October meeting update

October updates from the FGSO!

As a reminder, all SFRC graduate students are part of FGSO! All meetings, events, activities, and gatherings are open to everybody. Organization of these activities is done by FGSO leaders, a group of a few people who have stepped up to build a strong community of graduate students. FGSO meets regularly on the first Thursday of each month. Here's what we discussed at the October meeting:

1. Group re-structure, mission updated & invitation for involvement
2. November First-Thursday, November 5th
3. Fall celebration lunch, November 19th

Group re-structure, mission updated & invitation for involvement

First, we focused our mission. In simple terms, we want to FGSO to facilitate interactions among graduate students outside of our respective labs.

Second, we will no longer be a formal UF student group registered Student Activities and Involvement (as we have been in past years). Because of this decision, we do not need to fulfill officer positions of President, Vice President, and Treasurer.

Third, because we have the flexibility in structuring our leadership, FGSO will now be run by a Steering Committee. All graduate students are invited to be part of the steering committee. Some members will have more focused duties (see below), while other members do not have specific duties and are free to give input and help where desired. The idea is to have many people contribute in small and focused ways. This avoids overwhelming any 1 person and allows more people to be involved. Full details can be found in this document.

The member roles of the NEW FGSO steering committee include:

• committee director
• recording meeting minutes
• managing funds
• organizing social events
• maintaining website
• assisting with the spring symposium
• organizing faculty awards
• collecting and advertising job opportunities

The first FGSO Steering Committee will be appointed at the November meeting on Thursday November 5th. Committee membership can change each semester.

If you think you would like to be involved with FGSO, please join our meeting on November 5th. No obligation to participate, just come learn about what you can do to be an active member of the graduate student community.

November First-Thursday, November 5th