Undergraduate BE Board:Elections

Elections for the 2010 BE Undergraduate Board will be held during the end of semester study break on Tuesday, December 8th from 11am-12pm.

Candidate platforms are due on Friday, December 4th. Platforms should be submitted to Maryelise Cieslewicz at meciesle@mit.edu. After submission, platforms will be posted on the page.

Positions

The time commitment for all of the positions is about three hours a week. Responsibilities mainly include attending board meetings, sending emails to students and faculty, and attending events.

President: Faculty go-to person, runs the board and bi-weekly BE meetings

Vice President: A little of everything, an outside contact person for non-board members

Secretary: Sends out emails, takes minutes, reserves rooms for meetings

Treasurer: Orders food, budgets events, handles t-shirts, all other money situations

Platforms

President

Kevin Hu

Last year, I joined the BEUB and started attending regular meetings and coming to events. After seeing what Maryelise and the rest of the board do for undergraduates and hearing stories about what classes used to be like, I have come to appreciate how course 20 has improved over the past few years. I would love to be part of the leadership in this group because feel that I would good at listening to students' suggestions and communicating them with professors. Because I have been attending board meetings for the past year, I am familiar with the projects that are currently being worked on, and I think I would do a good job seeing them come to fruition. I feel like I am qualified to run for this position because through other leadership roles (RAA, summer Resident Advisor, teaching for ESP), I have learned how to communicate well with large audiences and respond to their suggestions. I am excited for the new semester, and I hope to make course 20 more enjoyable for future course 20's.

Sivakami Sambasivam

Dear Course 20,

My name is Sivakami Sambasivam, and I am running to be your BEUB president. Last Spring, I attended a couple of the BEUB board meetings, and I was very excited to see the events and initiatives that they were happening. The BEUB works to throw fun events and organize fun initiatives for the BE community and I would like to be a part of it.

I have lots of experience with event planning and my goal this year is to make all the BE events, events that you want to come to and will show up to. As a member of the 2011 Class Council for 3 years, I have experience throwing events and listening to what the class wants. We organized a trip to Pour House, and this weekend, I am project managing the free ice skating event that will have chocolate fondue as well. I am also very detail oriented and will make the BEUB my top priority. I have experience working in teams as I co-chaired the SAAS Culture Show (a show with about 200 participants in Kresge for an audience of about 900 people), and as I was on crew freshman year. Further, I have worked closely with the Student Activities Office, and I know how to use a small budget to throw great events.

I also spoke to Professor Manalis, one of the professors who works closely with the club, and I am confident that I will be able to work closely with him as president to ensure that we can make BE the major we want it to be. I am very excited to develop a community within BE, and I am hoping to hear your input on how we can do this. How can we make the BE lounge a place where you want to pset with your friends or a place where you will frequently stop by? What BE gear do you want? What panels of BE alumnae do you want to hear from? Do you want a BE alum/student mentor program? I am also very excited about the idea of a BE FPOP that was presented at one of the BEUB meetings I attended, and I want your help to help us make this idea a reality. I am excited to hear from you, and I will work very hard with my executive board this year to make sure that your voices are heard and that events and initiatives that you will enjoy are undertaken.

Thank you very much, Sivakami

Vice President

Ginger Yang

Coming into MIT, I didn't really have any interest in bioengineering or knew what it exactly was. However, after attending events hosted by the BE Undergraduate Board, I have decided to become a bioengineering major. I would love to become part of the BE board in order to facilitate discussion between faculty and students because I feel many students are hesitant to approach professors. Also, as bioengineering is a relatively new major at MIT, there are still definitely room for change and feedback from the students and I would like to be a part of this. Finally, having organized many different types of events through other leadership roles (ATS, MUBA, MITCE, RAA, and REX chair), I feel that I have the necessary experience to carry out the job. I am very excited and enthusiastic about becoming a course 20 major and hope that as either Vice President or Secretary of the BE Board, I will be able to share this enthusiasm with other course 20s.

Anne Ye

Last year, I was debating between several majors, unsure of what exactly each was and what I was most interested in. BEUB events were very helpful for me and other freshmen with similar questions, giving us the opportunity to learn more about Course 20 - its classes and faculty, innovative research in the field, and potential career paths. This year, I would like to become part of the BE Board and get involved in organizing these types of events to help prospective and current Course 20 students. I also want to help encourage more communication between students and faculty, and to represent students’ ideas. Student feedback plays an integral role in facilitating the development of a curriculum and department that better meet the needs and interests of BE undergrads, and I want to be part of this process. Through discussion with other BE majors and my own experience, I think I have a good feel for common questions and suggestions, and I am good at being proactive in communicating with professors. I am very excited to join Course 20, and I hope I can contribute to improving the major even more.

Secretary

Ginger Yang

Coming into MIT, I didn't really have any interest in bioengineering or knew what it exactly was. However, after attending events hosted by the BE Undergraduate Board, I have decided to become a bioengineering major. I would love to become part of the BE board in order to facilitate discussion between faculty and students because I feel many students are hesitant to approach professors. Also, as bioengineering is a relatively new major at MIT, there are still definitely room for change and feedback from the students and I would like to be a part of this. Finally, having organized many different types of events through other leadership roles (ATS, MUBA, MITCE, RAA, and REX chair), I feel that I have the necessary experience to carry out the job. I am very excited and enthusiastic about becoming a course 20 major and hope that as either Vice President or Secretary of the BE Board, I will be able to share this enthusiasm with other course 20s.

Anne Ye

Last year, I was debating between several majors, unsure of what exactly each was and what I was most interested in. BEUB events were very helpful for me and other freshmen with similar questions, giving us the opportunity to learn more about Course 20 - its classes and faculty, innovative research in the field, and potential career paths. This year, I would like to become part of the BE Board and get involved in organizing these types of events to help prospective and current Course 20 students. I also want to help encourage more communication between students and faculty, and to represent students’ ideas. Student feedback plays an integral role in facilitating the development of a curriculum and department that better meet the needs and interests of BE undergrads, and I want to be part of this process. Through discussion with other BE majors and my own experience, I think I have a good feel for common questions and suggestions, and I am good at being proactive in communicating with professors. I am very excited to join Course 20, and I hope I can contribute to improving the major even more.

Treasurer