Welcome to the new fiscal year! My name is Grace Pakeltis and I am incredibly excited to be the Graduate Member Coordinator for FY21. In this role, I work with the rest of the Grad Leadership Team to foster a strong community and network for graduate students in SWE. This is done by supporting new and continuing programming, facilitating communication between graduate students and graduate student groups in SWE, and representing the interests of graduate students to the Society.
As I served as the Graduate Member Coordinator Elect last year, I was hugely impressed by the spectacular graduate students and young professionals who used their time to embody the mission and values of SWE, both at the society and section level. Furthermore, I was in awe of the resilience of students as we adjusted to our new reality in light of COVID-19.
As I served as the Graduate Member Coordinator Elect last year, I was hugely impressed by the spectacular graduate students and young professionals who used their time to embody the mission and values of SWE, both at the society and section level. Furthermore, I was in awe of the resilience of students as we adjusted to our new reality in light of COVID-19.
Members of the Grad Leadership Team at WE19 Let’s take a look at some of the highlights from the last year and look forward to what FY21 has in store!
Highlights from FY20
What were your highlights of FY20? What do you hope to see from the GradSWE Leadership Team in the upcoming year? Let us know in the comments!
Highlights from FY20
- Have you joined our Slack workspace? Over the past year our GradSWE Community Slack has provided members with SWE news and GradSWE events, while providing a space to discuss challenges and victories in their career. With the increased isolation due to the pandemic, Slack has provided members a space to engage with our community through sharing their weekly meals on our “Menu Monday” posts as well as meet-up virtually through our Zoom Coffee Breaks. I look forward to seeing how this platform continues to evolve throughout this year.
- We were able to acknowledge the success of GradSWE Groups and individual members of the GradSWE Community through our GradSWE Award Program. We recognized an Outstanding New Group, an Outstanding Established Group, and 2 Outstanding Individuals this past year! There is no shortage of amazing groups and individuals and we are excited to continue spotlighting the great work they are doing across the society.
- Our mentoring program continued to thrive over the past year. The program matched both graduate and undergraduate members to mentors allowing for fruitful relationships to be created. The team was also able to expand their mentor search leading to an increased diversity in both discipline and background for mentees to be matched with.
- As graduate students are continuing to adjust due to the pandemic, we realize that many opportunities for personal and professional growth have been eliminated across the globe. We are excited to build upon our webinar and virtual meet-up series that began this spring. You can look forward to new webinars, research open mics, podcasts, and YouTube videos with expanded content for you to grow both personally and professionally!
- WE20 planning is in full force! Although it may look different than past annual conferences, our team is tirelessly working to make sure you have the best conference experience. Keep an eye out for details on the Graduate Member Meeting, Networking Reception and Social – we’d love to meet you in person or virtually in New Orleans, LA. We will also be promoting sessions presented by graduate students, as well as highlighting the graduate Collegiate Competition finalists at the conference.
- We are also excited to continue growing our D&I and globalization efforts this fiscal year. We have expanded our D&I team to specifically engage with SWE Affinity Groups as well as advance our guides to help graduate members and graduate group leaders know best practices when trying to promote diversity and inclusion at their events.
What were your highlights of FY20? What do you hope to see from the GradSWE Leadership Team in the upcoming year? Let us know in the comments!
Grace Pakeltis is a PhD candidate at University of Tennessee in Knoxville, TN and the FY21 SWE Graduate Member Coordinator.
