Aug. 13 Update: Survey Reminder; Clinic Project Statements Shared

Dear HMC Community,

The Task Force on Clinic and Corporate Partnerships sends you greetings as summer is drawing to a close and we look forward to the start of the new academic year.  We are writing to share our biweekly update of our activities:

Short Version

The survey sent to students, staff, faculty and alumni is now open. If you did not receive the survey in your in-box, please be sure to check your Spam folder and contact Laura Palucki Blake (lpblake@g.hmc.edu) if you still do not see it. More information can be found on the survey FAQ. We thank everyone who has already participated and look forward to continuing our conversation with the community in the fall. The Task Force has reorganized into three new subgroups focusing on the tasks for the next phase of our work: analyzing the survey, drafting the interim progress report, and planning the community meetings in the fall. 

Last week, the Project Statements from the 2024-2025 Clinic sponsors were shared with the students enrolled in Clinic for the fall. The students will be submitting a ranked preference, and assignments will be made based on these preferences. The Task Force would like to acknowledge the hard work of the Clinic Directors and the Office of Sponsored Research and Projects who have strived to provide a diverse set of exciting, hands-on learning opportunities for our students. Their work on the 2024-2025 Clinic program began long before the formation of the Task Force and has proceeded on a separate, parallel path as the Task Force has begun our review and analysis.

More information about the Task Force can be found on this and feedback for the Task Force can be sent to taskforce_ccp-l@g.hmc.edu.

Long Version

The primary goal of the Task Force is to provide an objective, open-minded forum for thoughtful review and analysis of the existing Clinic and corporate partnerships and to develop solutions and innovations that would build, improve and expand the opportunities that we provide for Harvey Mudd students. 

It is important to clarify that the Task Force’s mandate is indeed broader than any single issue. Our goal is to holistically examine our institution’s partnerships and sponsorships to ensure they align with our values across a range of ethical, social and academic considerations. While we recognize the profound concerns raised by the current situation in conflict zones including Gaza, Ukraine and Sudan, the Task Force is also addressing other longstanding issues related to our programs and partnerships. We understand that different groups within our community may have specific areas of focus for their advocacy. At the same time, we hope to foster a dialogue that considers a wide array of perspectives and encourages thoughtful engagement with the broader HMC community.  We believe this comprehensive approach will enable us to develop more informed and impactful policies that benefit the College and our entire community.

One mechanism for gathering community input is the survey that is now open for students, staff, faculty and alumni. We are pleased to see a robust rate of response from all four of these groups, and we encourage anyone who has not yet responded to share their thoughts with their unique survey link by August 19. If you did not receive the survey in your in-box, please be sure to check your Spam folder and contact Laura Palucki Blake (lpblake@g.hmc.edu) if you still do not see it. More information about the survey can be found on the survey FAQ. Interpreting the survey results will be a collaborative effort and will involve multiple conversations in the fall as we build our collective understanding together.

In the first phase of the Task Force’s work, we spent several weeks designing the survey, gathering data, and working on our communications plan. We are now entering the next phase of the Task Force’s work. We have reorganized into three new subgroups for the tasks at hand.  One subgroup will take the lead on preliminary survey analysis, together with the Office of Institutional Research and Effectiveness. Prior to the survey closing on August 19, the survey analysis subgroup is planning their approach for processing the quantitative and qualitative data from the survey. The second subgroup is working on assembling the historical data, peer institution comparisons, and other data that was collected in the first phase of the Task Force into an interim progress report that will be shared with the HMC community in September.  The third subgroup is planning the community meetings that will take place in the fall. In planning these sessions, we are mindful of the need to create several different ways to engage and to create spaces where we can listen and learn from each other, even on issues where we may not agree. We want to cultivate a spirit of invitation, inquiry and mutual respect as we discuss challenging topics. We also want to open up a spirit of creativity and fun as we think about the exciting possibilities of the future that we will build together.

To keep the community informed, we are sharing the news that last week the Project Statements from the 2024-2025 Clinic sponsors were shared with the students enrolled in Clinic for the fall. The students will be submitting a ranked preference, and assignments will be made based on these preferences. Clinic Directors asked that students rate at least eight (out of ~25) projects as either “Desirable” or “Most Desirable”. If a student chooses not to rank a project, then they will not be placed on that project. In recent years, it has been typical for over 90% of students to be matched with a project they describe as either “Most Desirable” or their top choice. In practice, most students end up ranking many more than the minimum number of projects. 

The Task Force would like to acknowledge the hard work of the Clinic Directors and the Office of Sponsored Research and Projects who have strived to provide a diverse set of exciting, hands-on learning opportunities for our students. Their work on the 2024-2025 Clinic program began long before the formation of the Task Force and has proceeded on a separate, parallel path as the Task Force has begun our analysis, which is still in progress.

More information about the Task Force, including an archive of the biweekly updates, can be found at this website. You can use the email address taskforce_ccp-l@g.hmc.edu to send messages to the entire Task Force.

We hope that the final weeks of summer are filled with the things that bring you joy. We look forward to seeing everyone on campus in a couple of weeks!

Warm regards from The Task Force on Clinic and Corporate Partnerships

Task Force Members

Students

Avani Anne ’25
Alina Scholz ’25
Ivan Dudiak ’26
McKenna McMurray ’26
Sadhvi Narayanan ’27
Aabhas Senapati ’27

Alumni

Mo Kyn ’24
Kathy French ’97, President, Alumni Association Board of Governors (AABOG)

Staff

Shannon Braun, Director of Career Services
Colleen Coxe, Assistant Vice President for Sponsored Research and Projects
Kim Nykanen, Executive Assistant to the Vice President for Student Affairs/Dean of Students

Faculty

Zach Dodds, Professor of Computer Science and Leonhard-Johnson-Rae Chair of Computer Science
Erika Dyson, Associate Professor of Religious Studies and Willard W. Keith Jr. Fellow in the Humanities
Karl Haushalter, Seeley W. Mudd Professor of Chemistry and Biology and Chair, Department of Chemistry, Co-chair of the Task Force
Sarah Kavassalis, Assistant Professor of Climate and Chemistry
Leah Mendelson, Associate Professor of Engineering
Talithia Williams, Professor of Mathematics and Mathematics Clinic Director, Co-chair of the Task Force

Trustees

Doo Chung ’11, Member, Board of Trustees
Michael Schubmehl ’02, Vice Chair, Board of Trustees