EGSAC held its third regular meeting of the academic year this
afternoon; following are the minutes from the meeting.

1.  Maureen Long met with Maria Zuber last Monday.  Maureen was
    pleased with the meeting, and reported on their discussion about
    the document of students' concerns.  The specific suggestions
    generated at earlier student meetings were discussed, and the
    Graduate Committee is discussing ways to maintain continuity of
    requirements for the general exams and committee meetings within
    and across disciplines in EAPS.  Incoming students who find a
    particular advisor ill suited to their interests or personality
    are encouraged to change advisors; the freedom to do this will be
    communicated during orientation.

2.  An advisee workshop was discussed as a possibility for next year's
    orientation.  This might follow the structure of the Graduate
    Student Council's "Grad. School 101" orientation, but would be
    limited to EAPS and more specialized.  This would largely entail
    current students imparting the wisdom gained from years of
    experience to the new students.  If you are interested in helping,
    please let us know.

3.  The Graduate Committee is being asked to design a system for
    periodic (annual) evaluations of student progress.  Melanie
    Fewings is the student representative, and she is a great resource
    for communicating ideas and feedback to the faculty.  Mediators
    are also being appointed by this committee; this is a great
    opportunity to have student input on who these mediators should be.

4.  Maria Zuber was receptive to the idea of insurance for computers
    purchased and used at MIT by students, but information must be
    gathered about specific plans.  If anyone is interested in
    pursuing this, let Maureen Long or me know.

5.  The next EGSAC meeting will be held the Monday after Thanksgiving,
    December 1 at noon in 54-517.

Sincerely,
Rob Korty
EGSAC Secretary