During winter term, our primary goal was to establish a strong foundation to ensure that WiN can continue to support diversity and inclusivity at UO for years to come. We drafted official bylaws for WiN describing our mission statement, our election process, and our officer roles, as well as other details about how our organization will be maintained in the future. We are currently in the process of submitting these bylaws to Associated Students of UO (ASUO) so that WiN will be recognized as an official University organization. In doing so, WiN will extend its reach to a larger population of students, staff, and faculty and have access to University funding and resources.
In December, WiN was awarded a grant through the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Office. Since then, we have been working to organize a workshop series centered on topics surrounding self-advocacy and public speaking. This workshops series will feature experts from the Science Literacy Program as well as UO Rehearsals for Life, and we hope that the skills learned during these workshops will empower and support members of our community. All are welcome and encouraged to join! Look out for future announcements!
Additionally, WiN has been organizing awards to support members of the UO neuroscience community who are striving for and supporting inclusivity and diversity. This process has entailed designing prompts, applications, judging criteria, and rubrics. You can find out more information about the two awards (a travel grant and a scholarship) here.
During ION graduate recruitment we had an event to educate prospective students about ION, WiN, and our efforts to create a more inclusive and diverse community. Multiple recruits pushed UO to the top of their list because of WiN!
WiN continued to hold empowering, motivating, and inspiring career luncheon discussions with invited speakers. During Winter term, our speakers were:
- Bill Griesar, Ph.D., and Jeff Leake, M.F.A of Northwest Noggin
- Karla Kaun, PhD
- Megan Carey, PhD
- Merav Stern, PhD
- Phyllis Robinson, PhD
Finally, we held a WiN Social hour which drew over 30 attendees! It was a great chance for undergrads, grad students, technicians, postdocs, and faculty from ION and beyond to interact and hear about the work that WiN is doing.
Goals for spring term:
- Award our first scholarship and travel awards
- Host a workshop series promoting self-advocacy
- Apply to ASUO
- Elect a new executive board
We are looking forward to our next term as we continue to work towards an inclusive scientific community!
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