T

he Climate and Community Committee (CCC) brings our department's students, faculty, and staff together to discuss how to improve our work and social climate. The committee makes recommendations for changes in all aspects of department life, from curriculum to social events. It first convened in Spring of 2020 and has been meeting bi-weekly since. 

All members of the community should feel free to contact a representative of the CCC at any time.

The current committee liaisons are:

Student liaisons: Julia Woodward (jwoodward24@amherst.edu), Nat Edmonds (nedmonds24@amherst.edu) 

Faculty & Staff liaisons: Prof. David Hall (dshall@amherst.edu), Prof. Mia de los Reyes (mdelosreyes@amherst.edu), Jim Kubasek (jkubasek@amherst.edu)

Current members (as of Spring 2023):

Alex DelFranco (adelfranco24@amherst.edu)

Lillia Hammond (lhammond25@amherst.edu) (at Dartmouth 2023-2024)

Rachel Willick (rwillick25@amherst.edu) 

Bek Herz (eherz25@amherst.edu)

Isla Steinman (isteinman26@amherst.edu)

Kateryna Havryshchuk (khavryshchuk26@amherst.edu)

Karen Kang (kkang25@amherst.edu)

Interested in joining the CCC as a member? Submit a short application here! The deadline for the fall semester is October 27, but we will still consider applications after the deadline on a rolling basis.

The expected time commitment is approximately 1 hour every other week, and members of the CCC are compensated financially. We are trying to maximize representation among all members of the Physics and Astro community, so we especially encourage first-year students, students in BCBP, and students who have taken PHYS 116/117 to apply!

The meeting time for this semester is every other Friday from 9-10am in A126. Anyone is welcome to attend and learn about the CCC’s work, not just members!

Committee Charge

The Climate and Community Committee (CCC) consists of student (as defined below), faculty, and staff representatives from the Department of Physics and Astronomy. The charge of the committee is to discuss issues of equity, inclusion, climate, and community within the department, and to provide accountability for change. In particular, the committee will advise on and develop programming and policies to help improve: retention of majors, recruitment of prospective majors, academic support of students enrolled in physics classes, a sense of community within the department, inclusive pedagogies, and communication between students, faculty, and staff. All students enrolled in physics and astronomy courses and all declared majors are considered part of the CCC constituency and may propose topics for discussion. These may be brought to any member of the CCC or submitted to the departmental ‘comment box’.

Department Comment Box

Please submit comments here.