Page 45 - April 2008

STUDENT COUNCIL: AN OVERVIEW
Michael S. Canney
Applied Physics Laboratory, University of Washington Seattle, Washington 98105
The Student Council (SC) of the Acoustical Society of America (ASA), formed in 1999, is charged with pro- moting the interests of the 1100 student members of the Society. Even though the ASA is already very student- friendly—offering free conference registration, travel subsi- dies, and student paper awards—there is still an interest in the ASA to do more for students, since they are an impor- tant part of the Society and are the next generation of acousticians. The primary activities of the Student Council are focused on organizing student events at meetings and disseminating student-related information. This article will provide a short overview of the organization of the Council as well as describe its various initiatives.
Organization and responsibilities
The Council consists of 14 representatives—one student from each of the 13 Technical Committees in the Society and an elected Chair. To become a Council representative, stu- dents are selected by each of the Technical Committees (TC). Once on the Council, student members typically serve a 2- year term, and are expected to attend each ASA meeting dur- ing their tenure. Most duties of the Council members take place at the meetings, and include attending the Student Council meeting as well as helping to organize student activ- ities. Serving as a Student Council member is a great way to become more involved in the ASA. Since positions are open on each TC approximately every 2 years, we encourage any- one interested to email a member of the Council for more information about either the duties of being a member or for more information about applying for an open position on the Council.
Social functions and other events at meetings
The primary events organized by the Student Council at the biannual ASA meetings consist of both formal and infor- mal social events, as well as educational workshops. The pri- mary social events are the Student Icebreaker and the Student Reception. The Icebreaker, a student-only event held on the first night of the meeting, is a chance for students to meet other students at the beginning of the week thereby increas- ing the likelihood of student interaction throughout the meeting. The Student Reception is typically held on the third night of the meeting and is more formal than the Icebreaker. This event is open to anyone within the ASA who would like to attend, and is a great networking opportunity for students to meet ASA members from both academia and industry. In addition to these “formal” student social events, the SC also organizes “informal” student social events to enjoy the nightlife in the city hosting the meeting. Past outing events have included trips to piano bars, salsa clubs, jazz clubs, and pool halls. All of the social events are fun for the students and
often lasting relationships between students are made that extend to future meetings.
In addition to social functions, the Council organizes several other events at the meetings. One event that has become very popular at meetings is the Fellowship Workshop that is presented at every third meeting. At this workshop, potential new investigators can meet with representatives from various funding agencies and inquire about the process of submitting applications that are successful in obtaining awards. The last funding workshop was held at the New Orleans meeting in the fall of 2007. At this workshop, repre- sentatives from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Office of Naval Research (ONR), and the National Science Foundation (NSF) discussed various funding opportunities through their organizations and gave input and advice for both graduate and post-graduate funding as well as funding for new researchers. Representatives from the ASA also dis- cussed opportunities for awards from the Society. Each rep- resentative spent 10-15 minutes discussing their funding ini- tiatives, after which small groups were formed where stu- dents and post-docs could ask specific questions of the rep- resentative most familiar with their research area. Overall, the event was a great success. We look forward to seeing everyone at the next Fellowship Workshop at the Portland meeting in the spring of 2009.
Other initiatives
The mentoring award is another initiative that was start- ed in previous years by the Council. The mentoring award is designed to recognize senior members of the ASA who have had a significant impact on both their students and co-work- ers. The award is chosen after careful reading and delibera- tion of each candidate’s resume, as well as personal reference letters—all of which are an incredible tribute to the many amazing mentors that exist in the ASA. The last mentoring award was presented to Dr. David Dowling from the University of Michigan at the New Orleans meeting. The next mentoring award will be presented in Portland and applica- tions will be requested soon via an email announcement. Please take the opportunity to nominate someone who has made a significant impact on your life and research.
The next mentoring award will be presented in the Spring of 2009 at the Portland meeting. The deadline for submission of application materials is September 29, 2008. For further infor- mation see http://www.acosoc.org/student/mentor/mentor.html. Please take this opportunity to nominate someone who has made a significant impact on your life and research.
The Student Council is also helping to start new initia- tives in the ASA. At the upcoming meeting in Miami (Fall 2008) there may be a joint acoustics demo-session with the Committee on Education in Acoustics. We look forward to
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