WDCSA Newsletter – April 2020

This month’s newsletter is available for download in PDF format.

WDCSA COVID-19 Update

Due to the evolving COVID-19 outbreak and an abundance of concern for the well-being of our community, the University’s senior leadership has recommended that all large events be cancelled or postponed.

As a result, the WDCSA Board has decided to cancel all WDCSA events until June and will reassess the need for further cancelations in late May. We will communicate when events have been rescheduled and regret any inconvenience this change of plans may have caused.

In addition, our monthly board meetings will be held virtually until further notice. See below for the April meeting details.

We are going to take this time as an opportunity to brainstorm fun activities and events for the DC-area Stanford Community. If you have any ideas for events, do not hesitate to reach out to the WDCSA Board!

Also, if you are interested in joining the WDCSA Board, we will host elections in mid-May for a Vice President and Treasurer (see next page of newsletter).

To learn more, reach out to WDCSA President, Patricia Arty, patriciaarty@alumni.stanford.edu, WDCSA Vice President, Stephanie Tan stephanie.tan@stanfordalumni.org, or departing WDCSA Vice President, Ingrid Jernudd, ingridj@alumni.stanford.edu.

Thank you,

Patricia, Ingrid, Stephanie, and Jasmaine
WDCSA Board

Events Calendar

  • April 6 – WDCSA Virtual Board Meeting

Upcoming Events

WDCSA Virtual Board Meeting

Monday, April 6, 7-8 pm

Join us for our monthly board meeting. We will be using Zoom Meeting, https://virginia.zoom.us/j/523147651, with the following meeting ID: 523 147 651.

You can also call in using the numbers below:

  • (786) 635-1003, meeting ID 523147651 or
  • (312) 626-6799, meeting ID 523147651

Contact Patricia Arty, patriciaarty@alumni.stanford.edu, for more information.

WDCSA Elections

WDCSA is a volunteer organization led by a team of four officers: President, two Vice Presidents, and Treasurer. We are currently seeking candidates for two offices, Vice President and Treasurer, for a term of two years, May 2020-April 2022. The other two officers’ terms end in March 2021. We hope you will consider nominating yourself or an enthusiastic alum to help us move the organization forward! Following is a description of the position responsibilities:

Vice President

  • Assist with WDCSA’s daily operations
  • Plans and presides over meetings, in coordination with the Co-Vice President, in absence of President
  • Chairs special events and ongoing activities
  • Prepares and posts minutes of meetings
  • Attends planning meetings, keeps weekly communication with President
  • Serves the President on special assignments
  • Time Commitment: 5-10 hours per month

Treasurer

  • Pays bills and provides reimbursements to members
  • Deposits checks for membership dues and event revenues
  • Maintains the organization’s bank account
  • Prepares monthly reports on the financial condition of the organization prior to monthly
  • planning meetings
  • Prepares quarterly and annual financial reports for SAA
  • Time commitment: 5-10 hours per month

To learn more about either position, reach out to Patricia Arty, patriciaarty@alumni.stanford.edu; Stephanie Tan stephanie.tan@stanfordalumni.org, or Ingrid Jernudd, ingridj@alumni.stanford.edu.  

If you are interested in running for one of the two positions, email a short Bio/Statement of Interest (100-150 words in length) and photo to Risa Shimoda (risa@theshimodagroup.com) by April 20th. Voting instructions will be emailed to WDCSA members in May, and the polls will be open until May 15th. Thank you for your interest and support for WDCSA!

Stanford In the News

  • As an act of community service during the COVID-19 pandemic, computer science professor Mehran Sahami ’92 M.S. ’93 Ph.D. ’99 and assistant professor Chris Piech ’10 M.S. ’11 Ph.D. ’16 will offer a shortened, online-only version of the introductory computer science course CS 106A to the public for free this spring. The class, which the instructors have titled “Code in Place,” will be taught in the programming language Python and is accepting applications from “anyone in the world” who is at least 18 years old and has access to a computer.