Diversity/Office Hours
Diversity and Inclusion Office Hours
On this page you will find information on: Calendar, Office Hours, and Anonymous Feedback.
The Diversity & Inclusion Committee will be hosting "Office Hours" during the 2020 season to explore various Diversity and Inclusion topics with our community. During these sessions, we want to hear from our community about your experiences, and gather feedback and suggestions for HQ in an open forum format. We believe that you - the iGEMers - are critical stakeholders in the iGEM community, and we hope you will continue to help us shape our practices for the better.
Calendar
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| Date | Event | Session link |
|---|---|---|
| 07,16,1300,60 | Topic 1: Black Lives Matter - Systemic Racism in Academia and STEM | Information |
| 07,17,1100,60 | Topic 1: Black Lives Matter - Systemic Racism in Academia and STEM | Information |
Office Hours
Office Hour Topic 1: Black Lives Matter - Systemic Racism in Academia and STEM
Thursday, July 16 at 1PM EDT
Friday, July 17 at 11AM EDT
The focus of the first Office Hour is on systemic racism in Academia and STEM. This forum is intended to give the iGEM community a platform to discuss and understand diverse experiences with racism, and systemic racism especially in the context of Academia and STEM. Through this dialogue, we also want to hear your thoughts and ideas for improving iGEM.
This is a collaborative effort between iGEM Headquarters, the Diversity & Inclusion committee, and Ambassadors. HQ’s first actions have included: writing a statement about these values, creating a dedicated BLM page on the Diversity & Inclusion Hub, and setting up anonymous feedback forms and Share Your Story available for the iGEM community. We have received a lot of valuable feedback through the anonymous feedback form already, and now would like to offer further forums for open statements and discussions (such as this Office Hour).
Thursday, July 16 at 1PM EDT
Zoom info: https://igem-org.zoom.us/j/96536412811
Password: Answer this question - what year is it?
By joining the office hours, you agree that you have read the ground rules below.
Friday, July 17 at 11AM EDT
Zoom info: https://igem-org.zoom.us/j/97658560013
Password: Answer this question - what year is it?
By joining the office hours, you agree that you have read the ground rules below.
Office Hour Ground Rules
All participants must agree to the following ground rules for discussion:
- We are here to listen to you. We from HQ, Diversity and Inclusion Committee and the Ambassadors team are representatives of the iGEM organization during these sessions. Know that we are here to listen to your feedback in earnest and that we share your desire to make iGEM a better organization.
- All participants must be respectful. There is a zero-tolerance policy for verbal abuse or harassment, and all participants must follow the iGEM Rules of Conduct: https://2020.igem.org/Competition/Rules_of_Conduct. Since this forum is not anonymous, please respect the privacy of individuals during and following the event.
- Commit to learning; Assume others are here to learn too. Criticize ideas, not individuals. Please remember that everyone is here to learn. Some of us may be well-informed and have many perspectives, while others may be new to these topics. Try to understand the other person’s perspective or idea and, if necessary, ask follow up questions for clarification and understanding, such as “Did I understand you correctly when you said…?”. Avoid attacking an individual based on what they say.
- Share the space for conversation. We ask that participants share conversation, and give others the chance to participate. Remember, the main goal of these conversations is to foster an open space that enables everyone to share their experiences.
- Lean into discomfort. Pay attention to what makes you uncomfortable, whether it is the topic or something that was said by someone else in the past. Are you able to identify why that made you uncomfortable? Are you able to share this experience with others? Remember, the idea behind these conversations is to foster an open discussion that enables learning.
- This is a safe space. If at any moment during the call you feel disrespected or particularly uncomfortable with a situation, reach out to the meeting hosts and we will be ready to help you.
- What you share won’t affect your team judging.** Perspectives shared here will not impact team judging in the iGEM Competition. However, we expect participants to adhere to iGEM’s Rules of Conduct; **harassment or abuse in breach of the anti-harassment policy (rule 2 above), whether within the office hour or beyond, can be investigated by the Responsible Conduct Committee.
Anonymous Feedback
If you would like to remain anonymous, we welcome you to please submit your thoughts through this anonymous feedback form.
The information collected will be kept strictly confidential, and will only be used to improve iGEM programming. Any feedback submitted or topics discussed will not have any impact upon team judging in the iGEM Competition.
Direct Link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/3S2JPT7
iGEM Foundation
The International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) Foundation is an independent, non-profit organization dedicated to the advancement of synthetic biology, education and competition, and the development of an open community and collaboration. Visit us at igem.org
Contact
hq AT igem DOT org
45 Prospect Street
Cambridge, MA 02139
Due to COVID-19, iGEM staff are working remotely and cannot receive phone calls.
Please contact us by email.
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