We first started off this meeting discussing plans to develop the mentorship program between BESA (grads) and BMES (undergrads) for this upcoming year. We then discussed the recent student/faculty lunch in August, which had a great turnout and high number of faculty present . With this we discussed the BME Welcome BBQ (September 8th), for which we expect a turnout of over 100 people. Crazy indeed! We also talked about helping out with the first-year BME orientation and discussed the plans for our BESA “BOOM” week (see “Events” page for more details). Lastly, we discussed the logistics of the Track Specific Discussion for the first years and how we can build a solid foundation for discussion for this year.
I. Budget
$1097.40 from Christal, $441.90 less $98 from Pasha
II. Increasing interaction with BMES – Andrew and Rachel
Plan on having bimonthly/biquarterly mentor-mentee (undergrad-grad student) interactions, including Q/A sessions, industry/poster sessions, and social events. Erica and Gina will act as BESA liasons.
October 18, 4-5pm Fall BBQ + Lab tours. Action item: Email BMES [Anahid <aebrahimi@ucdavis.edu>, Rachel <regurlin@ucdavis.edu>, Nick <nscsicsery@ucdavis.edu>] if you’re interested in leading a tour of your lab. Then, free food at 5pm.
III. Student Faculty Lunch Recap
Turnout was great (~60 people, plus lots of faculty, many of whom have left)! => not enough food; Togo’s is expensive.
Lessons learned – Cheaper food alternatives include sandwiches/croissant-wiches from Costco. To ensure that we have enough food, ask for RSVPs, then expect 10-25% more, and include in the last reminder email, “Even if you haven’t RSVP’d, show up anyway because we ordered extra food!” To encourage people to come early, “Food is first-come, first-served.”
IV. BME Orientation – Tuesday, September 20
BESA officers must show up at 2202 by 2:40pm. We will have a recycled slide show presentation (by Kristen and Erica) on BESA-related things, while publicizing BESA BOOM! week. Plan to stick around after the break and have some snacks with the first years.
ACTION ITEMS – Community service slide? Also, remember that we must query for GSA recruitment (Pasha)
V. BESA “BOOM!” week – Sept. 26-Oct.1. First notification will be made by Kristen via email the week before.
Monday: Nothing. Kristen will send a reminder to everybody.
Tuesday: Ice cream 5pm, lobby. ($30). Informal dinner/trivia possible afterward. Contact — Erica
Wednesday: Sudwerk’s after BBQ (9pm-2amesque). Contact – Pasha, who will get a table early.
Thursday: Woodstock’s Trivia Night. Contact — Robin
Saturday (10/8): Apple Hill. Erica+Meghan to arrange rides, RSVPs, etc. Publicized at Orientation!
Thursday (10/27): Corn maze. Dr. Kuhl has connections to the Woodland corn maze. Plan to go after the seminar. Contact — ??
VI. Fall BBQ – Wednesday, September 28 5-9pm
- Food: Procured by Pasha, Robin, and Meghan. Plan for 110 people (note—last year, planned for 80-90; also, leftovers can go towards the BESA Camping Trip. Also, Wenting has the Costco card. Pasha –don’t forget to Dean Witterize a $100 receipt, as well as the receipt from orientation activities.
- Christal will secure the beverages
- Robin, Meghan, and Kristen will acquire the grill and flyers while managing the dessert contest. Acquire $10 gift cards from Trader Joe’s, Starbucks, and possibly Sugar Plum.
- Brad and Matt will grill
- LabNotes will perform 5 songs (~15min)
VII. Track-Specific Discussion – Friday, October 7, 11am~noon/1pm
- [Remind people about Apple Hill]
- Ann will find volunteers (students) to give small talks on their specific tracks, while compiling a FAQ. Other students should provide input for the FAQ.
- Ann will also find professors who are looking for students.
- Ann should draft an email and send it to Dr. Leach, who will inform the 1st years about this mandatory discussion (but still encourage RSVP). Be sure to emphasize that this “Annual Track Specific Discussion” is to help the 1st years figure out what to do, what classes to take, etc.
- Lunch will be common in one of the larger rooms (4202 probably), and we can split up into separate corners or other rooms (3202 and 3206) for smaller, focused group discussions.
VIII. Community Service / Outreach
- Training will occur sometime in October
- Gauge best times for school visits (Monday/Friday?)
- Remember to emphasize the importance of college, financial aid options, the application process, possible personal statement editing by the Dean’s office (esp. for minority students) [contact Kim Reinking],
IX. Next meeting – sometime in Mid October.
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