STEM Routes Structure
Want to be a part of the STEM Routes community? Find here all the information necessary to join us!
We do not like hierarchy! In our community, your voice matters. We practice a flat leadership structure wherein anyone gets a say regardless of membership or duration of participation. Though we do have "roles", the goal of these positions is to distribute responsibilities rather than authority. Further, we use consensus-based decision-making, an indigenous practice of self-governance that amplifies every community voice rather than suppressing those in the voting minority.
Membership Requirements & Expectations
STEM Routes is run by graduate students; we understand how busy and volatile your schedule can be! For this reason, we have no membership requirements. We want you to want to be here. We preserve passion in our work by showing up because we care about our work, not because someone is requiring us to do the work. Our ask if that you contribute what you can and communicate when you need support. STEM Routes is structured such that responsibilities be delegated and passed around to accomodate fluctuations in our schedules (such as TA-ships, comprehensive exams, or co-ops).
Communication & Organization
We use several resources to keep up with everything we are working on. If you join the organization, we will invite you to join these communication portals:
- Slack: This is how we all keep up with everything we are doing. Our core members are all involved in the Slack. This is where you will find reminders for upcoming meetings or events, meeting notes, and advertisements for community programming. We have channels for each of our clusters as well as social activities, like our .
- Google Drive: STEM Routes manages a lot of files. We generate spreadsheet trackers, grant applications, and forms all through our Google Drive. We have folders for each of our events and all of our clusters.
- E-mail: We also use e-mail to send out meeting reminders and other communication that needs to be sent out to members in bulk (like advertising events).
Clusters
STEM Routes is broken up into 5 clusters, each of which manage specific aspects of STEM Routes' work. In most cases, a program involves collaborative contributions from several clusters. For example, planning a workship involves the Workshop cluster to plan the event, the to secure funding for food and survey attendees, and the Outreach & Communications cluster to advertise. Each cluster meets individually weekly to discuss what was accomplished the previous week and how to distribute responsibilities for the upcoming week. In addition to cluster meetings, at least one member from each cluster must attend the general STEM Routes meeting to discuss the work of each cluster over the past week and expectations for the upcoming week.
Uplift
The Uplift program ...
The Workshop cluster provides much of the technical content for our community. We provide workshops on how to navigate graduate school applications, how to find undergraduate research opportunities, and how to find a sense of belonging in STEM. Much of our existing workshops are already developed, so you will have starting material to develop further. Of course, we would love to see you pioneer new workshop topics, develop informational panels, and bring in guest speakers!
Note: There is some overlap between the Workshop and Mentorship clusters, depending on the audience and topic.
Financial management and administrative duties are lumped together because they share significant overlap. For example, our financial lead must manage our budget through the Center for Student Involvement (CSI) which necessitates our staying in good standing as a student organization. In other cases, however, we may need to use funds from one of our grants. Maintenance of those grants involves providing updates about the status of our organization and programming. This cluster is a data & numbers heavy role. We are looking for folks who are organized, and can cultivate strong, lasting relationships with staff and units on campus.
The Outreach cluster focuses on recruitment of new STEM Routes participants, including graduate students, faculty, staff, and undergraduates. This involves emailing, advertising, and cultivating strong relationships with many different groups on campus.
The Communications cluster ensures that we keep members of the public informed about our efforts, programs, and mission. We have a variety of different channels through which we communicate. We care deeply about transparency in everything we do!
The Outreach and Comms go hand-in-hand, so the meetings are usually combined, but if you feel strongly about helping one side more than the other, that is totally up to you!
The Mentorship cluster focuses on researching and developing materials on best mentorship practices for STEM Routes mentors as well as managing our formal mentorship programming.
Note: There is some overlap between the Workshop and Mentorship clusters, depending on the audience and topic.