2009 Infinite Mile Award Recipients

Individual Awards:
Kimberly Benard - Customer Service
Global Education and Career Development Center

Carlene Chisom-Freeman - Leadership
Student Financial Services

Matthew Davies - Customer Service & Community
Office of Faculty Support

Kazimir Karwowski - Communication & Collaboration
ROTC - Army

Tamara Menghi - Communication & Collaboration
Global Education and Career Development Center

Deidre Perrin - Community
ROTC - Army

Daniel Sheehan - Innovation & Customer Service
Office of Educational Innovation and Technology

Michael Yang - Diversity & Inclusion
Admissions Office

Team Awards:
DUE WORKING GROUP ON DOUBLE MAJORS
Communication & Collaboration

CATALOG
Innovation & Creativity - Registrar’s Office

TERRASCOPE STAFF
Community - Terrascope

ECONOMY SERIES/JOB FAIR
Customer Service - Global Education and Career Development Center

Individuals:

Kimberly Benard - Customer Service
Global Education & Career Development Center
The statistics point to the most obvious accomplishments for the distinguished fellowships program.  Last year MIT students received a total of 17 major awards. More impressive, was the number of MIT applicants reaching the finalist stage.  Thirty three MIT students reached the final rounds of these competitions, in most cases involving a national interview.  - A remarkable achievement given the relatively small pool of MIT applicants.

These statistics do not tell the whole story. Kim Benard works very hard to reach out to as many students as possible. She enlists faculty and staff across the Institute to help her identify students who would be qualified to apply for distinguished fellowships and to help her encourage those students to start the process. Once a student decides to start an application, Kim works with them closely through all the stages of the process by first building a strong working relationship, then mentoring, guiding and supporting them throughout. She helps the students better understand their accomplishments and to put their passions, talents, and future plans into much sharper focus. This means that all the students who work with Kim on fellowship applications benefit substantially from the process, not just those students who win the fellowship competitions. All the students who work with Kim become better prepared for the next stage of their lives and careers.

In addition to her intensive work with students, Kim works very hard to increase the visibility and reputation of distinguished fellowships at MIT in general. She reaches out to individuals and groups across MIT to present about distinguished fellowships and to increase awareness about these opportunities.

Kim has gone above and beyond in her dedication and in her work with students and she has created an impressive network of faculty and staff who understand the importance of distinguished fellowships for students’ futures. (back to top)

Carlene Chisom-Freeman - Leadership
Student Financial Services
It is with great pleasure and appreciation I present Carlene with an Infinite Mile Award for Leadership.  The position of Executive Director of Student Financial Services is an important role at the Institute that requires a broad range of skills. When Betsy Hicks resigned from the position last summer she left some rather large shoes to fill. Carlene assumed the Executive Director position on an interim basis while simultaneously fulfilling her existing role as Director of Student Receivables.  In both roles Carlene made significant contributions this year.  SFS staff have expressed appreciation at the opportunity to get to know Carlene better and to work with her in a different role.   Her clear communication style and calm supportive management style have helped the staff through a challenging year.  Carlene has been doing a fantastic job.

Stepping into the role of Interim Director is challenging enough when things are steady-state.  Shortly after taking the reigns, the economic landscape changed dramatically.  This impacted our students and their families and the work of the office in some rather significant ways.  In addition, Carlene was placed in the unenviable position of having to cut the SFS budget for FY10. This involved making some difficult decisions and choices. Carlene’s leadership through this interim period has inspired the SFS staff to rise to the challenges, to work creatively in new ways and across boundaries.  This has resulted in some positive gains, including some cross training opportunities, improved team work and improved communication. Throughout her interim appointment, Carlene has handled difficult issues with unbiased diplomacy, fairness, and with great appreciation and support for the SFS staff.  I would add that Carlene has also been a welcome and thoughtful participant on the DUE Leadership team and I’ve enjoyed getting to know her better and working more closely with her during this interim period. (back to top)

Matthew Davies - Customer Service & Community
Office of Faculty Support
Matt’s colleagues in OFS describe him as someone who possesses great attention to detail, sensitivity to a high level of staff anxiety, and someone with a can-do attitude.  He is someone they can turn to with confidence whenever there is a task involving a myriad of details that need to be attended to in a very tight time frame. In such instances, Matt willingly steps into the role and up to the challenge with good humor, a positive outlook, and steadfast determination.

Such was the case, when the office moved to building 12 last year. Matt was willing to roll up his sleeves and do whatever needed doing, whether it was taking down shelving, moving things, getting rid of what was no longer needed, or helping to think about how the new space would work for his colleagues.

On move day, Matt was a real partner and was entirely responsible for one end of the move.  All of his checking and re-checking in the days prior to the move paid off and the move went off without a hitch.  Matt still continues to work on making sure the space works well and that his colleagues in OFS have what they need.  Despite the many challenges, through it all Matt never lost his patience, his sense of humor, or his willingness to do whatever needed to be done.

In addition to his work setting up web pages, administering the Alumni Class Funds, and helping with the online subject evaluation project, Matt has assumed responsibility for facilities, computers, equipment, and parking. His approach is to take care of things that need to be done without making a fuss about it.  On his own initiative he has been cleaning up and updating code on all of OFS’s websites.
As OFS’s IT Liaison, Matt provides support far beyond expectations by taking care of things (big and small).  For instance, during a recent computer replacement, Matt spent hours setting up software.  Faced with a bug in one of the printer drives, he figured out a work around and adjusted their settings and defaults to make the software work more smoothly.— And finally, unhappy with the condition of the users mouse pad, he ordered them a new one, without being asked.

In addition to building community within OFS, Matt is a valuable ambassador for OFS with faculty and staff throughout MIT. He has taken on a new leadership role in our relations with our alumni leaders who donate to the Alumni Class Funds, and has helped us sustain and strengthen that extended MIT community.

He keeps in regular contact throughout the year with representatives of the Classes of 1951, 1955, 1972, and 1999 who established the Alumni Class Funds in support of curriculum innovation.  At the annual meeting to award grants, the alums begin and end the meeting with praise for Matt.  They think he is wonderful, and so do his colleagues in OFS.  His dedication and thoughtfulness are an inspiration to us all.
Finally, Matt has taken on a range of responsibilities during the past year outside his job borders, including helping with the Subject Evaluation project through (excellent) note-keeping and logistical arrangements, and has increasingly contributed his technical insights and practical perspective in useful ways.  He has taken on a role on the Working Group looking at Staff processes within DUE, and feels great responsibility to the good workings of the whole DUE community as he does so. Matt’s colleagues describe him as highly responsive, incredibly persistent, even-tempered and kind, and a calming force in situations that would strain the best of us.  (back to top)

Kazimir Karwowski - Communication & Collaboration
Army ROTC
Kaz Karwowski has demonstrated extraordinary communication and cross-functional collaboration skills by directly contributing to the development and success of the Gordon-MIT Engineering Leadership Program.

Throughout the fall 2008 and spring 2009 semesters, Kaz has worked tirelessly to assist the new Gordon-MIT Engineering Leadership Program in developing a challenging, creative, and quantitative practical (hands-on) leadership teaching / assessing module.  This innovative practicum had its debut on March 20th, at the du Pont Center Gymnasium.  Each of the 20 students enrolled in Gordon-MIT program negotiated the leadership challenges, the foci of which were to practice and evaluate leadership skills, critical / analytical thinking, and effective communication.

In addition to his full-time role as an active Army senior Non-Commissioned Officer with the MIT Army Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) program, Kaz has invested over 100 hours of his personal time to mentor MIT SDM candidates and MIT undergraduate seniors tasked with building the Gordon-MIT program.  Additionally, Kaz collaborated with the Gordon-MIT program managers to include Dr. Diane Soderholm, and the program Executive Directors, Education Director, and Director of Research on other elements of syllabus content, including discussions on ethics and project management.  In this capacity, Kaz has brought to bear leadership experience gained over his 20 year career in the Army, as well as management lessons learned as an ALM degree candidate at the Harvard Extension School.
Kaz Karwowski has had a direct and measurable impact on the growth and development of the Gordon-MIT Engineering Leadership Program. (back to top)

Tamara Menghi - Communication & Collaboration
Global Education and Career Development Center
While our peer schools have, on average, three staff dedicated specifically to prehealth advising, MIT’s Preprofessional Advising program had been staffed by only one full time and one half-time staff member until just last year when restructuring within GECDC led to some additional dedicated support for the program.  Through communication and collaboration with the many constituencies and colleagues that contribute to the educational experience of MIT’s preprofessional students, Tamara has successfully led and developed the Preprofessional Advising Program at MIT.  In addition to supervising the small dedicated staff who support the Preprofessional students, Tamara also manages a decentralized network of 55 prehealth advisors.
 
Tamara has led Preprofessional Advising’s efforts to expand and improve its quality and diversity of services.  One of the ways Tamara has been able to achieve such success is through collaboration with other organizations around and beyond MIT.  She has proven by example that establishing connections and sharing resources leads to strong and comprehensive programming.  For example, Tamara collaborated with the Public Service Center to offer two of Preprofessional Advising’s most creative, successful and well-attended events ever.   Another collaboration led by Tamara that has provided great benefit to MIT’s prehealth community is the Shadow Program, which began as a collaboration with MGH in 2007, expanded to Tufts Medical Center in 2009, and will likely involve Brigham and Women’s Hospital in the future.

Beyond MIT, Tamara maintains regular communication with colleagues across the country and has collaborated on various initiatives for the larger prehealth advising community.   Specifically, Tamara aided the successful implementation of an electronic letter submission program by piloting the software in its initial year and providing feedback on the usability of the system.

Since a major portion of advice given to preprofessional students relates to their academic preparation for professional school, Tamara has had to establish and maintain relations with faculty members within relevant departments in order to ensure that the academic recommendations given to students are accurate.  In addition, she educates medical and other health profession programs about the unique nature of the MIT curriculum, often fielding questions from admissions representatives and advocating on behalf of all MIT applicants.

The unique Prehealth Advisor system at MIT requires that Tamara maintain an active and informed group of researchers, physicians and faculty to serve as mentors to the MIT Prehealth community.  Each summer Tamara reaches out to current advisors, encouraging them to take on new advisees and refreshing them on their advisor responsibilities, and she also conducts outreach in an effort to recruit new advisors.  She works through the fall to ensure that student requests for Prehealth Advisors are met and responds year-round to questions and issues from applicants and advisors.

Though rewarding, working with the Preprofessional population can be especially challenging, as these students are often among the most high-achieving, highly motivated and highly stressed students on campus.  Tamara is extraordinarily open to feedback. She views “criticism” as an opportunity to start a dialogue and open lines of communication.   As a result, advisors and parents have always experienced Tamara’s willingness to address their issue and take concrete action steps.  Through her example, she inspires her colleagues and staff to adapt a similar attitude toward constructive feedback which leaves them feeling inspired, motivated and hopeful rather than discouraged and dejected.

Tamara’s exceptional abilities to communicate and collaborate with students, colleagues, faculty, alumni and other constituents inspire others to be creative and work to the best of their ability. (back to top)

Deidre Perrin - Community
Army ROTC
Deidre was nominated for her successful efforts in drastically increasing the size of the Army ROTC program in less than 9 months, as well as going above and beyond the scope of her normal duties as the Scholarship Officer for the MIT Army ROTC program.

Within a couple weeks of starting work as the Paul Revere Battalion Scholarship Officer, Deidre established a warm and welcoming environment for prospective students and cadets at MIT.  She made every effort to get to know the individuals and their families on a personal level, genuinely connecting with each individual.  Deidre never let the interests of the program supersede the necessities of the students and their families.  Her interactions were based on trust and sincerity, carefully discussing the options available to ensure that MIT and Army ROTC were a perfect fit for each individual.  At the end of the semester in spring 2008, the Army ROTC Battalion consisted of 50 cadets and by the end of the summer of 2008 the program had 75, with the addition of 20 new freshman and 5 sophomores.  Since then our program has grown by over 27%, with an increase of over 30% in scholarship contracts.  This rate has set the conditions for us to exceed our Army directed mission in 2011 and 2012. 

The increase in enrollment was directly due to Deidre’s effort at the various university fairs and events.  She went above and beyond the scope of her duties by personally picking students up and driving them around the campus, introducing them to instructors and providing a welcoming environment upon their initial arrival.  She consistently carried out similar tasks throughout the semester ensuring they were able to get to events and classes.  Deidre has the students’ concerns at the forefront of every endeavor.

Deidre has also taken it upon herself to volunteer as a new student advisor guiding and mentoring 4 MIT freshmen during their first year’s transition.  She has set aside her personal time to deal with the day-to-day and intermittent issues that these new students face.  Deidre took customer service to a new level, redefining it as personal care and acting in a maternal fashion to ease the adjustment as many of these new students encounter their first time away from the safety net of their homes.  She offered counsel to them on every aspect of this new experience from course selection and living arrangements to life on their own.  Deidre made herself available to their questions and concerns around the clock, never treating any situation as too small or unimportant for her attention.

In addition to the superb job as the Scholarship Officer, Deidre is always the first to volunteer when additional help is needed around the department.  She thrives from her work experience and interaction with the students and her easy going attitude and delightful demeanor have contributed to the fun working atmosphere in the office.  She always has something new to offer and even while she worked tirelessly in an effort to bolster numbers in the Battalion she continued to provide valuable advice and guidance to her student advisees. (back to top)

Daniel Sheehan - Innovation & Customer Service
Office of Educational Innovation and Technology
Each fall Daniel offers a workshop for 10-20 environmental MEng students.  The workshop provides a hands-on introduction to Geographic Information Systems (GIS), complete with user documentation and data from previous applications.  Frequently he has devoted a weekend afternoon for a field trip to see, in person, the watersheds that are delineated as digital elevation models. If a particular faculty member happens to be involved with an interesting GIS application, as part of his research or consulting, Daniel will use this application as an example for the students, inviting the faculty member to introduce the relevant background and theory as a way to bring more realism to the topic.

A number of MEng students use GIS in their year-long team project. Daniel mentors these students throughout the year, helping students with such vexing problems as finding adequate data and splicing together data from different sources.  The students describe their interactions with Daniel as very positive.  Even students who do not use GIS during their project work at MIT, report finding it useful when they encounter it later in their professional practice.

Daniel has also been involved with teaching undergraduate and graduate students in EAPS.  He has played a very important role in bringing state-of-the-art GIS to EAPS undergraduate and graduate students. Daniel worked closely with Nathan Niemi, a Postdoctoral Scholar, and graduate student Sinan Akciz to produce the first generation of MapSmith, a ground breaking tool for digital collection of data in the field and used in the Geology Field Camp class.  Daniel has worked with the Field Camp class every year helping UROP students to modify the code where needed and assisting the graduate student TAs with the GIS lab exercises and in the field.  For the latest field camp, Daniel helped Professors Oliver Jagoutz and Clark Burchfiel and TA Kyle Bradley introduce a new version of Mapsmith based on new tools adopted from the University of Kansas.  These new tools were a huge success and EAPS is looking forward to using them in the future.  Daniel has enabled the EAPS field camp to be one of the most advanced in the world.

Each year, with minimal direction, Daniel develops a GIS workshop, for use in the Terrascope Mission Class. The workshop exposes the students to GIS as well as introduces them to a key aspect of one of the challenges presented.  For Mission 2010, Daniel developed a lab illustrating the physical problems of saving New Orleans, showing the students the extent of the area already below sea level but secured for now by levees.  For Mission 2011 Daniel used his knowledge of fisheries science and management from his previous job and his connections there to secure fisheries survey data illustrating a successful fishery (scallops) and an unsuccessful one (cod).

For Mission 2012, Daniel used his experience with hydrology to help the students investigate the hydrology and resources of the Salt River system, which is a key part of Phoenix, Arizona's water supply.  As part of the exercise, Daniel introduced the students to digital elevation data and runoff data, both of which are import in understanding the sources of water in the desert of the western United States.  Daniel works directly with the Mission teams after the GIS Lab exercise, helping them to understand the problems they are looking at as well as searching for data.
MIT is a much richer place because of people like Daniel who work very hard and contribute a great deal to the educational enterprise but often do not get the recognition they are due. (back to top)

Michael Yang - Diversity & Inclusion
Admissions Office
Michael Yang has worked selflessly to foster diversity and inclusiveness in MIT’s undergraduate community. As an Assistant Director of Admissions, Mikey must wear many hats. From traveling around the nation extolling the virtues of the MIT undergraduate education, to reading countless applications and leading selection committees, Mikey epitomizes excellence in the workplace. However, the hat he wears most proudly is that of coordinator of the Questbridge Program for MIT.

The Questbridge Program brings together extremely high achieving disadvantaged students and top-tier American universities. MIT began its partnership with Questbridge last year in an effort to diversify the undergraduate student body and extend need- blind admissions to the neediest of applicants. The partnership, while wonderful, entailed an extreme level of planning, integration of technological and staffing resources, communications, and training of both new and existing Admissions and Student Financial Services staff. Mikey was the leader on all of these efforts and was successful in every single endeavor. Underlying all of these efforts was the philosophy of “always benefit the applicant,” a true testament to his commitment to openness and quality of service.

In his role as coordinator of the Questbridge Program, Mikey developed an MIT/Questbridge application and selection process to allow for inclusiveness of applicants from all different education, geographic, ethnic, and economic backgrounds.  He also created special materials targeted at portraying MIT as a highly affordable educational opportunity and highlighting the generosity of the need-blind financial aid program.  In addition, he trained numerous staff on understanding the complexities of context-based, holistic admissions as well as the need to advocate for underrepresented and disadvantaged applicants in the admission process.

Through Mikey’s efforts, 84 Questbridge applicants were admitted to MIT, adding amazing diversity and complexity to the most selective freshman class MIT has ever seen. These students hail from 21 states, and include future engineers, scientists, and business and research leaders who will break barriers of poverty and disadvantage on their way to success.

For an indication of Mikey’s devotion to his work, one need only look at the case of a young Bolivian-American man from Brighton, MA. who was abandoned by his family two years ago in the United States.  This man rose to become a class leader, founder of his school’s robotics team (which recently won the Boston Regional competition), and tutor to the students in his homeless shelter. Mikey tirelessly advocated for this young man’s admission to MIT. When he was ultimately admitted to MIT, Mikey drove to his shelter, presented him with an MIT sweatshirt and course catalog, and personally welcomed him to his alma mater. Mikey will always go the extra mile to help anyone.

Mikey’s efforts this last year has been invaluable and particularly impressive given that he accomplished them all within a matter of months. He is awe-inspiring to work with and is amazing in his ability to make everyone welcome. He has been instrumental in training new Admissions staff, assisting with the admissions process, and directing efforts to diversify not just our office’s perspective, but the Institute at large. His intense respect for the power and value of diversity is evident throughout his work and his interaction with colleagues.

Over the last month, Mikey worked very closely with Shawna Young, the new Executive Director of the Minority Introduction to Technology, Engineering and Sciences (MITES) program, to assist her with her first year of MITES selection. Along with Shawna, Mikey coordinated the triaging of over 1000 applications to the MITES program (a 300% increase in applications from last year) Mikey also worked closely with Shawna in developing MITES triaging and selection guidelines, including the creation of a new means of identifying a special cohort of MITES applicants who would most benefit from inclusion in the program.  As a result of his investment in MITES, I am certain the long-standing relationship between MITES and the MIT Office of Admissions has been strengthened even more. Michael Yang exemplifies diversity and inclusion in all he does. (back to top)

Teams

DUE Working Group on Double Majors:  Daniel Barkowitz,
Joan Flessner-Filzen, Genevre Filiault, Donna Friedman and
Anna Babbi Klein - Communication & Collaboration
The DUE Working Group on Double Majors is comprised of staff representing many offices across DUE. Together, they expertly moved a complex faculty mandate through the various phases required to reach implementation.  The ability to implement Double Majors is a great benefit to our students and faculty.
Being part of a cross-functional team can be challenging. Pulling together a team to meet a faculty mandate with an aggressive five-month timeframe for implementation is all the more so.  The team quickly rolled up its sleeves and got to work.

As a first step, the team had an open and honest dialogue about their understanding of the charge to the group and how each could contribute individually to the collective goals.  A comprehensive project plan was developed.  Roles were established and the team felt excited and empowered to bring this significant change to the community.

One of the key points of emphasis was how to target communications to address specific concerns by students, faculty, academic administrators and staff.  The group developed a website which was said to be the gold standard for how to communicate a major program change.  In addition, the group drafted several articles, e-mails, and materials for advisors which were strategically designed for various audiences.

The team also partnered well with Information Services & Technology to develop a technical implementation plan.  Technology implementations can be complex and are often done under adverse conditions.  The team deliberated in an analytical fashion to develop meaningful functional requirements that supported the mandate.  Due to the team’s efforts, the technology portion of the project was delivered on time and under budget.

With the arrival of Registration Day for the spring term, the Committee on Curricula began accepting applications from students for double majors. On the first day of classes, three students applied for double majors.  This historic educational moment was due to this high performing team with a can-do attitude.  Its shared commitment to delivering high quality output in an effective and timely fashion, demonstrated Communication and Collaboration at its finest.  The result of the teams many hours of work resulted in the success of this major Institute-wide initiative. (back to top)

Catalog Team: Jennifer Connolly and Martha Janus - Innovation & Creativity
Before the release of the new Registrar’s website in January 2009, there were a limited number of resources for obtaining catalog information on the web. Thanks to the efforts of Jennifer Connolly and Martha Janus, that is no longer the case. In the space of a few short months, Jen and Martha bridged this gap by building a rich, user-friendly collection of timely and topical information. The feedback from users was an enthusiastic "well done!"

Jen and Martha provided important links to better direct students and faculty to the information they need.  To answer faculty questions about how a subject description should be written, they have deftly directed inquiries to the instructors' page of the Registrar’s website, which links to basic "how-to" information about creating and revising subjects and the process through which proposals are reviewed.  Students who inquire about double majors can find answers to their questions in a section that covers petitions to the Committee on Curricula.  The content on the ”Subjects” home page was written to answer many common questions and therefore, has significantly reduced the number of e-mail inquiries. In addition, a new section for department coordinators provides a guide for using CIS including a timeline on the production schedule for the MIT Bulletin.

Jen and Martha also partnered with their colleagues in the Schedules Office to ensure the new site for coordinators would preserve all the functionality which coordinators had come to expect as well as build on the combined outreach efforts the Catalog and Schedules Offices have made in recent years.

In meeting this challenge, Jen and Martha were directly involved in creating over 60 pages on the Registrar’s website. Channeling their writing ability and technical savvy, they managed to transform what could have been a mind-numbing process of churning out content into a creative endeavor that has already become an important communication tool for the Catalog Office and the many constituents it serves.
(back to top)

Terrascope Team:  Debra Aczel and Ruth Weinrib - Community
Terrascope is fundamentally a learning community whose members include currently enrolled freshmen, upper-class “Terra-alums,” faculty and staff who teach and advise the students, MIT alumni who serve as mentors, and other friends of Terrascope throughout the Institute. The community is cohesive, mutually supportive and linked by bonds of affection, respect and common goals. This supportive and cohesive community is due in large part, to the thoughtful and caring work done by Debra Aczel and Ruth Weinrib.

Debra and Ruth do the fundamental “nuts-and-bolts” work of the community such as planning and hosting events, maintaining space, handling an array of details involved in recruiting and enrolling students and so on…. But the services Debra and Ruth provide go so far beyond that.

Debra and Ruth immediately make incoming Terrascope students feel welcome and at home.  They help them feel safe, and ensure the students know someone is looking after their concerns and that there are people they can turn to for advice and help.

Debra and Ruth build bridges between Terrascope and other departments and organizations within MIT by bringing faculty and staff from across the Institute to speak to Terrascope students.  They help students find UROP opportunities that enable them to combine their Terrascope-related interests with work being done elsewhere on campus and they help raise awareness among the faculty and staff in general about the work being done by the students.

Every year Debra and Ruth plan a week-long trip for 50 or more people, always to a new destination and always requiring the students will have a meaningful, fun and educational experience related to the year’s specific Terrascope topic. This trip is one of the most important community-building experiences in the Terrascope program, and it is crucial to its success. It is a tribute to Debra and Ruth that each year the trip goes smoothly and seamlessly.

They engage students themselves in the work of helping the community grow and succeed by giving them significant roles in planning and carrying out events. This provides our students an opportunity to feel a strong sense of ownership and inclusion within their community.

No matter what the task, Debra and Ruth remain cheerful, efficient and flexible, dealing with the inevitable sudden changes in circumstance that could so easily disrupt the smooth operation of the community. In doing so, they provide fantastic role models for our students, who get to see first-hand how complex and difficult tasks can be handled with grace, care and abundant good sense. (back to top)

Economy Series/Job Fair Team:  Melissa Ackerman, Robert Dolan, Kathleen Haggerty, Deborah Liverman, and Marilyn Wilson - Customer Service
The Economy Series/Job Fair team was created to develop and implement a series of workshops in response to the challenging job market for MIT students.  Despite staff vacancies in their respective areas and little advance notice, this team took on the challenge of developing unique and innovative programming that would help MIT students gain internships and employment during one of the most challenging economic periods in recent history.

The “Tough Economy Series” was comprised of special workshops covering all aspects of the job search given the current economic situation. The series included seven specialized workshops developed and presented by the staff themselves. 
In addition to the series of presentations, the team developed a quick survey to provide real-time data on how our students are faring in their internship and job searches.
 
The Spring Career Fair held on April 28th, was the first annual "Just in Time" career fair.  This fair provided employers a unique opportunity to connect with MIT students close to the end of the academic year.  In addition to companies that traditionally recruit on campus, they specifically targeted smaller companies and non-profit organizations.  The results of their efforts speak for themselves.  Over 80 students attended the first three sessions of the “troubled economy series” alone and the Spring Career Fair received an incredible response with over 40 employers having registered. 

The team’s effort went above and beyond what was expected, and represent practices that we will carry forward to future years. (back to top)

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