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Big Conversations 2008 will be held on Wednesday, April 9 and will feature Steve Mariotti. Steve is the President and Founder of the National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE). NFTE's mission is to provide entrepreneurship education programs to young people from low-income communities.The Big Conversations website has been updated with the date and speaker details, but a schedule of the day's events is still pending. Please check back for updates. We hope you'll join us to discuss "What's Important" on April 9!
On March 26 at 11:00 am in the Olin College auditorium, Mr. Richard Stanley, will address the Olin community. Mr. Stanley is a professional engineer, businessman, and world citizen. He is Chair Emeritus of The Stanley Group of companies which provide engineering, environmental, and construction services, worldwide. He is Chair of The Stanley Foundation, a private operating foundation conducting policy and educational programs that foster a secure peace with freedom and justice. He is retired vice chair of the Board of HON Industries, Inc., a Fortune 1000 manufacturer and marketer of office furniture and hearth products.
The Morale Committee of the Administrative Council, in conjunction with several members of the President’s Cabinet, have been working since the beginning of the year to come up with recommendations for sustaining and improving employee morale at the College. This joint group has now issued a number of recommendations that have been endorsed by the Cabinet, including:
- More flexibility in working hours: a new statement will be added to the Staff Manual stating that “supervisors are encouraged to be as flexible as possible [concerning working hours], including asking staff from other offices in the same division to assist smaller offices.” This adds a new level of flexibility to previously announced initiatives in this area.
- Release time for community service: A statement will be added to the Staff Manual recognizing the importance of community service. “We encourage employees to dedicate some of their time to service. Should the service commitment interfere with an employee’s work schedule, you are encouraged to discuss with your supervisor ways in which your schedule might be adjusted to accommodate both commitments.”
- Create classroom visiting days: With input from the faculty, we are proposing a plan wherein one or two days late in the spring semester will be designated as visiting days during which Olin employees can visit selected classes. These visits would provide all employees the opportunity to see first hand some of the unique educational experiences offered at Olin.
- Re-establish faculty/staff socials: Staff and faculty socials will be re-instituted and occur on a regular basis throughout the year, interspersed among the existing social opportunities such as the Thanksgiving Luncheon and the Recognition Ceremony in May. A committee will organize the socials, and each division will take turns sponsoring them. The College will provide a budget to fund the events.
For those of you who are not familiar with Make Magazine we thought we'd take a minute to draw attention to this very Olinesque publication. A recent AP article summarized it appropriately: "Beyond the potato cannon: Build-it-yourself projects and a 'Martha Stewart' magazine for geeks." We know Olin students have ideas/projects that are Make magazine material, so please feel free to share them with the Office of Communication and we'll do our best to work with editors to get them placed.
The 2008 SWE Regional Conference will take place at Olin April 12 and 13. Between two and three-hundred people are expected to register for the conference, which includes speakers, a career fair of approximately 40 companies, and sessions on leadership, engineering, technology, outreach, and other topics. The theme is “Moving On Up,” which relates to advancement in careers and life.
Students and families who are planning to apply for Need Based Financial Aid for the 2008-09 academic year should complete their Free Application for Financial Aid (FAFSA) by April 15, 2008 and/or as soon as their Federal Tax Returns are complete. The FAFSA can be completed on-line at www.fafsa.ed.gov. The Olin College Federal School Code for FAFSA completion is 039463. Applications for Need Based Financial Aid are awarded on a rolling basis.
Financial aid awards for current students will be sent out during the summer to the home address on file. Eligibility for Need Based Financial Assistance is contingent upon continued financial need and Satisfactory Academic Progress. Academic year 2007-08 grades must be reviewed by COSAP prior to the awarding of additional assistance. Please feel free to contact the Financial Aid Office with any questions.
The Facilities Use Committee and IT Department would like to remind you to email Joseph Hunter, copying helpdesk@olin.edu should you have any technical or audio visual support requests, regarding upcoming events you're involved in planning. The goal is to avoid double booking our facilities and ensuring that your event will be staffed with a technical person if need be. If technical assistance is required, IT suggests providing them with a minimum of two weeks notice to ensure they are able to recruit sufficient staff from their student worker pool.
The PBS kids' show, Design Squad, is looking for bright 18- and 19-year-olds to take part in an engineering challenge show over the summer.
To be cast, you need to be available to work and live in Boston from June through August 15, you will be provided housing and you will be required to report to "work" full-time (five days a week; nine hour days with an hour for lunch).This is a big commitment, but you will get paid to have a ton of fun, learn a lot about engineering, and be on a national television show. To access the FAQ click here and go to P:\Design Squad TV show to complete the entry form.
The Offices of Post Graduate Planning and the Parent Advisory Board (PAB) would like your help connecting
students with your contacts in industry (e.g. your employment) or academia (e.g., your own alma maters).
Not all connections have to be based on direct current involvement with the given institution but
should imply the ability to provide information about them and more importantly, put the student
or alum in contact with people who are involved with these organizations or know more about them.
In order to efficiently collect and report on your networking contacts, please take a few minutes to
submit this brief survey. Except for your general information, the fields are not required; therefore,
feel free to fill out as much as you feel comfortable sharing. Information provided will be accessible
to Olin students and alumni, but will otherwise be kept confidential. We would appreciate a
response by Monday, March 31. Please don’t hesitate to contact the PAB’s Parent Networking Committee Chair, Karl von Reden (Parent of Anna '09), with any questions.
On Thursday, April 17 the Babson Alumni Technology Council will host a panel discussion on the topic of "Clean Technology, Trends & Opportunities." The panel will be moderated by William Huss, Adjunct Lecturer, Babson College, and will take place in the Needham/Wellesley Room of Olin Hall from 8:30-9:45 am, with a breakfast/networking session preceding the discussion from 7:30-8:30 am. More information to follow. To register for this event, please click here.
Jennifer Kimball will perform at the Homegrown Coffeehouse, March 15, at 8:00 pm. As one half of the remarkable duo The Story, she was at the forefront of female-oriented, folk-based pop-rock, one of the most promising trends heading into the 1990s and which achieved its greatest prominence during the Lilith Fair years. The Homegrown Coffeehouse is located at Carter Memorial United Methodist Church, 800 Highland Avenue in Needham Heights. There is free parking and wheelchair access. Admission is $18/$15 students & seniors to benefit the Church. For more information, call 781-444-7478, or visit them at www.uuneedham.org/Coffeehouse for directions, performer links and advance tickets.
Matt Donahoe '08 and Doug Ellwanger '08 took first place in an international contest conducted by Numenta, a company developing an artificial intelligence algorithm. The goal was to use their image recognition code in some kind of game. After brainstorming all sorts of creative and elaborate game ideas, Matt and Doug decided to focus their time making something really simple and fun, called "Drawn in 60 Seconds" - a drawing game where you draw the requested images as quickly as possible. The entries were judged by Electronic Arts, who also donated an Xbox 360 and a suite of games as the first place prize. More information about the contest can be found on Numenta's website where you can see their game and others.
"Olin College Thespians Perform 'Into the Woods'," Needham Times, March 6, 2008
"Small Engineering Schools Harvey Mudd, Olin, Rose-Hulman Offer Big Results," Design News, March 5, 2008
"Teaching the New Engineering Skills," Design News, March 4, 2008
"Some Schools Tuition-free, but Not Easy," ABC7 Eyewitness News, February 25, 2008
In the last issue we asked "How many Candiates' Weekends (Olin's longest standing tradition) has Olin hosted to date?" Greg Marra was the first to answer correctly with a response of 13.
Trivia buffs, do you know...
Q: Where do Olin students come from by the section of the country and beyond? (i.e. what percentage of students fall into these categories: Middle States, Midwest, New England, South, Southwest, West, International)
A: First person to respond to Alyson Goodrow with the correct answer receives a prize.
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