Attending: Cherie Barta, Catherine Chan, Nigel Rothfels, Julie O’Leary, Lissa Schneider-Rebozo,  Jalal Nawash, Julie Dresen, Karen Havholm, Scott Cooper

1. UW-System Symposium Update – Jalal Nawash reported that as of April 7^th there were 152 students registered for the Symposium. Students are from WI, MN, IL, and includes private schools. The number is lower than in past years when the event has been held in person. Some students may have delayed registration due to the need to upload presentation materials at the time of registration. April 12th is the registration deadline and UWW staff continues to send out reminders about the deadline and promote the keynote speaker, Pat Slane. Jalal has been in contact with Kathy Divine about getting information to legislators about the event and will provide a final list of student participants after registration closes. Jalal will send out an updated registration list this week and asks anyone having problems with the website to contact him. Spread the word to promote attendance (free to non-presenters).
2. Collaborative summer programming – Summer research programs are moving forward with an expected mix of in-person (with reduced density) and virtual offerings. Most campuses cannot yet get back to fully on-campus activities and some programming will be on-line. Given this, collaborating on professional development offerings for students would allow us to share resources and expertise and provide more opportunities for students to participate in offerings from other campuses. There was general enthusiasm for this idea with details to be worked out. WiSys will be offering some student programming this summer as well, including a student research showcase such as has been offered at the SPARK Symposium and a grant-writing workshop for students. Ideas for possible topics for student sessions included scientific communication, abstract writing, information literacy, writing for publication, having grad students or post-docs share their research, undergrad “supergroups” where students working in the same disciplines could come together, and a viewing and discussion of the documentary film Picture a Scientist. A global list of campus offerings could be shared on the website, once campuses have their activities in place. CUR has a student programming committee focused on student professional development programming and Karen Havholm wil inquire about any summer plans. Once campuses have identified activities a global calendar can be posted on the WisCUR website.
3. Annual meeting – Last year’s annual meeting was held at the end of July and similar timing is proposed for this year’s meeting – late summer or early fall. It’s not clear yet whether the meeting could be in person, due to the uncertainty of campus and System policies and budget concerns. A hybrid event may be a possibility. Further discussion was postponed until the May meeting.
4. Board nominations – There will be two open board positions to be filled this year at the time of the annual meeting. Both Nigel Rothfels and Lissa Schneider-Rebozo’s terms will be expiring. Think about possible candidates for these openings.
5. A date for the May executive committee meeting will be set via a when2meet poll. Agenda items for next meeting: Annual meeting plan, firming up collaboration on summer professional development opportunities.