SWE Minutes from 3-7-05

Upcoming Events
-post-WEST sleepover 4-1
-pre-frosh weekend 4-16 to 4-18

Pre-Frosh Weekend
-wanna get involved in it bc fewer women who come to pre-frosh weekend each year end up enrolling in Mudd
-Elaine Hart asked SWE to get involved
-lunch last year, but very formal
-make sure it's scheduled well so people can come to it
-no to lunch
-ideas: dessert social, slip n slide...
-sleepover-themed gathering where we watch a movie and paint nails etc, in a dorm lounge or the LAC (gym, exercise room)
-committee: Lindsay Wray and Gena will head it, Kristina will help but doesn't want to be in charge

WEST Thank-you's
-want to send out thanks to profs, speaker, and panelists
-last year we found a time when a lot of ppl were free and made a basket (?) and card and presented it to the profs together
-prob do this after spring break
-Minal, Mackenzie, and Alice will shop for gift certificates for 9 profs, $25 each for Full of Life bakery
-gift basket? What did we do last year? will look in records and see
-Dr. Fein?
-Panelists? prob just a thank you note and a candy bar
-Deren?

Registering members who helped at WEST
-our section will reimburse all members who registered with national SWE this year and who will register this year if they helped at WEST
-can sign up 17 more members without going over limits as a small section
-people who have yet to sign up can get a form from Bassman's office
-Shawna will write a check, and we'll send them all off together?

Goods & Bads of WEST
-Tell Deren not to focus so much on Mudd in his college talk (ex: must take calculus to get into Mudd, but not so for every college—may discourage girls)
-shopping for food: need Clinic van and a car for people and several people to meet shoppers when they get back to help unload food
(Everyone willing to should sign up to drive a Mudd van by bringing driver's license by Engineering Dept office)
-Cardenas' workshop not well-rated, S. Harris' was probably favorite
-Thom's workshop: probably too much talking and too little doing
-Cardenas was probably talking too much about what it's like to be a woman engineer- need to talk about what engineering is, though
-Emphasize to workshop profs that they need to spend a majority of the time doing hands-on activities (like 40 minutes of the hour at least)
-next year: 1 person for phone calls, 1 for emails, 1 for mail
-Should we do confirmations? probably, since they're sending in money
-getting the word out? Should advertise and send it everywhere that makes sense, but emphasize that there's a limit of 200 and that it's first-come, first-serve
-We should tell Sierra Vista that they need to stay the entire time if they come again as such a large group.
-Shorter breaks (15 minutes instead of 20) or something to do/see during the break (demonstration? clinic posters on the walls?) (with demonstrations, should keep breaks 20 mins)
-Tell speaker to take more time for questions
-tell profs that "coffee will be there at 8:30 am, must be there by 9" not that they must get there at 8:30 if nothing's happening