Science Rendezvous (SR) is an altruistic organization that runs on the enthusiasm and involvement of its partners. Every site needs at least one local individual who is invested in the initiatives of SR and willing to commit some of their time to expanding the impact of their institution’s outreach events. This person will act as SR Site Chair, taking on the responsibility of recruiting the Student Chair (if applicable), and helping to organize the executive committee; this person builds enthusiasm for the event and participation among fellow faculty and staff at their institution.

Investment in science outreach is the key to ensuring the continued success of all Science and Technology, Engineering and Math departments, and in fact is important to the economic health of each institution – SR can help your outreach programs thrive by adding scale and administrative assistance to your existing initiatives. The national organization runs steering committee meetings, assists with timeline management, hosts the national website and creates promotional material for each event site. SR is a national event that reaches approximately 300,000 people across Canada, and creates several thousand volunteer opportunities, promoting direct community involvement and enthusiasm for the sciences. No one single event can match the impact of all our voices brought together in a coordinated effort to promote the importance of science in Canada.

SR offers a multitude of benefits to a wide variety of institution types. Whether your institution is small and interested in building your visibility within the high school recruitment pool, or large and looking to increase the quality of student life on campus through community building, SR is a program easily transferrable between all institutions. All it takes is one person, one champion at each site to meet the outreach goals at your institution.

Although it is not necessary, the ideal Site Chair is a faculty member of your institution with a passion for science outreach.