabinet (1), power sockets (1) to their offices

Use of Personal Computer

Yes34%

No33%

Sometimes

33%

Reasons: - Provided computer is too slow (5)- No computer provided (3)- Need for different operating system (3)

Satisfaction with backed up storage

Satisfied, 19

Neutral, 12

Unsatisfied, 11

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20

Satisfaction with Computer Lab

Not used, 18

Satisfied, 16

Neutral, 4

Unsatisfied, 4

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20

Satisfaction with Grad. Student Lounge

Satisfied71%

Unsatisfied29%

Reasons: - Complains about coffee machine (3)- Complains about fridge(3)- Complains about floor (3)- Wish for better equipped kitchen (3)- Wish for furniture upgrade (2)- Wish more space, better arrangement of furniture (2)- Wish for general clean up (2)- Wish for (healthy) snack machine (1)

General Feedback• Offices:

- Decluttering offices (4)- Safety concern: Desks with looks- Health concern: Ergonomic solution for chair + desk - Garbage and recycling bins in every office- Working thermostat in offices / functioning AC/heating- Blackboard in offices- Cleaning of office floor- Annual checks of offices to determine whether furniture/equipment needs to be replaced

•Computer:- Better/faster computer in offices (2)- Root privileges for desktop computer- Laptop for students

• Graduate Student Lounge:- Better equipped graduate student lounge- Card reader to the graduate student lounge- General cleaning (4)

• Other Remarks:- Wish for color printer (3)- Better/bigger desks/chair in classrooms- Complains about malfunction of light in printer room- Complains about malfunction of projector in seminar room

Analysis of the Financial Situation Survey Amongst Graduate Students in the Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences Department at McGill conducted by CAOS

January 18th, 2018

Level of Participating Students

PhD57%

Master40%

Post-Doc 3%

• 30 Graduate Students and Post-Docs of the AOS Department at McGill participated

• Survey was conducted between November 1st - 30th, 2017

• The Council of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences (CAOS) prepared and analyzed the survey

Students with Scholarship

Scholarship23%

No Scholarship77%

• 7 Graduate Students have a scholarship in addition to the stipend

• 23 Graduate Students do not have a scholarship

• The majority of M.Sc. and Ph.D. students receive $17,500 and $20,000, respectively

Stipends after Tuition

$15,161.37 $15,072.87

$16,036.03 $15,985.02 $15,848.91

13500

14500

15500

16500

2013-14 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18

Ph.D.

$12,661.37$12,572.87

$13,536.03 $13,485.02 $13,348.91

11500

12500

13500

14500

2013-14 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18

M.Sc.

McGill UQAM Difference

M.Sc. Stipend after Tuition $13,348.91 $13,294.32 $54.59

Ph.D. Stipend after Tuition $15,848.91 $17,794.91 $1,945.41

Families Primary Sources of Income

Yes60%

No33%

No answer, 7%

Other Sources of Income

TA/Invigilator, 15

Part-Time Job, 3

No, 13

No Answer, 1

$2,267.85 $2,309.94 $2,361.81 $2,409.00 $2,463.42

0

1000

2000

3000

2013-14 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18

2 TA-ships

• Motivation for TA-ship: 48% says, earn additional money

Cost of Living per Month

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

Rent Groceries Phone Transit Other

M.Sc. Ph.D.

Median amount spent on rent:$615 ($695)*

Median amount spent on groceries:$290 ($650)*

Median amount spent on transportation:$50 ($49.75)*

Median amount spent on cellphone:$45 ($65)*

Quotient of rent to income:Ph.D.: 47.7% (37.8%)M.Sc.: 56.2% (42.9%)

*Estimated expenses for Concordia students (+ $227.5 for personal expenses)

Means for Other/Unforeseen Expenses

Yes30%

No60%

No Answer 10%

Unforeseen Expenses

0 2 4 6 8 10 12

> $1,000

$499 - $999

$100 - $499

< $100

Other Personal Expenses

Post Expenses

44.00

38.72

0 10 20 30 40 50

Ph.D.

M.Sc.

Weekly

23.79

18.92

0 10 20 30 40 50

Ph.D.

M.Sc.

Weekly (substracted family visits)

Family Visits …

No50%

Yes37%

No Answer 13%

… can be covered with stipend.

0 2 4 6 8 10

$3,000

$2,000

$1,000 - $1,999

$100 - $999

< $100

… cost annually (median $800) …

Due to Lack of Money, Foregone...

67%

27%

6%

Healthy Food

60%

37%

3%

Health Care

No Yes No Answer

7

2

1

3

3

16

Other

Heat, Better Flat

Paying Back Loan

Clothing

Nothing (Had Help)

Nothing

0 5 10 15

Borrowed Money… from family

No, 47% Yes, 47%

≤ $1,000,3

> $1,000 & < $5,000, 4

≥ $5,000,3

No Answer, 6%

No Answer,4

14% of the graduated students have lines of credits/loans between $2,000 and $5,500

Negative Impact on Academic Progress

No53%

Yes40%

No Answer 7%

… due to lack of money

Quality of Life

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Finance Only Total

poor good

Median

Overall: 8/10Finance Only: 5.5/10