You may think that you’re not ready to make preparations for your proposal or dissertation, but at PROMISE, we believe that it is never too early to start thinking about how to communicate your research.  This week, regardless of your year in graduate school, 1st to final, come and join us! We are hosting a Dissertation House in Pittsburgh on the campus of Carnegie Mellon University.  In addition to hosting the students who applied in advance to be in-residence for the multi-day sessions of the full-scale Dissertation House, we invite graduate students in Pittsburgh to our “open sessions.”  All graduate students (all disciplines, all backgrounds, all levels) at CMU, the University of Pittsburgh, local campuses, along with visiting graduate students who are coming to town for the national NSBE conference or the NSBE Graduate School Conference (GSC) are invited to attend our  open (free) workshops and consultation hours.

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

• Workshop 1:  10 Common Mistakes That Graduate Students Should Avoid
• Time:  1:00 – 2:00 PM.  Location:  Gates-Hillman Center (GHC), Room 4405
  • Office hours/consultation will follow: 2:00 – 3:00 PM, Gates-Hillman Room 7501. Bring your drafts. Ask any questions.
  • RSVP as a comment to this post, or send email to promisestaff@gmail.com with the subject “CMU DH.”

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

• Workshop 2:  Understanding Your Advisor and Committee
• Time: 1:00 – 2:00 PM. Location: Gates-Hillman Center (GHC), Room 4405
• Office hours/consultation will follow: 2:00 – 4:00 PM, Gates-Hillman Room 7501. RSVP as a comment to this post, or send email to promisestaff@gmail.com with the subject “CMU DH.”

Please let us know that you are coming by replying to this post or sending email to promisestaff@gmail.com.

Head Coach: Dr. Wendy Carter-Veale, Facilitator: Dr. Renetta G. Tull

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The Dissertation House is a program of PROMISE: Maryland’s Alliance for Graduate Education and the Professoriate (AGEP).  The Quality of Life Technology Center (QoLT)  (an NSF collaboration between Carnegie Mellon and the University of Pittsburgh) has partnered with PROMISE: Maryland’s AGEP to sponsor Dissertation House activities in Pittsburgh. PROMISE is a National Science Foundation alliance between UMBC: An Honors University in Maryland (lead institution), the University of Maryland College Park, and the University of Maryland Baltimore.

Related articles

• Next full-scale Dissertation House at Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, March 26-28, 2012 (dissertationhouse.wordpress.com)

You may think that you’re not ready to make preparations for your proposal or dissertation, but at PROMISE, we believe that it is never too early to start thinking about how to communicate your research.  This week, regardless of your year in graduate school, 1st to final, come and join us! We are hosting a Dissertation House in Pittsburgh on the campus of Carnegie Mellon University.  In addition to hosting the students who applied in advance to be in-residence for the multi-day sessions of the full-scale Dissertation House, we invite graduate students in Pittsburgh to our “open sessions.”  All graduate students (all disciplines, all backgrounds, all levels) at CMU, the University of Pittsburgh, local campuses, along with visiting graduate students who are coming to town for the national NSBE conference or the NSBE Graduate School Conference (GSC) are invited to attend our  open (free) workshops and consultation hours.

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

• Workshop 1:  10 Common Mistakes That Graduate Students Should Avoid
• Time:  1:00 – 2:00 PM.  Location:  Gates-Hillman Center (GHC), Room 4405
  • Office hours/consultation will follow: 2:00 – 3:00 PM, Gates-Hillman Room 7501. Bring your drafts. Ask any questions.
  • RSVP as a comment to this post, or send email to promisestaff@gmail.com with the subject “CMU DH.”

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

• Workshop 2:  Understanding Your Advisor and Committee
• Time: 1:00 – 2:00 PM. Location: Gates-Hillman Center (GHC), Room 4405
• Office hours/consultation will follow: 2:00 – 4:00 PM, Gates-Hillman Room 7501. RSVP as a comment to this post, or send email to promisestaff@gmail.com with the subject “CMU DH.”

Please let us know that you are coming by replying to this post or sending email to promisestaff@gmail.com.

Head Coach: Dr. Wendy Carter-Veale, Facilitator: Dr. Renetta G. Tull

——————————–

The Dissertation House is a program of PROMISE: Maryland’s Alliance for Graduate Education and the Professoriate (AGEP).  The Quality of Life Technology Center (QoLT)  (an NSF collaboration between Carnegie Mellon and the University of Pittsburgh) has partnered with PROMISE: Maryland’s AGEP to sponsor Dissertation House activities in Pittsburgh. PROMISE is a National Science Foundation alliance between UMBC: An Honors University in Maryland (lead institution), the University of Maryland College Park, and the University of Maryland Baltimore.

Related articles

• Next full-scale Dissertation House at Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, March 26-28, 2012 (dissertationhouse.wordpress.com)

The Graduate School at the University of Maryland College Park will sponsor a Ph.D. Completion Project Workshop: Dissertation Time Management, which will be held Friday, March 30, 2012 from 2-4 p.m. in 1400 Marie Mount Hall (please note new location.)

Using a three-step model of focus, planning, and progress, Dr. Rachna Jain—a nationally recognized psychologist and professional speaker—will teach you how to set goals, measure your progress, and get back on track when things do not go as planned. You will also learn how to know, with certainty, what it will take to finish your dissertation and by when you can accomplish this.

This event is open to masters, Ph.D., and postdoctoral students.

Registration is required. Space is limited, so register early at http://ter.ps/k1 by Thursday March 29, 2012.  Questions? Please contact (301) 405-3644 or grad-retention@umd.edu.

—————————-

The Graduate School at the University of Maryland College Park will sponsor a Ph.D. Completion Project Workshop: Dissertation Time Management, which will be held Friday, March 30, 2012 from 2-4 p.m. in 1400 Marie Mount Hall (please note new location.)

Using a three-step model of focus, planning, and progress, Dr. Rachna Jain—a nationally recognized psychologist and professional speaker—will teach you how to set goals, measure your progress, and get back on track when things do not go as planned. You will also learn how to know, with certainty, what it will take to finish your dissertation and by when you can accomplish this.

This event is open to masters, Ph.D., and postdoctoral students.

Registration is required. Space is limited, so register early at http://ter.ps/k1 by Thursday March 29, 2012.  Questions? Please contact (301) 405-3644 or grad-retention@umd.edu.

—————————-

We’ve just posted 15 tips that you can use as you prepare for your faculty interviews on the main page for PROMISE: Maryland’s AGEP, however, it can be difficult to prepare for interviews while you’re trying to finish your dissertation.  In the Dissertation House, Dr. Carter-Veale tells participants to get help with tasks that aren’t related to content.  In the same spirit, here are some ways that friends or family members can help you to prepare for your faculty interviews and job talks.

1. You will need to research the school, the faculty, and the leadership.  Ask a friend or family member to print out pages of faculty members’ websites, and select pages from the organization that you need to review.
2. Ask someone to help you with preparing a packet of information about the school or organization that you can review on the plane, in your hotel room, or a day or two in advance of your interview. Consider a folder with pockets that you can get from your campus bookstore.
3. Send someone copies of your CV, teaching philosophy, and copies of two recent papers or abstract and ask them to prepare 2-3 folders that you can have available for interviewers (and one “master copy” for yourself)  in case you have updates to share, or want to refer to something from your packet.
4. Ask friends or family members to help you with things doing like laundry, picking up dry cleaning, getting your comfortable business shoes re-heeled,  or going shopping for the “interview” suit or outfit.
5. Ask colleagues to be an audience and listen to your job talk in advance.  Allow them to ask you critical questions and make constructive comments.  Give someone the job of timekeeper.  Ask them to observe your body language, volume, and enthusiasm for the topic in addition to examining the content.
6. Although the interviewing organization will probably make your basic arrangements, ask someone to help you with other parts of your travel if necessary.   For example, you may need to drive from the airport to your hotel in a new city.  Someone else can print out your mapquest directions, or pre-program your GPS.  Plan for departure location ground transportation to and from the airport or train station (e.g., BWI, Dulles, DCA).

Friends and family often want to find a way to help you as you move toward the finish line. Give them something to do. Let them know that their help is invaluable. Good luck with your interviews.

_____________________________________________

This post may be copied, but please reference “The Dissertation House — http://www.thedissertationhouse.com, a program of PROMISE: Maryland’s AGEP.”

_____________________________________________

The text content of this post was compiled and written by the staff of PROMISE: Maryland’s AGEP and may not be copied without referencing the PROMISE organization, as “PROMISE: Maryland’s AGEP”.

PROMISE AGEP Online Information by PROMISE: Maryland’s AGEP is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

We’ve just posted 15 tips that you can use as you prepare for your faculty interviews on the main page for PROMISE: Maryland’s AGEP, however, it can be difficult to prepare for interviews while you’re trying to finish your dissertation.  In the Dissertation House, Dr. Carter-Veale tells participants to get help with tasks that aren’t related to content.  In the same spirit, here are some ways that friends or family members can help you to prepare for your faculty interviews and job talks.

1. You will need to research the school, the faculty, and the leadership.  Ask a friend or family member to print out pages of faculty members’ websites, and select pages from the organization that you need to review.
2. Ask someone to help you with preparing a packet of information about the school or organization that you can review on the plane, in your hotel room, or a day or two in advance of your interview. Consider a folder with pockets that you can get from your campus bookstore.
3. Send someone copies of your CV, teaching philosophy, and copies of two recent papers or abstract and ask them to prepare 2-3 folders that you can have available for interviewers (and one “master copy” for yourself)  in case you have updates to share, or want to refer to something from your packet.
4. Ask friends or family members to help you with things doing like laundry, picking up dry cleaning, getting your comfortable business shoes re-heeled,  or going shopping for the “interview” suit or outfit.
5. Ask colleagues to be an audience and listen to your job talk in advance.  Allow them to ask you critical questions and make constructive comments.  Give someone the job of timekeeper.  Ask them to observe your body language, volume, and enthusiasm for the topic in addition to examining the content.
6. Although the interviewing organization will probably make your basic arrangements, ask someone to help you with other parts of your travel if necessary.   For example, you may need to drive from the airport to your hotel in a new city.  Someone else can print out your mapquest directions, or pre-program your GPS.  Plan for departure location ground transportation to and from the airport or train station (e.g., BWI, Dulles, DCA).

Friends and family often want to find a way to help you as you move toward the finish line. Give them something to do. Let them know that their help is invaluable. Good luck with your interviews.

_____________________________________________

This post may be copied, but please reference “The Dissertation House — http://www.thedissertationhouse.com, a program of PROMISE: Maryland’s AGEP.”

_____________________________________________

The text content of this post was compiled and written by the staff of PROMISE: Maryland’s AGEP and may not be copied without referencing the PROMISE organization, as “PROMISE: Maryland’s AGEP”.

PROMISE AGEP Online Information by PROMISE: Maryland’s AGEP is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

During the August 2010 PROMISE Summer Success Institute (SSI), Dr. Philip Rous, then Dean of UMBC’s College of Natural and Mathematical Sciences (current Interim Provost and PI for the PROMISE AGEP), shared “secrets” behind applying for faculty positions.  Dr. Rous  provided information regarding how to prepare for the interview, what to expect during the interview, and expectations of the faculty interviewers.  Several of our PROMISE students are preparing for faculty interviews this semester.  To address some of the questions and concerns, we are posting some tips for you to consider.  This is not a comprehensive list, but rather a set of guidelines that you can use so that you have a level of preparation for your one or two days of  interviews.

1. RESEARCH THE SCHOOL
   1. Location
   2. Mission
   3. The kind of school (Carnegie classification, liberal arts, teaching, etc.)
   4. Sources of pride
2. RESEARCH THE DEPARTMENT
   1. Go through each faculty member’s webpage
   2. Know the department’s sources of pride, e.g., highlights such as new discoveries, grant funding, patents, national and international contributions to the field.
3. RESEARCH THE CLASSES THAT ARE TAUGHT WITHIN THE DEPARTMENT
   1. Consider 2-3 courses that already exist that you’d like to teach.  Look at both graduate and undergraduate offerings.
   2. How can you contribute to the curriculum? Think of something new that you’d like to introduce, e.g., a special topics course, a department-wide workgroup that will meet regularly to discuss multidisciplinary facets of your research area.
4. RESEARCH THE LABS
   1. Consider faculty members with whom you might collaborate.
   2. Look for potential opportunities to share equipment, lab space, and facilities.
   3. Look at centers and their facilities to see if there is a place for you to fit.
5. RESEARCH CAMPUS RESOURCES
   1. Sponsored programs and grants management
   2. University press as an outlet for your book
   3. Find connections on that campus that match the support systems that you have on your own campus, and let them know that you are going to be there for an interview (e.g. McNair advisor, SHPE advisor, AGEP director, LSAMP director, your advisor’s colleagues, WISE chapter, SWE chapter.)
6. EXAMINE YOUR RESEARCH AND TEACHING NEEDS
   1. How much space would you want for a lab?
   2. How many graduate assistants would you need to be successful? (Note:  Some schools don’t have a budget for assistantships, but the question may be raised.)
   3. How many TAs would you request?
   4. How much money would you need for start-up costs such as your office, your computer, or your lab? (NOTE:  This question usually comes up in a second interview or after an offer is made. However, you should have a general feel for the kinds of research that the department funds, and the research funding that the department’s faculty raise. You should also know what kinds of facilities your research requires.)
   5. Examine salary.  At public institutions, you may be able to find salary information online or in a “Budget” book in the library.  Know what is reasonable for your rank e.g., assistant professor in your discipline.  (NOTE:  Salary questions usually aren’t raised until a second interview or an offer.)
   6. Think about teaching load and summer salary, example: two courses, two years of summer salary.
7. ARRIVING:  The interview begins as soon as the department representative meets you at the train station, airport, hotel, or starting point.  Travel attire: Business casual.
8. MEALS:  You’ll likely have all of your meals with a faculty member, a group of faculty members, or a combination of faculty and administrators.
   1. Typical meals include dinner the night before your main interview day, breakfast the next morning (this may be on your own in your hotel), lunch with a group, and there may be an additional dinner with another group on the evening of your first full day.
   2. Know your body and how it reacts to certain foods. Be careful of messy foods like pasta with sauce, and foods that produce strong odors.  Don’t choose a very heavy meal.  Play it safe.  Consider refraining from ordering alcohol.  When others are drinking, choosing sparkling mineral waters like Perrier or San Pellegrino are usually safe choices.
9. SLEEP:  Get plenty of rest the night before your interview.  You will have a long day ahead and you will need to maintain your energy throughout the next day.
10. MEETINGS:  You will have several meetings throughout the day (attire: business.)  Be prepared to meet with the following, one-on-one or in groups:
    1. Professors (all ranks)
    2. Graduate students
    3. Administrators
    4. Affinity groups or other campus interests (e.g. ADVANCE, Director of an Engineering Research Center, PI of a collaborative multi-disciplinary project.)
11. THE TALK (and perhaps THE CLASS)
    1. Your talk will probably be an seminar that is open to the public.  The talk should highlight your research and your contributions to the field.  Faculty, students, and the campus community may be invited. Practice your talk in advance with people who will give you constructive criticism.
    2. You may be asked to teach a class.  Be familiar with your topic. Practice the lecture in advance.  Be sure to engage your students.
    3. It’s important to practice out loud and with others in an audience in advance of the big day.  You need to become used to the confident sound of your own voice as you discuss your research and teach your topic.
12. CONSIDER ESSENTIALS
    1. Remember to ask for restroom breaks when needed. Sometimes the schedule is so packed, that there aren’t any breaks.
    2. Have a water bottle available so that you can be refreshed throughout the day.
    3. Bring a few extra copies of your CV
    4. Bring a few copies of your recent papers. (NOTE: A file with your CV, recommendations, your teaching philosophy, and other materials are usually available to the search committee, but because of busy schedules, some of your interviewers may only have a chance to skim your file.  You can provide them with updates when you meet with them. )
13. AFTER THE INTERVIEW
    1. Write to your hosts to thank them for their time and hospitality.
    2. Remember the people who spent time with you and recall the highlights of your conversation.
    3. Follow up with your contacts on campus to give them feedback and let them know about your visit (e.g., AGEP, ADVANCE, LSAMP.)
14. BE PREPARED TO ANSWER ANY FOLLOW-UP QUESTIONS QUICKLY
    1. Examples:  Where else are you applying? How interested are you in our school compared to the other place to which you’re applying?
    2. You may be asked to send a proposal for your start-up costs (e.g., lab, computer, office, supplies.)
15. ENJOY YOUR VISIT
    1. Be friendly and engaging
    2. Conduct yourself as colleague.  Be confident, but respectful of boundaries.  Address the faculty as Dr. _____ or Professor __________ unless you’re told to do otherwise.  Refer to the faculty as Dr. _______ to the students.
    3. Have fun and be yourself.

These are some tips to consider.  Consult your advisor, faculty members, and friends who are on the faculty at other schools for any additions or modifications.  If you have friends who work at the institution, work in the area, or work at a similar institution, don’t forget to consult them. They are a valuable resource.  Good luck with your interviews!

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Resources for starting a lab and negotiating an offer: 

• Starting a lab  (Source: College of Life Sciences Postdoc Association)
• Resources for the Development of Early-Career Scientists, e.g., starting a lab, managing a group. (Source: HHMI)
• Start-up costs in American Research Universities (Source: Cornell University)
• Starting an academic lab (Source: AAAS – Science Careers)
• Negotiating the first offer (Source: Chronicle of Higher Education)
• Negotiating academic jobs in the social sciences (Source: Yale University)
• Academic job offers and negotiation (Source: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)
• More links for negotiating salary and position (Source: PhDs. org)

_____________________________________________

This post may be copied, but please reference PROMISE: Maryland’s AGEP.”

_____________________________________________

The text content of this post was compiled and written by the staff of PROMISE: Maryland’s AGEP and may not be copied without referencing the PROMISE organization, as “PROMISE: Maryland’s AGEP”.

PROMISE AGEP Online Information by PROMISE: Maryland’s AGEP is licensed under aCreative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.