1. 1 Proposed Goals & Organizations of the EECS Graduate Student Council (ECGS) 12/13/2005

2. 2 Agenda Background Challenges Focal Points –Academics –Research –Community Organization What We Need From the EECS Faculty Conclusion

3. 3 Background Within the EECS department there is currently no graduate student organization that helps students manage the balance of academics, research, & community A group of students & faculty have recently began to address these issues Our goals are to Help guide graduate students through each phase of their academic lifecycle i.e., new students, the middle years, defense, graduation & beyond Create a forum that will facilitate bi-directional communication between EECS students & faculty Promote a sense of belonging & community within the EECS department, the greater Vanderbilt campus, & Nashville Serve as an organizing focal point for other groups that interact with the EECS graduate students e.g., ISIS, ISDE, etc.

4. 4 Past graduate student organizations have not been able to sustain themselves & have fallen apart when individuals leave Many efforts to coordinate & organize graduate students focus on individual research groups or on specific topics No formal mechanism is in place for upward feedback from students to faculty Information related to academics, research, & community is spread out & can be hard to find Some Challenges Several things have motivated us to create this new organization With your cooperation we hope to overcome these obstacles!

5. 5 Focal Points The three topics of academics, research, & community are our themes. We plan on focusing individual effort at each of these areas Community Academics Introduce new students to faculty & research areas offered by Vanderbilt Foster interaction between research groups Help to promote & improve research being done by graduate students Create better communication between students & faculty about the academic program Provide support for students at all points in their academic career Help students to meet other students Build a sense of class & school spirit Extend services to the greater community Have fun!!! Research

6. 6 No institutionalized means for students to offer upward feedback on the grad curriculum Students have no insight or voice on departmental decisions Academics Focus Academics dominate the first years of our lives as graduate students There are several challenges we would like to address so that we can get as much out of our academic time as possible Current Challenges Offer an anonymous feedback mechanism that a group is tasked to manage Involve student representatives in key departmental decisions Possible Solutions

7. 7 Hard for new students to meet & learn about various research groups Limited journal reading groups Limited support offered to graduating students to help find employment Support for prelims & dissertation only offered by a few research groups Research Focus It is critical to integrate research into our career early & sustain it through the Ph.D. process We want to make it as easy as possible for students to get involved in research & stay at the forefront Current Challenges Research area introductions Well publicized journal reading groups organized by research area Create a graduate support group & an alumni network Venues for promoting & publicizing research achievements by grad students Possible Solutions

8. 8 Limited orientation offered to new incoming students Hard for incoming students to meet other students & create a social circle Limited social activities within department No easy means for a student to find community activities & get involved Community Focus We would like to create a stronger sense of community for our students within the department, at Vanderbilt, & in Nashville Current Challenges Thorough new student orientation program Regular organized social activities for faculty & students Community service coordination Mentor program Department “Face-Book” Possible Solutions

9. 9 Elected Positions Student Representative (2) –Primary contact for: Coordinating class activities Attending Council meetings Receiving, communicating, & tracking upward feedback Social Chairs (2) –Coordinating class social activities –Getting everyone involved Service Coordinator (2) –Recruiting for & organizing class service activities Proposed ECGC Organizational Structure Our organizational structure is divided into elected positions & volunteer positions Elected positions will help provide organizational consistency over time Volunteer positions encourage broad participation Elected Positions President –Responsible for oversight of all council activities –Primary contact for faculty –Organizes & runs all council board meetings Vice President –Primarily responsible for assisting President –Takes over when President not available –Smooths transitions

10. 10 Volunteer Positions Orientation Chair Website Design & Maintenance Website Content Management WithIT Coordinator Alumni Contact Jobs Network Contact IEEE / ACM Coordinator Sports Team Organizer Journal Reading Group Coordinator Graduate School Marketing Student Council Representative Face Book / Directory Creation Proposed ECGC Organizational Structure Volunteer positions can be added (or removed) on an as needed basis, but there are some that will always be needed These positions will be for students with less time to devote

11. 11 What We Need From the EECS Faculty To make our students as successful as possible we need your support We understand everyone is busy, but a small contribution will go a long way Allowing students greater access to faculty & a willingness to listen & respond to our feedback Support on including “community” as one of the evaluation criteria for graduate students Help by volunteering in any of the areas we have covered Help promoting (either to other faculty or students) any of our issues & our organization Help gathering information about academics, research, & community Key Points of Support

12. 12 Concluding Remarks The goals of our organization align with those of the department & Vanderbilt, with a focus on graduate student needs With your support we can provide an even better place for our students! Graham Hemingway Chris Beers Jules White ECGC Contacts

13. 13 Notes Possible slides for inclusion Timeline