A second productive second term continues for the GSAC (Graduate Student Advisory Committee). Following my appointment as the first Graduate Student board member, I began to work on the following items of interest.

We have developed a system for selecting Graduate Student committee members. The NARST Graduate Student Committee was tasked with supporting and facilitating graduate student contributions to NARST. The following criteria will be used for selection of committee members:

Eligibility. Graduate Student who is an active member of NARST. Must serve on a committee. Annually a list of Graduate Student Committee members is given to the Graduate Student board member by the President.

Term of office. The Graduate Student Member (GSM) will serve a two-year term beginning in April, or until they are no longer on the selected committee, whichever is shorter.

Time requirements. The estimated time required for the GSM is a minimum of four hours every month, plus one week annually to prepare for and attend regular GSM conference calls, media and email correspondence, consultation with board staff for background information related to agenda issues, additional time for handling other Board-related business, time to attend selected advisory group meetings; and the NARST annual conference.

Conference requirements. The GSM will attend the annual NARST conference meeting and will attend the GS committee meeting, forum and social events sponsored by the GS advisory committee.

The 2014-2015 Graduate Student Advisory Committee (GSAC):

Graduate Social:
The graduate social will be held April 12^th at 7pm at Houlihans. 111 E Wacker 60601. http://www.houlihans.com/my-houlihans/chicago. The venue is next door to the hotel for convenience. This event will directly follow the Graduate Student Forum.

Graduate student forum:
Based on feedback from the 2013 Graduate Student Forum, we are hosting a Strand Topic (RIG) Collaborative.

We will provide a selected collaborative area based on existing strand topics. Graduate students will be able to collaborate with other graduate student members based on their research interests. They will have the opportunity to select multiple strands. This valuable collaboration will foster communication and networking opportunities for graduate students as they develop their research. We will be inviting scholars from each stand to serve as a host to each collaborative group. If you are interested in hosting any of these strands, please contact me at jodidevonshire@gmail.com

Alternative Transportation/Bikes:
Chicago has many alternative transportation options. We will be advertising the https://www.divvybikes.com/ as the easiest way to take short trips without long term commitment. This biking system has ports all over the city. You can easily find a location near you using your smart phone with this website https://www.divvybikes.com/stations. They even have an App https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.webcomrades.bike.chicago. For those of us who are less technically savvy, there are maps all over the city showing where you can find a bike.

These bikes are best for short trips as the rentals are only for ½ hour increments. There are bike docks everywhere. You simply find a dock closest to your destination, then walk the remainder of the distance (usually only a block or so).

Graduate Student Advisory Committee: This group is working hard to find ways to enrich the graduate student experience at NARST. We are looking forward to the conference when we can meet in person and brainstorm new ideas. At registration, we will be proving small cards to graduate students inviting them to participate in the forum and the social.

Partnerships:
The Physics Education Research Consortium of Graduate Students (PERCoGS) reached out to ask for a potential partnership:

“I’m writing on behalf of the Physics Education Research Consortium of Graduate Students (PERCoGS). PERCoGS formed less than a year ago, and we’ve been trying to figure out the best ways to reach out to graduate students in PER. We’ve heard NARST has many great resources for graduate students and we would love to hear from you about how you communicate with and support NARST graduate students. Would you and/or other members of the grad student group be interested in having a Google+ meeting with PERCoGS to talk about strategies for improving graduate student leadership?”

We will be corresponding with them in terms of a relationship and graduate student opportunities.

All the best,

Jodi Devonshire