May 2023

Meeting Minutes

June 20, 2023

SURPAS Council Meeting Agenda

Thursday May 25th, 2023 11:30am-1:00pm 

Location: Zoom 

Password: 708142

Quorum:  13

  • Welcome, Zoom etiquette (2’)  
  • Acknowledgment statement, inc group norms/mutual respect (3’) 

Acknowledgment: Divya

Approval of minutes: Divya, Tim

  • Introduction (5’)

New postdocs: 

Tazbir Ahmed

Elena Monti

Sonia Onyeka

Shubham Gupta

Updates (10’)

VTA and ACT transit passes for postdocs officially approved by the Provost

  • Effective from January 2024

Tim: how was the postdoc representative determined for provost committee?

Julia: OPA nominated a few postdocs, there were interviews

  • Council Membership (re-)elections (15’) 
    • Julia Abitbol (renewal)

Voted in: 16 yes

  • Jason Guo (renewal)

Voted in: 15 yes

  • Charmaine Soco (new)

Voted in: 15 yes

  • Leadership elections (10’) 
    • Ishita Jain for Advocacy Coordinator

https://vpge.stanford.edu/academic-guidance/advising-mentoring/advising-1

Voted in: 9 Yes; 6 Abstain

  • Update from the Teaching and Outreach committee – Alaa and Divya (10’) 

Nightlife@ Cal Academy of Sciences

Teaching certificate: CIRTL@Stanford Teaching Certificate Program

https://ctl.stanford.edu/cirtl-stanford-teaching-certificate-program

March 2022 – Jaime Imam –  Director of CIRTL

Postdoctoral teaching certificate

https://postdocs.stanford.edu/events/series/postdoc-teaching-certificate

Jan 2023 –  Ravenn Gethers, Ahaniit Bhattacharya, Kristel Cahyadi Tiandra

SURPAS Teaching and Outreach Committee sign up form:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdUKlqRu6EjAQQYn0BDeQN4_B6pGRP6C_ty_-tceQHdi1jhkA/viewform

Slack Channel:

https://generalsurpaschat.slack.com/?redir=%2Farchives%2FC72T66LLC

  • Update from the JEDI committee – Meghan Agajanian (7’)

JEDI mission: 

  • Support minoritized and marginalized postdocs at Stanford
  • Advocate for the needs and recruitment of under-represented postdocs (current and future)

Defining underrepresented and marginalized: 

  • Racial and ethnic groups
  • Disabilities
  • Socioeconomic background
  • Gender and sexual orientation

Support marginalized postdocs at stanford

  • Create an inclusive postdoc community
  • Amplify marginalized voices and experiences

Current programming:

  • JEDI meeting attendance is normally about 10-15 postdocs
  • Someone like me: monthly peer mentoring
  • Better ally: monthly journal club and action planning
  • Diverse perspectives seminar series: annual invited speaker
  • Diverse ambassadors program: faculty applications

Sign-up list:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1mwxRfqqafKa7clCCr-WFJW42jENoTJU3OSn288acqEI/edit#gid=0

Tim: you could write about some of the programs in the Stanford daily

  • Update from Aravind Natarajan – diversity cabinet representative (8’)

SOM Stanford Diversity Cabinet 

https://med.stanford.edu/diversity/diversity-cabinet.html

Subcommittees:

https://med.stanford.edu/diversity/diversity-cabinet/subcommittees.html

Postdocs are not mentioned in the Stanford Diversity Cabinet, because they don’t know the challenges postdocs are facing. 

Tim: raising the awareness of the work of the community.

Aravind: Sofie from OPA is part of these conversations, but we want to do action based items that support us, not just through communication.

Aravind: Develop a compact between postdocs and faculty mentors (e.g. compact that postdocs should attend conferences)

Contact Aravind Natarajan to provide challenges that you are facing: aranat@stanfrod.edu

  • Upcoming events 
    • June Council meeting (Thursday June 29th 11:30am-1pm)