Student Faculty Conference

More information about the 2027 SFC coming soon!

The Student Faculty Conference (SFC) is an all-day forum discussion between students and faculty. The conference is held biennially as a review of Caltech education. The feedback and suggestions that come out of the SFC shape the future of academics.

The process of planning the SFC begins in fall. The ARC Academics and Research Committee appoints members of SFC Committees, made up of students and faculty. The committees analyze academics and lead a discussion on their findings at the SFC. Each SFC Committee then works to implement their recommendations and feedback from SFC and writes a short report summarizing their work.

The 2025 SFC was held in person on Thursday, April 10th in Ramo Auditorium.

Option Committee Chairs

Special Committee Topics 2023

State of the Honor Code (chaired by Sulekha Kishore and Belle Chen)

The purpose of the Honor Code Committee is to survey, understand, and analyze the beliefs and perspectives of the undergraduate and faculty on Caltech's Honor Code and the Board of Control (BoC). The committee will communicate its findings from the 2025 SFC survey on (1) the importance of the Honor Code to the student community, (2) the undergraduates' perception of the effectiveness of the Honor Code and BoC case hearing process, and (3) occurrences of academic Honor Code violations. We hope to improve student and faculty's understanding of the BoC process and the role the Honor Code plays in our community.

Pre-requisites and How Core Prepares Students for Major-specific Coursework (chaired by Sidd Ojha)

Our committee is examining how well Core and pseudo-Core courses (e.g., Ma 2, Ph 2, Bi 8/9, CS 2, etc.) prepare students for option-specific coursework. Using data reflecting both student and faculty voices, the committee is evaluating the relevance and effectiveness of current prerequisites and to identify courses with missing or unnecessary prerequisites as well as gaps in preparation of students. Based on this input, the committee aims to generate recommendations for both updating prerequisite listings and remedying identified gaps in preparation with the goal of ensuring that students enter upper-level, option-specific courses with the appropriate background and that prerequisites reflect actual course needs.

The 2023 SFC was held in person on Tuesday, April 18th in Ramo Auditorium.

2023 Final Option Reports:

Applied and Computational Mathematics: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1eZW0RJ7Nj0Ap7aWljM6oyFmih25tVt9N/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=103229076392566112973&rtpof=true&sd=true
Bioengineering: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1NzIZ6za0xkRsYJFjk-ZTVjrLeLs1l9Sv/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=103229076392566112973&rtpof=true&sd=true
Biology: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1AoGLSlLxHmZEvwtHZz53K_HBqNNTAQce/view?usp=sharing
Chemical Engineering: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1fGNjvzKkC0dLLvwMPyAt8Vl2zjBV680a/view?usp=sharing
Computer Science: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Zn6LU-pI44mXGM-bPItC3uKQO9UX8xi2/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=103229076392566112973&rtpof=true&sd=true
Electrical Engineering: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1L3uCNbcGwyqDlCeLEZTRnj2FSSc58qe0/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=103229076392566112973&rtpof=true&sd=true
Materials Science: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1dLA-sKu-CvhWEINObpE9K1n5Bz8J6taz/view?usp=sharing
Mathematics: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1baOIjLX6J5EDGTbdCmW_bzvQlrDwPi0J/view?usp=sharing
Mechanical Engineering: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1EePTBpsjFLJPTVTGahIifE1mM6juayQH/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=103229076392566112973&rtpof=true&sd=true

Special Committee Topics 2023

Effects of Covid on Academics (chaired by Abigail Jiang and Arya Mevada)

Over the course of the pandemic, Caltech had to make many changes in order to accommodate remote learning. As a result, existing issues were exacerbated, and many new issues arose. The goal of this committee is to examine how these issues affected both students and faculty and to discern which issues are likely to continue or recede as the pandemic ends. The committee will focus on issues stemming from the sickness and extension policy, existing support for professors, mental health, and what Caltech did well and should continue doing in the future.

Rethinking Flexibility in the Core Curriculum (chaired by Kevin Gauld and Jeb Brysacz)

Caltech's core curriculum makes up approximately 40% of all graduation requirements. Given this, core must be able to successfully prepare students from all backgrounds for their future studies across various disciplines. This committee will discuss revising the core curriculum to allow students more flexibility to explore different fields of their choice and still be able to prepare for the challenges of option-specific coursework.

Please see the recording of the morning session with special topic presentations on "The Effects of COVID on Academics" and "Rethinking Flexibility in the Core Curriculum" below: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1qAFPa1s2O_35ZcDubu7uznZGgRZMYyzP/view?usp=share_link

Option Committee Chairs

The 2021 SFC was held virtually on Friday, April 23rd.

In 2021, the SFC was held virtually, using a mix of recorded presentations on Symposium and live Q&A sessions on Zoom.

Special Committee Topics

Scientific Writing (chaired by Megan Wang)

We are addressing the required technical writing courses for each option and finding a solution to make it easier for undergrads to prioritize these courses earlier. Typically, these classes are regarded as something more students push to senior year as a graduation requirement, but we feel that many other institutions push their freshmen to learn effective scientific communication. We also felt that this topic was relevant to what was found in the accreditation report.

Mental Health in Academics (chaired by Mohini Misra)

Caltech undergraduates experience significant stress and pressure from academics, which has the potential to negatively impact mental health . These issues were certainly highlighted by the Covid-19 pandemic and remote learning, but they are present while in-person nonetheless. The committee is exploring ways faculty can be mental health conscious and accommodate struggling students, as well as steps we can take to change Caltech at a cultural level regarding mental wellbeing.

Option Committee Chairs

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