Student Employees Sought at Process Improvement

The Office of Process Improvement is hiring two student process improvement coordinators. Direct your undergraduate and graduate students to this opportunity.

The start date for the year-round position is April. The hours are flexible but the students must be available for the summer.

See the details at NACElink. You must login using an ISO username and password.

For more information, contact Wendy Davis, manager of Process Improvement, at 487-3180 or at wmdavis@mtu.edu .

Published in Tech Today

Accelerated Master’s Degree Programs

The Graduate School announces the development of three new accelerated master’s degree programs. These fast-track graduate programs are now offered to undergraduate students in the fields of mechanical engineering, biomedical engineering and chemical engineering.

The new initiative allows Michigan Tech undergraduate students to accelerate their education and jumpstart their future research or career paths.

Tech undergraduate students can apply as early as their junior year and start taking graduate-level courses during their senior year.

Michigan Tech’s accelerated master’s allows for students to count up to six credit hours towards both their bachelor’s and master’s degree. Once students are admitted into the accelerated programs and complete their bachelor’s degree, they can finish their master’s degree within two semesters (one academic year).

Acceptance into these programs requires that students apply through the standard Graduate School application process and maintain undergraduate GPA requirements set by the individual programs. Students who are already enrolled in graduate programs may not retroactively enroll in accelerated master’s programs.

Other academic programs are encouraged to consider offering accelerated master’s options to Tech students.

For more information on developing an accelerated master’s program, contact Jacque Smith, director of marketing and advancement, Graduate School, at 487-1434 or at jacque@mtu.edu .

submitted by Jacque Smith, Graduate School
Published in Tech Today

2012 MSGC Awards Announced

Michigan Tech faculty, staff members and students received awards tallying $101,875 through the Michigan Space Grant Consortium (MSGC), sponsored by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), which includes 11 university members.

Michigan Tech received 18 percent of the available research seed grant funding, 24 percent of the undergraduate fellowship funding, 33 percent of the graduate fellowship funding and 41 percent of the precollege, public outreach, teacher training and augmentation proposal funding.

  • Six undergraduates received $2,500 for research fellowships.
  • Five graduate students received $5,000 for research fellowships.
    • Brenda Bergman (Forest Science): “Mercury movement through the earth systems: better understanding biotic controls over inter-system contaminant transfer while enhancing students’ motivation to engage in STEM and reduce atmospheric pollution”
    • Patrick Bowen (Materials Science and Engineering): “Exploring the effect of group IV elements on the mechanical and corrosion performance of magnesium”
    • Baron Colbert (Civil Engineering): “Using Nonmetals Separated From E-Waste in Improving the Mechanical Properties of Asphalt Materials”
    • Colin Gurganus (Atmospheric Sciences): “Exploring Cloud Microphysics in the Laboratory: Heterogeneous Nucleation Pathways”
    • Lauren Schaefer (Geology): “Multidisciplinary approach to volcanic hazard monitoring at Pacaya Volcano, Guatemala”
  • Two faculty received $5,000 in seed grants.
  • Seven faculty and staff received $5,000 or more for precollege, public outreach, teacher training or augmentation.

Tech’s representative for the program is Chris Anderson, special assistant to the president, Institutional Diversity. She says, “This recognition and support help keep Michigan Tech students, faculty and staff on the cutting edge of inquiry and research. The number of awards we receive annually in this competitive process is impressive and underscores the quality of our proposals.”

For a list of all the awards and award winners, see Space Grants.

NASA implemented the National Space Grant College and Fellowship Program in 1989 to provide funding for research, education and public outreach in space-related science and technology. The program has 52 university-based consortia in the United States and Puerto Rico. As an affiliate of the Michigan Consortium, Michigan Tech has participated in MSGC for over fifteen years.

For more information, contact Anderson at 487-2474 or at csanders@mtu.edu , or visit the MSGC website at MSGC.

submitted by Lisa Wallace, Institutional Diversity
Published in Tech Today

Seminar on “Conflict of Interest”

The Office of Compliance, Integrity and Safety will hold an educational session, “Conflict of Interest,” from noon to 1 p.m., Tuesday, March 27. Registration ends at 5 p.m., March 25.

REGISTER FOR CONFLICT OF INTEREST.

An email confirming the reservation will include the location.

This session is designed to provide faculty, postdocs and research/program staff with an understanding of what conflict of interest means and how it relates to researchers and other employees of Michigan Tech.

Some of the topics covered will include:

  • Conflict of interest categories at Michigan Tech
  • Federal regulations
  • Situational understanding

Beverages and desserts will be available. Bring your lunch.

For more information, contact Carole Noonan at 487-1148 or at csnoonan@mtu.edu .

Financial Literacy – Seminar offered by Financial Aid

Financial literacy is more than

  • balancing your check book every month
  • keeping your credit at a manageable level
  • minimizing the amount of student loan debt that you incur while pursuing your college degree

According to universitybusiness.com’s Oct 2011 article titled “Dollars and Sense” financial literacy is a major part of a student’s overall well being. As with physical wellness, there are healthy steps that we can take to assure our financial wellness.

The Office of Financial Aid at Michigan Tech is offering informational sessions touching on four major areas of financial literacy: budgeting, credit, financial aid and long term saving.  Our goal is to improve students’ understanding of what it takes to enjoy a lifetime of financial wellness.

Attend a seminar on Tuesday, March 26th from 4-5-pm to learn more.  Please register online to reserve a seat and receive confirmation of the location.

Van Pelt and Opie Library to Offer EndNote Workshop for Graduate Students

Learn how Endnote can save you hours of time in the library research and document preparation process!

The Van Pelt and Opie Library is offering two, free EndNote Basics workshops for Michigan Tech graduate students on March 26 and March 28.  EndNote is citation management software which allows anyone to easily collect, organize and use their research references.

In this free library workshop participants will learn the basic skills for building a collection of citations, how to manage their collection and how to include the citations in their documents.  The workshop will also go over how to easily create bibliographies.

The sessions will be held:

  • Monday, March 26 @ 12:00 – 1:30 PM
  • Wednesday, March 28 @ 10:00 – 11:30 AM

Seating is limited. Please sign up today by sending and email to: libraryworkshop@mtu.edu

New theses and dissertations available in the Library

The Graduate School is pleased to announce new theses and dissertations are now available in the J.R. van Pelt and Opie Library from the following programs:

  • Biological Sciences
  • Chemical Engineering
  • Chemistry
  • Civil Engineering
  • Electrical Engineering
  • Forest Ecology and Management
  • Geophysics
  • Materials Science and Engineering
  • Mechanical Engineering
  • Rhetoric and Technical Communication

Thesis, Dissertation, and Report Submission Update

The University license to Blackboard will expire at the end of this semester, so the Graduate School is switching this week to Canvas (http://mtu.instructure.com) for thesis, dissertation, and report submission.  In support of this transition, the Graduate School will host a seminar on Thursday, March 15th at 2pm (rescheduled due to inclement weather on the original date).  Please register to attend and receive confirmation of the location.

Note that this seminar will only cover the important changes with switching to Canvas. All graduate students will be loaded into Canvas this week.  If you can’t make the seminar, slides will be available online, and a blog tutorial stepping you through the submission process is currently available online.

Additionally, the Degree completion form has been recently updated.  Please discontinue using any old versions you may have previously saved.  The form adds our new programs, and has changed the binding options for theses, dissertations, and reports.

Students who have started submitting documents in Blackboard should continue to do so if they plan to graduate this semester.

Questions?  Please contact Debra Charlesworth.

Nominations Open for Gustave O. Arlt Award in the Humanities

Nominations for the Gustave O. Arlt Award in the Humanities are due by March 15th to Debra Charlesworth in the Graduate School.  The award recognizes young scholars who have published an outstanding book in their field.  Fields eligible for nomination this year are World Language and Literature, Comparative Literature, or Drama/Theater Arts.

Eligible candidates can be alumni from Michigan Tech, or current faculty.  Michigan Tech may nominate one candidate.

See the CGS website for complete details on eligibility and the nomination process.

How to submit an assignment to Canvas

Canvas is the learning management system that Michigan Tech uses for classes, and the Graduate School uses to collect theses, dissertations, and reports. This post will explain how to submit an assignment for the Graduate School.

First, log into Canvas with your Michigan Tech ISO ID and password (the same one you use to access Banweb or your e-mail).

The Canvas log in screen. Use your Michigan Tech ID and password.