UCSB CS Graduate Representatives

Positions

The graduate representatives (GREPs) are members of our CS graduate student community that serve on a number of departmental committees to represent our interests and coordinate various events and activities throughout the year. Some of the elected GREPs also serve as the department representatives to the Graduate StudentAssociation (GSA).

The elections for these positions are conducted annually, typically before the academic year starts. The current GREPs facilitate the elections and help with onboarding of the new GREPs. The departmental Student Affairs Manager supports the representatives, but it is the responsibility of the representatives to carry out their duties, as outlined below. (Click on the positions to know more about them).

The available positions roughly fall in two groups.

The first is the Executive Committee comprising of a secretary, treasurer, and a president. The task of this is committee is to basically lead the gradreps, right from conducting elections for the non-exec positions, to conducting gradrep meetings, and if needed helping other the gradreps carry on their duties. This committee is also respondible for most of the department events such as the very popular coffee hour and the annual barbecues! In short, the members of executive committee have direct visibility and a lot of potential to positively impact the CS graduate student experience :).

The second group of positions deal with more internal department proceedings and ensuring that graduate student interests are represented in them.


Executive Committee

In the first stage of elections, the CS graduate students elect the three executive members, namely the president, treasurer and the secretary. The secretary keeps the meeting minutes and distributes them via e-mail to all GREPs. The treasurer tracks the GREPs’ funds and manages the budget for the Spring BBQ. The president calls meetings as appropriate (at least once per month) and runs the election for the non-exec positions for the current year and later for the new executive committee for the next year.

GSA Representatives

It is the responsibility of our department representatives (1 or 2) to the GSA, to attend the General Assembly meetings and represent the Computer Science graduate students. Representatives are responsible for passing along to the department’s graduate students, any relevant information presented at the meetings. Stay in communication with the Student Affairs Manager and provide monthly updates. GSA Assembly meetings occur monthly (first Tuesday of every month) between 6pm and 8pm. Regular attendance is important as the GSA provides funding to the GREPs proportional to their attendance.

Note that this is an executive position and the GSA rep also serves as the executive committee president.

CS Talks and Events Committee

This committee comprises of two members who co-lead the department events such as the very popular monthly/weekly coffee hours and the annual BBQ. Coffee Hours are weekly, casual meetings that provide a venue for grad students and faculty to mingle and learn more about the research that is going on the department. The grad student representatives sitting on the committee will coordinate logistics with the office, such as coordinating speakers, budgeting, scheduling, food ordering, and advertising. Stays in close contact with the Student Affairs Manager.

Note that this is an executive position and the two Events rep also serves as the executive committee treasurer and the secretary

CS Summit Committee

This representative will work with faculty and staff in organization of the event, which will be a full-day department-wise event showcasing the great work done in our department.

Recruitment Committee

The Recruitment Committee representative participates in the recruitment of faculty candidates in the department. This committee prepares for recruitment in October, then reviews the applications around December and invites qualified recruits to interview for available faculty positions beginning in January through April. The graduate student representative arranges the lunch meetings that these recruits have with the graduate students and collects feedback to report back to the committee. Being the graduate student representative to the Recruitment Committee may be of major interest to those intending to apply for faculty positions later in their career. Meetings are held approximately once per week beginning in October.

Graduate Affairs Committee

The student representative on the Graduate Affairs Committee is responsible for gathering and voicing the suggestions and complaints of the graduate student body with regards to any issues that pertain to their academic life. Example issues that have fallen upon this committee are: restructuring of screening exams, rising GSR salary levels and early planning/expanding of courses offered by the department. They also participate in the student excellence award process. The Lead TA serves as the representative on this committee and is in regular contact with the Faculty Graduate Advisor (Vice Chair of the Dept.) and Student Affairs Manager. The committee meets at least once per month and possibly more frequently winter and spring quarters.

Graduate Admissions Committee

The Graduate Admissions Committee processes all of the new graduate student applications for the department, and selects the most promising candidates for acceptance to the program. The graduate student committee member has the responsibility of monitoring these activities and contributing to the selection process. The representative also plays a critical role in graduate student recruitment visits by coordinating lunches with the candidates and graduate students. The committee meets once per month beginning in late October.

Undergraduate Curriculum Committee

The Undergraduate Curriculum Committee discusses changes to undergraduate courses, class schedules, and estimates the number of students that will enroll in each course. Committee members meet to discuss changes to course descriptions and course material. Also, student evaluation statistics are discussed in detail and any appropriate changes are recommended. The committee consists of five faculty and one graduate student representative. The committee meets every other week beginning in October.

Diversity Committee

The Diversity Committee is responsible for coordinating outreach and diversity efforts in the department. The graduate student representative will attend the Diversity Committee meetings and provide input, as the representative acts as the interface between the committee and diversity-promoting groups within the department, such as Women in Computer Science (WICS). Meetings may be once per month or more frequently.