Living Learning Communities (LLCs) are a popular option for incoming students to develop a community and pursue their area of interest. Tech offers five first-year LLCs and two upperclassmen LLCs, each targeting a different area of interest for students. Grand Challenges and Global Leaders focus on problem solving capabilities using both technical and nontechnical skills.

According to promotional materials, Grand Challenges teaches students to analyze global problem spaces such as disaster, energy, environment, health, learning and shelter with an empathetic approach to develop servant leadership skills. Students in the program value it more for its rich community.

“It’s like a very close-knit community where you could be able to explore your different ideas or different projects in the class setting, as well as being able to make a lot of connections with people who have similar ideas or interests as you,” said Mary Zhou, fourth-year Business major.

When starting as a first-year, Grand Challenges guides students in forming a team with other students in their year and developing their project. The project design is based on a global issue generated by the project’s team, and the students will then spend the remainder of the semester working to understand that problem. Grand Challenges provides opportunities for research, such as interviewing experts in the field.

Then, in the second semester, students work to develop a solution to their selected problem. During their work, students are able to socialize and cultivate their interest in their selected field.

“You’re also making meaningful connections, getting to hang out with really interesting people that share a passion for making the world a better place,” said Ramsey Cook, fourth-year ENVE major.

Zhou encourages incoming first-years to join Grand Challenges because it thrusts you into an environment distinct from high school. Grand Challenges offers students “exposure to people you would normally not have in a class or your dorm” in the form of area experts and mentors.

Students also have opportunities to network with older students. Zhou said many upperclassman students continue to use Grand Challenges in job and internship interviews because the unique experiences allow students to showcase their use of valuable skills.

Grand Challenges also offers mentorship to students through the Student Assistants, in which upperclassman connect with incoming first-years and develop programs to facilitate student bonding, such as trips to Fernbank or World of Coke prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, which minimized their social activity to ensure the safety of students and staff, Tech is expected to return to completely residential operation in the Fall of 2021. Students are hopeful to see the return of these community building events in the upcoming semester.

Similarly, Global Leadership is a first-year LLC that focuses on solving global issues. However, Global Leadership creates solutions using policy tools, whereas Grand Challenges seeks out a more technical solution. Global Leadership utilizes an international perspective in their problem-solving approach.

“We learn how to problem solve and learn how to problem define in global and international context, so it teaches you a different way of thinking, as well,” said Angelica Macapinlac, third-year CHBE major.

Global Leadership classes teach students about the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals and how to apply their majors to solve these problems. New students join Student Action Teams (SATs) that focus on particular areas of global life and development and develop team building skills through this experience.

Global Leadership provides a unique mentorship opportunity that prioritizes community building within a student’s major. Incoming first-years are paired with an upperclassman of a similar major. Mentors tutor first-years and provide advice in choosing classes and career opportunities.

Mentor pairs are required to meet at least twice a month to provide advice, ensure they are adjusting well and direct them towards any resources they may need.

“What I’ve learned as a part of the Learning Community Council is that apparently people who are in an LLC tend to have higher GPAs and tend to already have a community for them,” said Macapinlac.

Similar to Grand Challenges, Global Leadership utilizes programming and community spaces to cultivate relationships between students. Additionally, Global Leadership places a greater emphasis on study abroad than other LLCs. With the help of study abroad advising, numerous Global Leadership students have participated in study abroad programs, which provide unique community bonding experiences.

Zhou advises incoming students that the LLC experience is what you make of it.

“The biggest thing is — just take advantage of the opportunities or you’re not going to get the experience you hear from everyone else,” Zhou said.

For more information on Grand Challenges, contact @gtgrandchallenges on Instagram. For more information on Global Leadership, contact @gtgloballeadership on Instagram.

On the evening of Mar. 17, Impact Speaker Series presented Equitable and Inclusive Community Partnerships, a discussion panel on Tech’s responsibility to the Atlanta community.

The panel was moderated by Chris Burke, Executive Director of Community Relations, and featured panelists Rachel Sprecher of Atlanta Public Schools (APS), James “Jay” Bailey of the Russell Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (RCIE) and Leah LaRue of the City of Atlanta’s Neighborhood Planning Unit (NPU).

The event was a part of Impact’s 2020- 2021 weekly Speaker Series. Promotional materials for the series said events feature “conversations on race, social justice, diversity, equity, and inclusion.”

The panel discussed inequity across Atlanta, Tech’s current involvement in the community and the need for Tech to expand its community work in the future.

The first discussion described inequity in Atlanta as primarily falling along lines of race and socioeconomic inequality. Bailey said some of the greatest challenges the community faces could be solved by providing equitable access to economic opportunities. Community resources are vital to driving wealth, business and entrepreneurship.

The panel also discussed the impact of Tech’s community outreach efforts.
“A city is only as strong as its public school system,”

Sprecher said. Sprecher said Tech has a role in taking care of and preparing potential students, praising the APS Scholars initiative, in which Tech provides automatic acceptance and covers four-year in-state tuition and fees for all APS valedictorians and salutatorians.

The program has allowed students to raise their expectations of themselves and has encouraged academic achievement across APS.

“There are so many different disciplines that have now realized that if we can expose the children of Atlanta to what’s right here in our backyard, we could really transform our city and build a workforce pipeline. It’s not lost on us what an asset Georgia Tech — its students, its staff, its faculty — is in our own backyard, but it’s cool that they’ve realized that our students are an asset, too,” Sprecher said.

Bailey echoed the importance of providing opportunities and resources to the students of Atlanta. “The only difference between Bankhead and Buckhead is access to opportunity and exposure,” Bailey said about the inequitable opportunities offered to students from differing socioeconomic backgrounds. LaRue, then, commended Tech’s efforts to reach out to the greater Atlanta community through projects such as a research project in which Tech students recorded the oral history of Atlanta neighborhoods. This type of work is invaluable as these neighborhoods are being rapidly gentrified and preserving its history allows future generations to learn about the roots of their communities.

The panel went on to describe how Tech could expand on and improve its community outreach efforts.

“Communities are going to need more than symbols of hope, they’re going to need institutions that manufacture it. For far too long, [Tech has] had a gate around you on North Avenue, and it’s time to take that gate down. Let’s open it up, and make it work,” Bailey said.

The panel recognized the community’s need for an entry point to get involved with Tech. There isn’t a clear entry point for community members to interact or get involved with Tech, making it more intimidating for community members who are conducting outreach.

Sprecher added that community outreach is most effective when you find the right person to interact with. You can boost your work by zeroing in on your cause, which can lead to you finding the right person to help you efforts. She described Tech as the perfect environment to connect with people who can support this crucial community work.

LaRue touted community groups as a gateway for Tech to expand their involvement with the Atlanta community. Community groups such as neighborhood associations give the pulse of what is going on in a community and offer networking opportunities for participants to connect over shared causes. Neighborhood and NPU meetings act as a plug into a neighborhood and provide a level of context you can’t get anywhere else.

LaRue also proposed Tech use its platform to collaborate with communities on planning and development.

“Cities often plan for neighborhoods, not with neighborhoods,” LaRue said.

Community members know best what their neighborhoods need. Including community members on planning and development projects is critical to maintaining the integrity of that community.

The panelists made clear — Tech has a responsibility to use its resources and platform to benefit the City of Atlanta, and the greatest way to serve this community is through equity.

A recording of the event is available online. For more information on the Impact Speaker Series, visit scheller.gatech.edu.

On the evening of Mar. 3, the Society of Black Engineers (SBE), Society of Women Engineers (SWE) and Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE) joined forces to host the MiSTEM Stories event.

The discussion panel featured current students and alumnus who shared their experiences of being minorities in STEM and offered advice and support to students entering STEM related fields.

Promotional materials for the event described it as a “collaborative event that features student voices to foster discussions around diversity, inclusion, and equity for underrepresented groups in STEM fields.”

The event featured topics of discussion such as overcoming obstacles and impactful inclusivity.

In the first section of the event, entitled “Storytellers,” students shared anecdotes about the obstacles they faced in their STEM education.

Many of these obstacles stemmed from their race or gender, and they discussed many ways in which they worked to overcome those obstacles.

Salmata Barrie, third-year EE, said she struggled with imposter syndrome. There was low representation of Black women in her field and she was being overlooked for professional opportunities at the very events she was leading.

She relied heavily on organizations like SBE to help build her confidence and to teach her to navigate networking opportunities in her major.
Mahogany Labor, first-year CHBE major, agreed.

“Inclusive groups create better work,” Labor said, explaining why she turned to inclusive organizations on campus.

The speakers encouraged minority students to utilize their unique perspectives, experiences and ideas to elevate themselves in their personal lives and career.

“Your identity is your advantage,” Labor said.

Through their stories, the students illustrated the importance of organizations like SBE, SWE and SHPE and the increasing relevance of the intersections between these organizations.

Many of the speakers at the event possessed more than one minority identity and were a part of more than one of the host organizations.

Students like Labor, an Afro-Latinx woman and part of SBE, SWE and SHPE, emphasized the importance of these organizations in helping her to find people who looked like her and shared her experiences.

These clubs also provide a platform to support future generations of students with similar identities.

The speakers also solidified the importance of unity between the inclusivity organizations.

Together, these organizations have created a broad and diverse network of minority professionals in different STEM-related fields for members to rely on and connect with.

In the second portion of the event, the focus transitioned to Tech alumni answering questions and offering advice on how to navigate being a minority in various STEM fields in the workplace as a future career.

“Having a different culture or a different background can give you a lot of viewpoints and see things that other people may not be able to see,” said Carla Lorente, ME ‘20.

Each of the speakers shared an understanding that isolation and discrimination are common experiences for women and people of color in STEM. STEM fields are dominated by white people and men. This often leads to minorities in these fields being treated as a novelty or dismissed as part of a quota.

However, many companies do little to help with racial and gender inequity beyond fulfilling a data point. Alumni and students also shared a common solution to combat inequity in their field — advocating for yourself and those around you.

The panelists implored that students should not be intimidated by being “the only one” in the spaces they occupy.

Rather, the panelists encouraged students and to speak up in the face of fear and isolation.

Speakers stressed the point that such advocacy by and on behalf of minorities can be crucial for creating space for future generations of minorities in STEM, especially these days.

“We can advocate for one another in the workplace or any space we occupy,” said Melissa Minneci, ME ‘10. To find out more information about SBE, SWE and SHPE, visit gtsbe.org, swe.gtorg.gatech.edu and gt-shpe.com.

The Tech administration seems optimistic that online classes will not become the new normal as it currently plans to open its campus to more in-person learning throughout the summer 2021 and fall 2021 semesters.

Conversations about fall course modes are underway between the Student Government Association (SGA), the University of System of Georgia (USG) and the Tech Moving Forward COVID-19 task force.

During the middle of last semester, on Oct. 13, 2020, USG announced that all Georgia public universities and institutions will expand in-person instruction with COVID safety in mind.

According to representatives from SGA, the process of gradually increasing in-person learning began in the spring 2021 semester.

“The expectation for spring 2021 is to offer more in-person opportunities. We have seen an increase in the number of hybrid courses,” said Jackson Caruso, third-year PUBP and SGA vice president of academic affairs.

“Fully residential courses stayed about the same percentage as fall 2020. Overall, though, there are more in-person course opportunities.”

Caleb Torres, third-year PUBP and SGA chief of staff, says that course modeling for the spring 2021 semester is nearly identical to that of the fall 2020 semester. The reason for the increase of in-person learning opportunities is due to their success in the fall of 2020.

“I think a large factor was that students and professors had seen during the fall semester that in-person and hybrid class meetings could be conducted safely and efficiently,” said Torres.

However, some students say that they are not getting the in-person interaction they had expected.

“I think the workload is fair, but motivation is low because distanced learning is difficult and the lack of social interaction is mentally traumatizing on a student’s psyche,” said Anika Munjal, first-year CS.

“I am not enjoying it and feel my mental health has been compromised and that I would be doing much better and learning much more in person,” Munjal said.

When thinking about future course modes, many students agree: there is a need for greater transparency.

Shehza Anjum, first-year PUBP, chose not to register for a class required for her major because it was listed as hybrid. At the beginning of the semester, the course moved to be completely remote, but it was too late for her to register.

When asked what she expects from future course modes, Anjum said, “Transparency, mainly. I understand that there may be some pressure to offer in-person or hybrid classes on paper, but that keeps some people from actually being able to take the classes at a time that works for them.”

Munjal agrees that course mode descriptions need to be clearer, saying “The current course modes are misleading, the classes that claim to be hybrid end up being mainly fully distanced.”

Torres describes future course modes hoping for clarity, but in reality are dependent on many circumstances.

“For both semesters [summer 2021 and fall 2021], we’re most likely going to see more in-person learning experiences, whether that’s an increase in hybrid courses, residential courses, or both. Obviously, it still depends on health and safety factors, so we are planning for multiple scenarios.”

Planning for the fall 2021 semester assumes that all students will be vaccinated when the semester begins, so residential courses would be considered safer at that time. It is currently unclear when Tech will receive vaccines for all students.

Torres says students’ mental health is also playing a significant role in the decision making on course modes.

Because many students are dealing with feelings of exhaustion and isolation during distance learning, the goal of future course modes is to maximize the number of students who can learn in person while prioritizing health and safety.

Students like Christopher Kitchens, first-year PUBP, are excited for the return to in-person learning.

“Can we have in-person back?” Kitchens said. “I appreciate that professors are doing their best to adapt to the current conditions. However, being in a lot of social science classes that require in-depth discussion on the course material, that value of the class and learning greatly degrades by the lesser ability for deep discussion online.”

USG is advising students to expect the continuation of some distance learning for the time being but not forever.

The state-wide organization says, “It is important to remember that things will get back to normal. Until then, the entire faculty, staff and administration of the USG will work tirelessly to ensure the success of all our students.”