|
   |
Enhancing the Graduate Student Experience
Ike's vision for a well-resourced, self-nurturing graduate community need not end with his retirement. A gift to the Ike Colbert Fund for Graduate Community in honor of his good work will help ensure that fresh, creative, community-building ideas will be solicited, and implemented, in the decades to come.
Below are three examples of what the Graduate Student Life Grants process enabled graduate students to achieve in 2006. Thought up by students, for students, they are but a small sampling of the numerous innovative programs the Grants process has inspired. The Ike Colbert Fund for Graduate Community will help ensure that these and similar programs will continue in the future.
Food for Thought
Entering the MIT math department common room late one Wednesday afternoon, you find yourself in the midst of mathematicians examining and tasting various samples of extra virgin olive oils. An algebraic topology graduate student comments to a nearby computational biologist that the Italian Ravida oil has a much grassier flavor than Mustapha’s Moroccan. Meanwhile the algebraic geometers are busy trying to convince the differential analysis experts that while the French A L’Olivier does have a lovely full-bodied flavor, the Italian Fini’s profound pepperiness makes it the true standout.
Purpose
The primary goal of the Food for Thought project is to enhance the sense of community in the MIT math department. Mathematics, unlike many of the other sciences, is not inherently collaborative. For this reason, it is common for mathematics graduate students to feel a bit isolated. By bringing together the graduate students, faculty, and administrators in the department, and giving them fodder for discussion and learning, this project increases interaction between these groups. Learning together about a non-math topic gives people more common ground from which to relate. First year students, who may feel uncomfortable chatting with faculty members about math, may feel okay sharing their opinion on a Valrhona single-origin chocolate. The underlying idea behind Food for Thought is that rather than simply eating together, the math department can embark upon the project of learning about food together.
Impact
The Food for Thought series of tastings has been extremely well received in the math department. The tastings have brought together graduate students, post-docs, faculty members, and administrators from both pure and applied mathematics. Each tasting has drawn between 50 and 80 department members. At the tastings, people mingle with one another, talking about the food, making recommendations, and discussing subtle differences in flavor and personal tastes. One department member commented, “This is the best thing that has happened in the department in years!” Aside from just being enjoyable events, the tastings seem to have opened up a department-wide dialogue about food.
Graduate Student Receptions
Purpose
This program was developed to enhance the experience of graduate students by providing unique opportunities to combine social interactions with educational programs on contemporary art. Concerned that graduate students were isolated from each other and not aware of the strong visual arts presence on campus, the List Center is offering a range of receptions, talks, and tours, that encourage art appreciation, regardless of students’ previous knowledge in the field.
Impact
MIT's graduate students have clearly enjoyed the activities offered. Each year over 400 students have attended the fall reception for the Student Loan Art Program, where there is a brief lecture on some of the art available, via free lottery, for students to borrow. Several local art galleries that participated in an art fair held on campus in 2005 have reported that the graduate students have subsequently been visiting the galleries to look at more art. In March 2006, approximately 75 graduate students attended a talk and dinner with artist Sarah Sze, who had just completed the installation of her new sculpture, Blue Poles, on the façade of the Sidney-Pacific Graduate Residence.
BabyNET
Purpose
The purpose of the grant is to support the development of BabyNet, a support network for MIT graduate student parents, organized by its members.
BabyNet's mission is to:
• Support the unique needs of graduate student families (whose hardships include no family members in the Boston area, diminished financial resources, non-working spouse due to visa restrictions, and limited on-campus housing and child care)
• Provide information and mutual support to its members and connect families to MIT resources
• Connect families who want to trade free babysitting
Impact
With the support of the grant and its volunteer members, BabyNet has grown into a thriving network. BabyNet now provides:
• Weekly on-campus playgroup for infants and toddlers where families can connect with each other
• A network contact list (130 people) to help members find partners for babysitting exchanges and neighborhood play groups
• BabyBucks – a special currency that members use to keep track of their babysitting exchanges
• Meals on Wheels – volunteers make and deliver meals to new parents
• An active e-mail list (200 people) where members can share information, ask questions and get support