Medical College of Wisconsin Graduate School Student Committees

Faculty/Staff Advisors: Michelle Riehle, PhD, Austin Schoen, Julie Arthur (Founder)
Student Co-Chairs: Olivia Franklin, Alyssa Gehant
Student Members: Kate Schulz, Angela Beltrame, Chandler McElrath, Paul Sylvester, Gage Stuttgen, Sam Swift, Kevin Jennings, Lishu He, Joe Rouse

Staff Advisors: Austin Schoen, Julie Arthur (Founder)
Student Chair: Mark Vanden Avond, Olivia Arnold
Student Members: Jake Adelman, Chloe Baumgardner, Erin Cygan, Missy Eilbes, Brooke Greiner, Kevin Jennings, Erika Johansen, Joey Kreis, Joe Rouse, Sam Swift, Lauren Yunker

The mission of the Enhancing Scholarly Culture Committee (ESCC) is to provide an informal environment to engage students, post-docs, faculty, and staff in an inclusive, interactive, and inquisitive discussion of scientific topics, concepts, achievements, and events.

The ESCC began as a small, student-led committee in 2016 with the goal to foster relationships among IDP students and staff by hosting “Science Socials”. Today, the committee has grown in number, and in reach. We are now represented by students from all basic science departments and extend Science Social invitations to students, postdocs, faculty, and staff. Our events are student-driven, with a focus on improving friendly and productive scientific communication. We also aim to provide scientific education with a strong focus on hands-on interaction and entertainment. Some examples of past events include: expert panel discussions, the science of beer brewing and tasting, catapult physics (followed by teams competing to build the best catapult), surviving a zombie apocalypse, and many more. These events are a great way to bring colleagues together in a relaxed setting to promote open and healthy communication about the subject we all love most… SCIENCE!

Please contact Mark Vanden Avond (mvandenavond@mcw.edu) for more information about the Enhancing Scholarly Culture Committee.

Staff Advisor: Julie Arthur
Student Members: Lishu He, Tendai Hunyenyiwa, Ugochukwu Ihenacho, Priscilla Kyi, Raymundo Nunez, Paul Sylvester, Jeanie (Ching tzu) Yu

The IDP International Students Committee consists of a group of international students from the IDP program striving to create resources which enable smooth transition of incoming international graduate students to the institution and the United States. We aim to serve as an active liaison amplifying voices for the international graduate student body. In collaboration with the graduate school leadership, we strive to coordinate assistance and/or advocacy regarding immigration and cross-cultural matters via curated information booklet and events before, during, and after admissions interview as well as matriculation. We are dedicated to promoting a sense of belonging for the international student community at MCW as well as supporting an environment conducive to international student success as a graduate student at MCW and in the United States.

Please contact Lishu He (lhe@mcw.edu) for more information about the IDP International Students Committee.

Staff Advisors: Julie Arthur (founder), Austin Schoen
Student Members: Fatima Aboulalazm, Kaelin Akins, Emily Boyd, Alfredo Colina, Erin Cygan, Gage Stuttgen, Nathan Witman

The IDP Student Ambassadors is a dedicated group of IDP students who use some of their time outside the lab to create resources that will help recruit new students and aid incoming students to become better acclimated and informed with MCW and the Milwaukee area. Since the establishment of this committee in 2020, they have created a Life Outside the Lab section in the IDP interview booklet that highlights things to do in Milwaukee. This resource makes it easy for new students to find things to do and provides a map of each attraction’s location and a link to the websites to get more information. Most recently, they created a recruitment brochure for prospective students that highlights everything MCW and Milwaukee has to offer with hopes of recruiting more brilliant scientists to our campus. This group of students works together in the spirit of IDP and MCW as a community to better the experience of those coming into the IDP!

Please contact Perrin Schupbach (pschupbach@mcw.edu) for more information on the IDP Student Ambassadors.