We are the Graduation Committee, or GradComm. We are 30 of your 4th year friends and classmates. We run events that Waterloo students know and love, and plan the events 4th-year Engineering students look forward to for 5 (or 7) years. And… we have realized that most students don’t know what we do, why we do it, or how we go about getting it done.
So, allow us to introduce ourselves! We are the GradComm Co-Chairs for the class of 2011: Kirsten Hoedlmoser, Noel McGregor, Nadine Ferguson, and Jessica Friesen. We were elected by our 4th year peers in December and January, and it’s our job to oversee GradComm and manage our team of 30 directors.
GradComm is a committee comprised solely of 4th-year engineering students, so every year the group is completely different from the last. We are not elected by, or associated with, the Engineering Society and their events (although many of us are actively involved in EngSoc separately). Mary Bland, the Engineering Society Corporate Manager, generously donates her free time to helping GradComm get their job done.
The GradComm mandate is to:
1) Raise money for graduating class events and initiatives, including GradBall, the Iron Ring Stag (IRS), and the Yearbook.
2) Provide an avenue for lower years to meet upper year and graduating students.
The first point in our mandate is what sets us apart from most other engineering-related groups. One of our purposes is to fundraise, and therefore our events are tailored to raise money to go towards events and initiatives like GradBall, IRS, the Yearbook, etc. We try our best to make our fundraisers appeal to as many people as possible. For example, over 600 students have participated in Pub Crawls, multiple times. If you have an idea that you think would appeal to a large number of students, please send us an email! We’d love to work with you to see that event happen. We also run events like Wednesday pizza sales, 50/50 draws, out-of-town bus trips, and brewery tours. We do not make money off of leather jacket sales, the C&D, or any service offered by EngSoc.
IRS and GradBall are two events that many engineering students look forward to their entire undergrad career. IRS is an event that takes place on the day you receive your Iron Ring. It’s a chance to party with your graduating class, enjoy some good food, and is also your first chance to touch our engineering mascot: the TOOL. GradBall is a formal event at the end of the winter term, usually in mid-March. Grads enjoy a 4-course meal, complimentary wine with dinner, a photo with their date or friends by a professional photographer, a dance, and a gift from GradComm.
Some of you may now be wondering if any of these funds go back to support other engineering students. The answer to this: the Grad Gift. All of GradComm’s leftover funds – every penny – goes towards a gift that will be used for years to come by current and future UW Engineering students. Past examples of gifts include the speaker system in POETS, the AV equipment used at numerous EngSoc and engineering-related events, and accessibility renovations to Engineering buildings.
We hope this helped you understand GradComm a little bit better. If you want more information about GradComm or want to contact us, check out our website: gradcomm2011.wordpress.com. Common questions about events like GradBall and IRS are answered on the “FAQ” page. We can also be reached at gradcomm2011@gmail.com, and you are always more than welcome to stop one of us or our directors in the hall to chat.
We’d like to thank everyone for the great support we have gotten so far! We look forward to seeing more and more new faces at our events this Fall and Winter.
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