Minutes 7/3/23

July General Meeting

Present: KS, NA, AMeyer, MF, CH, MG, SM, NK, AMeza, MJ

1. Naming ceremony
   1. Went well, students seemed receptive to the new name
   2. Honorarium will be good to continue for future designers
2. Swag!
   1. No updates yet, Veevee is away on fieldwork right now
   2. Ping swag czars when people are back
3. APO 
   1. Updates on winter meeting things? 
      1. ACTION ITEM: Kharis will ping Ann & Rob about this
      2. Megan had some students ask about advisor-switching committee progress
      3. Updated conference funding - what are the expectations for advisors to fund student travel to conferences? - Kharis ask about this too
   2. Inviting Rob? 
      1. Kharis will include Rob on the email to Ann w/ list of winter meeting action items; invite both of them to a meeting
      2. We don’t know when the new dean will start, best to talk with both Ann and Rob for whenever dean roll turns over
      3. Rob replied to stipend email and is actively working on it
4. $$$ 
   1. Queer Prom
      1. No reps p-card for this year, need to go through Tricia for borrowing MIT p-card; corporate tax-exempt account through Amazon
      2. Coolers would be equipment purchase for reps
         1. Make sure they’re well-labeled and stored in a known location (w/ sign-up form?)
      3. Proposed date (7/28) currently overlaps with Steinbach scholar dinner at Fenno; best to move to another day if possible
         1. Roughly plan for Saturday 7/29?
      4. Swap event timing with pig roast?
      5. Decoration budget > food budget
         1. Photo booth from last year broke, need new one
         2. Food is primarily snacks
      6. ACTION ITEM: Nadege will send formal budget approval email
5. Upcoming events
   1. Steinbach
      1. Chem visit is 9/12-14 - ACTION ITEM: Anthony add to calendar
      2. AOSE
         1. A few students signed up to help
         2. Kharis and Anthony can help plan
         3. Anthony will forward bbq receipts from last year
         4. ACTION ITEM: Natalie will ping Aran and see how he wants to do the dinner (at his house, at WHOI?)
   2. Jelly Talks
      1. ACTION ITEM: Cora(?) send out reminder email with zoom link
      2. Nadege will get snacks for this week, Kharis can next week
   3. Fun field day event? 
      1. Anthony started a planning doc
      2. One day or multiple days? - midweek afternoon over multiple weeks
         1. Every other Tuesday at 4pm starting 7/11
      3. Teams based on class year
      4. Low cost, low effort events to start: laser tag, chalk, manhunt
         1. For chalk, could say to have it done by the end of the day
      5. Prizes? Could use JP swag
      6. First event 7/11: chalk & manhunt/laser tag
         1. ACTION ITEM: Kharis will draft email/flyer, send out by end of this week
         2. “More info to come, but mark your calendars for this wednesday”
         3. Megan will make field day slack channel
   4. Pig roast
      1. Move to the fall
   5. Queer Prom (late July or early Aug)
   6. JP ASK BBQ (mid-late august)
      1. Avoid G&G steinbach overlap
      2. Avoid overlap with queer prom if it’s moved to Aug 5th
6. Reps terms?
   1. Full turnover of reps every year leads to large loss of knowledge, momentum
   2. Current election terms are in the constitution; can vote on amendment (soon!) to change this
   3. Maybe switch to half turns over each semester
   4. Prioritize at next working meeting
7. Student Center Additions
   1. Put together wishlist of what equipment we need and how much
      1. Sarah will bring it to Christine and see how it fits with the budget
   2. Zoom room vs. quiet space
   3. At end of next working meeting, have wishlist ready for Sarah & Ann
8. Photoboard??? For the Brinicles
   1. Not all new students have arrived yet - wait until fall to catch everyone?
   2. ACTION ITEM: Megan will send email now to brinicles (plus slack random note about photoboard refresh), then follow-up with everyone in the fall