Graduate students and faculty teaching their first course will find this recent post from Tomorrow’s Professor a quick and interesting read. It offers practical advice on how to set up your class for success from day one, and gives advice on how to balance teaching with research responsibilities. It’s important to have balance in our careers, and advance planning is one part of it. Although everything about teaching a class can’t be planned in advance, the more advance planning you can do, the smoother your semester will be.
Articles about professional development and seminar announcements.
Having trouble deciding when you need to cite a source? Not quite sure whether you should quote that paper you’re reading or summarize it? Worried about whether the passage you summarized is too close to the original? Join us from 4:05 to 4:30 p.m. Thursday (April 12) in Library 242, for a workshop on citing your sources and how to avoid plagiarism. Feel free to bring specific questions or examples.
Please note that this workshop does not focus on the nuts and bolts of any particular citation style (e.g. APA, MLA, etc.), but a broader discussion of when it’s appropriate to cite. You can register to attend.
In a recent interview with Dr. Ansley Abraham, director of the SREB Doctoral Scholars Program, he recommends forming a “Board of Advisors” to help you complete your PhD. Forming strong relationships with a variety of individuals who can support you will help your current and future career. Don’t be afraid to ask for help, and don’t wait until it is too late. Read more in Tomorrow’s Professor, issue #1633.
Save lots of time by using EndNote software to manage your citations! No prior knowledge of EndNote is required for Thursday’s workshop. During the session, we will cover how to create and build an EndNote “library,” add references from online databases and PDFs, and best practices for organizing your citations.
How to incorporate references into a Microsoft Word document and changing output styles will also be covered.
The workshop is at 5:05 p.m. Thursday (March 29) in Library 242 Register here.
Did you know that the career paths for a PhD are (probably) infinite? Since all PhD students are trained in academic environment, the assumption has been that most doctoral students enter academia after graduation. This assumption, however, is not based in current reality. Graduates can find rewarding careers in industry, government labs, and a variety of academic positions. Read more about this in the Chronicle of Higher Education, where they profile a number of participants in a Preparing Future Faculty program and see where their careers are today.
Learn how EndNote can help you easily create and manage bibliographic information and incorporate references into your writing. EndNote also offers a relatively easy way for faculty to upload citations into Digital Measures.
The “EndNote Basic” workshop will be from 1:05 to 2:15 p.m. Tuesday (Sept. 26). During the session, we will cover how to create and build an EndNote “library,” add full-text documents and best practices for organizing your references. The workshop will be held in Library 242 and registration is required. Register for EndNote Basic.
The workshop “EndNote Cite While You Write” is from 2:15 to 3 p.m. Tuesday (Sept. 26). Learn how to incorporate your EndNote library citations into a Microsft Word document in the particular style your manuscript requires. Attendees will also learn how to locate and import specialized output styles. Attending EndNote Basic, or prior knowledge of building and managing an EndNote library, is recommended.
This workshop is a continuation of EndNote Basic and will be held in Library 242 as well. Registration is required.
Our Library 242 instruction room has EndNote X8 installed on Windows workstations. Attendees may bring their own laptops with EndNote X8 downloaded prior to the session. Visit the library’s EndNote LibGuide to download the software and get a sneak peek at what EndNote can do for you
Click here to view all of the library’s upcoming workshops. Email library@mtu.edu with any questions.
Students preparing a dissertation, thesis, or report are invited to a new seminar series this summer designed to answer the questions we most commonly see in the Graduate School. Faculty and staff who assist students are also welcome to attend. The general format will be a 30 minute presentation with time for your questions.
Our first seminar will be “Formatting 101: Using the Guide and Template.” We’ll discuss how you can use the Guide to find the formatting rules, and the template for signature/approval pages. Additional details:
- Date: May 24, 2017
- Time: 2:30 – 3:25pm
- Place: Fisher 138 or live stream
Please register to attend on campus or to view the live stream so that we can plan for your attendance. Individuals who register for the live stream will receive log in information three hours before the event.
Dates and topics for the remaining two seminars in the series will be announced soon. All materials (including video when available) from all Graduate School seminars are archived online.
In a recent article in Tomorrow’s Professor, the authors advocate that the three keys to success are:
- Follow your passions and talents
- Pick your advisor and lab wisely
- Learn to write well
In the article, they expand on these ideas, and offer tips and suggestions to achieve them. One piece that particularly stood out to me is to “follow your passions.” Graduate school is challenging, but your goal is achievable if you lay a good foundation. One piece of that is to find a project that will motivate you even when the research is difficult and it seems like the project can’t be completed.
If you haven’t heard of Tomorrow’s Professor, it’s a great newsletter with tips and article for those pursuing or interested in careers in academia. It’s worth your time to read.
What are your keys to success in graduate school? Do you agree with the authors?
The Distinguished Ecologist Lecture Series presents Josh Schimel from the University of California, Santa Barbara.
From Amazon’s description of Shimel’s book: “As a scientist, you are a professional writer: your career is built on successful proposals and papers. Success isn’t defined by getting papers into print, but by getting them into the reader’s consciousness. Writing Science is built upon the idea that successful science writing tells a story. It uses that insight to discuss how to write more effectively. Integrating lessons from other genres of writing with those from the author’s years of experience as author, reviewer, and editor, the book shows scientists and students how to present their research in a way that is clear and that will maximize reader comprehension.”
“Writing Science” talk on Friday, October 28 at 3:00 p.m. in Forestry G002. also, see Shimel’s science writing blog.
Shimel , a microbial ecologist, will also give a talk on”The Biogeochemistry of Drought,”t 12:30 p.m. Thursday (Oct. 27). Both seminars will be held in the Noblet Forestry Building Room G002.
Choosing an advisor is one of the most important decisions a graduate student makes in their career. Having an advisor whose goals support your aspirations is essential to ensuring your success as a student and young professional in your chosen field.
This article from the Journal of Higher Education illustrates some of the ways students can shape their advisor experience by putting their goals first and leveraging each other’s strengths to get the most out of the partnership. One idea, for example, is to ensure you get career feedback by asking for it. Although good advisors are willing to give this advice, most simply don’t have the time to plan to provide this feedback at regular intervals.