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General Procedure for Remote Seminars/Defenses

This guide provides basic procedure for giving remote presentations at MLML. There is information for both the presenter as well as the individual who will be introducing the speaker.


Remote Seminars

Prior to the seminar:

  1. Make sure you have updated to the most recent version of Zoom.
  2. 1-2 days prior to presentation, perform a test run with a member of the MLML IT group.
    • Please use the exact set up you plan to use for the actual seminar during the dry run.
    • If you wish to use presenter view, you will need a second monitor.

During the seminar:

  1. Speaker and sponsor should join at ~3:40 pm PST
    • IT host will go over this procedure with the speaker and sponsor one last time
  2. Speaker shares their screen with title slide at 3:55pm
  3. Just before 4pm, the Speakersponsor, and IT host will turn off audio and video.
    • Sponsor and Speaker may elect to leave their video on.
  4. IT host will begin the recording/streaming of the seminar and let in the audience participants.
  5. Sponsor will unmute themselves, and they will read the following etiquette script and introduce the speaker:
    • All audience participants will be muted throughout the seminar.
    • Please DO NOT attempt to turn on your video or share your screen during the talk.
    • There will be an opportunity for the audience to ask questions live at the end of the talk just like a normal seminar. Once the speaker has finished their talk, you can use Zoom’s raise hand feature to notify the meeting host that you’d like to ask  a question. The raise hand feature is located under the reactions tab at the bottom of the Zoom window.
    • You are invited to turn on your video during the questions portion of the talk.
  6. Sponsor is muted after intro
  7. Speaker will unmute themselves and begin their presentation
  8. During the presentation, Host/Co-Hosts will:
    • Mitigate any tech issues that arise
    • Kick out unwanted participants
  9. Questions Portion:
    • At this point, the IT host will allow everyone to turn on their video
    • Speaker will either show questions slide, or stop their screen share and start their video
    • Sponsor will prompt for questions and remind participants to use the raise hand feature.
    • Sponsor will open participants tab and call on those with their hand raised for questions.
    • IT host will unmute those that are called on by the sponsor.
  10. Speaker says a closing statement
  11. Live Stream and recording stopped
  12. OPTIONAL: IT host will allow participants to unmute themselves and sponsor will announce the beginning of the informal happy hour. The sponsor is made the host of the Zoom meeting and the informal happy hour begins
    • Duration of the happy hour is managed by the sponsor and the speaker, and can be concluded at any desired time

Remote Thesis Defenses

Prior to the defense:

  1. Submit an iTicket notifying IT of the date and time of your thesis. The sooner the better.
  2. Notify the Front Desk, Ivano, and Jocelyn of your plans to defend, especially if you will be using a lab space.
  3. Make sure you have updated to the most recent version of Zoom.
  4. 1-2 days prior to the defense, perform a dry run with member of the MLML IT group.
    • Please use the exact set up you plan to use for the actual defense during the dry run.
    • If you wish to use presenter view, you will need a second monitor.

During the defense:

  1. Student and advisor should join 15-20 minutes prior to the start of the defense
    • IT host will go over this procedure with the student and advisor one last time
  2. Advisor will begin screen share and show the title slide of the introductory presentation 5 minutes prior to defense.
    • If the advisor does not have a presentation prepared, the student will share their presentation.
  3. Just before 4pm, the student, advisor, and IT host will turn off audio and video.
    • Student and Advisor may elect to leave their video on.
  4. IT host will begin the recording/streaming of the defense and let in the audience participants.
  5. IT host will unmute the advisor and they will read the following etiquette script and introduce the student:
    • All audience participants will be muted throughout the seminar.
    • Please DO NOT attempt to turn on your video or share your screen during the talk.
    • There will be an opportunity for the audience to ask questions live at the end of the talk just like a normal seminar. Once {student's name} has finished {his/her/their} talk, you can use Zoom’s raise hand feature to notify the meeting host that you’d like to ask a question. The raise hand feature is located under the reactions tab at the bottom of the Zoom window.
    • You are invited to turn on your video during the questions portion of the talk.
  6. Advisor will stop screen share and student will start their screen share.
  7. Advisor is muted after intro
  8. IT Host will unmute the student to begin their presentation
  9. During the defense, Host/Co-Hosts will:
    • Mitigate any tech issues that arise
    • Kick out unwanted participants
  10. Questions Portion:
    • At this point, the IT host will allow everyone to turn on their video
    • Student will either show questions slide, or stop their screen share and start their video
    • Advisor will prompt for questions and remind participants to use the raise hand feature.
    • Advisor will open participants tab and call on those with their hand raised for questions.
    • IT host will unmute those that are called on by the advisor.
  11. After questions, IT host will stop recording/live stream and allow participants to unmute themselves for a brief informal celebration prompted by the advisor
  12. After the celebration, the advisor will ask all participants to leave except the studentadvisor, and their committee members
    • IT Host will kick out any straggling participants
    • IT host will make the student or the advisor the host and leave the meeting