BGSA meeting 01.05.15

  1. Call to order (Greg): 1:34 pm
  2. Newsletter: printed copies are being passed around for review by the council before distribution later this week
  3. Changes:
  4. Bowling high score was a tie between Ali and Greg
  5. Add Justin Wendzicki to list of Program Reps (MVM)
  6. Make sure program is listed for all reps (Aliyah and Abhishek)
  7. Does anyone have photos from the bowling event or from the Foundations happy hour?
  8. Review and Approval of December’s minutes (Aliyah)
  9. Approved without changes.
  10. WSMA update (Alyce)
  11. Paper writing seminar 5-6:30pm BST E1095
  12. Session one (Jan. 15th): Drs. Jennifer Bomberger (Dept. of Microbiology) and Don DeFranco(Dept. of Pharmacology; former editor and chief of Molecular Endocrinology)will present an introductory overview towriting scientific publications and the review process.
  13. Session 2 (Jan. 22nd): In session two (Jan. 22nd) students will form small groups to have their writtensample reviewed by senior post-docs and faculty. We hope to promote constructive discussions onwritingorganization, style, and content.
  14. We will blast the listserves again early this week.
  15. Is BGSA funding any part of this event? There has not been any food ordered yet; Abhishek mentioned that it’s good to have food at evening events. Will talk to Alyce/Rachel about that.
  16. Advertising is by email blast & social media. No printed flyers as the first email blast got a lot of registration.
  17. There will be a wait list for the event so if you register, please come!
  18. Doctoral Directions
  19. Conference Call w/ Dr. Kamens on Wed. 1/7
  20. Venue contract in progress
  21. Hope registration will open in mid January
  22. Please move forward with transfer of BGSA funds
  23. Panelist invites have been sent
  24. Breakout session leader invites have been sent
  25. Registration will open mid-January so keep an eye out for information.
  26. Plenary session hosted by the BGSA: Angela Gronenborn who will be speaking on “trans-disciplinary science” and how graduate students can move forward to work in trans-disciplinary fields and how this is different than interdisciplinary. BGSA contact: Jennifer Boatz.
  27. GPSG Report (Aliyah)
  28. Chancellor’s Science Policy event (30-40 min. talk + Q&A) upcoming on 1/14. Free event but must register in advance. Q&A will be curated from questions submitted by registrants. No questions asked directly at the event.
  29. GPSG Travel Awards: If you have gotten a travel award since the GPSG changed their application process, please send Aliyah your thoughts on the process. GPSG Executive Board is looking for feedback. Please send by 1/16 to .
  30. TEDx is happening in late March or early April. If you are interested in helping, please email Ravi Choudhuri ()
  31. Question from Abby: Are undergrads are welcome to the event? Will find out from GPSG executive board.
  32. GPSG is planning to hold elections in the Spring; if you are interested in helping email Christina Mazur ()
  33. Treasurer’s report (Abhishek)
  34. Personal account has $3398.83 at the moment. There are still some award winners from the Symposium who have not cashed their prize checks yet and the balance is expected to decrease to ~$3100 after all pending checks are cashed.
  35. University account has not been used since last meeting.
  36. Grad office report (Clare)
  37. Interview lunch signup: want 5 students per week for BGSA lunch. Last year there were too many current students. This year, looking for a better balance because the poster presenters will also be at lunch.
  38. Still need 3 more student hosts for this Friday. Email Clare if you are available.
  39. Past events (Mayowa)
  40. Post-foundations happy hour
  41. Went well.
  42. Next time, need to order more food and not order Greek food- stick with appetizers/pizza.
  43. Was more expensive than last year, even though Brooke was able to get the room fee waived.
  44. Immunology did not get information about the event. In the future, send flyers to Program Reps in addition to grad office to distribute.
  45. Events and Publicity
  46. Ski trip (Greg & Mayowa)
  47. Will be on a non-interview weekend in Jan or Feb. Meeting today to discuss planning. Will try to have a date set before the newsletter is sent out.
  48. Website (Aliyah)
  49. Aliyah just got software today. The master page is nearly built, then will send to the council to review for aesthetics. Soon after, will work on transitioning from old site to new site.
  50. Question: whether to wait for the entire new site to be ready before transferring to the new site, or get a “bare bones” new site up and then work on moving over all the information. Council seems to not care; based on the number of people who have used the site recently it seems like a “bare bones” first move is okay.
  51. Suggestions for the new site:
  52. Analytics
  53. Submission form for student publications
  54. Future Events (Abby & Chelsea)
  55. Dave and Busters- late February
  56. BGSA has 20-$15 game cards
  57. D&B has some specials we could take advantage of.
  58. $16.99 eat & play deal- includes an entrée and a $10 points card. Any day Mon-Fri
  59. Happy hour- 50% off game play & $5 appetizers. Wednesdays.
  60. Abby & Chelsea will look into more details.
  61. PhD Comics event.
  62. Aliyah working with Chelsea, Abby, and Abhishek to possibly get supplemental funding from the GPSG. Or, work with other grad school governments to combine funds to pay for the event. Otherwise the event is not feasible due to cost.
  63. 2015 Symposium (Chelsea, Mike, & Amie)
  64. Timeline was forwarded to organizing programs (Bioinformatics and Cell Bio)
  65. Sign-up sheet for anyone interested in helping with choosing a keynote speaker. Particularly looking for a female speaker, per the request of Sarah Gaffen. Chelsea & Mike have the list of volunteers and will contact them to organize a meeting.
  66. New business
  67. Newsletter
  68. Discussed earlier. Changes were made at the meeting, which Courtney will address.
  69. Constitution
  70. Small meeting last month (Greg, Aliyah, & Chelsea) to discuss some changes. Will continue to have these throughout the next few months until all changes are addressed.
  71. Hoping to vote on some changes at February, pending possibly one more “happy hour” discussion, and a meeting with Dr. Horn for approval of the changes.
  72. In the future, any constitution updates that will be discussed at the monthly council meeting will be sent out in advance.

Attendance:

Jennifer Boatz

Abhishek Mandal

Mondraya Howard

Ademayowa Balogun

Abby Stahl

Justin Wendzicki

Amie Draper

Marta Wells

Mansi Shah

Greg Logan

Aliyah Weinstein

Alexis Chidi

Clare Gauss

Alyce Anderson

Adetunji Fayomi

Chelsea Merkel

Mike Calderon