Survival in this New Academic Environment: Workshops for International Students.

Xiaomei Cheng
Studying in graduate school is a big challenge for every student. It is especially difficult for international students because of cultural differences and language difficulties.

The goals of my project are to 1) help new international students to improve their academic life, and 2) create web-based survival guidance for current and future international students. To achieve these goals, I will organize a series of workshops with three different themes in the 2002-2003 academic year. In fall quarter, the theme will be “Survival in the new environment”. I will invite both advanced and first year international students to sit together and share information. Topics will include: improving spoken English, taking class notes, using available resources on campus, and being a TA. The theme in winter quarter will be “Faculty advice.” Faculty members, who have experience in supervising international students will present to first and second year international students their experiences as advisors and their expectations of international students. Important topics will include: communication between international students and advisors, balancing course work and research and making continual progress in research. The theme in spring quarter will be “American cultures and your American colleagues.” In this session, American graduate students and international students will discuss cultural differences, friendships between American and international students, and life in the world outside of school. At the end of the year, I will put together important information from these workshops and create a homepage, which will be an easily accessible resource for both current and future international students.

Student Affairs Services to Graduate Students: A Review

Joaquin Feliciano
For my PFTF 2002-03 project I will be participating in a review of Student Affairs services to graduate students. The Division of Student Affairs oversees all non-academic student support services, including the Registrar's office, counseling services, student housing, the student health center, Advising Services, and the Cross Cultural Center. Graduate students have traditionally been underserved by Student Affairs organizations at most, if not all, US universities. The review will be conducted by a committee comprising representatives from Student Affairs, the Office of Graduate Studies, UC Davis faculty, and graduate students. Through participating in this review, I hope to help increase the quantity and quality of Student Affairs support given to graduate students at UC Davis.

Years in the Balance

Molly Clark Hillard
I, along with my colleague, Katie Kalpin, am facilitating a series of roundtable discussions to be held in Winter and Spring, 2003. The workshops will address a variety of academic concerns, and will focus on issues relevant to both junior and senior graduate students. During these sessions, which will be open to all departments, graduate students who have completed coursework will present to their junior colleagues personal experiences with the topic at hand. Presenters will begin the session by relating both their successes and failures in their attempts to construct a positive graduate school experience. Some sessions, where appropriate, will also include short presentations from campus faculty and staff. These presentations will be followed by a question-and-answer and discussion period that will allow beginning students to articulate their experiences and reactions, as well as to seek advice and support. We will begin the series by focusing on topics of interest to beginning graduate students. These workshop topics will include adjusting to graduate school life and early opportunities for professional development. The later workshops will address concerns of the more senior graduate students. These sessions will include securing funding and balancing personal and professional goals.

Years in the Balance

Kathleen Kalpin
I, along with my colleague, Molly Clark Hillard, am facilitating a series of roundtable discussions to be held in Winter and Spring, 2003. The workshops will address a variety of academic concerns, and will focus on issues relevant to both junior and senior graduate students. During these sessions, which will be open to all departments, graduate students who have completed coursework will present to their junior colleagues personal experiences with the topic at hand. Presenters will begin the session by relating both their successes and failures in their attempts to construct
a positive graduate school experience. Some sessions, where appropriate, will also include short presentations from campus faculty and staff. These presentations will be followed by a question-and-answer and discussion period that will allow beginning students to articulate their experiences and reactions, as well as to seek advice and support. We will begin the series by focusing on topics of interest to beginning graduate students. These workshop topics will include adjusting to graduate school life and early opportunities for professional development. The later workshops will address concerns of the more senior graduate students. These sessions will include securing funding and balancing personal and professional goals.

Grant Workshops Workshops for the Humanities and Social Sciences

Eona Karakacili
Doctorates in the Humanities and Social Science fields comprised thirty percent of all PhDs awarded in the United States during 1998-9. Scholars in these fields experience unique disadvantages in two respects: as compared to other research areas, graduate funding is low, and academic job opportunities upon completion of the degree are scarce (NORC, 2000). Obtaining an external fellowship during graduate studies offers one solution to the rising debt and delays brought about by insufficient funds and heavy workloads. Such an award is also a significant plus on the job market. It is viewed as an indicator of capabilities and future potential. Upon completion of the degree, PhDs who win a postdoctoral fellowship often find that it plays an important role in helping to land that elusive tenure-track job. At the University of California, Davis, guidance in writing such grant applications varies enormously in quantity and quality between departments, and it is seldom institutionalized.

This project aims to help junior scholars in the UC-Davis community acquire grant writing skills which can be critical to the success of their research careers in both the earlier and later stages. It will offer a series of workshops on writing fellowship applications for graduate students and recent doctoral graduates in the Humanities and Social Science fields. These workshops will draw upon the abundant expertise of faculty who have served on grant committees as well as the experiences of successful applicants. Interdisciplinary evaluation of applications by peers and faculty will play an important role in the workshops. This project also seeks to establish a foundation for a permanent series of such workshops with the goal of helping junior scholars in future years.

Show Me the Money: Finding and Obtaining External Funding in the Social Sciences and Humanities

Julia K. Kehew
Success in obtaining external fellowships and grants can make a crucial difference for graduate students when applying for academic jobs or postdoctoral positions. Students who successfully obtain external funding also free departmental resources for reallocation. For my PFTF project, I would like to study the informational resources, mentoring systems, and the follow up practices utilized by graduate students when applying for external fellowships.

In order to assess how students are currently utilizing available resources, I plan to design and administer a questionnaire to Social Sciences and Humanities graduate students to determine how they hear about funding opportunities, how they are mentored through the application process, and how they follow up on applications. I will discuss these findings with the appropriate representatives from Financial Aid and Graduate Studies to assess how this process can be streamlined and improved while still providing needed support for students.

My project will culminate in a workshop on finding external funding sources for Social Sciences and Humanities students during Spring Quarter 2003. This workshop will be coordinated with Eona Karakacili’s grantwriting workshops, to allow graduate students and postdoctoral fellows the information needed to find appropriate external funding sources and apply successfully.

Gender Blender

Mark Jesus M. Magbanua
Gender Blender is a project designed to reach out to queer and ally graduate students and postdocs. This project aims to bring together members of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transsexual, Intersex, and Ally (LGBT) community of UC Davis through informal social functions. The plan also includes a colloquium to serve as a venue for discussion of issues that concern the gay community. The project also hopes to encourage a more active participation of graduate students and postdocs in university organized queer-related activities. Gender Blender welcomes everybody in celebrating campus diversity.

Professional Development Forum for Postdoctoral Scholars Seeking Academic Careers

Michael Pitcher
According to a survey of post-doctoral scholars carried out at the University of California, Davis (UCD) in spring 2000, 51% of those surveyed plan to pursue a career in academia, with a further 28% undecided between industry and academia. Applying for an academic job can be daunting, compared to a comparable non-academic position. Many advertised positions require a multitude of application materials and there is a real need for help in this sometimes-intimidating process.
My project is to provide a forum for the professional development and growth of my colleagues who are pursuing an academic career. It is envisaged that, through informal meetings, people will be able to discuss their job-hunting approach, exchange ideas, problem-solve any issues that arise, share experiences and act as a support network for each other.

Electronic Handbook of Technical Writing

Narendra Singhal
Technical writing in the form of class-project description, research paper, qualifying exam proposal, dissertation, curriculum vitae, etc. is an integral part of a graduate student life. Most graduate students lack experience in technical writing and have to struggle while learning to produce quality work. They end up spending a lot of time and energy gleaning through books on technical writing which either do not contain desired information or are cumbersome to read. In addition, students use software editors and tools to ease writing and compiling their works. Most of us are unfamiliar with software resources available on campus for writing and how to efficiently exploit the repertoire of capabilities that these softwares possess.

My project aims to create an electronic handbook which will serve not only as a compendium of guidelines for technical writing but also as a collection of user's manuals on writing-softwares. The handbook will be made available at a public domain where students can easily access and use it as a handy reference; constant feedback from graduate students will greatly enhance its quality and organization. This electronic handbook project will result in making the writing experience more enjoyable for graduate students during their stay at UC Davis.

Writing the Dissertation

Patricia Sullivan
Completing a dissertation is one of the most challenging tasks faced by graduate students, but with the proper skills and support, this huge task can be more manageable and more rewarding. My project will draw on the expertise of professionals on our campus, as well as resources beyond the campus community, to create a series of workshops for graduate students writing their dissertations. These workshops will address topics like overcoming anxiety and procrastination, efficient time management, creating a support network, and balancing work on your dissertation and the rest of your life. This workshop series has three primary goals: 1) to present UC Davis graduate students in the dissertation-writing phase of their graduate careers with practical skills and strategies for success with their dissertation projects; 2) to introduce graduate students to the myriad resources available to them both on and off campus; and 3) to combat the isolation of the dissertation-writing experience by providing an environment in which students can interact with other students across campus to share frustrations, challenges, and helpful advice.

A Guide for Life (as a Graduate Student at UC Davis): The UC Davis Graduate Student Handbook

Claire Vallotton
Any first year Graduate Student arrives at UC Davis (or any other graduate institution) to find themselves in a new and strange system of academics, politics, and bureaucracy, in which they have to conduct research, take classes, read, write, work, learn, teach, fill out paperwork, worry about funding, and try to have a life. Most students come into graduate school unaware of the details of the many responsibilities of being a graduate student and the many resources available to graduate students. Though many graduate programs are able to provide their students with information on their program requirements, few are able to address the campus-wide requirements and resources for Graduate Students.

My PFTF project involves the coordination of the development of the UC Davis Graduate Student Handbook. The last Graduate Student Handbook at UC Davis was published by the Office of Graduate Studies in 1988. The new handbook will include updated information on the requirements of and resources for graduate students at UC Davis. A survey of Graduate Students representing many different graduate programs will be conducted in order to discover the information which is most useful for grad students and most absent from other resources. The final product will be a UC Davis Graduate Student Handbook which will be made available by the Office of Graduate Studies to all new and returning students via web access and hard copy distribution.

Web Based Course Management: MyUCDavis

Jason Wood
Many graduate students and post-doctoral scholars hope to move on to a career that involves teaching. The transition from being a graduate student or post-doc to a lead instructor for several courses can be quite stressful and daunting. As such I plan to organize a workshop series that will help this transition by exposing graduate students and post-doctoral scholars to web based course management software that can be used as an effective teaching tool and help save time with course organization.

My project will involve planning and conducting a series of workshops that will introduce the MyUCDavis software, by having participants actually plan and implement a course using this software. Web-based course management software is especially useful for managing course enrollment and grades, as well as posting assignments, lecture notes, practice exams, and facilitating communication between the instructor and students. The benefits of using such pedagogical tools become very apparent when teaching courses with large enrollment, something that many first time hires will be expected to do.