Bill Sears Club

The Bill Sears Club is an initiative meant to help first year CAM students get to know faculty affiliated with the field and their research interests. One goal of these meetings is to help first years explore options for advisors and committee members; another is to orient first years to the diversity of research done by CAM field members.

Meetings involve inviting a professor (nominated by one or more first years) to speak about their research program with CAM students. These meetings are typically pretty casual, often consisting of a conversation with the professor about their current research program. Sometimes professors opt for an informal presentation of their work to kick off the discussion. Plus, there's food!

Although the meetings are casual, they still require a commitment from the professor to carve out an hour in their schedule to meet with a small number of graduate students they likely do not have any existing relationship with. As a result, all first year students are expected to attend the majority of meetings throughout the year whether or not they are specifically interested in working with a particular professor. It's an awful experience when a professor is ostensibly invited "by the students of CAM", but only 2 students show up to meet with them, and it reflects poorly on us as a program.

The Bill Sears Club is coordinated by a first year student. The 2019-2020 organizer is Mallory Gaspard. Past organizers include Bram Wallace, Lindsay Mercer, and Irena Papst. Please feel free to contact them if you have any questions about the club.

• Organizing notes

• Requested professors

• Sample invitation