|
| 1 | +--- |
| 2 | +layout: post |
| 3 | +title: A Letter to Prospective Members |
| 4 | +date: 2019-08-26 21:25:00 |
| 5 | +categories: intro |
| 6 | +description: An explanation of CSH's intro process and the motivations behind it. |
| 7 | +author: Nick Mosher |
| 8 | +author-image: https://2.gravatar.com/avatar/82615a3c73fe853714af7b51337a4fac?s=400 |
| 9 | +author-bio: Software Engineering '20 at RIT and R&D Director at CSH |
| 10 | +author-email: nicholastmosher@gmail.com |
| 11 | +author-social: |
| 12 | + github: https://github.com/nicholastmosher |
| 13 | +--- |
| 14 | + |
| 15 | +Hey there! |
| 16 | + |
| 17 | +If you’ve made it this far, you’re probably thinking about becoming a member. |
| 18 | +That’s great! We need curious and motivated people like you. I want to take a |
| 19 | +minute and walk you through our intro process so that you know what to expect; |
| 20 | +there’s a handful of steps involved and I want you to have a clear idea of |
| 21 | +what you’re getting yourself into. |
| 22 | + |
| 23 | +The majority of the intro process takes place during the first 10 weeks of |
| 24 | +school. The first 2 weeks are what we call “packet season”. Packet season is |
| 25 | +all about meeting people - we want CSH to be a tight-knit community, so we |
| 26 | +believe that every member should meet every other member. A Packet is a list |
| 27 | +of the names of all active CSH members, and one is given to every intro member. |
| 28 | +Your job as an incoming CSHer is to seek out and meet as many active members |
| 29 | +as you can. This isn’t as easy as hide-and-seek. Once you find an upperclassman, |
| 30 | +you have to put in an effort to genuinely get to know them! Ask them about what |
| 31 | +their interests are, what projects they’ve done, or how their co-op experiences |
| 32 | +have gone. Active members will sign your packet if they think you’d make a good |
| 33 | +member of CSH, which is usually the case if you show that you’re passionate and |
| 34 | +interested in what you do. After packet season is over, we’ll count up all of |
| 35 | +the signatures you’ve collected. If you get a passing percentage of signatures, |
| 36 | +congratulations! You’ll receive a CSH account and gain access to all of our |
| 37 | +house computer services. If not, there’s still hope! The packet is just one |
| 38 | +component of your 10-week evaluation. |
| 39 | + |
| 40 | +We have a handful of other objectives for you during the 10-week intro process. |
| 41 | +These requirements are intended to introduce you to our house culture and |
| 42 | +traditions, and are things that active members continue to do throughout their |
| 43 | +entire membership. One of the first things we ask you to do is attend some of |
| 44 | +our directorship meetings. Each of our 7 directors hosts a weekly meeting where |
| 45 | +they discuss ongoing projects, upcoming events, or other news that falls in |
| 46 | +their domain. Intro members are expected to attend any 10 directorship meetings |
| 47 | +during the 10-week evaluation period, preferably at least one a week. Another |
| 48 | +cornerstone of CSH culture is the presentation of technical seminars! Technical |
| 49 | +seminars early in the year are usually given by upperclassmen and tend to focus |
| 50 | +on introducing you to the world of computer science. Common early-year topics |
| 51 | +include setting up basic coding tools, intro to Linux operating systems, |
| 52 | +version control for code, and more. Upperclassmen volunteer a lot of time to |
| 53 | +prepare seminars, so we ask every intro member to attend at least 2 of them |
| 54 | +during their 10 weeks. Plus, this is a special-interest house for computer |
| 55 | +science, you probably want to attend as many seminars as you can. |
| 56 | + |
| 57 | +Our last but most important requirement is for you to attend all of our house |
| 58 | +meetings. House meetings happen every Sunday at 7:15pm, and are where the |
| 59 | +directors summarize house news and events for the past week and upcoming weeks. |
| 60 | +This meeting is required because it’s the one time we have a chance to address |
| 61 | +all of house together, and is when we make large decisions as a group. Though |
| 62 | +we require you to attend every house meeting, we also understand that life |
| 63 | +happens. If you can’t make it because you’re sick or out of town, just let |
| 64 | +our Evaluations director know and they’ll write a note about your absence. |
| 65 | + |
| 66 | +At the end of the 10-week intro process, all of the upperclassmen gather |
| 67 | +together to vote on intro members. During this meeting, we look at the big |
| 68 | +picture of how well you’ve met the requirements and who you are as a person. |
| 69 | +Did you attend at least 10 directorship meetings? Did you get a good score on |
| 70 | +packet? Are you a curious and engaged member? Are you friendly and |
| 71 | +light-hearted? Remember, we want CSH to be a welcoming and inclusive |
| 72 | +community, but we’re also looking for the mad scientist in each of you. |
| 73 | + |
| 74 | +I hope that this has given you a good idea of what to expect when signing up |
| 75 | +for CSH. It’s a crazy ride for sure, but it’s totally worth it. If anything, |
| 76 | +I hope I’ve talked you _into_ applying. I look forward to meeting you all when |
| 77 | +school starts! |
| 78 | + |
| 79 | +-@nickm |
0 commit comments