CN Steering Committee FA05 meeting
Notes compiled by student reps and edited by PR
(Abbreviated version)

	At the last steering committee meeting on Oct 3, many topics were discussed including required courses, funding, TAing, the qualifying exam, the relationship between Neuroscience and Comp Neuro, and a new international exchange program.
	There will be a Town Hall meeting for all Comp Neuro students this fall.  The purpose of the Town Hall meeting is to discuss the topics in these notes and additional student concerns.
Policy decisions made at this meeting are briefly outlined below. These and other policies will be articulated in detail in the long-awaited handbook, which is being carefully compiled by EJ and will be officially released at the town hall meeting.  To supplement the handbook, there will be a Q & A session for first year students.

CURRICULUM

	Detailed course requirements, including the CompNeuro core sequence, will be present in the forthcoming handbook. Briefly:

	Journal clubs are no longer required, but remain recommended.

	The only required journal club will be Terry's Computational Journal Club (BGGN 246), which is required for two years because it is different every other year.  In 2006 it is still offered in the Spring. In future years, this same material will be covered in three quarters for one unit each, rather than three units in the Spring.   

	The following classes are NOT required: ECE 101 and BGGN 269.  Rather, at least one math elective must be taken, of which these are examples. Consult the Academic Committee (currently:  David Kleinfeld, Massimo Scanziani).

	We will work with Neuro program to find a way for CN students to present in Research Rounds, but regardless of the outcome of that, it was decided that Comp Neuro students are required to attend each quarter of their first two years.

QUALIFYING EXAM

	The policy regarding the exam is as follows.  If a student fails one or more sections of the exam, the qual committee (the eight professors who administer it) can recommend a remedial course or other proposal (e.g. make a presentation) for the student to make up that section.  The student may either complete this recommendation, or take just the failed sections again the next year.  If the student fails any of the sections a second time, the student's case will be reviewed by the steering committee.

OTHER GRADUATION REQUIREMENTS

	The Biology student handbook states that students must write an NRSA-style research proposal for their Second Year Evaluation.  The committee thinks the quals should count instead of this requirement, but we do not have final confirmation yet.

	TAs remain as before.  

	Thesis committee makeup will currently be determined by the rules in the bio handbook.  We are trying to change the rules to the equivalent of Neuroscience rules.  For details or to petition for exceptions, Contact Tom Tomp.  

INTERNATIONAL EXCHANGE 

	Henry proposed that Comp Neuro could participate in an exchange with the Bernstein Centers for Computational Neuroscience.  For more info, talk to Henry Abarbanel or visit www.bernstein-centers.de/en/index.php  

ADMINISTRATION

	The roles of the student representative are: 1) to communicate the viewpoints of students to the committee, 2) to provide a personal viewpoint from the perspective of  a student,  and 3) to communicate committee discussions to the students , except for parts which are privacy-sensitive.

	The CompNeuro Program has no surplus budget, and no pending grants.  A new IGERT is being drafted. To help write future grant applications, we are looking into the proposal to pool funds from several labs to hire a professional grant writer. 

	Henry Abarbanel proposed forming a UCSD-wide umbrella organization that would include both Neuro and CompNeuro. The committee assented to Henry continuing to feel the waters to find out what it would take to strike such a deal.

	Henry Abarbanel remains the ombudsperson for Comp Neuro.