(New) Weekly Message to the Community, Monday, August 17, 2020

Dear Physics Community,

In an effort to improve communication between different parts of the department during these physically-distant times, I have decided to add to my weekly message updates and events from our student governments, the Physics Graduate Student Council (PGSC) and the Society of Physics Students (SPS), as well as a special announcements section, Above the Fold.  On my website, I am also starting to compile a list ​of activities that we as a department are undertaking in addition to our regular duties to help support all of you during these tough times.

Today’s message is longer than usual as we there is much to report.  Also, we are still working out the format and frequency of messages.  Thank you to SPS President Anjali Nambrath and PGSC President Stella Schindler for their reports, and thank you to all of the faculty and staff who have been working tirelessly to support our community.

Peter

Above the Fold

  • PRISM workshop – presentations and posters by MIT affiliated undergraduates on their work over the summer.  Register here.
  • PRISM is also looking for postdocs and grad students to serve as mentors to the presenters and give them some constructive feedback on their presentation skills. The signup sheet is here, and here are our general guidelines for feedback.
  • Congratulations to Nergis, the new Dean of Science, and many thanks to Mike Sipser, outgoing Dean.  Mike did a lot for the Department and I was very happy to work with him over the past seven years. The transition takes place on Sept. 1.
  • Guidance for instructors on assessments for Fall term related to the APART recommendations

Physics Department Events

  • Departmental Office Hours – 4-5 pm Wednesday
  • Community lunch – Thursday 12-1:30 pm

Physics Graduate Student Council

The PGSC is currently working on a number of ideas and projects to improve the graduate student experience, including:

  • Crafting and improving opportunities for students to maintain a sense of community while physically apart, via our student Slack workspace, Zoom events, and other ways to stay connected online
  • Creating new opportunities for peer-to-peer advising, support, and mentoring
  • Informing students about non-academic career opportunities
  • Communicating both immediate/urgent as well as longstanding graduate student needs to department leadership and faculty committees that make important decisions
  • Ensuring equitable administration of the diagnostic exams (formerly the “written qual”) during the pandemic
  • Working towards implementation of the PGSC/PWG social justice recommendations
  • Coordinating with other student organizations and coalitions on their goals

This week, student leadership has no tangible output to report, though we have made major headway on important backend work such as research, consultation with stakeholders, as well as planning and deliberation of potential actions we can take in each area.

The PGSC is still looking for volunteers for the following:

  • 1-2 volunteers from each division to join a PGSC Task Force to create a graduate student handbook
  • A new officer on PGSC: Careers Czar
  • Liaison(s) to a national grad student physics anti-racism coalition
Please contact Stella Schindler at stellas@mit.edu or on Slack if you are interested in learning more or getting involved.

To the many students who are struggling out there, know that we are here for you. The Department is working day and night to support you all, and a great many of your peers have effectively dropped their research for the past couple of months to work with them to get it done. I know things may seem confusing or frustrating at times, but please bear with us, and know that we’re trying our best. To the students who have stepped up to help your peers, everyone in the Department is truly grateful. Please feel free to reach out to student leadership at any time with questions, comments, concerns, or if you would like to learn how to get involved.

Society of Physics Students

SPS has been working on a variety of projects this summer:

  • the inaugural PRISM conference for undergraduates, happening this Thursday and Friday

  • advocating for fewer high-stakes assessments in undergraduate classes for the upcoming fall

  • conducting a survey to understand students’ advising needs and communicating that to the department

  • starting to act on the SPS equity and inclusion recommendations

  • working towards informing students of career opportunities (here’s a starting point)

  • partnering with Harvard’s SPS on a series of weekly talks

This week, most of our work has been focused on the upcoming conference. If you’d like to see what ~40 undergraduates have spent their summers working on, please sign up to attend! This will give you access to the Zoom links for the talk sessions and the Slack for access to posters and Q&A.

For undergrads hoping to get more involved with SPS: we will be holding elections for the 2020-21 year early in September. If you have any questions, please email sps-exec@mit.edu, and we can tell you more about the projects we’re working on and the new ideas we’re hoping to start work on in the fall!

MIT and other Announcements

Physics

Physics Department Activities and Announcements

  • The Department is working through establishing policies for the Written General Exam, graduate courses, and breadth requirements.  We had excellent input from a team of graduate students and are now making sure that we are within the guidance from APART, which they have promised for today.   We will get guidance out to our students as soon as we hear from GCP
  • We are in the process of developing a new, first-year graduate research seminar with an online component.  We are looking for faculty, Pappalardo Fellows, and graduate students to give 30-minute talks on their research.  Please look for an announcement from the Department this week.
  • As part of an effort to ensure we are communicating everything, the Department is doing to support our students, here is a list of things the Department has done or is working on.
  • Guidance for instructors on assessments for Fall term related to the APART recommendations