7. Faculty candidate talks should be better advertised to students.
8. Educational Forum on UC/DOE labs management at 7 PM on Wednesday, April
21 at the International House Auditorium.
9. New GSAC chairs to be selected. Please contact Brian or Ana if you are
interested.
Minutes from Feb. 4, 2004
meeting held at 4 PM in Grad student lounge (recorded by Kai Wang)
Items of Discussion
1. Recruiting Weekends 2004 (Please see Word file for more
information)
There will be three recruiting weekends
for approx. 60 perspective students (last weekend of February and the first two
weekends of March).
2. GSAC speaker Prof. Hammack from University of Illinois
is coming on Wednesday, April 7!
3. Delegates and alternates are wanted to represent ChemE
at the GA. Click here for more info.
4. ChemE's wanted at Chem Keg on Fridays!
5. Grad student representative at monthly faculty meetings
Minutes from Dec. 16, 2003
meeting held at 4 PM in Grad student lounge (recorded by Kai Wang)
Attendance: Kasi Kiehlbaugh (Graves lab), Ana O'Neill (Schaffer lab), Brian Pflger
(Keasling lab), Megan Ruegg (Balsara lab), Alyssa Redding (Keasling lab), Narendra Maheshri (Schaffer lab), Kai Wang (Muller/Keasling lab)
Items of Discussion & Action Items
1. First-year prelim presentation
Background: In the past, GSAC has had informal presentations to first year about prelim exam.
Action Item: Ana will email the first-year's with information about the exam and give them links to the past prelim questions on the GSAC website.
http://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~gsac/info.htm (Thanks to Jeff Nye for collecting 2003 prelim questions).
2. MOT as ChemE Minor and ChemE Electives
Background: A few years ago, MOT became one of the acceptable minors as part of the Ph.D. course requirements. Current departmental policy requires that the minor be made up of 3 "core" MOT courses (out of the 7 MOT core courses available) or 2 "core" courses plus 1 "related" MOT course ("related" courses need to get prior approval from department vice chair). However, this policy has not been communicated to all grad students, and there has been much confusion on exactly what a MOT minor consists of. Out of the 3 required ChemE elective courses, one can be from another departments on a case by case basis
Action Item: A clearly defined department policy in regard to the MOT minor has been established and will be communicated to all grad students and posted on GSAC website. A form for ChemE electives (similar to the Minor elective form that require signature from department vice chair) will be available to minimize future miscommunication.
3. Stipend reduction
Background: Quote from the section on "Annual Progress Report, Time in Candidacy, and Limitation of Residency" in the Grad Student Handbook
"Our objectives are to have Ph.D. students complete their degrees in 10 semesters. You and your research advisor will need to justify any extensions. With this in mind, the following stipend-reduction schedules will apply to degree candidates: Semester 12 (10% reduction), Semester 13 (50% reduction), Semester 14 (100% reduction). Exceptions to the stipend-reduction schedule will be considered by the Candidacy Review Committee (CRC), who will consult with both the student and the thesis adviser. In some cases, the CRC may decide that the student is also responsible for the fees and tuition. Ph.D. students at the end of their 10th semester must submit to the CRC if they anticipate their degree will not be completed by the 11th semester. The statement should summarize progress to date, state what needs to be done, outline the schedule for completion, and justify any extension beyond the stipend schedule indicated above. For example, switching research directors or writing a M.S. thesis on an unrelated project first might be grounds for an extension."
Average time in residency has been 11 semesters, so it is unfair to penalize a large fraction of each graduating class with stipend-reduction in Semester 12. It is proposed that the department delays the stipend-reduction to Semester 13.
Action Item: Ana will gather latest statistics of time in residency from Aileen and petition the department accordingly.
4. ChemE joining the Chem Keg party
Background: In the past, a monthly departmental keg party has facilitated social activities among grad students and faculty. Since the keg party was canceled in Spring 2003, there has not be any revenue for social activities other than the Fall picnic in September. The lack of social activities contributes to general dissatisfaction among grad students.
Action Item: Ana and Brian will contact the organizers of the ChemKeg party and advertise it to ChemE grad students and faculty starting Jan. 2004
5. GSAC Colloquium Speaker
Background: To bring speakers to discuss subjects that are of graduate students' interests, GSAC invites up to two colloquium speakers a year. Prof. Hammack from University of Illinois has accepted invitation from Jess Defreese to speak at a colloquium during Fall 2004 on the subject of Public Outreach and Engineering Literacy.
Action Item: Brian will contact Prof. Jeff Reimer about scheduling a date for Prof. Hammack's talk.
6. 2004 Recruiting
Background: Traditionally, first-year students have been in charge of recruiting events in the spring. The class of 2003 is rather small, so additional help may be required.
Action Item: Ana and Brian will work with Prof. Roya Maboudian (faculty in charge of recruiting) to facilitate the effort for spring 2004
7. Grad student rep at departmental faculty meetings and involvement in faculty recruiting
Background: Lack of grad student representation at departmental faculty meetings and involvement in faculty recruiting contribute to miscommunication, student apathy and dissatisfaction.
Action Item: Ana and Brian will negotiate with the department to increase grad student involvement in the departmental decision making process.
Minutes from Oct. 29, 2003
meeting held at 5 PM in Grad student lounge (recorded by Kai Wang)
Attendance: Lola Odusanya, Syd Withers, Ana O'Neill, Jess Defreese, Brian Pflger, Mike Rhodes, Megan
Ruegg, Alyssa Redding, Umar Akbar, Kai Wang
Items of Discussion & Action Items
1. GSAC Colloquium Speaker
Background: To bring speakers to discuss subjects that are of graduate students' interests, GSAC invites up to two colloquium speakers a year. In the past, Prof. John Prausnitz had spoke on "Chemical Engineering in the Post Modern Age" and Prof. Rich Felder on "Effective Teaching".
Action Item: For this year, efforts have been made on inviting speakers to talk about the historical and social impact of science and engineering. Jess and Brian will contact Prof. Hammack(?) of University of Illinois about giving a colloquium. Other attempts of inviting potential speakers have not yielded results.
2. Management of Technology (MOT) minor
Background: A few years ago, MOT became one of the acceptable minors as part of the Ph.D. course requirements. Current departmental policy requires that the minor be made up of 3 core MOT courses (out of the 4 MOT core courses available). However, this policy has not been communicated to all grad students, and there has been much confusion on exactly what a MOT minor consists of.
Action Item: A clearly defined department policy in regard to the MOT minor needs to be established and communicated to all grad students. Brian, Ana and Mike will meet with Vice Chair Prof. Roya Maboudian on Thursday, 10/30 to clarify the requirements and discuss potential of allowing non-core MOT course as part of a MOT minor.
3. Stipend reduction
Background: Quote from the section on "Annual Progress Report, Time in Candidacy, and Limitation of Residency" in the Grad Student Handbook
"Our objectives are to have Ph.D. students complete their degrees in 10 semesters. You and your research advisor will need to justify any extensions. With this in mind, the following stipend-reduction schedules will apply to degree candidates: Semester 12 (10% reduction), Semester 13 (50% reduction), Semester 14 (100% reduction). Exceptions to the stipend-reduction schedule will be considered by the Candidacy Review Committee (CRC), who will consult with both the student and the thesis adviser. In some cases, the CRC may decide that the student is also responsible for the fees and tuition. Ph.D. students at the end of their 10th semester must submit to the CRC if they anticipate their degree will not be completed by the 11th semester. The statement should summarize progress to date, state what needs to be done, outline the schedule for completion, and justify any extension beyond the stipend schedule indicated above. For example, switching research directors or writing a M.S. thesis on an unrelated project first might be grounds for an extension."
Average time in residency has been 11 semesters, so it is unfair to penalize a large fraction of each graduating class with stipend-reduction in Semester 12. It is proposed that the department delays the stipend-reduction to Semester 13.
Action Item: Ana and Mike will gather latest statistics of time in residency and petition the department accordingly.
4. Lack of departmental social activities
Background: In the past, a monthly departmental keg party has facilitated social activities among grad students and faculty. Since the keg party was canceled in Spring 2003, there has not be any revenue for social activities other than the Fall picnic in September. The lack of social activities contributes to general dissatisfaction among grad students, and this is not acceptable.
Action Item: Ana and Brian will meet with Prof. Maboudian to request funding for future social activities. Kai will find out information on the ongoing ChemKeg and potentially advertise it to ChemE grad students and faculty.
Minutes from March 20, 2003
meeting held at 5 PM in Grad student lounge (recorded by Ana O'Neil)
1.
Meeting Minutes
It was agreed that we will formalize our meeting
minutes (for GSAC meetings and discussions with faculty).
They will be posted on the GSAC website and distributed to students and
faculty.
2. Fate of the Grad Student
Lounge
The proposal to merge the Chemistry and Chemical
Engineering grad student lounges for the purpose of installing a coffee shop was
discussed. Representatives from
several labs concurred that the general feeling of Chemical Engineering grad
students is in favor of a coffee shop if and only if a replacement space is made
available prior to the loss of the current lounge.
This sentiment is especially strong with first through third year grad
students. The concern was also
raised that a coffee shop in that space, while intended to foster community, may
in fact become an undergrad gathering place, alienating grad students and
faculty from a space that is currently in our domain.
3. MOT Minor
Mike
Rhodes
described the situation with restrictions on the MOT minor.
In short: courses applicable
for the ChemE minor are limited, but this information is not readily available
to current students. Therefore, many
students have taken MOT courses believing they count towards a minor, when in
fact they will be denied. The exact
number of students affected is not known and is being investigated.
The choice of certain MOT courses applicable to the ChemE minor (an the
omission of others) is also in question, after an investigation of their
syllabi.
Rhodes
is preparing a formal proposal to the faculty regarding an expansion of the
courses available for the MOT minor. Discussion
extended to the overall structuring of the minor (especially as compared to
MIT), and will be addressed by GSAC at a later time.
4.
UCRS/DCP Withdrawal
Brian
Pfleger
provided an update on the retirement plan contributions taken from some grad
students’ paychecks (especially during the summer).
It is unclear whether this will apply all students in the future, or how
it can be prevented.
Brian
will investigate our options with
Stacey
Schulman and report back.
5. Activities Funding
Keg Party alternatives were
discussed. GSAC is interested in
creating a decentralized system in which interested parties can propose
activities (open to the whole department) and receive funding from GSAC for the
event. In addition, standing events
would include the softball league, the annual fall picnic, and a second
department picnic in the spring. Syd
Withers and
Sarah
Stewart
(volunteered by Syd) will outline a proposal (including example activities and
a budget estimate).
6.
Bear’s Lair Cubcard
Joe
Vegh
will take charge of informing the department about the Bear’s Lair promotion
in which you receive a 15% discount on purchases and 5% of money spent is
returned to GSAC for activities.
