The MCR Committee
The MCR committee, a body representing the College's graduate students, is elected by the college's some 200 graduates. The committee has a term in office from January to December, during which they represent all MCR members to the governing mechanisms of the College, help graduates with every aspect of their lives at Downing and organise a wide range of social and sporting events.
The aim of the committtee is that every member of the MCR be offered the possibility to take full advantage of life at Downing. They are here to listen to you, so should you ever have an idea for an event, a suggestion for improvement or a concern, please contact them - you can find their details below.
President - Teresa Segura-Garcia
As President of the MCR committee, my first role is to represent your views and interests to college. I do this by maintaining an open dialogue with fellows and staff and by attending relevant college meetings. My second role is to oversee the running of the MCR committee, from chairing weekly committee meetings to coordinating larger events such as Burns' Night, our annual summer miniball or Freshers' Week.
I am a third-year PhD student in History working on nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Indian history. I was previously involved in the MCR committee as the Equal Opportunities Officer (2012).
Vice-president - Cindy Valreau
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 - Marc Christiaan Jansen
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 Anna Bruggeman
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 - John Morgan
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 - Naomi Moris
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.
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 - Andras Barany and Carlos Arrebola
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 - Nikhil Tiwale
Hi, I am 1st Year PhD student in Engineering and working on Nanoelectronic Sensors. 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 - Henry Zhiyi Han
Hi, I am Henry, second year of PhD in Energy Engineering. 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 - Jayeta Saxena
My role is to ensure that all graduate students feel welcome at Downing regardless of their national or ethnic origin, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, faith, age and physical and mental health.
I am always there to lend an ear if you need someone to talk to in relation to any of these issues. You can catch me around the MCR or hall practically every day, you can email me at any time and you can even leave a note on my pigeonhole (anonymously, if you so choose) Ð whatever is more comfortable for you. I am a good listener and I will respect your wishes and confidentiality at all times.
Another part of my role involves representation: I make sure that pertinent issues are raised within the MCR and to the college and that the whole of the committee is working towards a more inclusive graduate community. I also promote better awareness of the support and resources on offer elsewhere in the college, the university and Cambridge - take a look at the Equal Opportunities page if you would like to know more about these services.
If you have any concerns, questions or suggestions of issues you think I should be looking at, please get in touch!
Details of previous MCR committees are available as well.
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Useful Links
Graduate Union Website
Official College Website
Downing JCR Website
Central University Website
Facebook Pages
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Please email comments and corrections to the MCR Communications Officer, Nikhil.