Similar to a mitochondrion, the Biology Department is a powerhouse, with an powerful SEPC squad. Like all SEPCs, it serves as a liaison between faculty and students, meeting to plan study breaks, survey both students and faculty and represent the department within SGA and Academic Affairs.

“We don’t just plan study breaks, although those are important and take a lot of planning, like the bio picnic,” said Jarren Santos ’17. “We attend department meetings and play an integral role in tenure reviews and hiring.”

In addition, the Biology Department regularly asks the SEPC for input regarding curriculum development. “I think a lot of us were caught by surprise as to how big of a role we would play in the structure of new and existing classes,” Santos said.

“We also regularly have speakers from other institutions visit Grinnell to present their research at public seminars,” said Emily Kozik ’18. “The faculty asks for our input too — what speakers and what topics the seminars should cover, especially in areas of research that students may be interested in but haven’t gotten a lot of exposure to.” 

“Also, we want bio majors, or anyone, to not be afraid to reach out to us regarding curriculum, classes, career, what you can do with a bio major. … really anything,” said Ashley Murphy ’17.

Biology is broad, and each of the SEPC members has particular specified interests, so “if you’re a bio major with questions and have an idea of what areas you’re most interested in, you can always just email one of us individually based on what your interests are. We have note cards with mini-bio’s that outline all of our research and career interests in the Bio commons,” Murphy said.

Clearly, the Bio SEPC is a group that truly cares about its faculty and fellow students. How much time do they spend in meetings? “A lot,” laughed Michael Kamp ’18.

“We have a group chat, and are pretty much in constant communication,” Murphy said.

“That’s one of my favorite parts of being on the SEPC — getting to annoy Ashley,” Santos joked.