The MCR Committee
Details of previous MCR committees are available as well.
President - Hannah Brooke
The MCR committee is a group of Graduate students who aim to make sure your time at Cambridge is not only academically successful but also fun. Elected by the Downing graduates, our aim is that every MCR member be offered the possibility to take advantage of the full Cambridge experience. hi
As President of the MCR, one of my roles is to organize the activities of the MCR committee from setting up weekly committee meetings or newsletters to coordinating larger events such as Burns night or the summer Miniball. Another role of the President is to represent the views of the Graduate to the college and make sure that your interests, both small and large, are being taken into account. I do this by attending important meetings with the Fellows and admin on the governing of college.
Finally I am also here to listen to you, as is the rest of the Committee. Should you ever have an idea for an event, a suggestion for improvement, or a concern please feel free to contact me or any other member of the Committee and we will help you.
Vice-president - Jacqueline Ward
As you can probably tell from the job title, I help the President if some of their numerous commitments start to overlap; I'll also take the reigns if they can't run the show for any reason... I also take the minutes at our committee meetings, go to General Purposes Committee and Governing Body meetings and do other general administrative / organisational bits and pieces.
If any members of the MCR (past, present or prospective) have any questions about anything and you're not sure who to ask, then please email me and with a bit of luck I'll either know the answer or know someone who does!
Treasurer - Dhiren Mistry
The role of the MCR treasurer is primarily to keep the MCR accounts. The
treasurer is responsible for paying all MCR bills as well as the taking of
money from MCR events and having the final say on how much can be spent on
these.
The Treasurer sits on the College Finance Committee, expressing the views of the MCR relating to the financial management of the College; this includes such things as giving an opinion on property acquisition and the state of the Colleges shares/equities portfolio.
Welfare and Education - Matt Cooper and Felicity Gibbons
The welfare and education officer is here to ensure the welfare of graduate students, both academically and
personally. He is happy to help with any issues, whether personal,
educational or more general, and will make sure that college supports its
graduate students by liasing with college officers, the MCR committee and
the College Nurse and Chaplain. His aim is to help make your time at Downing
both enjoyable and fruitful by providing guidance and information on any
difficulties you encounter.
Bar, Sports and Amenities - Ross Hubble
I'm here to take care of a bunch of different and seemingly unrelated things. I'm in charge of running the bar out of term and during some of our social events, and to make sure we are well stocked on the tasty beverage front. I also make sure that the MCR room is in good shape, and serve as a contact point between the grad students and the different sporting clubs. If you have any fun ideas of things to organize for the bar, if you are looking for sports to join or if you have any concerns about the MCR room, I'm here to help you.
Environment - Eleanor Caves and Pedro Zaragoza Gasca
As Environmental Officer, I plan to advocate green issues at Downing College and represent the interests of the graduate student community. The college currently provides recycling bins throughout its residences, and I am interested in ensuring that there is adequate access to recycling facilities for all post-graduates. Please refer to the Green pages to see a map of our current facilities. My responsibilities also include sitting on the College Carbon Reduction Task Force, participating in the CUSU Ethical Affairs team and meeting with the Green/Environmental Officers of the other colleges.
I am an ornithologist and ecologist by training, so I am quite keen to organise nature walks and rambles in the Cambridgeshire/Norfolk region as well as talks on environmental issues. Please contact me with any ideas, questions or concerns that you may have. You can see our current facilities on the Green pages.
Social Secretaries - Joao Prates Romero and Andrew Dimond
The social secs dream up and organise social events. These vary in size from small regular
pub nights and Formal Hall exchanges to much larger events, including Ceilidhs, Balls and trips.
See the events calendar here...
After deciding on an event, we suggest it to the rest of the committee and determine how financially viable our idea is. Then we plan the event and rope in "volunteers". We are open to helpful suggestions and if you have anything to contribute to an event we'd love to hear from you.
As part of our job, we aim to make you feel included in all events and we hope to ensure that as a Downing graduate you feel a welcome member of the Downing College social life. If you have any queries regarding any event or Formal Hall, don't hesitate to get in touch.
Communications - Camilla d'Angelo
My two main responsibilities are maintaining this website, and sending out the newsletter to your inboxes every week. That said, there are many other ways of communicating the various events that are organised in and around the MCR that I can point you to. For instance, any MCR member can post news articles on the front page of the web site, and there are various facebook groups for communicating the more spontaneous events that MCR members organise.
Finally, if you don't have access to the internet at some point, keep a look out for posters and flyers on the notice boards in the MCR!
International - Yanchuan Zhang
As the International Officer, my main responsibilities are providing information to and helping overseas students adapt to life in the UK. I also liaise with international organisations within the University and work with the Equal Opportunities and Welfare Officers. I am also responsible for maintaining the International Pages, which include lots of useful information for international students living in the UK for the first time. So if you are a new international student at Downing, or if you are thinking about becoming one, please feel free to e-mail me any questions you may have!
Equal Opportunities - Teresa Segura-Garcia
My job is to represent minorities in the MCR. I am an international doctoral student in intellectual history and have been a member of Downing college for a year. Part of my role as 'equal opps' officer is to provide a confidential contact to anyone facing discrimination for reasons based on, for example, ethnicity, religion, disability or gender. The committee works to ensure that all students feel welcome in college regardless of their background. So if you have any problems, questions, issues you think we should take up, or suggestions for future events, feel free to drop me a line!
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Useful Links
Graduate Union Website
Official College Website
Downing JCR Website
Central University Website
Facebook Pages
MCR Facebook Page
Facebook Events Group
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Please email comments and corrections to the MCR Communications Officer, Camilla.