The Social Welfare Graduate Assembly (SWGA) is a student run SWGA retreat 1/21/2006

I. Introduction of officers and representatives

1. Tamara Johnson is no longer the fundraising representative. Her
position will be taken over by Jennifer Ling, the treasurer

2. Gilda Mansour will be joining Andrea as the Event Coordinators
because Jennifer Humphrey, the original event coordinator, is stepping down.

3. Jorge Sanchez will be departing from the School of Social Welfare to
participate in a fellowship. He is willing to give his position to anyone who wants it, but will fulfill his duties as the HBSE rep if no one will. Jorge will be on campus at lease once a week. Good luck, Jorge! We'll miss that brilliant brain of yours!

II. SWGA Organizational Chart

1. Representatives must attend their respective meetings and
subsequently talk to Elena, the MSW Program Committee rep, and inform her of any pertinent information.

2. For any concerns or problems, please do not go straight to the Dean
(J. Midgley) or the Associate Dean (J. Duerr Berrick). Talk to Allison, Melanie, or the Academic Coordinator, Amy Lapan to address the issue.

III. Lobby Days

1. There are small grants available for Lobby Days. Talk to Veronica.

IV. 2006 Graduation

1. The event coordinators, Andrea and Gilda, should attend at least one
of the meetings for the graduation this year since they will be in charge of our graduation next year.

2. Dustin will also try to get assistance from the undergraduates in
social welfare for this year? graduation ceremony.

V. Dual Degree Programs

1. The MSW/JD and MSW/IAS dual degrees have no representatives within SWGA. If anybody has any questions regarding these degrees, refer them to professors in the Social Welfare department or the other department.

2. For the MSW/PhD degree, Jennifer Morazes wants to work closely with the MSW Program Curriculum Rep, Elena, to make the MSW/PhD degree more structured.

VI. HBSE

1. HBSE Rep, Jorge, might send out a survey to everybody to obtain our
thoughts on the HBSE course. Allison will send him all of our emails so he can disperse the survey.

VII. Social Policy

1. Alex might send out a similar survey to find out what our thoughts
are on the policy class.

VIII. Logistical Issues
1. SWGA office hours are from 2PM to 4PM every Monday in the SWGA office (room 220).

2. A comment envelope will be located outside so students can leave
suggestions or issues with SWGA anonymously, and during non-office hours.

3. The website will be updated. You can view the website at
http://socialwelfare.berkeley.edu/swga

4. A phone tree will be created and passed out to all the reps so that
we will all have access to each others' phone numbers.

IX. Goals for SWGA

1. Organizing to get everybody on the same page
2. Advocate for students' needs
3. Establishing consistency
4. Make ourselves available for all the students
5. Create a better name for ourselves instead of incessantly focusing
on negative notions about our school
6. Analyze why these negative ideas exist
7. Get to know each other
8. Make SWGA fun!
9. Create change
10. Bridge the gap between the first and second year students
11. Work on more cohesion within concentrations
12. Break down barriers between concentrations
13. Post names and positions outside the SWGA office for the incoming
first years
14. put officer positions under our pictures by Barbara? office
15. Create a SWGA brief in the MSW newsletter and post pictures of us
on the SWGA website. Post
contact info on the newsletter so students can give us their feedback
16. Create SWGA position descriptions for the incoming first years
17. Make committee meetings more student-run
18. Talk about the mission statement
19. Transfer goals into objectives
20. Let the other students know that their participation is needed
21. Create a buddy orientation system in which first years are paired
with second years during
orientation
22. Create mental health services/peer counseling
23. Use the website to post platforms/statements of those who run for
future SWGA positions