Students Activities

A major goal of the SOT Specialty Section Student Representatives has been to increase student membership in the specialty sections. We determined that more students may join a specialty section if additional information about each group was provided to prospective members than just a listing of the names of the sections. A good starting point was the Student/Postdoc Mixer during the 2006 SOT Annual Meeting where each representative presented a poster providing information about their specialty section. The DTSS poster (enclosed in this newsletter) attracted a number of students and each student was invited to enter into a drawing for a memory stick by answering some general questions about the skin. In addition, the SOT student newsletter that was distributed this fall contained a paragraph about each specialty section, including its general purpose, interests, member information and student awards.

The leadership at SOT has also recognized the importance of student representation in regards to the Specialty Sections. The Student Advisory Committee has recently been reorganized so that the Specialty Section and Regional Chapter representatives have equal standing and share control of the student organization. The Postdoctoral Assembly has also been formed to represent the interests of postdoctoral fellows and will include representatives from each specialty section and regional chapter.