DECADE Council for the School of Social Sciences

School of Social Sciences DECADE Council Roles & Responsibilities

The DECADE School of Social Sciences Graduate Student Council is run with the help of Council Chairs, Department Representatives, Faculty Mentors, and Staff Representatives. Below is a run-down of the roles and responsibilities that our Social Science Council members take on to help increase inclusivity and retention across campus:

DECADE Department Representative Responsibilities

  • One year position *May serve unlimited consecutive terms*
  • DECADE Reps work with faculty mentors and the student body to provide a safe and inclusive space to bring DEI and climate concerns and/or feedback from home departments to other social science DECADE representatives/the Decade community in order to address any concerns that can be resolved through DECADE.
  • Increase awareness of DECADE as a resource for graduate students and disseminate relevant information to community members in home department and beyond
  • Host and moderate a departmental grievance form/ climate survey whereby other graduate students may anonymously communicate concerns and feedback regarding diversity and inclusion
    • Grievance form / climate survey templates are provided by the council at the end of each academic year. These forms can be tweaked or independently created to serve the needs of each department. If you have questions about the form, please reach out to decadesocialsciences@uci.edu
  • DECADE Reps are required to attend 3 quarterly council meetings during the academic year (one in Fall, one in Winter, and one in Spring) and provide relevant updates from their home department to the School of Social Sciences Council
  • (Co-)Organize one school and/or departmental DECADE event per quarter. This includes but is not limited to organizing quarterly school-based leadership discussions/panels, contributing to the production of the quarterly newsletter or climate surveys, organizing workshops centered around issues pertinent to community members, establishing regular DECADE coffee/office hours for the department, and more. Please remember that if you ever need support, we (your co-chairs) are here!
    1. These events can be department, school, or campus-wide and can be developed in conjunction with other UCI bodies (in fact, this is highly encouraged!). This can be a collaboration between the different departments in our social sciences council, between our council and another school-based council, between the union and DECADE, between campus-wide and school-based DECADE, and so on. If you have questions about event planning logistics, please email us at decadesocialsciences@uci.edu.
  • DECADE representatives can be from any Department in the School of Social Sciences. There should be one or up to three Departmental Representatives per department. Check the list of Departmental Representatives under the “People” tab to see if we currently have any positions open in your Department! School of Social Sciences Departments:
    1. Anthropology
    2. Chicano/ Latino Studies
    3. Cognitive Sciences
    4. Economics
    5. Global and International Studies
    6. Language Science
    7. Logic and Philosophy of Science
    8. Political Science
    9. Sociology

DECADE Council Chair Responsibilities 

  • Two-year term *May NOT serve consecutive terms*
  • At least two (2) or up to three (3) Council Chairs. Council Chairs can be from any School of Social Sciences department.
  • Chairs are required to attend training sessions by former council chairs
  • Plan, organize, and facilitate quarterly council meetings
  • Communicate and coordinate information and needs of the School of Social Sciences DECADE community to campus-wide DECADE council and staff
  • Serve as a point of reference for interested DECADE community members
  • Support Department Representatives with their initiatives, events, climate surveys, etc.

 

DECADE Faculty Mentor Responsibilities 

  • Mentors introduce themselves to DECADE student representatives every year.
  • Mentors act as a liaison between the department/any appropriate entities and their students, ensuring that any issues that are brought to them are resolved (proper follow-up, documentation, etc)
  • Faculty Mentors send emails every quarter reminding students of DECADE events and resources
  • Mentors communicate with DECADE Reps on a monthly or quarterly basis to spread awareness of DECADE initiatives and work with DECADE representatives to address concerns raised by students in their department
  • Furthermore, students and their corresponding DECADE mentors are encouraged to meet at least once per quarter to strategize and plan DECADE related activities at the department level, and to discuss the student representative’s goals regarding their role and responsibilities. These meetings can serve as an opportunity for the faculty to provide guidance and support to the students. These meetings can be initiated by either the student representative or the mentor. The goal is to establish communication and mentoring relations between the student and the representative.