Good afternoon and welcome to today's webinar, Applying for a Postgraduate Research Programme at SOAS. If you are interested in applying for a Master's programme at SOAS, this is not the webinar for you. Master's admissions are managed by our colleagues and any queries regarding these programmes should be emailed to our colleagues at mastersadmissionsatsoas.ac.uk. Today we are discussing the application process for postgraduate research programmes at SOAS. My name is Danielle Cameron and I am a Doctoral School Officer at SOAS specialising in PhD admissions. These are a few areas that I will be discussing in today's webinar. Please be advised if you have any questions about the application process, please do so through the chat function and I will answer them at the end of this session. Programs offered. The Doctoral School offers two postgraduate research programmes, the M4 PhD programme and the Visiting Research Student Programme, also known as VRS. Please be aware neither programme is offered through distance learning. The research programme is continuous and the talk course term dates do not apply to research students. Students are required to be in London and at SOAS throughout the duration of their studies, regardless of mode of study. SOAS does not offer a standalone MFIL degree. The MFIL-PHD programme is a PhD programme and successful applicants that commence their studies at SOAS on this programme will be working towards a PhD degree. All students admitted to a PhD programme are initially registered for the degree of MFIL. In the third term, full-time or part-time equivalent, students are considered for a transferred to PhD by their supervisory committee. If the upgrade is successful, the date of registration for the PhD is imbedded to the commencement of your studies. Our Visiting Research Student Programme is a non-award programme. Students enrolled on this programme are not registered for a degree programme and are not formally assessed on their work. You can apply for either one, two or three terms as a Visiting Research Student. And as a VRS, you can expect up to five hours of supervision per term and access to SOAS's library resources. Eligibility criteria. What are the academic requirements for a postgraduate research programme at SOAS? The school's requirement is a good UK master's degree or overseas equivalent, which is generally in a relevant field to the programme you have applied for. However, some departments do have more specific levels which are generally advertised on the relevant department's pages of the SOAS website. Administratively speaking, if you meet the school's definition, we will mark your application as academically eligible. If you do not meet the school's minimum academic entry requirement, i.e. you do not hold a UK master's degree or overseas equivalent, you can still apply but your application will be marked as not academically eligible. It would then be at the discretion of the academic selectors and whether an offer of study was made. Any offers made for applicants considered to not meet the academic eligibility criteria must also be approved by the relevant associate dean of research. The English language requirements for the PhD programme are set at a higher level than the undergraduate or postgraduate taught programmes offered at SOAS. It is important when reviewing our requirements that you do refer to the doctoral school admissions on the SOAS website. Please be advised, requests for an exemption of the English language requirement cannot be considered at the application stage. If your application is successful, an offer of study is made and it includes a condition based on the English language and you qualify for the exemption of that, you can submit an exemption request at office stage. In general, due to strict home office requirements and the school's needs to treat all international applicants and non-native English speaking applicants alike, we will require all applicants educated outside one of the home office list of majority English speaking countries to submit a secure English language test relevant to the study of academic English. If you require a tier four visa to study in the UK, then you must take a UK VIIL test. Tests, test results must have been received within two years of the start date of the programme in order for these to be considered valid. From the 2019-20 academic year, all department offering an MPhil PhD programme at SOAS will only offer one entry point each academic year. This will be in September of each academic year. As a non-award programme, the visiting research student programmes are currently offered multiple entry points. In September, January and April, the online system is currently open to applications. You can access the online system by going onto the Doctoral School Admissions pages of the SOAS website and selecting the link titled Postgraduate Online Application. Strict deadlines for the visiting research student programmes and applications that remain incomplete after these deadlines will be withdrawn. The completed deadlines are the final deadline for you providing all required information. Extensions beyond the department's deadline cannot be permitted and incomplete applications will be withdrawn from consideration. Information regarding individual department's deadlines will be available later this academic year, but the school's deadline for completed applications to September 2019 entry is currently 11.59pm, 30th of June, 2019. As the applicant, you are responsible for ensuring you have provided us with all required documentation and ensuring that two acceptable references have been confidentially submitted by your nominated referees by the specified deadline. Please do remember all this information is also available on the Doctoral School Admissions pages of the SOAS website and these will be continuously updated with the most up-to-date information as and when it comes. Choosing your programme. At SOAS, we very much welcome applications for interdisciplinary research, but only one application to one department may be submitted each academic year. Submission of multiple applications will result in a withdrawal of these applications and may delay the processing of your chosen application. Applicants are welcome to make contact with retention supervisors to request feedback on their research proposal, but this is not a requirement of the application process. Please note, any informal expression of interest does not guarantee a formal offer will be made, or that if an offer is made that your proposed supervisor will be the academic that you contacted. If you are unsure which department your research will best sit under, we do recommend reviewing the expertise and research interest of the academics within the departments. This information can be located under the relevant departmental pages of the SOAS website. You can also view a full list of all programmes offered on the Doctoral School Admissions of the SOAS website. Indeed, SOAS are happy to announce that from the 2019-2020 academic year, we are offering a new MPHG pathway entitled Development, Environment and Policy. If you are interested in applying to this, please email Professor Bavani Shankar. His email can be found on the SOAS website, but I will read it now as well. His email is b.shankar at soas.ac.uk. You can also apply to this pathway via the Global Studies pathway that is available on the online system, but please ensure in your personal statement that you clearly state that you want to apply for the Development, Environment and Policy pathway. Completing your application. In order to be considered through the formal application process, applications must be submitted through the online application system. Doctoral school admissions aren't able to make a formal assessment on whether your qualification can meet the eligibility criteria without a formal application being submitted and initially assessed. Due to the volume of applications we receive and to maintain transparency of our procedures, we are unable to review your documentation prior to submitting a formal application and this being initially assessed. Please do note that two references must be confidentially submitted in support of the application before we can make that initial assessment. It is essential that you select the correct class or grade achieved for any previous qualifications you have been awarded. Please do enter this information as you complete your online application form in the relevant class or grade achieved box. If you cannot locate your class achieved from the drop-down list, you should select other and manually input the correct grade into the free text field provided. Please also ensure you are entering your overall grade and not just your dissertation results. And also please do remember that if you have any questions about any of the information that I'm speaking about right now, please do enter them in the chat and I will answer them at the end of this session. Definition of a completed application. So on this side I will talk about all the different components that are required before an application can be deemed complete. Before you submit your application for consideration, you should review the documentation you have uploaded to ensure it is the correct version if you want to be considered. It is a responsibility applicant to ensure all required documentation is submitted by the deadline. Only applications deemed complete by the doctoral school admissions team can be forwarded to the department for academic consideration. Please note an application is only considered complete when the following is included. Number one, a formal application form. In order to be considered, your application must be submitted to the online application system and this form can be accessed via the online application system that in turn can be accessed on the service website. Number two, personal statement. This is your chance to tell the academic selectors about yourself, who you are, why you want to study your chosen program and why you want to study at SOAS. This is a real chance to tell the academic selectors your story and why your previous experiences, whether that's work, education, life, makes you a very suitable candidate for a postgraduate research study. For this, you should aim to write at least the page. Number three, CV. This must cover your formal education and work history. With start and end dates clearly displayed. Be sure to account for any gaps and make sure that your CV is right up to date so you increase information and rises up until 2019. If you are travelling and that's the reason for any gap in your formal work or education history, please do note this. Again, it's part of telling your story and telling the academic selectors how you've reached this point where you would like to do a PhD and you feel that you are well equipped to do so. Number four, a research proposal. This is one of the most vital parts of your application and it will be studied in great detail by the academic selectors. There are generic guidelines available on the Doctoral School admissions pages of the SOAS website for writing your research proposal. And we recommend as a minimum that it should be at least between 1000 to 2000 words. Again, demonstrate how your experiences up to this point have led you to want to pursue this research while your research represents an original contribution to the field of study you wish to place yourself within. You must also include a preliminary bibliography of the most relevant primary and secondary sources you intend to use in your proposed research. If you have a more detailed proposal than just say one to 2000 words, please do submit this. Number five, official transcripts. You must provide us with official transcripts for all qualifications studied at degree level or higher that detail all marks received throughout the duration of your studies. We understand the previous study section of the online application form only allows you to detail up to three previous qualifications. But any additional qualifications should be listed in your CV and you should provide documents for all by utilizing the additional documents section of the online application form. Number six, degree certificates. The same applies to your degree certificates. Even if you do not believe the qualification to be relevant to the program you have applied to, please include it with your application. When the academic selectors review your application, they look at it as a whole. On occasion, they may feel your application may be better suited to another department and may recommend we forward it on their consideration. Number seven, English language. If you have a valid English language test available at the time of your application, please upload this in the relevant section. As I mentioned previously, an English language test can only be deemed valid if it was sat and awarded within two years before the start date of the program you were applying for. For instance, if you're applying for September 2019 entry, your English language test should be sat. You should have sat an English language test between September 2017 and September 2019 for it to be considered valid. If you do not have a valid English language test at the time of your application, please do not panic. Your application can proceed without this documentation, but if your application is successful and a test is required, this would be stipulated in the conditions of any offer made. Number eight, references. In order to be considered complete, your references not only need to be nominated, but your nominated referees must have confidentially submitted their references by the stipulated deadline. Finally, any documents you upload to your application that are not in English require accompanying certified translations from a representative or the administrative authorities at the awarding institution. Self-made translations by applicants will not be accepted. You should ensure that you have read through how to apply guidance in the Doctoral School Emissions section of the SOAS website prior to submitting a formal application for consideration. Please be aware, failure to disclose any current or previous studies may result in a decision being made that a false declaration has been provided. References. So as I previously mentioned, two references are required and these must be submitted confidentially by the referee. References should not come from prospective supervisors, as they must come from individuals who have direct experience of supervising you. Due to the volume of applications we receive, Doctoral School Admissions are able to contact referees on behalf of an applicant to request the submission of a reference. It is the responsibility of the applicants to ensure two acceptable references are confidentially submitted by the completed application deadline. When deciding who to nominate as a referee, please bear in mind the following. If you are currently studying or your most recent qualification was awarded within the last three years, then you will need to nominate two academic references, with at least one of them being from your current or most recent place of study. If your most recent qualification was awarded more than three years ago, you can nominate either professional or academic references. All references must come from individuals who have direct experience of supervising you in either an academic, so that will be a professor, a supervisor, a thesis supervisor as well, a seminar leader or professional. And that would be, for instance, your line manager, employer, team leader. And these should be individuals who have direct experience of supervising you in either an academic or professional capacity. When you complete your application, if you nominate referees as online and provide an acceptable email address for the referee, they will receive an automatic email through the online system, notifying them of the nomination. Please do check in with your referees to make sure they receive this email and make sure that they check all inbox folders to see if that's been sent through. When you complete your application, if you nominate referees as offline, you will need to contact your referees directly to request them to submit their confidential reference in one of the approved formats. Amending your application after submission. As the applicant, it is your responsibility to ensure that all required documentation has been provided for your application and that the versions of your documents uploaded are the final and correct versions that you wish to be considered by the academic selectors. We do understand however that occasionally an error or a mistake will occur, but in those instances you should alert us at the earliest opportunity. You can do so by emailing dsditions at soas.ac.uk. It is essential that you fully review all documentation uploaded to your application prior to submitting it. Application process. So this will give you an overview on the kind of process and timeline of what happens after you submit your application. It is important to highlight that within doctoral school admissions, we process all information. This includes applications emails and posts in date order received to make this fair to all applicants. We do ask that applicants avoid sending duplicate queries as these can delay our progress in time. Once submitted, your application can only be assessed by the doctoral school team once two references have been confidentially submitted by your nominated referees. This means if you submit your application for consideration today, 11th of April, but your referees only submit their references on the 5th of May, then your application will only go into the queue to be initially assessed from the latter date, from 5th of May, and will be processed in date order according to our current volumes. Once the initial assessment is completed, you will receive an email from doctoral school admissions updating you on your application status. This will either be a request for additional information or references or confirmation that your application is complete and has been forwarded to the department for consideration. From the date your application is forwarded to the department and not from the date that you submit your application, it may take between five to eight weeks for a decision to be returned. All formal communication regarding your application will come from the doctoral school admissions and is subject to the formal application process. Once the decision has been returned and processed for your application, you will be notified by email that a decision can be viewed. Due to data protection legislation requirements, we cannot give decisions over the telephone. Offer stage. If your application is successful, you will need to meet any conditions stipulated in your offer letter by the deadline specified. The deadline for meeting conditions for September 2019 entry is the 31st of August. Failure to meet your conditions will result in your being expired and offered withdrawn. During the application stage, we accept scans of your official documentation, but during offer stage, we may require hard copy original evidence of one or more of your qualifications. This means the physical documents may need to be posted to us. If your application is successful, further details of what documentation is required will be stipulated in your offer letter. If you require a tier four visa to study in the UK, you will need to have met all conditions specified and accepted to your offer prior to applying for your CAS number. Relevant guidance is included in offer letters for successful applicants. If your offer is successful, but your circumstances change and you are unable to commence your studies in the year offered, you may consider applying for a deferral. Please note, deferrals are not guaranteed and are subject to accurate approval and availability. If approved, an offer can only be deferred once to the following academic year. For instance, if you applied for September 2019 entry and then wished to defer to 2020, you won't, and your request is successful, you wouldn't be able to then defer from 2020 to 2021. Deferrals must be requested prior to the start date of the program offered. All queries related to deferrals should be sent to doctoral school admissions. If you would like further information on how fee status is assessed, what the tuition fees for the first year will be, or what scholarships are offered, and what the deadlines for these are, please review the relevant guidance. Links can be found on the slide in front of you now. Please note, if you are applying for a scholarship, this requires a separate application to the program application and earlier deadlines apply. So please do keep checking the scholarships pages to see the most up to date information. Getting in touch. For privacy reasons, we are unable to discuss an application with a third party. The only exception to this is where an applicant has submitted an application to a SOAS approved agency. If you have a query regarding application, you will need to contact us directly. Please be aware, doctoral school admissions process all information in dates or received. We are unable to prioritize a query ahead of one already in the queue. If you email us, you will receive an automatic email advising you about current processing times in which we aim to respond to your query. And it's also really helpful in all email correspondence if you can include one of your application identifiers. And this can be your application pin number if you have not yet submitted your application or your seven digit application number if you have submitted an application. Indeed, when you call or if you call us when calling us regarding your application, please ensure you have one of those application identifiers to hand. As this information will be requested by the admissions officer. And by including your application ID or your pin number in your phone call or your email, that will help us to locate your application system and ensure that we're talking to the right person. So here you can find our contact details. So we are reachable by email, doctoral school admissions, we're reachable by email or phone. And you can see, you can see further instructions on how to apply programs offered further information about the doctoral school at SOAS. It's all available on the SOAS website following the relevant link there to admissions PG research. So thanks for tuning in today. We hope the session has provided you with some valuable information to assist you in making your application for a research program at SOAS. Further information and guidance to assist you through the process can be located, as I mentioned in the doctoral school admissions section of the SOAS website. Please do try to make sure you have read these pages prior to submitting a formal application for consideration. So I will now go into the questions in the chat. If you have any questions at all about what's been discussed in this session, please do let them in the chat. So I'll pause for a few minutes or seconds. And anyone that wants to submit a question, please feel free and go ahead in the chat function. Okay. So thank you. Okay, starting with the first question. So someone has asked whether if you want to apply for a PhD in African studies, for example, but their masters is in creative writing. How does that affect the application process? I'm also guessing that you're asking whether that meets the minimum academic entry requirement. Well, as I mentioned earlier, the school's minimum academic entry requirement is a good UK masters or overseas equivalent. Generally, that's expected to be within a related field to the area of research you wish to pursue with your PhD. However, please include all that information in your application, the academic selectors will review all of your information holistically. And also your personal statement and your research proposal represent opportunities for you to explain how your masters has helped you decide to pursue this PhD in a specific field. And the second question. So is there a minimum GPA requirement? As mentioned previously, the school's minimum academic entry requirement is a good UK masters or overseas equivalent. Some departments have more specific course area and that may that may include a grade requirement. And if that's the case, that would be that information would be available on the relevant departments web pages. However, the school's services minimum general entry requirement is a good UK masters or overseas equivalent. And the third question is, is it possible to contact a potential supervisor and to have him or her as one of the academic referees? So as I mentioned previously, your academic referees must have direct experience of supervising you in the past. So if your potential supervisor does have that experience, they start you at master's level and now they want to continue supervising you at PhD level. Then yes, that would be evidence of having direct experience of supervising you in the past. However, if your potential supervisor does not have a history of supervising you before you made contact with them, then they would not be accepted as an academic referee. They must be able to comment on how their past experience of supervising you in an academic capacity has informed them on your capabilities in applying completing postgraduate research. But by all means, you are welcome to contact a potential supervisor and discuss your application, your research proposal with them and ask for any feedback you wish. Of course, the availability of different supervisors and academics differs from individual to individual, but all of the email addresses and contact to eat info can be found on the SOAS website. Okay, if there's any further questions, we still have plenty of time, so I'm going to pause and feel free to write any questions about the application process you wish. So thank you for your next question. The next question is, is it possible to be in a department and have a supervisor from another department, say for example, being in an economics department and having a supervisor from the development studies department. So generally speaking, your supervision panel will be made up of two supervisors, your lead and your second. So your lead supervisor is generally expected to be within the department you've applied for. So your lead supervisor, if you've applied for the economics department, generally speaking, your lead supervisor is expected to be from the economics department. However, your second supervisor could be from a different department, a related department. They may offer expertise in a related field to your research and that may well sit within development studies. So that would be possible. However, that would be something that would be discussed after you enroll at SOAS. If your application is successful and offer of study is made, you would enroll and then within the first meeting with your supervisor in the first term, you would discuss matches for your second supervisor and any other training needs you might require. So yes, please feel free to send in any more questions and I will answer them. Thank you for your next question. So this question is how do the references comments, references and defects your admission and is it a strong factor in deciding on whether or not to make an offer or not. So as I mentioned earlier on, these applications are treated holistically by the academic selectors, so I cannot comment on how strong a factor a reference may be in deciding the ultimate outcome on your application. Each of these components are very important and they are considered as a whole when being reviewed by academic selectors. And then a phrase I used earlier is, use your application to tell the story of how we've reached this point of getting to you wanting to do a PhD and feeling like you're well equipped and suitable for it. So of course your references will hopefully confirm your readiness for postgraduate research and the academic selectors who assess your application will take your referees comments on board. But I cannot comment on whether or not that would be a strong factor or a deciding factor in making an offer of admission. Thank you. So regarding the research proposal, our next question is, is the word count research proposal including the bibliography. So please note there is no maximum words count for the research proposal. There is only a minimum. So and that does not include the bibliography, whether you write 1000 words or 5000 words that does not include the bibliography. So please do make sure that your bibliography is about one page long and it does stay all the most relevant primary and secondary sources to your proposed research. Of course your bibliography can be longer than one page if you're worried about that. But it just needs as a minimum the bibliography needs to be one page and that is not included in the wider research proposal word count. Again, we have got plenty of time so please feel free if it's a lot of information to process flex and any questions you have please do type them in the chat and I'll answer them for the session ends. Thank you. I'll pause them now but please do type anything you wish any questions you wish in the chat function. Thank you. Next question which is, can I elaborate on what the minimum academic eligibility criteria is when we say a good UK masters degree or overseas equivalent. So in regards to good masters degree, that means whether or not you hold that masters degree and you pass fit and it went well. But as I mentioned, certain individual departments will may well have different requirement and if that is the case that would be stated on the relevant departmental web pages on the site website. Alternatively, if you do not hold a postgraduate qualification so that good UK masters or overseas equivalent. This, this doesn't mean that you can't apply for a PhD program, but your application will be marked as not academically eligible. And all this means is it goes to a further stage of consideration. It has to be both considered by the academic selectors and the associate dean of research. The next question is asking about if you've been away from your academic career for a long time, should your references be from your academic supervisors or can it be a professional reference. So if your most recent academic qualification was awarded more than three years ago, you can submit reference references from either academic supervisors or professional supervisors. As long as they have experience direct experience of supervising you in either an academic capacity or professional capacity, there will be an eligible referee. So that's just another confirmation. If your most recent academic qualification was awarded more than three years ago, you can ask for academic and professional references to be submitted. So in terms of elaborating more on the question about the possibility of having academic or professional referees when the most recent degree was awarded more than three years ago.  More than three years ago. Then you could, is that your discretion whether you wish to ask for references to be submitted from academic supervisors or professional supervisors is it is at the applicants discretion. So as I mentioned, an academic supervisor or some an individual that has direct experience of supervising you in an academic capacity could be a seminar leader, a thesis supervisor, a lecturer, etc. Or a professional reference would be, for instance, your line manager, your employer, your team leader, etc. And again, as it's relating to the next question, can it only be professional references? It can be, is that your discretion, as I mentioned, is that the applicants discretion. If the most recent degree was awarded more than three years ago, if they want to ask for two professional references, references, one professional, one academic, it is at your choice. Thank you for your further questions. So, indeed, another question about elaborating on what it means by good masters degree. As I mentioned, that's the school minimum requirement. But the individual departments may well have more specific requirements. Indeed, as a minimum of say 60 in your MA degree, please check the relevant departmental web pages for the department that you're interested in applying for. These requirements are stated on their website. The next question. If I identified the subjects in the university you wish to apply to, but there is no funding for the degree, what options might you have? So, doctor school admissions, do not manage scholarships. Our colleagues in the lovely scholarships team do manage scholarships and applications for funding. So, I would say it's best to get in contact with them. If you don't see any funding available or if you want to explore funding options, please email them at scholarships.soas.ac.uk. And you can also visit the scholarships web pages on the website. And if, for instance, you're unable to secure funding for the year that you wish to answer, say you were applying for September 2019, but you're unable to secure funding.  You can defer that offer, but please do email doctor school admissions if you wish to start that process. So, another question concerning time spent away from academia and how that affects references. So, if your last degree is more than five years ago and you do not have contacts in your previous institution and you are welcome to secure professional references to professional references. As long as they meet the criteria that they're from individuals who have direct experiences, supervising you in professional capacity, and they're submitted through one of the acceptable formats that would meet the application criteria. And the next question is regarding when do applications for the 2020 to 2021 academic year open? So, the application system is currently open for September 2019 entry and the deadline for that is June 2019. The online application system will open to 2020 applications in November 2019. Yes, that's correct. Scholarships.soas.ac.uk is the scholarships email address. We only have a few minutes left. So, any last minute questions you wish to ask, please do type them. And if you have any questions once the session has ended, please do email them to us at doctoral school admissions. So, I've just received a question asking whether you'll be able to listen to the session again after this finishes. Yes, it will be uploaded to YouTube in the coming week or so and you'll be able to re-listen to all the information related today. And I'm just going to respond to that question in chat as well because the individual can't hear at the moment. So, the final question I'll be taking today is asking whether it will be beneficial for your application if you have a certificate in the same area, even if your academic pass is not in the same area. So, I presume you're asking if you have a certificate in the same area as the research you're making or proposing even if your academic pass is not in the same area. So, again, I cannot comment in exactly how that would affect your application, but please do upload any documents that you believe are relevant to your proposed research If these certificates are extra to your official qualifications and higher education, please do upload any relevant other documents that you think will support your place for admission. Thank you for your kind comments and thank you for attending this webinar as well. Again, I'm going to wrap up now and say goodbye. And thank you so much for attending and Doctor School admissions. I was happy to help with any questions you might have about the application process. And I can only say we wish you the best of luck with your applications. Hopefully, speak to you soon. Okay, take care. Bye-bye.


At Appalachian Wireless, all smartphones are 50-100% off retail pricing for back-to-school. This includes all smartphones, so don't be tardy, don't miss the bus! Get to Appalachian Wireless today! Two-year agreement required excludes outright purchase and advantage plans, while supplies last. While most students are preparing themselves for the upcoming school year, one student is helping teachers prepare. Logan Thompson will be a fifth grade student at Belfry Elementary School. After the past few days, he hosted a pencil drive called Pencils for Pirates. This is a simple way for you to help the students and teachers in the Belfry area. My goal is to collect 100 packs of pencils. He exceeded that goal and collected more than 3,200 pencils. Originally, Logan wanted to gather enough to give to teachers in the Belfry area and now he's able to expand to Phelps as well. He said he was able to be successful because of social media and his mom. I got on Facebook and done a video. One of the main reasons behind Pencils for Pirates was to show appreciation to his mom. My mom's a teacher and I know that she has about all of her stuff. So I wanted to do this for all the teachers so they don't have to buy their own pencils. Logan delivered pencils to Bevan's Belfry High, Middle and Elementary Schools Monday and he will deliver to Phelps at a later date. In Belfry, Shelby Porter, EKB News.


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taylor that was pointed the other way that have been in my thumbs metric felton jacob harris i'm just trying to be like lean got purple to 125 tyler higby and silver ambrie thomas just kidding i don't need any more damn medical bills i'm not doing it never riding in an ambulance again chris evans jalen philips we've got blue ice to 99 cam hayward for the stealers and emergent rookie zack wilson jaren doates pink and turner we've got orange chuba hover to 249 panthers and red wave rookie otto 149 jeremiah owosu kormola frida browns saunty samuel junior tyson cambell we've got purple to 22125 jerry cook and hype of justin jefferson j2 feli kelvin joseph purple powered of 49 of christian wilkins for the dolphins and we've got silver otto ryan fifth patrick for washington little fits magic what's up batman so far so good i think it's been pretty solid nothing like crazy crazy tonight yet i feel like we're gonna pull something crazy out flawless though oh yeah rishad bateman sam ellinger we've got orange to 249 christian mccaffrey and purple power new recruit zack wilson 30 of 49 you know jets oh my god pilot wallace south williams we've got gold vinyl i feel like i haven't seen a gold vinyl forever come on for the bears show us a rookie rookie justin with the bears too because that is pretty oc but just in case because that's a pretty darn big car let me see for the try though we'll send a box with the bears heck yeah all out silver of darren waller those belong thrown at you all right last pack of uh hobby can't have gained well a little herbert rookie we've got uh navy camo or uh forest camo mark andrews for the ravens nice cool one there 15 of 15 bookend and a silver leviscushional jr jacks in case you're wondering i did get forest with the uh did you i've gotten all three group breakers now that's funny with the uh top loading and putting something stupid into a recap that's funny all right all right photo time you see your sticker right there let's go let's see a black finite now kelvin joseph uh rishad bateman orange the 249 bro cox cowboys and ty law lockdown real gregg wow sam ellinger tylin wallace red shimmer 235 no afant broncos got anthony miller to 249 texans and silver tyler higby rams but i mean like if all five of those cards are off center like that i mean i don't think it'll affect the valley that much because there's not gonna be one that's better centered than others seth williams rookie kenneth gainwell had got silver almost killil harbert's quitty pay green scope austin hooper browns to 75 and uh dk they're one of warren's for autos right grueso we've got demon davis rookie blue shimmer to markets lauren's that's a sick color match there for the cowboys the 25 they said boys 23 james and kraut are on the hyper to 175 jets and douce mcgallister silver for the saint andry thomas amari rogers blue wave to 199 patrick peterson vikings and emergence kyle trask bucks kyle trask rookie drabryl cox we've got a kelin monge green scope to 75 vikings they said they're vikings out of 75 it might just be this box because look at that center it's about the same no and rasham slater silver rookie got chuba hobbard rookie panthers symmetric felton browns red shimmer of rocks rocks blacklock to 35 taxons orange a 249 james harrison steelers and dk brilliance joe b second year jacob harris chris evans red shimmer to 35 marquette stevens in bills and red rookie auto to 149 of jerry doke's dolphins jalen philips ricky eric stokes orange wave to 60 urb smith junior vikings and fireworks ricky kyle pits like a parson's rookie terrace marshal jr blue shimmer of chris hen uh hernon the fourth for the jets to 25 we've got red wave uh steve large into 149 and another michael pivman jr this time a red shimmer for the cults that is seven out of 10 see then this one is high it's just this whole box is crazy high centering even on the face cars rock lessner to mark jefferson jalen waddle rookie got blue waves of 199 hardy knickerson for the bucks and blue break uh to 99 to attack by lola all right give me one second and we will do a recap here some color and autos we had the red shimmer to 35 marquette stevens and bills green scope to 75 kelin mon vikings the forest camo to 15 mark andrews ravens chuba hovered to 249 panthers michael pitman jr junior red shimmer auto to 10 colts jerry doke's rookie auto to 149 ryan fritz patrick silver jermiah owosu core mo on the red wave rookie auto to 149 browns uh then we had the purple power new recruits of dak wilson to 49 and the gold vinyl for a five justin fields all right congrats again everyone thanks for the filth we've got a three box prism coming right up


Yes, there are quite a few accomplishments. For example, getting recognition at the corporate level as a leader. I feel really proud of being part of a very competent team that has demonstrated silicon success of over 200 memory compilers, spread across 40 technology lines, having a rich portfolio of 100 plus patents and several publications in the last two decades. By joining ST, you will get an opportunity to work with highly talented people, work on challenging projects, innovate while designing, enrich your knowledge from silicon experience and realize how your contribution is making a competitive end product. You will find an open work environment, friendly people and the company supports women leadership. People first, I took a two years break after working for 19 years at ST. It was my natural choice to come back here. ST is open to employees joining back. People development through continuous support and guidance to the team, aligning career aspirations with business objectives, regular one-to-one interaction to give and take feedbacks, act and improve. Strong electronic fundamentals, drive and passion to generate high value differentiated end products, collaboration and teamwork. It's fulfilling to see how our contribution is making competitive end products, many of which we already use in our daily lives. Nurturing and guiding a team and blossoming together. My job is like creating a unit cell, which is elementary in nature, yet very sophisticated and complete in itself, just like a unit cell makes up for various organs with unique functionality. Similarly, the memory blocks that we design fits into a spectrum of applications, be it automotive, space, mobile, servers and so on.


Hello everyone, this is Abby from Western Libraries. In this tutorial today I'm going to show you how to connect your Google Scholar account to Western Library resources so that you never have to pay for any scholarly information you find online. So starting at Google, you'll want to navigate to Google Scholar, scholar.google. Google has a version of its search engine which leaves out irrelevant results like YouTube videos, blog posts, and the like. It's a pretty handy place to start searching for basic research questions and topics such as mycorrhizal fungi. As is common to many databases, you can see that search results list contains a number of scholarly articles. Some of these are freely available and open access online. Others are not a mere behind pretty significant paywalls. So to connect this Google Scholar search within this Chrome web browser and others is to go to the three bars on the top left, choose settings, and here they've made it pretty easy for you with library links. If you are not on Western's campus or this is the first time that you are connecting Google Scholar to Western Library resources from your personal computer, you will need to search for Western Washington University. Once you find it and enable it, you can now see that the same search within Google Scholar yields results that suggest you can find it at Western Washington University. This link links you directly to library resources that again, the library pays for on your behalf as a student. So never pay for anything that you find online, particularly scholarly information.


ttee Reconvenes every year with new members and be like, oh, we need to look at this. It'll be great. So thank you very much for that All right, so now we need to vote of course the applause happened before the All those in favor of approving them. Please raise your hand. They carry unanimously You realize by the way in another Is it six weeks or something like that? Ms. Marriott may be departing us or will be departing us So so there's there's There's just rather reflective time forward at the awesome work of this committee. I move them as Marriott does not depart us I already tried that apparently she has a higher power At home Uh Okay Superintendent evaluation process Do you want to take the lead on this? Sure. So um, what you will see in your packet is a full looking graphic created by Ms. Marriott That May not be totally clear at first and then after it. Um, I just included the minutes of our last Subcommittee meeting because I think that it really outlines what the um tasks that were put forth to the subcommittee Or and I just want to note that the last thing in this is that Um, these proposals will be brought before the committee not at the 7th because we didn't get there But this meeting however the subcommittee agreed that apart from this year's scenario It doesn't make sense to discuss the options until we know whether or not the charter passes So we're we're putting out a bunch of options I don't think it is we we felt as a group that it wasn't logical to take a lot of time to You know deliberate over these given that we don't know what's going to happen in a week And it might change everything But um, I just want to it's sort of quickly Reviews or what what we put together so people can have a little time to improve these in the coming uh weeks See and and just see how it how this we were we were trying to think of like Would there be a way to create a calendar graphic that would kind of help help you reference because it's it's a it's a lot of um It's a lot of factors a lot of factors to sort of integrate in order to determine what could be possible And then also so what's listed here is a number of options. I think there are five different options that we came up with Based on all the different elections and town meetings And then we also created a recommendation for this year um And for each of the options we listed Sort of the positives and negatives that we saw for each one And then some general recommendations and sort of thoughts that we had as we went along Um, and I will say that we really felt that none of the options were stood out as great They're all have some serious sort of Huh, that's not great about them. So that's you know, we really tossed it around quite a bit So that's where we landed. So I just I guess I'll look to our committee and to the chair in terms of From here. Do we want to Talk about those options? So we want to jump right to the one for this year because that's the one that really We need to make some decisions. It'd be great to talk about the one for this year first And then pending I know we're And by the way, people may have all the time in the world this evening So I'm not trying to push the agenda schedule, but we're we're running way behind So I want to give people once we've cleared that give the committee the deference to ask whether they want to continue on I think that makes a lot of sense. So if you look at the last page of this section of the packet It says recommendation for this year. Um, and as we talked about this really what we were trying to communicate was That we wanted to allow The opening for all members to for members to have the choice and we also didn't want New members to feel they want we want to make it really clear that they Should not feel compelled to complete the evaluation or if they did not feel comfortable doing so However, they had the option if they did feel comfortable doing so So I'm just going to read a recommendation for this year for this year All current members are eligible to participate in the superintendent evaluation We want to make it clear to the new members that they are not obligated to complete the evaluation School committee members can only evaluate based on what they have experienced during their tenure as committee members As a committee member which includes artifacts presented by the superintendent Therefore what members may have observed or experienced prior to coming on the board cannot be part of the evaluation Given this new members may not feel they have sufficient knowledge or context to complete the evaluation However, if they feel that they are adequately informed they may choose to do so New members should be aware that it has not been unusual for new members board members to abstain from the process All committee members will have the opportunity to comment and vote on the composite evaluation in public And then we put a proposed timeline Oh and I wrote check contract for because we didn't do that But I'm sure that that can happen And this looks similar to what we did last year It's it's essentially what we did last year because it seemed like that worked and it but it seemed like it made sense To put it Into writing so it didn't come to an awkward moment and it just would be a cleaner process Is there are other questions or comments about this? Starting with the subcommittee The calendar is very challenging and In all cases, I think there was some consensus on our subcommittee that We would like to have the opportunity for members to have been on the board for a sufficient amount of time and Wasn't clear what that is but More than a couple of months And to do that with all of our various town meeting schedules And then you can throw the charter mix in there too. It becomes Very challenging. It is very likely that there will always be some members who will not feel adequately Involved to be able to fill out the superintendant evaluation Do you have other comments? Shemmel? I just want to commend the subcommittee. This just might be One of the best subcommittee structured documents I've seen because it's exactly what a subcommittee should do you you've met you've worked together You've discussed a lot and then you presented options with positives and negatives. That's like so perfect In terms of servicing the greater committee. So thank you for that. Um, is it correct that it's Against the We've got legal Recommendation that school committee members can only evaluate based on what they've experienced during their committee. That's not an opinion. That's uh That that came from the lawyer. Yeah. Yeah, that's right. That's right. I can I can make sure that you have all the language that I got from the lawyer before I am no longer with you I I just have been thinking like staying up at night like thinking about what everything I needed to make I think that would be a very good thing. Yeah, I actually reckon I recollect the email you got from rx area because you actually did send it to me And it does Confirm but with both of you were just saying that it that that the new members are only supposed to Evaluate based on their term of service as a school committee member And based on the artifacts or experience that they have as a school committee member It also should confirm that when when you were reading a moment ago all current members It means current at the time of the evaluation So for example any current member who's no longer a member at that time is not allowed to participate But we were we were we talked about that earlier. So we were clear on that Thank you to the committee also for for putting this together Um, I just wanted to comment. I mean, I think the recommendation for this year makes absolute sense um And given the numerous challenges that we've had both with you know Signing the contract and going through and the big changes that are happening with the the charter Um, I think it makes a lot of sense to to follow this again I just wanted to comment on the general recommendations that you made The the lame duck session. I really like that idea. I mean, I think it's a great idea to incorporate just, um And maybe the members are on the way out won't like that I think it's a great idea to incorporate just some time for people to have You know input into this incredibly important process and to bring that wisdom that we've been talking about that you carry through with You know with your as you serve on the committees Um, this would be a brilliant way to handle that. So I I'm in favor of that Just to comment on that is that we the charter I mean as says here the charter has a lame duck session has this lame duck session So we were we it came up in the meeting If that's a possibility, why wouldn't it be a possibility? And it would be something that all the towns would have to talk about all that kind of thing But so we have done no further exploration, but that's why it's him What's interesting about this and I'll get through this feeling. I just wanted to throw on a comment is um Uh It seems like under any scenario you might imagine though Doing the goals earlier Even as early as june would be advisable right because it gives you more runway for any member of the under any scenario gives them more runway to be able to um Look at the performance and the evidence and the whatever it is for in the context of what the goals that have been set So, um, yeah, I concur with mr. Rionia's that the recommendation for this year is is really excellent really well um Like clearly stated in terms of the reasons and So Nicely written paragraph And yeah, that that's a really interesting point about the lame duck for the small towns. Um It's it would it would seem to be more empowering for the smaller towns. You would want your most informed member To to be the one speaking on the evaluation. That's something right, so that's great. Um, and yeah I'd love that you have the goals voted in june. That's getting the done as soon as possible at the beginning of the Superintendent's year in which he's actually working on the goals. This makes total sense. So Mr. Deming by the way, I'd add something that I don't know I I I think you have noticed this but I'd point out This has actually been one of the most spectacular subcommittees for the entire last year Every single thing they've done they brought wisdom. They bought precision They brought they brought a consensus model that brought in different ideas And in fact, I recall to call distinctly One or any eight or nine months ago whenever it was When we were done with last round of uh of the evaluation And the question was raised should the subcommittee continue and will they committee and I was like dear goodness Of course they will And we're seeing the fruits of that work Now That's entirely true. We'll be running a class called subcommittees one Good Okay, I think we're uh, I think we're fine for this right now. Great. Thank you. Thank you very much And Actually, I'm sorry just before we transition I agree with everything that was said and Perhaps the next meeting. Um, the remaining members of that subcommittee. Um I mean, I think the dates this year looks fine. I have no negative comments But putting a finer point on when some of those dates like mays a big month, right? 31 days and and just looking at our meeting schedule and then backwards designing it and whether that committee wants to Leave that for me in the chair to do or they want to take a crack at it Like I don't have a sense of that, but I think the next step would be getting more concrete with I think that needs to happen period. Yeah, and so, um, I mean, it really needs to happen right. I'm with you. So, um Because I think we you and I have talked about wanting to map out basically the rest of the fiscal year Right because because also knowing that things come up. Yeah, and where does everything fit and everything? Um, I think it's a really easy answer Okay, when the Pelham has reconfigured And the last new member comes to the first meeting of the region So the real question is working backwards from that Does the subcommittee want to take a crack at meeting with the superintendent on this subject? Do you want me to do it? That's awesome. Then you were you were here by Charged with taking care of that task Thank you, and I didn't mean to belabor it, but I just think putting getting the real dates and calendar You still got that sort of recording minute-taking sort of mindset. They're like, I don't know how to record the follow-up I don't know how to It's a good thing New member orientation So um, first I want to Apologize for the late arrival of this in your inbox and I apologize for any difficulties you had viewing it Did people view it? Were they able to see it? Yeah, okay So this was you know working with google view and through w and we were trying to figure it out So i'm sorry for any technical difficulties. Also. I did um continue to work on this Um some so in the current draft, I'll just hold it up so you can see what I've done is I highlighted in yellow throughout sections that Were basically I you know, I had so much steam This is as far as I got and those were the parts that I did not You know were like the placeholders were put in Audra had created this outline and I basically you know I added stuff that was big Some feedback and then I went through and I tried to flesh things out in terms of Providing links providing general overviews, you know pulling things from masc pulling documents that We've gotten from Dorothy press or things like that. So um I think again, this isn't this I I didn't Expect that this would look like sort of hashing this through in detail because that's not where it's at But my hope and dream Is that I have laid a little groundwork That people are so excited to continue and finish that this will turn into something that is actually useful to new members coming on so My suggestion would be that a couple of people or I don't know if you want to call this so committee. I don't know. It's some sort of little small group was Would take this on and continue from here Okay, are there any Any questions before the grand question comes up to pull us to volunteer to help to do that But are there any questions? I mean, obviously it's a work in progress and people read it simple didn't any comments or anything is there any Great piece. Thank you very much. Um The section meet with the finance director And then there's a section of Sort of outlined the budget process I'm wondering if we could somehow Blend those or at least maybe repeat them Because I found I sort of had to when I first came on to the committee Sort of feel my way around a lot of this stuff and that was One of the topics that I sat down to talk to mr. Mangana about was, you know, how to how does this budget work? What do you do with this budget? um And so I think just saying that outright and being super clear with new members that The reason to meet with the finance director is to go over the budget process and in detail and ask all your questions and kind of get All that stuff out in the open And can be really really helpful and I know that you linked to the orientation presentation which mentions that a little bit but still You know, maybe incorporating the actual budget process into that that piece might be really helpful Does it under C does it currently say Under what number is this? Um D and then To see oversee the budget. Do you have a link to finance director's graphic and budget process? Not yet. Okay, so that was added Recently so there is I did put in a graphic, but I mean, so I will say just as a more sort of meta comment This is just a draft So so if people like that, I think that's a great idea And this is just me sort of figuring out how to massage things and I'm not I'm not I think there's a lot of ways that this could be more compacted and stuff like that. And so My again, my hope and dream is that people will take that on as something You know, like I don't think I'm gonna necessarily work on this anymore because I'm not going to be coming to another I mean I can but The door that opened I welcome others to step There's no any cage. Um, I think Phoebe and I I think if you can recall we were at the same orientation By put together by a former chair of the emmer school committee And I don't think we have had one from the regional chair per se to do such an orientation But certainly the material contained here is extremely substantial and informative Okay So as a creative possibility to try and minimize the amount of Um administrative upkeep of this document and also maximize its practical utility I'm trying to think of the so we're about to get new members coming on multiple towns, right? Um, and the purpose is for this to be valuable to them So I'm looking at item one. I the new member mentoring Yeah And and maybe instead of trying to like perfect this or like throw as much steam as possible and to make me this amazing like resource You know, we we do what we can and then when new members come on me like, all right, here it is It's draft. We did the best we could there's a lot here Why don't you know new members go through it and then um, we could sort of combine that with If we have if we have volunteer current members who are willing to say meet with new members Like I think the easiest would be like six o'clock before the 630 regional meeting show up at the library and What and we could ask the new member? What's the what's the one of the things you want to talk about like because there might be individual interests and oh my gosh I need to talk about open meeting law or oh my gosh. I need to talk about the budget And then we could sort of go through there and use that as the facilitating for the The mentoring and then as as they sort of go on board at the end they could say oh, well This was helpful about the document and this was totally not and They take responsibility for evolving it from there I would just hate to throw lots of good attention and effort into making this perfect and then having it just become Static well the funny thing about it is that the most important thing About the document the information it contains is whether or not it actually helps anyone get oriented Right, so it's the interface of this information with how we think new members are going to be able to interact with Them but also with maybe it rather but also with us I mean any any any by also mean the broader team anyone from your team superintendent and I guess the question the other question that comes up is Do we anticipate for example?  Yeah, do we anticipate on the tenth of april when I think we would have two new members But not any other new members to engage immediately with orientation with those two new members and then Approximately four to five weeks later when we have potentially other new members That will then engage sort of serially when someone comes on We'll try to help them out If we do that then that would sort of argue for a more I think as you're describing a discursive process where we're sitting down helping to do some immediate orientation Get questions answer questions show the document and other things we have And then I think you're right try to help mentor someone or help support someone get oriented And then adapt right meaning learn and adapt The creatures crawling on shore Keep going with that metaphor until someone stops me No, no, please So I just I'm just looking through here I mean I think that there are a few things in here that I just didn't get to that Maybe debbie could help me just get linked in there and then that would be there I mean I I also feel that You know, this is a living document to have it be virtual is actually fabulous because there's so many ways that it can change so easily And I think of myself as a new member three years ago And I think just to have something like this where you even if it doesn't have all the information It tells you what you should be asking about because you know I didn't even really know, you know, what time meeting was and what the rule of school committee was until it came upon me And so just like oh, you know, what is this and I think even if it's not finished it should be Shared I mean, you know not my decision But some version of it should be shared and I think that alone would be helpful if it's not I think I think if two things one if you if you're willing to do this Really to follow up with debbie to get links in there. I think that'd be awesome And two I thought the consensus I was seeing emerged from the committee Because we absolutely thought this was worth sharing and we were really more discussing how we were going to share at more than weather Oh, no, I wasn't Funny way like you just came to me that I just agree with peter that doesn't even It's helpful Okay, um, so you're gonna yes, I'm sorry come on. Yeah, I think the only thing I'd add is just something I did based on Conversation with other superintendents of massachusetts in the amer selection this year just full disclosures I reached out to all three Just saying if you're interested in meeting with me just to hear my thoughts and some I you know I can answer some questions you might have And I had to disclaimer at the bottom this identical email is sent to all three candidates who are running for office And I think in the in the other towns if there is if there are competitive races people know about um, I think just I was I wasn't intended to be A joke We're usually begging people to stand up at that time. We have no idea where this conversation is going Keep rolling Okay But um to keep doors open and open Neutrally, um, and and it's something that you know, I felt like the candidates all three candidates and amers came in to meet with me Um, I think the conversation for generative. I think this document Those weren't orientation conversations because they're not current members But having something like this to walk through, uh, it would be incredibly helpful based on my experience Uh talking with with three enthusiastic candidates and um, I think also just trying to set up, um Some of this is like the nuts and bolts but also the kind of dynamics and people have spoken about it where No, when someone starts they have access and they feel like they have access to meet with superintendent He was finance director and meet with committee members So I think as important as the steps are there's also the kind of mood that it evokes that Actually, these are the things that we are here to help you with some of its administrative Some of it's your fellow committee members and I think that's really important and I don't want that to get lost in in how much good content there is I think the the ethos of it is equally as important So I think I think one of the things I'll also say please um And uh, I would hope any chair would be willing to do this Um to the extent that it's helpful. I'm certainly happy to actively participate in meeting with um new members With others only for the purposes Of there's just a lot of stuff we do in these meetings and I know when you start Um, actually just I'll say this awkwardly, which I love doing publicly That since I started a meeting which I became chair almost immediately um, it was really Weird because I knew how to chair meetings really well So like they literally looked I'll call on you and hey you can talk next like that side was like super easy for me But all the sort of norms and behavior and processes is like, you know, I felt like, you know, kind of a You know trained donkey like, you know, like what are we doing next? Oh, that's cool. We do this then Oh, that's interesting, you know And so I had sort of a weird sort of on-the-fly experience of doing that But I'm just saying for any other new member There's just stuff that got getting acculturated into the meetings that you know, I think I think the idea of a combination of Um You know various officers of the of the committee of chairs and vice chairs Helping to do that as well as also mentoring from school committee members who are willing to take on that task Would be really really welcome in addition to the document and along with the meetings with the and it's not may sound funny But because people come on for different reasons or in different perspectives I also want to make sure that if somebody comes on And and this I'm playing devil's advocate. They they they don't know the school administration But they think the role of the committee is to set policy and sometimes that means What you're doing is wonderful and they agree and other times I'm going to ask the hard questions, right? And that's that's the job of people who are feel elected and off people feel that way Is I would want to make sure also that there's felt like many doors open To get answers on well, how does this really work so that if somebody Doesn't want to go to you to ask a question about how do I ask you a tough question? Um, they can ask someone else that question of how Also what the norms are like what's how we are these things actually normally handled because somebody may have a tough question But they're not actually trying to be provocative or challenging They're literally just trying to get a question answered and they don't know how to do that and we can help them figure that out quick comment one more just that In looking at a lot of the policies again as I created this There's a new member orientation policy Which It describes a process of orientation that and I myself as a chair do not follow as well as I should have so I Brought that where I brought that up with the policy subcommittee and the policy subcommittee I believe is going to just because the question is is this policy not happening to the team because it's not what should be happening or because The it's not being followed and it should be fall, you know, does it need to be revised or does it need to be instituted? so I just want to um Let you know that that's a coming attraction as well that I think will Dovetail nicely with this process Well, you know one quick thought is so this document is all about the new committee member But what about the new chair? Right because I think oftentimes, you know a chair assumes a position within the committee and They may be familiar with You know the various meetings and how you know things tend to go and you know, whatever But they're not necessarily familiar with how to chair a meeting right and so there's a whole you know and so that policy the The lack of perhaps follow-through on that particular policy is a great example of you know If a chair hasn't been brought up to speed on what their roles and responsibilities are they may not even be aware That this exists, right? You know, so it's not going to consider for the future for all of us I think is how do we incorporate? Maybe a subsection on becoming chair of the committee and how is that different from being a committee member I see a question in here. Pellum. Does Pellum want to be included in this document? and I I'm guessing that Pellum would love to I'm wondering if it would be okay if we have actually A couple fairly new members would it be alright if I shared this with them? First, I think they'll be helpful to them, but then I'll say and give us their feedback And I would I could kind of liaise in the short term. I'm good Can you use the newest version? Yeah. Yeah, which is always evolving By the minute, there's basically means never It's always going to be it's going to be new and always ever-evolving. No, that sounds great. Okay Just one administrative thing if you want to keep this as an electronic living document that the committee can continue to edit Over time. Is there a location that it can be stored on google drive that all members would have access to view? I was actually thinking of this in the prior conversation Prior to conversations about protocols and superintendent valuation process So I just what it made me think of is a lot of great works happening and with transitions At times things documents that people put a lot of time and energy and everyone endorses Sort of like where's that, you know, so it actually made me think about is there Some level of google folder repository That's not tied to an individual committee member because the way google like Yeah, this hazard and miss do I mean a cage will lovingly lose their arps accounts? I'm sure I'm sure about the lovingly part In a couple days or a week or two whenever we catch up on the system And so I think the challenge is from a document perspective having it based on individual members who Change is problematic. So I'm trying to think through with debbie. Maybe that's something we can work on about how to Kind of facilitate that. Do we actually make a permanent like school committee? Email address. So there's like a clearing house that every new member gets access to But it's not tied to an individual member with google. It's like really important where things originate and where they're, you know, just from a document access Perspective so I just I want to think through that a little with our is folks But I think just having a repository of the work of the committee is really important And that we have a superintendent evaluation subcommittee folder that I think is probably attached to Probably I mean I have a lot of stuff like that So that should be solved soon That's even worse though because that means it could happen before we know it Like I don't mean tomorrow, but it is funny. I think at one o'clock in the morning last night I said to my husband I can move my whole google drive from my office account somewhere else right so that I don't lose So I actually it is on my mind. Yeah, no, it's a big deal So I will work on resolving this this week. The other the other thing that superintendent is that I think that As you're as you're doing that to the extent that Audiences beyond the school committee don't have access what I would hope we would be doing is Ensuring that there's some sort of repository or access to this information That's genuinely public Yeah, because I because if the if the document itself is edited and then brought back to the committee Then there'll be a point of of transparency and public engagement around the new version I if you know what I'm saying I'm uncomfortable with the idea that we have a folder someplace that's beyond public reach Where we keep something that we can commonly work on that sounds like a really bad and dangerous thing So I just want to make sure that As opposed to Having a place where we can put something where if somebody said where do we find this thing to work on an update It we you know what I mean? It is someplace It's calling that out Okay, what a productive meeting Do we have any gifts by the way? I don't see any I don't either that's why this isn't This is the moment of the evening I always ask that because what that means is is everyone knows we're up to our last item, right? It's got to be our last item of business if i'm asking whether we have any Uh Dr. Morris on that last topic just the last final note is we are going to be having a new website We took all that feedback that we had we looked at our current vendor What was possible and we've determined that we need to actually redesign the full site So we've been working with a different vendor on that Our plan right now is to have a soft launch on june 1st, which so soft launch means not everything's on there But enough's on there where people can see it offer feedback and a hard launch on july 1st so that the community has access to comment before things become Incredibly live and then more static Uh, I think the reason I find that related is we've looked at the school committee page We look at the policies for instance, which The good news is that searchable right now the bad news is they're a little clunky in How people view it so we've had trouble rectifying like resolving those two dynamics And I think the new website will offer us different possibilities on that front Both the general but particular to the school committee page. So that's what I was relating the access point that you raised, right? Oh, sorry, I'm just following up on that. Thank you for doing that. It's awesome rolls into the communication speech bigger things Um, we talked a little bit about maybe having a really easy Very prominent section for current initiatives But just because people are going to be thinking about, you know, this is both the ms level at the regional level about different You know big time projects and okay if that's part of the thinking it is our current structure doesn't really allow for that to work well to be blunt and time limited about my comments There's no way to do that and the the new infrastructure Allows for board to be like very in the news updates like there was multiple articles related to Some districts I work for and today's gazette and allows for more of that as well as kind of more defined pages that expanded to other pages So the the structure of it allows for much more engagement in a way to describe so I'm going to move us on since the website and communication actually aren't on the agenda today. Absolutely Vocational schools update. So last Thursday. I had a I think a very healthy meeting with Superintendent Martin of Franklin Tech. We talked about communication between our two school districts And we also talked about the gap that we that was discussed in our meeting last Monday night that Our district was facing in the approved budget and so we resolved to Try to fill that gap understanding the current situation and structure and wanting to rebuild some relationships Between Franklin Tech and the district. I think it's no surprise anyone that that was there were some challenges in that meeting I'm not going to recount. So what we agreed to is that I mean the legal counsel approved this on both sides that What Franklin Tech is willing to do for us for the next academic year only is to set to waive the This additional increment for students who attend voc tech schools for special education needs It's state defined at $3,600 and so that would be waived for the next academic year And so that would net us between 25 and 28 thousand dollars to fill that gap I think this is a very responsive I appreciate the responsiveness of superintendent martin to understand our fiscal situation and to Be responsive in a way that I think Resolves Some element of our challenge. I don't want to minimize the 1.1 million dollars that we were involved in cutting But the the gap that we talked about at the last Monday night's meeting This does not require school committee vote, but I just wanted to share it with you and if there were any questions or concerns I'm happy to take them Questions comments, I should say One question I have is Sending the deadline for application. So the deadline was originally April 1st for dead first Um Students to apply I think the concern of franklin tech and I think I agree with it It's a legitimate concern is that students may have heard Well, you can't apply it. Well, we never said that our counselors never said don't apply to franklin tech It was always if you're applying to franklin tech, you may want to also consider other options Depending a school committee vote the concern that was expressed by franklin tech was that that message in it of itself Might have precluded students from applying so we agreed to extend that deadline by a week to April 8th So that any students who might have been Caught in either misinformation or just not having Because the information wasn't settled at the time that they may have been interested Would have time to resolve that the reality is we did have kids apply to franklin tech As well as other schools From the message that they received from their guidance counselor in eighth grade So it's not a huge concern of mine. It was a significant concern of franklin techs And I think we worked on our reasonable solution to Respond to that concern So when I just So did the Field trip to uh smith take place? So there were no so there were no field trips because that's what I had asked you Right, you didn't even we didn't know when that would have been so that so none of the middle's eighth graders went To visit either school. That's correct So what we uh the middle school principal and I um talked about last year was just the challenge of loss on learning We had um generally about four or five times the number of students Go on the field trip then actually apply to a vogue school which made us somewhat question the motivation And so we still have access we still um for students who come to their guidance counselor You know we've that conversation we promote the dialogue between the vogue school and the family and the student But the field trip part of it was um, it wasn't it was never just and I clarified this the superintendent Franklin raised this in the meeting and and we didn't have a trip at all actually last year We didn't have a trip to smith either. We only had a trip to franklin and that was a longer story, but um It was there was no Favoritism involved and field trips are not field trips. Thank you So just one question. Thank you for meeting with the superintendent. Um, I think it was It's encouraging to hear that you were able to talk through some of the challenges um, my question is around the So this arrangement is for the 2018 2019 tuition, you know for uh the towns Is there any has there been any conversation about continuing that in future years or is this sort of a one time only kind of Thing from it's a one time only kind of thing. Uh, particularly because of the situation we're in I also, uh, just candidly, um I think if we were going more than a year I'd want to bring it up not that i'm not bringing it up We're talking about a school committee meeting as school committee dialogue because doing that Perhaps could preclude other I just don't want to set a dynamic that's a multi-year dynamic for future school committees without enough robust dialogue so He only raised it as a one-year Issue given our fiscal challenges But frankly, I wouldn't have been comfortable going more than a year without more robust dialogue at this table with the community You know the last time well voted The vote went the way it went we had multiple meetings where it's discussed four town meetings school committee meetings So um anything beyond a one-year I would want a more robust discussion about so that's as far as we go Thank you Yeah, so first off. I appreciate the creativity that avoids us What would have been a uh difficult town meeting if if the school committee decided to try and pursue the additional funds You know and you know and yet it does it does mean it's it's a possibility in future years and so um Some members who had attended that um that meeting advocating for us not to go through with the agreement with smith folk Had reached out to me later and I thought I had pretty productive conversations from explaining the The reasons one thing I was very upfront with uh is that you know if we get into a budget situation in the future And it's certainly possible who knows what the future may hold. Um, this is something that you know is It's possible for the school committee to still consider and it's not you know there was some talk about Is this you know a small amount of money and you know, I think you know the 25 000 was the minimum of a conservative estimate the first year Um, and you know when you're cutting more than million dollars every other dollar is very painful. So um, you know if if it It's it's obviously hard to project future budgets, but it as soon as possible if you think that's even a possibility You know if to cross our t's and dot our i's in terms of the community engagement piece ahead of time would be necessary so that if we come to the vote again Even with people strongly in support or an objection to you know, we could make the most informed decision That's why I hope going forward I think it would actually be worth Scheduling a meeting I mean an item for a meeting meet me I say mid-year now, but I don't mid-year means I guess early next year like october and november of next year In which we could talk we could revisit Now I don't want to say necessarily the topic of doing an agreement with Smith vocational, but really revisit the discussion of vocational schools and enrollment and trends and Part of the basket of that will be fiscal issues, but it'll be you know more than that and that we could maybe even invite in Both superintendents or families and others to come in to sort of inform the committee on this In the future we can parking a lot that maybe for something for later Anything else on this topic? Um On school committee player to be gifts on school committee planning one question. I had Dr. Morris is whether we could get I don't want to say a revised schedule, but sort of an updated schedule Of when some of the presentations were going to be done around the sc tf goals And I don't mean tonight. I mean in in general Sort of be able to see them all right As a as a list of when they're scheduled because also I think it would be if we could do that soon Um, well, you're still chair. I would love to see that pushed out if it hasn't already been to sc tf members and others just so that there's more there's a I shouldn't say more awareness We've talked about it here. It's been brought up occasionally I had a couple other public events, but I just want to make sure that since it's something that I think the committee is going to Enjoy or get fruitful conversation out of Um But it's also something that keeps coming up as a question, especially our own data and what we're doing and stuff like that I just think it's worth Making sure that you know if there are members of the public who want to come They they know to come and then I also can see sort of a When the future meetings might be does that make sense to you? It does. Yeah, okay. That'd be wonderful Any other school committee planning? Actually, I'll go to her first So just looking at the regional advocacy Peace and I was reminded Some of the outreach I was doing to representative Killick's office Put me back in touch with a staffer Who had helped with the delegation that? I helped lead last year to and ms. Walman a cage To boston during the mass day on the hill and so I was just looking at the date again because The mass day on the hill is on april 25th Which is back in the middle of there's budget week In boston and I'll have to say that frankly last year when we did this I think the students reported back that The mass events were probably the least interesting to them Unfortunately, they weren't geared towards students and they were you know, there was a You know, there were a couple legislators who were there Sorry to be Chang Diaz was there and you know a few others But it was very much about how school committee members can advocate on behalf of school, you know Issues education related issues Not at all student friendly or young person friendly And I had talked to Glenn Kutcher about trying to change that and that didn't happen. Anyway, long story The point is that I'm raising this now because I do think it's still worth doing again And just figuring out what the timing might be maybe the timing is not that day on the hill And also just wanted to raise the point. Um, so I heard this from the staffer from representative killick staffer that He had approached one of the students that we took on that delegation last year After the fact and had um, they had raised money to provide a scholarship for student from You know from the the representative's district and had suggested to this Amherst regional high school student to go ahead and apply for the scholarship because they thought given You know his work and interest and everything that he would be a great candidate He ended up getting the scholarship and it wasn't a huge scholarship. It was this I think about thousand dollars. I don't like that But anyway, um, he was growing in college. It was a really helpful, you know So it was an interesting little side door that opened as a result of that day on the hill And the students had, you know a really good experience. Um, I think we would want to tailor it for A slightly different experience for them. Um, so that they are able to come in maybe with a set of agenda items and you know Talk to the representatives and legislators And their staffers in a slightly different way, but they really, you know got a lot out of Going to stan Rosenberg's office and meeting with his chief of staff and They met with representative representative goldstein rose and there were a few other, you know people that they met with that day And it was just a great experience So I'd love to see that happen again if we can and I just wanted to talk about that maybe one of our Coming on the next agenda Let's get that on the next agenda Actually, we should have regional advocacy anyways So I think that's going to be probably a standing item where there are going to be things coming up that we ought to talk about as well as plan There are other other other things on this yes, so um now that our budget I mean we have the townwide budget votes, but our budget season from school committee votes is over I talked to a dr. Musad from the collaborative about strategic planning and wanting to get back in that game I believe he's able to attend the meeting if we want him to on April 10th. He sent some revised timelines given that we paused the process for a while and That there's summer which lots of work can happen in the summer and then somewhere can't happen in the summer But just because it's not the people aren't here And so he was interested in coming in at the next meeting on the 10th just for a quick update revised timeline and to re-engage the process And we don't have to make a decision now, but it just you know, I wanted to share it In this meeting I also put on budget warrant reviews so that if we want to have a new process start Like I don't want to have like three meetings go and like oh, we were gonna Have that thing about warrants, you know because that could easily happen So should change of membership and other things that are happening in in april and may that'll keep us busy I had superintendent evaluation. I think having that continue to be on there and just find two dates Ms. Cunningham is planning on doing the The goal to discussion about still learning about race class and other equity issues at that meeting So I have strategic planning budget warrant review policy this At least one but multiple first reads regional advocacy sc tf goal two and superintendent evaluation And then the point that mr. Donis raised about ma sc Regional I'd call it regional advocacy and then would include the msc thing on it Okay So it's hard to project but whether it would rise to the level of agenda item But I assume it won't hit on the topic of the marijuana dispensaries Whether it's at announcements or a superintendent update. I don't know, you know because we don't know what's going to Uh, why don't we I mean we'll input it this way is something This is not locked in right now. We're we're just talking in a meeting with him. We're gonna do If out of tomorrow's Meeting or anything subsequently that comes immediately in mind out of that if it calls for its own agenda item then Let let me and dr. Morris know that I mean anyone who goes I think that we can see two people might be going Um, and we can put it on otherwise. It is absolutely warranted within The announcements or the superintendent's update section to to give us update on that So let's keep it open at the very least we can talk about it then But otherwise if there's enough momentum behind the discussion and the information we're interested we should talk about it As a separate item. Just let us know What sort of bookkeeping one which is I'm guessing we have a rather large stack of executive session minutes that need to be approved and we might want to choose to do that before we have significant change in membership You grew up in Miss Napa Okay, we'll take care of that They're just harder to do. No, no, it's an awesome point. I'm just saying we have we have uh, we have um We have Ms. Ardonius here It was union 26. There's me There's Debbie Between between the three of us we will Figure out the solution to making sure we had a stack of minutes And then we will we will schedule the appropriate time to execute on that item because it's a good point As soon as possible Yes, exactly Exactly Uh, okay anything else? Bye. Just can I offer a final thanks? um to our Vivian For your service. I've learned a lot from both of you In my time on this committee Is this really it by the way? Is it isn't it? This is really it. Yeah, you're relying it Move to adjourn. Oh, no, no, no, that's my job Well, you get to move to adjourn. No, no, I'm looking for a move to adjourn Seconded It's been it's been moved by Ms. Hazard Seconded by Ms. Duamini Cage all those in favor reluctantly to end their last meeting All right, it's unanimous