BGSA Self-Study Contribution
The BGSA is contributing to the Departmental Self-Study being prepared in advance of the upcoming Cyclical Review.
To gather this information, we sent a survey to the graduate students in this department. We asked questions relating to:
- Application process
- Advisory support
- Teaching Opportunities
- Finances
- Departmental staff support
- Career preparation
- Quality and effectiveness of the graduate program
The 25 responses were then summarized and grouped in a draft document outlining the pros and cons of the McGill Biology Department from a graduate student perspective.
Download the draft document here.
If you would like access to the raw responses from the Graduate Student Survey, please email me (sarah [dot] baldwin [at] mail [dot] mcgill [dot] ca).
This information may be used to help improve the BGSA contribution to the Self-Study or to motivate other initiatives.
Sarah Baldwin
The Future of the BGSA Travel Grant
Hi BGSA!
The BGSA is considering making changes to the delivery of the BGSA Travel Grant, resulting from discussions at the September 2014 General Assembly.
For those of you unfamiliar with the BGSA Travel Grant, it is an award of $400 to be used by a member of the BGSA to travel to a conference. The grant application process begins in March, and can be used retroactively. All BGSA members are eligible for the award (including post docs) and the winner is picked by random draw.
This year, questions have arisen about the usefulness of the award. The following are points that were brought up at the most recent General Assembly:
- Is $400 enough to make the difference for a student to attend a conference? (I.e., student would not be able to attend the conference without obtaining the BGSA award)
- Should the decision be based on more than random draw?
- Can we make it a needs-based award? If so, how do we determine need?
- Could this money be used elsewhere?
- There are other more lucrative travel awards that are available (E.g., The Graduate Training Committee GREAT Award, see details here
In light of this, we propose 3 options:
- Keep the travel grant as is.
- Change the travel grant to a needs-based system. (How to determine “need”?)
- Abolish the travel grant, and put the money towards other BGSA activities.
Ultimately, we will put this to a vote to all BGSA members at the next General Assembly in November or create a voting system online. Before this, we would like to consider your opinion before we formulate the question. Specifically, we are interested in hearing:
If you or a co-worker/friend benefited from the award and it allowed you to travel to a conference Any arguments for or against the above 3 options Any ideas on (1) how to determine need in option 2, and (2) how would you rather see this money used in option 3?
PLEASE SEND YOUR FEEDBACK BY EMAIL TO mcgillbgsa(at)gmail{dot}com BY FRIDAY NOVEMBER 14, 2014.
Thanks BGSA and I hope to hear from you soon!
Your BGSA Execs
BGSA Annual Pumpkin Carving Contest!
Hello BGSA
Well, it is that time of year again! Thanksgiving is behind us, and we are all looking forward to the second most exciting event of October! And that is…you guessed it! The BGSA Annual Pumpkin Carving Contest!!
For those of you unfamiliar with the event, teams participating in the pumpkin carving contest sign-up in advance, and arrive the day of the event with tools in hand to carve a spectacular Bio-tastic pumpkin. Teams must pay $6/team, which covers the cost of the pumpkin (provided by us), and prizes. Please sign up by emailing Beth Nyboer (elizabeth{dot}nyboer(at)mail{dot}mcgill{dot}ca) or Angeline De Bruyns (angeline{dot}debruyns(at)mail{dot}mcgill{dot}ca) and getting your team’s $6 to them by Friday, October 24 so we have time to purchase supplies. Teams have 1 hour to carve their pumpkin on a theme that will be provided the day of the contest. Pumpkins will be scored by the returning judge, Frank Scopeletti (+ guest), who will size up your carving skills based on creativity, use of laboratory tools, originality, and participation of supervisor (worth extra points!!)
SO, here’s the scoop:
- When: Wednesday, October 29, 11:00 am – 12:00 pm
- Where: 4th floor Atrium, Stuart Biology Building
- Who: Graduate students, postdocs, professors and anyone else in the department who wants to participate
- Why: Because it’s October, there are lots of pumpkins around, pumpkins are better when they’re carved, and your lab could win enough candy prizes to last all of November (not to mention the pride of displaying the BGSA Annual Pumpkin Carving TROPHY!)
This event is super fun every year, and a great excuse to take a break from the craziness of fall workloads. So start assembling a team, contact Beth or Angeline to sign up (you have 1 week!), get your supervisor involved for those extra points, and we will see you all on October 29th, 11 am for pumpkin fun!
PS. Who won last year??? Can someone from the winning lab drop me (Beth) a line please?
Elizabeth Nyboer