To: monicaho@mit.edu, cheetah@mit.edu, amayz@mit.edu, dawn@mit.edu, sheli@mit.edu, tssantos@mit.edu, lljin@mit.edu, farrah@mit.edu, lwalker2mit.edu@mit.edu, frances@mit.edu, juls@mit.edu, eliskim@mit.edu From: Mengyao Zhou Subject: Scholarship Meeting Minutes Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Hi everyone, Here are the minutes for our meeting last Thursday (11/16) : (1) SCHOLARSHIP APPLICATION - The application will have three parts: Part A - factual information, i.e. grades, activities, etc. - applicants must submit official transcripts from the registr ar Part B - recommendations from peers, professors, coaches, and advisors - 1 recommendation required for sophomores and juniors - 2 recommendations required for freshmen, with one of the two strongly recommended to be from their advisor (because their transcripts would not reflect very much about them) Part C - 3 essay/short answer questions - responses limited to a maximum of 150 words each - the following essay question should be required for each applicant: How would you demonstrate the ideals and qualities that SWE up holds? - for the other 2 essay questions, there will be a list of 5 t o 10 different topics for the applicants to choose from - possible essay questions: - given a hypothetical situation, how would you react in such circumstances (e.g. You see that other women are being discri minated against at your workplace, what would you do in reaction?) - Describe a significant event (e.g. a personal encounter with in your own life and tell how you reacted to it. - Describe a recent nonscientific, current-events article that caught your attention and explain why it interested you. - Name fictional or real-life characters/people who would be: (a) most like you, (b) least like you, and (c) most like what you would want yourself to be. - Only ___ % of the engineering workforce today is composed of women, partly due to the pressures of balancing family/personal life with work. How would you maintain such a balance as a female engineer/scientist? - ***WE NEED SUGGESTIONS for more essay questions*** (2) JUDGING COMMITTEE - propose 10 professors first, then send out invitations to each, and finally select 3 to be the judges - suggestions mentioned at the meeting: - Charles Stewart - professor of political science - James Sherley - professor of bioengineering - August Witt - professor of materials science and engineering - Robert O'Handley - professor of materials science and engineering - Lita Nelson - MIT Technology Licensing Office - John Belcher - 8.02 professor - ***WE NEED INPUT from the SWE executive committee for additional professors*** - when sending out invitations to professors, we should ask them for suggestions regarding possible essay questions for the application - before the judging process starts, we need to provide a rubric explaining what scale will be used in judging the different parts of the application and how each part should be weighted in terms of percentages (3) SCHOLARSHIP AWARDS AND QUALIFIED APPLICANTS - only SWE members allowed to apply (including members of the SWE executive committee) - only freshmen, sophomores, and juniors may apply - 2 scholarships per class: - freshman: $1000, $2000 - sophomores: $1000, $2000 - juniors: $1000, $2000 (4) SCHOLARSHIP SUBMISSION AND ADVERTISEMENT - paper application available at SWE office in Student Center - downloadable version on SWE web site - advertising signs posted around MIT campus - "spotlight" advertisement on SWE web site - announcements through SWE mailing list - announcements at SWE general meetings (5) SCHEDULE - applications will be available after IAP - paper application due: March 15 - 12 finalistsnotified: March 30 - interviews: April 3-6 (3 interviews per day for 1/2 hour each) - notification of winners: April 20 - ceremony: last week of April