May
17

2012-2013 Executive Board members elected

From left to right: Vice-President of Academic Affairs Julia Berger, Vice-President of Socio-Cultural Affairs Alexandra Meierhans, Environmental Officer Alphée September, and President Connor Sattely.

In the May 15, 2012 meeting of the Graduate Institute Student Association (GISA) General Assembly, the IHEID students elected four leaders for the 2012-2013 GISA Executive committee:

  1. President: Connor Sattely (right, above)
  2. Vice-President for Academic Affairs: Julia Berger (left, above)
  3. Vice-President for Sociocultural Affairs: Alexandra Meierhans (second from left)
  4. Environmental Officer: Alphée September (second from right)

If you have any questions, comments, or concerns to communicate to the incoming board, feel free to e-mail them by clicking on their names below.

Connor Sattely was elected to the position of President after one year as the Communication Director for GISA. He oversaw the creation of the MyGISA.ch website and its 16 sub-websites for student initiatives, and handled public relations and internal communications for the organization. He also launched initiatives to reach out to new students, including organizing the update and display of the GISA Student Guide.

Julia Berger was re-elected to her position of Vice-President for Academic Affairs. She served a half year in the position this year, and oversaw the creation of an unprecedented document explaining in-depth the scholarship attribution process at the school. She also managed a network of academic representatives for each program.

Alexandra Meierhans was also re-elected to her position of Vice-President for Sociocultural Affairs. In her term this year, Alexandra planned and organized the Halloween Party, Back-to-School party, and the upcoming Cabaret. She also managed a network of socio-cultural representatives for each program, and aided several in the planning and organization of several “GISA Presents” events throughout the year. Along with the other members of GISA, she also did valuable work on the analysis of the 2011-2012 Survey and the update of the Student Guide.

Alphée September was elected to the position of Environmental Officer. She spent the year working on the Environmental Committee at IHEID, which among other superb accomplishments had an unprecedented amount of interaction with the administration to make the IHEID buildings and their processes greener and more sustainable.

The other two executive board positions, Communication Director and Treasurer, will be elected in the fall general assembly, to allow space for first-years to participate on the board.

May
11

Cabaret ticket sale starts Monday

Tickets for the Cabaret will go on sale this Monday in the lobby of the library from 10h to 14h every day until the event on May 24. Every student is able to buy one ticket for themselves and one ticket for a non-student.

There is a limited number of tickets available, so we recommend buying your tickets as soon as possible to make sure you don’t miss out on the event of the year. If there are any tickets left the day of the event, they will be sold at the door.

Watch http://cabaret.mygisa.ch/ and the GISA Facebook page for a ticket giveaway this weekend.

Read more: http://cabaret.mygisa.ch/

May
09

Global 2 Local initiative announces May events

Global2Local, one of IHEID’s newest student initiatives, is kicking off with three events in May: Together 4 Europe Day, a Soup Kitchen volunteer opportunity, and a fundraiser bake sale.

For full descriptions of the events, check out the brand new MyGISA site: http://g2l.mygisa.ch/

Together 4 Europe Day (May 12th) - Next Saturday individuals from all over Europe will be joining together to participate in several  service projects around the continent. Whether you want to help paint a building and clean out animal pens at the zoo, help beautify local areas through gardening, work with the homeless, or entertain children with disabilities, there surely will be an opportunity for you. Make sure to sign up for one of the many events offered!

Soup Kitchen (May 19th) - We have secured 5 spots to volunteer at a soup kitchen on Saturday, May 19th with a glocals group. More details at http://g2l.mygisa.ch/.

Fundraiser - We will have a bake sale fundraising event during the week of May 21st. All proceeds will go to a Geneva based organization of the student body’s choice. More details at http://g2l.mygisa.ch/.

May
05

IHEID clarifies scholarship distribution process

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A joint effort by the GISA Executive Committee and several members of the IHEID administration, namely Adacemic Advisor Laurent Neury, has produced an unprecedented document which provides a look into the inner workings of the scholarship distribution process.

This document spells out how students are ranked in terms of financial need and academic achievement, and further looks into how these two assessments are used to determine whether students receive a scholarship or not.

The document was a joint effort by Julia Berger, current Vice President for Academic Affairs, and Eric Asmar, President, with the assistance of Dr. Laurent Neury, Academic Advisor, and with the advisory opinions of several other IHEID administrators, as a GISA response to student concerns regarding a lack of knowledge on the scholarship system’s decision-making process.

Click here to view the document.

If you have questions or comments, feel free to leave them on this story, or e-mail Julia Berger at julia.berger@graduateinstitute.ch
.

May
05

IHEID students invited to “International Forum for the Challenges of Peace Operations”

According to the GISA survey results, security is one of the issues that interests our students the most. In fact, security was the most requested conference subject, according to the results.

Next weekend, IHEID students will have their chance: all IHEID students are invited to participate in the “International Forum for the Challenges of Peace Operations,” which will be held between 9-11 May. The forum, organized by the Geneva Center for Security Policy, will bring together more than 250 policy makers, practicioners, and scholars. The theme of the forum is “Cooperation and Coordination in Peace Operations, United Nations and Regional Perspectives.”

You can download the speaker list and program here.

If you would like to attend the forum, please register here: http://www.challengesforum.org/cms/Registration_.do?pageId=226 using the registration code “a3295b.”

If you have any questions, contact Isabelle Gillet at i.gillet@gcsp.ch.

May
03

2012 GISA Survey results now available

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Wondering what ever happened to that survey you took over Winter?

After sifting through hundreds of responses to both closed and open-ended questions, the 2011-2012 GISA committee presented the results from the survey to nearly every department of administration at IHEID, from IT to the Library to the high administration. Each department met the results with interest and a determination to improve. Some highlights of what came of this survey:

  1. Dramatic upgrades of library computers, planned addition of scanners in all buildings and another scanner in Voie-Creuse, IT working on better service responding to calls and e-mails;
  2. Provision of ethernet cables in Library study space in case you’re having trouble with the Wifi;
  3. Career Services responded to feedback by looking to clarify their services, increasing the proportion of paid to unpaid internships, looking into a “speaker request” system with GISA whereby students may request specific speakers to come to the Institute;
  4. Student Services is working on a face chart clarifying who students should go to if they have a problem at the Institute, also clarifying the functions of Student Services;
  5. Dr. Neury initiated a process to entirely redesign and restructure ETUNET into an online student space, with the involvement of GISA and student opinion;
  6. Clarification on the scholarship decision process (this information will be distributed to students very shortly from GISA);
  7. Involvement of GISA, academic class representatives in the process of redesigning MIA and MDEV curriculum;

Click here to access the entire extensive report. More information on changes made based on this survey will come as we know about them.

Some highlights of the survey itself:

  1. 30.8% of students at the Institute responded to the survey (very high for an online survey).
  2. Only 11% of students responded that they are dissatisfied or very dissatisfied with the level of academic quality at the Institute.
  3. 40% of students expressed dissatisfaction or high dissatisfaction with the level of integration between students of different programs at the Institute. A further 37% expressed neutrality.
  4. 77% of students are satisfied or very satisfied with academic events offered by the Institute.
  5. Only 28% of students were satisfied or very satisfied with technology throughout the IHEID buildings. 50% of students expressed dissatisfaction or high dissatisfaction.

An extensive document on the entire survey, including representative open-ended responses, by clicking here.

Apr
27

GISA Presents: MDEV, multicultural Apero

Come to Villa Barton today for a multicultural apéro with MDEV students!

Part of the year-long “GISA Presents” series, this event is open to students of all programs, not just MDEV. It presents a chance to get to know students at your school who you may not have met yet.

Event: GISA presents MDEV
Description: Multicultural Apero with the MDEV students.
Date: May 5th
Time: 5pm
Location: Villa Barton, Genève. If it rains, send a text to Gaspard at 078.601.49.03 to find out where it’s going.

Apr
22

IHEID releases document on MIA/MDEV changes

GISA will hold a public informal meeting on Tuesday, May 8 at 18:00 in the GISA Cafe on the second floor of Voie-Creuse. All students who wish to voice concerns or discuss the new programs are invited to come.

Please find attached a draft of the new MIA/MDev curriculum to be implemented over the next two years. Please note that not all changes will affect current students. Dr. Neury is drafting a document that specifically outline which changes will affect current students. Here are some specific curriculum changes:

  • Interdisciplinary Masters are to have their own pool of classes to choose from, separate from the Disciplinary Masters. Some will be open to both, some will be for MIA or MDev specifically.
  • Electives will correspond more accurately to the tracks provided so as to create a more coherent program.
  • Students in both Interdisciplinary and Disciplinary programs will be able to take one class outside of their program plan, and one class outside of the Institute. (This is actually the current rule). There have already been two new professors hired for the Interdisciplinary programs, so class options should not suffer.
  • The tracks in both the MIA and MDev programs will consist of: 1 core course, 1 Applied Research Seminar, 2 optional courses in the track, and 3 optional courses outside of the track. The Conflict track will be held in common for MIA and MDev.
  • Current students will experience SOME of the new changes, not ALL. For example, current track names will remain for 2011-2013, but there will be new electives to choose from for the fall semester. The forthcoming document will provide more details.

Please note: This is not a final document. The professors listed on obligatory courses are subject to change, and the optional courses have yet to be finalized. We will post more information as we receive it. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to comment on this post, or send us an email at gisa@graduateinstitute.ch. You may also contact your academic class representatives, which you may find at http://mygisa.ch/about-gisa/class-reps/.

Apr
21

GISA announces 2012 elections vacancies

GISA is now accepting candidacies for the Spring 2012 election, which will take place May 17 and which will elect the student association leaders for next year. The positions that will be elected during this meeting are:
  1. President
  2. Vice-President for Academic Affairs
  3. Vice-President for Socio-Cultural Affairs
  4. Environmental Officer

If you are interested in any of these four positions, e-mail your name, the position for which you wish to run, and a brief (150 word maximum) statement of your goals and intentions for the position to gisa@graduateinstitute.ch.No prior experience with GISA is necessary to run. While students can declare their candidacy at any point up to (and including) the May 17 meeting, we highly recommend sending your candidacy now.

Upon sending your application, you will receive a message confirming receipt of your candidacy with the next steps in the process.
A job description of these four positions is located here. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us at gisa@graduateinstitute.ch.
Apr
19

Environmental Committee announces second Green Week

The Environmental Committee hereby cordially invites you to participate in the second “Green Week” of the year from Tuesday 24 to Thursday 26 April to celebrate Rio+20. WHEN: April 24-26 WHAT: 1 movie night, 2 informal discussions WHERE: On campus (VC) TOPIC: Earth Summit 2012, taking place in Rio de Janeiro June 10-22 (also known as Rio+20) For more information, visit http://environment.mygisa.ch.

To see the program, click here.