BE Board:Meeting minutes/8/30/2006

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Date: 08/30/2006 Time: 12:00pm Place: 56-614

The New BE Board

 * Welcome new BE Board members. Contact Amy or Sean for any questions and concerns.
 * BE Board website is based on openwetware. Contact Amy for issues.  There is a mailing list for each board position.
 * Meeting times will be set during first week of classes.
 * Elections for the first-year rep will be held in October.
 * Please, be aware of the institute hazing policy.

T-Shirt Competition

 * Amy will continue the competition efforts.
 * There may be a $3 coupon towards the T-shirt purchase offered if the annual survey is filled out.

Spending BE Board Money

 * Use tax exempt form; tax cannot be reimbursed. Submit itemized receipts to Mariann.  Email the treasurer with the amount spent.
 * There are some excess funds with the New Events Fund.
 * Keep the 10% overhead cost in mind - only 90% of your allocated budget is available for spending.

Academic events

 * Industrial Seminar Series scheduled for September 2 with Bryan Baynes

Annual BE Survey

 * Both the old and new academic reps will revamp the annual survey. Sean will contact Aran Parillo and Ben Cosgrove for assistance.
 * The questions are intended to sample opinions regarding all aspects of the graduate education within BE from the entire graduate student community, not just the BE Board.
 * Please, provide input about the questions. There is a discussion forum on Wiki.

Social Events

 * An unofficial First-Year Welcome Party has been scheduled for September 9.
 * A Flat Top Johnny's or Sailing TGIF will be set up early in the academic year.

Diversity Events

 * Nancy Guillen is the new BE diversity representative.
 * Diversity events will include BE diversity seminars, cultural lunches, interlab lunches, and recruiting visits to undergraduate instutition representing underrepresented minorities.

Athletic events

 * The summer season ended successfully. The fall sports meeting is coming up.
 * We are accepting sports equipment donations and are looking into obtaining a locker for the equipment.

Undergraduate Curriculum Representative

 * There is no longer a UG curriculum representative; this position has been consolidated into the Academic Chair position.
 * There will be an extensive UG curriculum review by the faculty during the faculty retreat.
 * Linda Griffith is the head of the undergraduate curriculum. She invited a couple of graduate students to provide feedback on the curriculum.
 * The curriculum chat events received good feedback and will be continued.
 * Annual survey may be used to obtain graduate student feedback about the curriculum

GSC Meeting

 * The GSC is looking for volunteers for orientation events.
 * MIT students are eligible for BU dental plans.
 * There is an initiative SGCO for instituting a pass/fail option for graduate courses.
 * We are still in search for a GSC rep. Next meeting is on September 6.