[UA - The Byte] Aug. 10, 2020

Mon Aug 10 09:01:41 EDT 2020

Vol. 5 Issue 1 - August 10, 2020
The Byte
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 <http://ua.mit.edu/>
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Hi Undergrads, 

Hope you're all staying safe and healthy!

After a long break, the Byte is back! The Byte is a weekly UA newsletter to inform undergraduates about what's happening in the MIT community.

The Byte is run by the UA which works to improve your undergraduate experience through policy, projects, and events. We're always happy to listen to your suggestions, concerns, and comments. Learn more at ua.mit.edu <http://ua.mit.edu/>.

~ Naomi
UA Secretary

 Civic Engagement & Community
MITVote Voter Guide for MA Primary
RISE Petition
 Undergraduate Association
Class of 2024 Orientation Video
Committee on COVID-19 Applications
 Academics
Hacking the Future: The Fall of COVID 

CIVIC ENGAGEMENT & COMMUNITY
2020 Massachusetts Primary: Check Out MITvote's Voter Guide!
When: September 1st 

MITvote has put together a voter guide <https://docs.google.com/document/d/1QumLt6zCC8In2Ivh9d9HegUg8MTbvENyU2FqOI4H0m8/edit?usp=sharing> for the Massachusetts primary on September 1st. This document provides information about how MA has recently changed laws around vote-by-mail, answers questions students may have about voting while away from their on-campus address as well as important dates.

RISE Petition

Reject Injustice through Student Empowerment (RISE) is a united effort of MIT grad students led by Graduate Students for a Healthy MIT, Black Graduate Student Association, and Graduate Student Council Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion committee. The mission is to fight racism, sexism, and other forms of injustice on our campus to guarantee the right to a safe working and educational environment free of harassment, discrimination, and abuse. 

Visit their website <https://www.rise4mit.com/> to learn more and sign the petition <https://www.rise4mit.com/petition-sign>.

UNDERGRADUATE ASSOCIATION
Class of 2024 Orientation Video
Send videos you have of UA events and meetings to ua-secretary at mit.edu <mailto:ua-secretary at mit.edu> to be featured in a video shown to the Class of 2024 at orientation! Please send all videos by Monday 8/10 at 11:59 PM. 

Committee on COVID-19 Applications

Hello Undergrads!

We hope this reaches you all safe and well. The UA Committee on COVID-19 is recruiting for one team and two positions and we would love to share them with you below. If you are interested in any of these positions, please submit your application here <https://docs.google.com/forms/d/18fE66r_p-zkFY-CGq8yh1k3ZQwrPhzjjC4MQIbDTt-I/viewform?edit_requested=true> by Friday (8/14). 

Student Communities Team
The student communities team will be tasked with helping to retain and build communities virtually and in person over this summer and the coming academic year. You and your team will be tasked with forming connections and relationships with relevant administration, faculty, staff and student groups pertaining to building student communities. You will support your team by helping with high level planning and ideation of policy, as well as supporting implementation of projects and initiatives for the undergraduate community. 

Director on Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (1 position)
The Director on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion is tasked with challenging the Committee on what it means for DEI to be infused in how we go about our work. They will work with specific point people on subcommittees to ensure that DEI is foundational within all of the work we do. Please fill out this Calendly <https://calendly.com/baptiste-10/interviews?month=2020-08&date=2020-08-13> for an interview by Thursday (8/13).

Communications Subcommittee: Social media and webmaster (1 position)
Communications is tasked with broadcasting the progress and ongoing work of the Committee to the student body effectively through social media, maintenance of a centralized website, and more up to the discretion and initiative of the subcommittee. You will be tasked with graphic design for the committee and with maintaining the website <http://ua.mit.edu/committee-description>. Please fill out this Calendly <https://calendly.com/baptiste-10/interviews?month=2020-08&date=2020-08-13> for an interview by Thursday (8/13).

Please reach out to ua-covid19 at mit.edu <mailto:ua-covid19 at mit.edu> with any questions that come up!
Committee on COVID-19 Spotlight

The UA Committee on COVID-19 has been working on many exciting initiatives, here are just a few!

Pods Pilot
The Joint Summer Pilot, spearheaded by Committee on COVID-19 member Mohamed Mohamed, is an initiative to better the summer resident experience while testing out potential avenues for social interactions in the fall. The committee collaborated with on-campus house teams, administration, and students for this opt-in program in which summer residents were able to form pods and could have their own shared pods common area. This summer pilot runs until right before the fall semester starts, and results and feedback will be taken into account when shaping the fall student experience.

 <https://www.instagram.com/p/CDpuacbnBM1/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link>Emergency Academic Regulations on Proctoring Services
With recent developments on MIT’s use of proctoring services, the UA Committee on COVID-19 collaborated with the Student Information Processing Board (SIPB) to write a report on the issues with this technology. The report details the issues of inequity and fair use with this software and how recommendations on proctoring services usage should be included in emergency academic regulations. The report was recently sent to APART for review and consideration.

Advocacy with the Division of Student Life 
The Committee published a report on various guest (daytime and overnight) and visible ID policies, as well as balancing autonomy and public health to encourage compliance. After sending the report to administration amongst other forms of advocacy, there were significant changes in policy, including the relaxation of policies involving in-dorm use of ID identification. From organizing a summer resident community discussion to advocacy through different DSL committees, the Committee successfully pushed for change in indoor common area policy.

ACADEMICS
Hacking the Future: Fall of COVID-19 
When: Meets Mondays and Wednesdays, 3:30-5:00pm ET
More info: FAQs on the course website <https://entrepreneurship.mit.edu/hackingthefuture/>
Hacking the Future is a new, cross-disciplinary, project-based course open to all MIT students. Co-founded by faculty from Engineering, Global Economics and Management, Entrepreneurship and Political Science, this class will teach students how to tackle complex, multidimensional problems through the application of a proven disciplined entrepreneurial framework process combined with engineering tools and thinking, consistent with MITs roots of problem solving in a cross disciplinary fashion. The class leverages and integrates MIT’s expertise in technology, entrepreneurship, public policy and action-based learning to create a course platform for students to choose the COVID related problem they want to solve and make a significant positive impact. 

It’s a hands-on course that embodies mens et manus – a practical application of proven frameworks and processes to help solve the most intractable problems in the world today. Join us as we tackle COVID-19 and the myriad of problems this pandemic forces us to address. Let’s get to work!

Our mailing address is:
ua-secretary at mit.edu <mailto:ua-secretary at mit.edu>

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