New year, new approaches

This academic year started with some big changes in the policy of the TAU International School, and we went there to figure out what's new and which opportunities we have as graduate students and post docs.

To better understand what's going on, we should start with our WhatsApp group. We made some agreements with the new Researchers' Community Leader of the Lowy Int. School, Tamar Solange Shalem (tshalem@tauex.tau.ac.il), a new team member who is in charge of the social business of the whole international community and has also a special attentive care for the PhDs and post docs.

The importance of our independence and freedom

Tamar and we agreed that our WhatsApp group should be autonomous, independent, democratic and private. We want to maintain it as a space managed by students, and for students only. 

It was important for us to distinguish between the official TAU community and our ambitious volunteer project aimed at supporting our colleagues in a peer-to-peer manner. After a brief misunderstanding, we reached a consensus to separate our group from the official TAU community.

Importantly, our group was created in 2017, even before the International Office was created, and it has always meant to be a tool to offer support and sharing of all of us "older researchers", regardless of the institutional powers.

Rearrangements of the WA communities

In this regard, the (official) community we all ended up together, the one that Zoe created, is being dismissed by the TAU International School itself, since they created a new one (and if you are not in, we suggest you to get in by this LINK).

Please note that this new community has subgroups, and it is meant for a broader audience, therefore in some groups there will be also the bachelor's and master's students. In the Official Researcher group, as well, the master students with a scholarship will be there. This is a difference between our WA group and the TAU one. Ours is dedicated to PhDs and Postdocs exclusively.

The marketplace group has been moved under this new community as well, alongside the Announcement board and the Quiet group for the security updates. This give us freedom and plurality, for the sake of transparency and freedom. 

Other than this, our group will remain the same, and functional as always.

New structure of the Lowy TAU International school

Instead, TAU international school is undergoing big changes, from its name (back then it was "TAU international office, now "the Lowy International school") to its hierarchical structure.

For example, there won't be a "next Zoe", but her job was split in different mansions, each one with its own manager. As we said above, Tamar Shalem (tshalem@tauex.tau.ac.il) (no, she is not the Visa coordinator, she's another Tamar) will deal with the community aspects, especially the social and interpersonal ones. Efrat, who was the head for the international social life back then, is now a counselor who will help the students with all of their personal, private issues (hstlife@tauex.tau.ac.il). At her previous place, now there is Orr (orrabergel@tauex.tau.ac.il).

Another function of Zoe was delegated to Meshi Hazan (tauresearch@tauex.tau.ac.il), who is technically the new International Research Students Coordinator, but mostly for administrative and bureaucratic issues. All of the Visa-related issues will be directly dealt with the visa office instead of passing through the liaison, therefore Meshi will direct you to Tamar Grushka-Shtern (the Head of Visa-Insurance-Admission Desk).

Check on this LINK the team of the Lowy TAU International School.

A significant change is the dissolution of the madrichim as a formal group of employees, which will now be replaced by international community coordinators.

The primary shift in this concept is that the international school wants community coordinators with students to play an active role in building the TAU community. Various activities will be proposed, allowing students to collaborate and share their needs and ideas. This approach aims to develop a mutually agreed-upon solution or project in cooperation with the institutional figures of TAU, such as the International School staff.

It is important to note that the Madrichim telephone number has now become an emergency hotline (Emergency Hotline +972-52-534-6188) that is always available. Unlike before, the number ONLY receives calls. And Tamar will not answer in the weekend or outside the office hours.

Discover more about the new student life guidelines at this LINK.

New opportunities for the community growth

One of our goals is for the International School in TAU to improve year after year and to effectively meet all of our needs and requests. As volunteers and representatives of the PhD and postdoc community, we will collaborate with the Lowy International School and SEGEL, engaging in any issues or opportunities that benefit our community. 

We thank you all for your support and trust in us.  

We would also like to invite more volunteers to help us manage our community. Please reach out to both of us together, rather than contacting us individually. We would be grateful for any additional support. Thank you!

Valentina and Bhavana