jpreps

June 24, 2021

Thu 06/24/2021

Agenda for 24 June 2021

First Years (and make-up for argos)

  • Incoming First Year BBQ (virtual?; planned by argos) 
  • Argos BBQ funds request + virtual or in-person? 
  • Update on adding first-years to the slack channel 

DEI Efforts 

  • Scicomm event, any updates? Do the reps need to do anything?
  • DEI meeting update and arranging a listening session with Natalie Nevárez after she starts on August 1  
  • Peter Vision Statement and Letter from Reps Update

Social Events/Steinback/Outreach  

  • (Funding) In-person events?
  • Queer Prom funding request
  • Upcoming Social Events – Trivia? Other? 
  • Update on Steinbach Scholar – Cynthia and Zac, how did the meeting with the scholar go? 
  • Recruitment and newsletter 
  • SSF/PEP mentoring and asking for a grad student panel for SSFs to ask questions 

General Exam Support 

  • How are department general exams going? 
  • G&G update 

Notes:

First-year BBQ

  • Incoming class may not all be here until end-of-summer. Does virtual work better for this?
    • Kris: Most coming this summer
    • Lea: 26 coming this summer (5 next Monday). Most staying in OP, some in Cambridge, and a few remote because of housing search. 
  • Food: Individually Packaged?
    • Zax: MIT Guidance about funding makes allowances for food, but not buffet-style. 
    • Kris: MIT policies still say that buffet-style events for food are still not allowed:-(
  • Kris: When would we hold this?
    • Traditionally in July, but we were hoping to have the naming party early (no Cramer cruise, get people their name sooner). 
    • Evie: Last year’s virtual event was on July 17, so we’d hope to shoot for mid-end July. 
    • Evie: we were thinking it would be virtual because we didn’t know who’d be in town, but it sounds like in-person is better and totally doable.
  • Logan: What’s the typical budget? (This is kinda for Kris and Lea)
    • Typical structure involves a when2meet to see when the most students can attend. 
    • Lea: Usually $200-$250 for food. 
    • Evie: Locale, we could do it at the park near where I’m at, it’s got grills, space, parking. 
  • Logan: Consider having a backup rain date.
    • Cynthia: Since Goodwill Park has shelters, look into a reservation!
  • Logan et al.: Just submit a funding request for food!
  • Evie and Stewart: If we have to cater, that may be more expensive.
    • General zeitgeist: that’s fine if it’s a little more.
    • Lea: May also be extra if you have the buttery do after-hours. 
    • Lea: Check on an actual place called “boxed lunch”?
  • How many people will attend if in-person? Send out a poll to see how many would come!
    • Insight: People are likely socially starved, expect heavy RSVP. 
  • Reserving a space pt. II: It could be tricky to coordinate rides to Goodwill, so maybe just reserve Fenno lawn.
  • Lea: Once there’s a plan, email coronavirusQA@whoi.edu to confirm it’s kosh
  • Logan: We’re also happy to shell out for an Argos BBQ, because you didn’t get one.
    • Evie: We could just combine them? (avoids planning multiple events!)
  • Evie: Day of the week?
    • Stewart: honestly, it sounds like a weekend thing but we’d usually do it midday Thursday. 

DEI Items: 

  • Max’s SciComm event–no action needed?
  • New DEI Officer–Natalie Nevárez
    • Coordinate listening sesh in August
    • Invite her to the next Reps Meeting!!
      • Kris/Lea/Meredith will invite her!
    • We may also get an email (see email from Kathi Benjamin)
  • Vision Meeting Letter

In-Person Events

Upcoming Social Events: 

  • Trivia: Wind it down for the summer?
    • Cynthia: yeeeeeahhhhh.
  • County Fair (Cynthia)?
  • Newport Jazz Festival?
    • Noah’s definitely going, who’s innnnn?
  • Pizza Events in the Student Center?
    • Or rather, other monthly food socials
  • Ice Cream Social?

Steinbach Scholar!

  • Bio scholar: Stephanie Moore, Aug 4-6, will replace normal bio seminar and be virtual, includes meeting with students.
    • Cynthia: can I just host these on my MIT zoom account?
      • Lea: Yeah, and you can easily create that registration page, especially if this might be more open to the public. 
    • Logan: Will we have the in-person social?
      • Cynthia: Probably not, because she (Stephanie) is not actually in-person.
    • Worries about attendance
      • While virtual, this will be advertised to SSFs and include cool, interdisciplinary research
    • Announcements
  • Sounds like no PO scholar this summer.

Recruitment/Newsletter

—-

SSFs

  • Logan: Have people been meeting with their mentees?
    • (Sounds like yes?)
  • Grad student panel when the SSFs are actually here in-person?
    • Logan will have a meeting about this on Tuesday, and will have more details on arranging this as a virtual event.
  • Who would be a good representative for this panel?

Kris: MIT “MSRP” program (research program for URMs)–Desiree Plata has four students in her lab this summer. Kris suggested to Desiree that these students might come visit sometime in July! 

  • Logan: I can include them in the SSF event invites (like the panel and other events put on by grad students).

General Exams

  • Jing: The exams are happening right now for PO and about half the students are done. 
  • Logan: G&G students? Cynthia: They’re getting gift cards and they have pretty individual tracks for presentations and papers. Logan: If you haven’t heard from them for practice exams and stuff, that usually happens in fall.
  • Stewart: AOPE: My understanding is most/all engineering departments had their generals in January (although MechE and CivE might be only ones with a real “generals” exam left)
    • Rachel: meche had their spring exams june 1st (1 student)

Lea: Peer mentoring in fall is something that fell off a bit and I think I should contact Mallory again. A bit unclear what’s needed from APO for pairing. 

  • Logan: Students may even know the mentees already, so might be good to just include them for those first-order connections. 
  • Lea: How broad is the mentor role? Strictly academic? Professional/personal?
    • Logan: A little of both, give the students a chance to choose important criteria. 
  • Cynthia: will this include the old “Lunch Budget” that EAPS offered?
    • Logan: Well, EAPS definitely canned that funding for the time being. 

Next Meeting: July 29, 2:30pm