Hold the date!
Inauguration ceremonies for President Susan Hockfield, MIT's 16th president, will be held May 6 on Killian Court. Professor Steven Lerman and the Inauguration Planning Committee promise additional information as the plans take shape.
Faculty meeting
A regular meeting of the faculty will be held today at 3:30 p.m. in the Kirsch Auditorium at the Stata Center. The agenda includes a vote on an S.M. in Computation for Design and Optimization, presented by professors Robert Freund and Jaime Peraire; a proposal for an S.B. in Biological Engineering, presented by Professor Linda Griffith; and an update on the management of MIT's endowment, by Treasurer Allan Bufferd.
Clothing drive begins
The Community Giving campaign is sponsoring a clothing drive from Dec. 17 to Jan. 7 to benefit local agencies that provide services to homeless men, women and children. Shelters need adult sweaters, pants, coats, hats and gloves; men's new underwear and white socks; and umbrellas and personal hygiene and first-aid items.
Clean items in bags marked "men's" or "women's" may be dropped off in bins located in the lobbies of buildings 13, 34, E18/E19, E23/E25, E52, NE49, N42, and the Stata Center basement, W91-103, NW16-205, NW21-104 and the Student Center. Lincoln Lab is holding a parallel clothing drive.
The MIT Community Giving Campaign runs through Jan. 21.
Getting fit as a team
Coming this January is a new way for people at MIT to beat the winter doldrums, win prizes, and keep those New Year's resolutions to get into shape. Getfit@mit, a 12-week, team-oriented fitness challenge begins Jan. 9. The deadline for team registration is Jan. 7. More information and registration are available online at getfit.mit.edu.
NameConnector expands
MIT has been using NameConnector, a sophisticated voice response system, to route after-hours calls made to its main number, 253-1000. NameConnector lets callers say the name of the faculty member, staff person, department, or residence they wish to reach, and get connected without operator intervention. (Callers trying to reach students still need to go through the operator.)
Beginning Dec. 22, MIT will also route calls made during business hours to NameConnector first. For callers who need, or prefer, to talk with a person, operators will continue to be available during business hours; connecting with the operator will be an option in NameConnector. The system will automatically transfer calls made during business hours to an operator if there is any problem connecting the call.
To see if you are correctly identified in NameConnector, dial 452-4111 and press 1. Corrections should be sent to nameconnector@mit.edu.
A version of this article appeared in MIT Tech Talk on December 15, 2004 (download PDF).
