Reasonably well, though there were more meetings and presentations than I think were strictly necessary. There is only so much one can absorb at once; it might have been more efficient if the department simply introduced us to the
places to go and people to ask for information. I think voucher codes or coupons are more important than ever to people trying to save money on their shopping online.
The decision process is very vague and seems to me to be at the whim of the undergraduate administrators who are hostile to my subfield--not in themselves (though some surely are) but who don't think that undergrads like it. I think voucher codes or coupon codes are more important than ever to people trying to save money on their shopping online such as promotional codes.
Here are five responses collected from sociology grad students to the questions regarding best practices. The students broadly represent early, middle and ABD points in the program.
1. What aspects of your department's recruitment process convinced
you to come to ND?
I wasn't aware that there was a recruitment process after I came here. I came
because of the academic quality, fit of research interests, and financial
offer.
Stipends, sociology of education area, correspondence with Pat Kipker and Maureen Hallinan.
The possibility to work with the faculty of my choice.
I first received an invitation to apply, and Maureen Hallinan called me
personally to let me know I had been accepted before I received any formal
letter. That was nice.
The part where they accepted me! It was nice to get a personal call too.
2. How did your department's orientation program prepare you for life
at ND?
Which is the orientation program .... Dan's seminar? If yes, pretty well. It was
interesting and opened my eyes on several issues I wasn't aware of.
Proseminar first semester was good. And grad student social events.
They send announcements in advance and the students make extra suggestions if they desired courses don't appear in the list.
n/a
Was it supposed to? I guess it did an OK job.
3. How does your department determine what graduate seminars it will
offer each semester?
I guess that by asking faculty which classes they are willing to offer ... And
some faculties talk to students to guess whether they are going to have demand.
I don’t know.
I was fortunate to TA for a professor who felt the preparation of the TA was as
important as the duties we did for him. It was not only a practice of teaching
for myself, but was handled as if we were in a course ourselves.
Magic Beans.
4. In regard to serving as a TA - how does your department prepare
you for your TA duties?
More work should be done on this. But since TA opportunities are scarce, perhaps
that's enough ...
n/a
I never served as a TA for my department so I can't comment on this.
I was fortunate to TA for a professor who felt the preparation of the TA was as
important as the duties we did for him. It was not only a practice of teaching
for myself, but was handled as if we were in a course ourselves.
More Magic Beans.
No real prep, just got tossed in.
5. In regard to research - how does your department promote/reward
research?
100%. Money for conferences, small grants, weekly seminars, dedicated advisors,
research-prone environment, lots of talks, etc. Great job.
Professors require research in seminars. They encourage us to meet with them to discuss ongoing research. Money is available to present research at conferences. And I do research for my assistantship.
I believe that they encourage you to get your Master's Thesis published somewhere. I got my MA from somewhere else so I can't comment much on this.
blank
Clearly there's pressure on the promotion end. At the reward end ... I don't think we do much beyond the standard (and quite acceptable) recognition one gets when someone sees you in the hallway and nods. You think to yourself: "She must have seen that book review I did in Minor Incidents in the Occident!"
6. Teaching your own course - does your department offer ample
opportunities for this & how do they decide who teaches and what they
teach?
Same as 4.
I don’t feel there are many opportunities to teach. I think there are more opportunities to teach a study section of large intro courses. You can request a teaching assistantship for the next year in the spring semester. I’m not sure how they decide, but I expect you should talk to a professor you want to TA for.
I was never offered the opportunity to teach my own course so this is still somewhat of a mystery to me; i.e. how do they decided who teaches and what they teach.
I was fortunate to have been able to teach my own course, but my understanding
was that only a select few have that opportunity.
Nope. Not that I know of.
7. Conferences - how does your department support conference
presentations and attendance?
The dept does a good job. There are about $250 for each student/year. That was
helpful to me this year for presenting a paper in a conference.
We can get reimbursed for travel costs that aren’t covered by GSU.
They offer between 400 and 500 dollars to present in a conference, which is very limited for presenting at conferences outside the Midwest. Sometimes, conference registration is more than 100 dollars so very little is left for plane ticket and lodging. INternational travel is mostly off limits unless you get a specific invitation or an outside sponsor.
Very well. I was able to attend two different conferences during my time at ND.
Like shit! This was a recruiting point - imagine my disappointment to discover it's only a few hundred dollars a year.
8. (a) Professional development – Academic: how does your department
(advisor) prepare you for the rigours of academia?
a) I'm happy with it. I was lucky to have great advisors. They make you aware
that the academia it's not an easy job but provide you with the tools for
trying to make it.
Proseminar is helpful in learning what we should be doing to prepare ourselves for the job market. Also the new meetings held by Bill Carbonaro are helpful.
My advisor helped me a lot. He introduced me to key and relevant actors in my field, encouraging me to have time to talk to them extensively during conferences and talks at ND and elsewhere. He also invited me to write papers with him. Additionally, he met regularly with me to discuss my future goals in academia and to measure my progress as a grad student. He supported my job applications by sending letters of recommendation on my behalf and was attentive about the best job offers in the market. He always provided me with the needed software to conduct my research and offered financial support to conduct fieldwork and present my work at conferences.
ND Sociology does a great job of preparing grad students who seek a research
intensive position in academia. The courses are geared toward learning the
skills necessary for this. However, if teaching is your primary goal, this is
often devalued or ignored.
I think we do very well at professional development (A) and are far more open than many other depts with regard to non-academic postings
OR (b) How does your department help those who wish to seek careers
outside academia?
I haven’t experienced much help in this area, but I’m not interested in careers outside academia.
It is discouraged.
blank
9. Does your department have a student organization? If so, what is
its role?
If it has, I'm not aware of it.
We don’t have any official student organization, but there are informal social gatherings among us grad students. The department even partially funds some of these activities. Some students participate in intramural sports here at ND. Also, first year students have student mentors in the department.
No.
blank
No, we don't roll like that.
10. How does your department communicate important information to you
- especially at the last minute - email, letters, and posters in
department common areas?
All of these.
All of those. We get emails and letters in our mail boxes and there are posters.
By e-mail because I am a non-resident grad student.
Email is utilized extensively
Email. Electroshock.
11. (a) What does your department do to promote peaceful resolutions
of conflicts and serious issues?
No idea.
Students can meet with the DGS and the chair of the department.
I don't know because I have never been involved in any conflict.
Don't know
(b) Are you aware of your department's grievance policy?
No.
Yes. It is written in a handbook. I can read it whenever I encounter any difficulty.
No.
No.
12. "How does your department help you in evaluating your academic
progress/professional development each year?
They send you a letter saying whether you did a great job, were ok, or need to
put more effort.
We get a letter about our progress in the department, in addition to grades and feedback from professors in specific courses.
They send a letter measuring your progress although is quite vague. They should improve the language used to measure your progress in more detail. They mostly tell you satisfactory/unsatisfactory which is not very helpful.
If you have a good advisor, which I do, they will keep in touch and give you
that information and work with you to set and meet important goals.
Probably ... don' t know.
13. Do you receive any feedback from you advisor/DGS on an annual basis?
Yes, of course, but not formally. I have several informal talks with them
throughout the year and they are always ready to get together when I need their
help. I'm very happy about it.
Here are five responses collected from sociology grad students to the questions regarding best practices. The students broadly represent early, middle and ABD points in the program.
1. What aspects of your department's recruitment process convinced
you to come to ND?
I wasn't aware that there was a recruitment process after I came here. I came
because of the academic quality, fit of research interests, and financial
offer.
Stipends, sociology of education area, correspondence with Pat Kipker and Maureen Hallinan.
The possibility to work with the faculty of my choice.
I first received an invitation to apply, and Maureen Hallinan called me
personally to let me know I had been accepted before I received any formal
letter. That was nice.
The part where they accepted me! It was nice to get a personal call too.
2. How did your department's orientation program prepare you for life
at ND?
Which is the orientation program .... Dan's seminar? If yes, pretty well. It was
interesting and opened my eyes on several issues I wasn't aware of.
Proseminar first semester was good. And grad student social events.
They send announcements in advance and the students make extra suggestions if they desired courses don't appear in the list.
n/a
Was it supposed to? I guess it did an OK job.
3. How does your department determine what graduate seminars it will
offer each semester?
I guess that by asking faculty which classes they are willing to offer ... And
some faculties talk to students to guess whether they are going to have demand.
I don’t know.
I was fortunate to TA for a professor who felt the preparation of the TA was as
important as the duties we did for him. It was not only a practice of teaching
for myself, but was handled as if we were in a course ourselves.
Magic Beans.
4. In regard to serving as a TA - how does your department prepare
you for your TA duties?
More work should be done on this. But since TA opportunities are scarce, perhaps
that's enough ...
n/a
I never served as a TA for my department so I can't comment on this.
I was fortunate to TA for a professor who felt the preparation of the TA was as
important as the duties we did for him. It was not only a practice of teaching
for myself, but was handled as if we were in a course ourselves.
More Magic Beans.
No real prep, just got tossed in.
5. In regard to research - how does your department promote/reward
research?
100%. Money for conferences, small grants, weekly seminars, dedicated advisors,
research-prone environment, lots of talks, etc. Great job.
Professors require research in seminars. They encourage us to meet with them to discuss ongoing research. Money is available to present research at conferences. And I do research for my assistantship.
I believe that they encourage you to get your Master's Thesis published somewhere. I got my MA from somewhere else so I can't comment much on this.
blank
Clearly there's pressure on the promotion end. At the reward end ... I don't think we do much beyond the standard (and quite acceptable) recognition one gets when someone sees you in the hallway and nods. You think to yourself: "She must have seen that book review I did in Minor Incidents in the Occident!"
6. Teaching your own course - does your department offer ample
opportunities for this & how do they decide who teaches and what they
teach?
Same as 4.
I don’t feel there are many opportunities to teach. I think there are more opportunities to teach a study section of large intro courses. You can request a teaching assistantship for the next year in the spring semester. I’m not sure how they decide, but I expect you should talk to a professor you want to TA for.
I was never offered the opportunity to teach my own course so this is still somewhat of a mystery to me; i.e. how do they decided who teaches and what they teach.
I was fortunate to have been able to teach my own course, but my understanding
was that only a select few have that opportunity.
Nope. Not that I know of.
7. Conferences - how does your department support conference
presentations and attendance?
The dept does a good job. There are about $250 for each student/year. That was
helpful to me this year for presenting a paper in a conference.
We can get reimbursed for travel costs that aren’t covered by GSU.
They offer between 400 and 500 dollars to present in a conference, which is very limited for presenting at conferences outside the Midwest. Sometimes, conference registration is more than 100 dollars so very little is left for plane ticket and lodging. INternational travel is mostly off limits unless you get a specific invitation or an outside sponsor.
Very well. I was able to attend two different conferences during my time at ND.
Like shit! This was a recruiting point - imagine my disappointment to discover it's only a few hundred dollars a year.
8. (a) Professional development – Academic: how does your department
(advisor) prepare you for the rigours of academia?
a) I'm happy with it. I was lucky to have great advisors. They make you aware
that the academia it's not an easy job but provide you with the tools for
trying to make it.
Proseminar is helpful in learning what we should be doing to prepare ourselves for the job market. Also the new meetings held by Bill Carbonaro are helpful.
My advisor helped me a lot. He introduced me to key and relevant actors in my field, encouraging me to have time to talk to them extensively during conferences and talks at ND and elsewhere. He also invited me to write papers with him. Additionally, he met regularly with me to discuss my future goals in academia and to measure my progress as a grad student. He supported my job applications by sending letters of recommendation on my behalf and was attentive about the best job offers in the market. He always provided me with the needed software to conduct my research and offered financial support to conduct fieldwork and present my work at conferences.
ND Sociology does a great job of preparing grad students who seek a research
intensive position in academia. The courses are geared toward learning the
skills necessary for this. However, if teaching is your primary goal, this is
often devalued or ignored.
I think we do very well at professional development (A) and are far more open than many other depts with regard to non-academic postings
OR (b) How does your department help those who wish to seek careers
outside academia?
I haven’t experienced much help in this area, but I’m not interested in careers outside academia.
It is discouraged.
blank
9. Does your department have a student organization? If so, what is
its role?
If it has, I'm not aware of it.
We don’t have any official student organization, but there are informal social gatherings among us grad students. The department even partially funds some of these activities. Some students participate in intramural sports here at ND. Also, first year students have student mentors in the department.
No.
blank
No, we don't roll like that.
10. How does your department communicate important information to you
- especially at the last minute - email, letters, and posters in
department common areas?
All of these.
All of those. We get emails and letters in our mail boxes and there are posters.
By e-mail because I am a non-resident grad student.
Email is utilized extensively
Email. Electroshock.
11. (a) What does your department do to promote peaceful resolutions
of conflicts and serious issues?
No idea.
Students can meet with the DGS and the chair of the department.
I don't know because I have never been involved in any conflict.
Don't know
(b) Are you aware of your department's grievance policy?
No.
Yes. It is written in a handbook. I can read it whenever I encounter any difficulty.
No.
No.
12. "How does your department help you in evaluating your academic
progress/professional development each year?
They send you a letter saying whether you did a great job, were ok, or need to
put more effort.
We get a letter about our progress in the department, in addition to grades and feedback from professors in specific courses.
They send a letter measuring your progress although is quite vague. They should improve the language used to measure your progress in more detail. They mostly tell you satisfactory/unsatisfactory which is not very helpful.
If you have a good advisor, which I do, they will keep in touch and give you
that information and work with you to set and meet important goals.
Probably ... don' t know.
13. Do you receive any feedback from you advisor/DGS on an annual basis?
Yes, of course, but not formally. I have several informal talks with them
throughout the year and they are always ready to get together when I need their
help. I'm very happy about it.
1. What aspects of your department's recruitment process convinced you to come to ND?
I attended ND as an undergrad and had worked on an undergraduate research project with my future advisor. I liked the area of research and the financial award was better than the other schools who offered financial assistance. I was also familiar with the general department procedures, faculty, etc. and felt that I already knew a lot of people here.
2. How did your department's orientation program prepare you for life at ND?
The professors told us about their general procedures. It wasn’t all that helpful.
3. How does your department determine what graduate seminars it will offer each semester?
I believe faculty who are up for tenure review seek out the seminar speakers (they take turns each semester as needed so that they can meet people who may be able to write support letters for them).
4. In regard to serving as a TA - how does your department prepare you for your TA duties?
A meeting with the instructor in charge of the course.
5. In regard to research - how does your department promote/reward research?
My department has a student research symposium where
each student can (optionally) present their work through a poster. Both students
and professors select a poster and winners of the student-choice and faculty
choice awards receive a certifcate and a sum of money. At the end of
the academic year, my department also gives out an RA award.
Largely, I think great research is rewarded with a faster degree and personal satisfaction.
6. Teaching your own course - does your department offer ample opportunities for this & how do they decide who teaches and what they teach?
I believe that any student who would like to pursue an academic career would get to teach their own course before leaving Notre Dame by talking to their advisor and the DGS and expressing their career plans.
7. Conferences - how does your department support conference presentations and attendance?
My department (usually my advisor) reimburses all of my
expenses. My advisor decides which conferences would benefit my career and sends me accordingly, whether I am presenting something or just meeting many researchers in my sub-field that could be useful in the future.
8. (a) Professional development Academic: how does your department (advisor) prepare you for the rigours of academia? OR
(b) How does your department help those who wish to seek careers outside academia?
I think my advisor attempts to prepare me for the rigors of academia by giving the students in our lab a lot of responsibility to find our own projects (related to our research area) and convince him of their worth. If he likes an idea, he will have a brainstorming session with the entire lab and the proposing student has to argue the merits of the project. Any conference presentations are also brought before the entire lab and students critique the work before it is presented in an attempt to solicit the questions and objections that audience members may raise (and hopefully the student presenting has appropriate answers!).
The department seems to be geared toward everyone wanting to work in academia (or do industrial research/engineering).
9. Does your department have a student organization? If so, what is its role?
Not that I know of.
10. How does your department communicate important information to you
- especially at the last minute - email, letters, and posters in department common areas.
The secretaries send out emails.
11. (a) What does your department do to promote peaceful resolutions of conflicts and serious issues?
(b) Are you aware of your department's grievance policy?
I’m not aware of the specific policies, but know where to find them.
The grievance policy is on the CSE webpage and they made us aware of its location and gave us a paper manual at the beginning of the year.
12. How does your department help you in evaluating your academic progress/professional development each year?
Nothing that I know of.
13. Do you receive any feedback from you advisor/DGS on an annual
basis?
Yes. Our advisor gives us feedback frequently and the DGS hands out evaluation forms prepared by our advisor.
1. What aspects of your department's recruitment process convinced you to come to ND?
Before I visited Notre Dame, I was in touch of the graduate secretary
who arranged my flight and just about everything else for me. While I
was here visiting, I felt welcome by both faculty and graduate
students. For breakfast, lunch, and dinners, we (prospective students)
got a chance to talk privately with current graduate students who gave
us advice on just about anything.
During my visit, I also had a chance to talk to the faculty members
and especially a faculty whom I was very interested in working with
and who is now my advisor. I'm glad to have been given that
opportunity because it gave me a sense that we shared research
interest and could work together.
Last but not least, my department gave me the option of starting in
the summer, which I took. That was, I believe, the best thing that I
could have done to prepare myself for a life as a graduate student.
2. How did your department's orientation program prepare you for life at ND?
The professors told us about their expectations and provided us with
some general guidelines.
3. How does your department determine what graduate seminars it will offer each semester?
I don't know. I think that our faculty try to invite researchers in
their respective fields to come give a talk. Although our seminars
take place every Thursday, we don't always have a speaker.
4. In regard to serving as a TA - how does your department prepare you for your TA duties?
My department gave me a TA manual.
5. In regard to research - how does your department promote/reward research?
My department started a student research symposium a year ago where
each student can (optionally) present their work through a poster. Both students
and professors select a poster and winners of the student-choice and faculty
choice awards receive a certifcate and a sum of money. At the end of
the academic year, my department also gives out an RA award.
On a Friday of each month, my department holds a "Friday papers" event
where attendees receive a list of publications made by someone in the
department during that month. Refreshments are served, which help
boost attendance.
6. Teaching your own course - does your department offer ample opportunities for this & how do they decide who teaches and what they teach?
When I visited, I was told that any student who would like to pursue
an academic career would get to teach their own course before leaving
Notre Dame. I'm not sure how/who selects which course a student should
teach, but it seems that the course should be at least somewhat
related to the student's research area.
7. Conferences - how does your department support conference presentations and attendance?
My department (or rather, my advisor) reimburses all of my
expenses. Usually, whenever I have a paper published and if I am able
to go, I will be given the opportunity to do so.
8. (a) Professional development Academic: how does your department (advisor) prepare you for the rigours of academia? OR
(b) How does your department help those who wish to seek careers outside academia?
I feel that my department/advisor has helped me more with improving my
research skills than my teaching skills. Each student must TA at least
twice before receiving their PhD, but some courses only require
grading and interaction with students in the class can be minimal.
Job flyers are posted around the department but other than that, I am
not aware of how my department helps students seeking a non-academic career.
9. Does your department have a student organization? If so, what is its role?
Not that I know of.
10. How does your department communicate important information to you
- especially at the last minute - email, letters, and posters in
department common areas?
The secretaries send out emails.
11. (a) What does your department do to promote peaceful resolutions of conflicts and serious issues?
(b) Are you aware of your department's grievance policy?
I have no idea.
The grievance policy is on the CSE webpage so I would think that most
students would know where to look, although we've never been informed
about it directly.
12. How does your department help you in evaluating your academic progress/professional development each year?
Nothing that I know of.
13. Do you receive any feedback from you advisor/DGS on an annual
basis?
1. What aspects of your department's recruitment process convinced you to come to ND?
-The presentations by the faculty about the projects going on in their labs drew me in
-Interest from individual PI's
-I liked the program -- there were several research programs that interested me, and I liked being able to do a rotation instead of having to commit to a PI
-Meeting the professors and grad students and the informal get together at the end of the visit were both aspects that helped me to decide that this was a place i wanted to be (and to decide who it was i wanted to work with). On the other hand, the fact that the visit occurs BEFORE you've been officially accepted to the department made the whole thing much more stressful than it should have been..and this is one of the only departments that i know of that does this
-Good research and available funding.
2. How did your department's orientation program prepare you for life at ND?
-Don’t really remember. Apparently didn’t do much.
-Not well - things we were told would happen didn't. For example, taking core courses in first year. One of these first year core courses wasn't offered until our third year. "Requirements" were impossible to meet due to the
department's inability to offer the opportunity to meet them.
-Reasonably well, though there were more meetings and presentations than I think were strictly necessary. There is only so much one can absorb at once; it might have been more efficient if the department simply introduced us to the
places to go and people to ask for information.
-Fairly well, though it was overly long and pedantic. It could be 2 hours instead of a whole day.
3. How does your department determine what graduate seminars it will offer each semester?
-Terribly! We have different systems in place for the 3 different “clusters” in our department. We never seem to hear about seminars until the last moment, and often the selection is quite limited.
-I'm not entirely sure, but I believe the professors take it in rotation to lead them, and there is generally one for each of the three subject clusters. Suggestions from graduate students in some cases, desire of the professor to
teach a particular topic in others.
4. In regard to serving as a TA - how does your department prepare you for your TA duties?
-Students are expected to discuss when they are TAing with their advisor, and then they have a (small) say in what courses they teach.
-On the job. No "preparation" provided by the department.
I don't really remember. I had all the information I needed, but I don't remember the training.
-Depends more on the class and the professor teaching it than it does on the department, i think. The intro bio classes i've TA-ed were good in terms of preparing me to teach and understanding the material that i was teaching.
The course instructor/coordinator prepares us well. We had weekly meeetings and were able to ask questions if we needed.
5. In regard to research - how does your department promote/reward research?
-Our department encourages students to start research immediately. At the department level, there aren’t many rewards for research
-Not sure. Doesn't seem to happen at the departmental level. More at the lab level
-If your work doesn't get done, you don't graduate. It's pretty self-rewarding or self-punishing. Some advisors push harder than others.
-They will make a matching monetary contribution if you receive a small grant from an outside source (up to $1000 i think), so that's nice if you can get money in the first place. The Ecology group has some small grants you can
get for research, especially if you'll be working up at the UNDERC research center.
-Don't know of any actual "rewards", as in "best graduate student" or "paper of the year".
-In terms of promoting research, i think it depends more on the major professor and on the student.
-On the other hand, the worst thing for promoting research that I've come across has been a small number of graduate-level classes that take up an unnecessary amount of time. Most grad classes are, as they should be, directed discussions or hands-on demonstrations of techniques. In these cases, the student can take away whatever he or she wants, without taking too much time away from research. Some classes, however, trend towards more of an undergraduate style, wherein assessment is held in higher esteem than communication of knowledge, and the students are made to complete homework assignments, long papers, and exams. These classes, and they have been thankfully uncommon, have been the number one impediment to research in my graduate career. I feel I should add that the busy work and over reliance on assessment in these classes has NOT, in my opinion, helped me to learn and retain the material in a superior manner than if they had been simple read-and-discuss classes.
6. Teaching your own course - does your department offer ample opportunities for this & how do they decide who teaches and what they teach?
-Graduate students rarely, if ever, teach their own courses.
-Not aware of any opportunities to teach your own course. Only lab TA's available.
-Grad students are generally not permitted to teach courses officially, but there are opportunities to team-teach or student-teach courses run by professors.
-This also depends on one's advisor to some extent, as some advisors view grad students as handy substitute lecturers and encourage their participation in teaching, while others view teaching as a distraction from lab work and permit
their students to do only the minimum required by the department.
-The "teaching apprenticeship" opportunity is a good one for having some hands-on experience in course design, but i think it depends on the advisor as to how much you actually get to do. I was lucky enough to be able to really help put together the curriculum and do a lot of lecturing, but I've
heard that in other cases it trends towards being no more than a glorified TA. Aside from the apprenticeship, i think there are ways you can pull some strings to do some teaching, but not really in any official capacity (i.e.
being listed as the instructor).
7. Conferences - how does your department support conference presentations and attendance?
-This seems to be on a lab by lab basis. We are encouraged to attend one meeting each year. Our lab covers travel, registration, and housing, and then we are required to apply for GSU funding (Gordon CPG).
-There is a travel budget for which one can apply to defray conference fees.
-The department doesn't, that i know of. I've gotten support from the graduate school though, and that's been very, very nice.
8. (a) Professional development – Academic: how does your department (advisor) prepare you for the rigours of academia? OR (b) How does your department help those who wish to seek careers outside academia?
-We get to see first hand the “rigours of academia” through our advisors, and often see job candidates come through the department. I do not feel we are well prepared for careers outside of academia.
-Advisor - informally if you ask. Helps w/ resume preparation and job talks. Department - No help. Not at all that I know of.
-Could do much better with career planning in the department. Would love career development info available specifically for the Biology field as opposed to from an outside department, which is all that I know of that is
available. Academic bio jobs are particularly difficult to find. It would be nice to have more guidance in finding and getting these jobs. A course/seminars/workshops???
-There are all those career center workshops we can go to, but I don't know of much within the department. My advisor does give me advice and cautions on what to expect in academia.
-My advisor has prepared me fantastically. He has encouraged me to publish, to explore my own research questions, to attend conferences, and to meet and
talk to visiting speakers.
9. Does your department have a student organization? If so, what is its role?
-The role of the Biology Student Graduate Organization (BGSO) is to provide a forum for expression of student opinion, opportunities for social interaction, and mechanisms for communication between the students and the faculty.
-Yes - tailgates.
-Yes; it primarily plans social events, but also does some important work on researching grad student needs and lobbying to have them filled.
-Yes, the BGSO. They have tailgates and make shirts. Whoo.
-Yes, organizing various events for biology graduate students
10. How does your department communicate important information to you - especially at the last minute - email, letters, and posters in department common areas?
-Last minute information is typically sent out by e-mail.
-E-mail.
-All of the above. Email is the most common.
-Last minute information is communicated--effectively--via email. I think they do a pretty good job.
11. (a) What does your department do to promote peaceful resolutions of conflicts and serious issues? (b) Are you aware of your department's grievance policy?
-I believe we are supposed to speak with either our advisors or the DGS about serious issues. I am unaware of our department’s grievance policy.
-There is a system to resolve conflicts, but not familiar with it.
-I know we have one, but thankfully, I've never yet had to use it.
-I dont know.
-Not explictly, but if we have a mandatory lecture now to learn about it, that would be reason to file a grievance about wasting our time, so its a catch 22.
12. "How does your department help you in evaluating your academic progress/professional development each year?
-(More at the advisor level) We are required to have yearly meetings with our graduate committee after passing our comprehensive exams.
-Academic progress - we are informed if we are deficient in any of the annual mileposts to graduation. Annual committee meetings. Professional development - no help.
-Well, they send you letters reminding you that you should have taken your comps six months ago and they'll cut off your funding if you don't hurry up... I don't think there's much of a formal progress evaluation process, at least in
my area. It's mostly left to you and your advisor to keep track of where you are in relation to where you should be. Personally, I like the flexibility, as every thesis is different and it can be difficult to make hard-and-fast rules and deadlines that work well for everybody. On the other hand, a well-advertised schedule of major milestones would give the grad students slightly more bargaining power in pushing professors to set up meetings, exams, and so forth. Perhaps it would help if the department sent out notices along the lines of "Second years: you will need to schedule your written exams for sometime between now and August. Now is the time to pester your committee for
topics if you have not already done so."
-They tell us if we're "on schedule" or not with respect to our candidacy (i.e. should have taken written exams/oral exams by this date, etc.)
13. Do you receive any feedback from you advisor/DGS on an annual basis?
-N/A (DGS = my advisor)
-Yes
-Formally? No, we just try to keep each other updated semi-regularly, when he's around and when I have an achievement to announce or a problem I need his help
with.
-From my advisor, on an almost daily basis.
More Commments from the Department of Civil Engineering and Geological Sciences
- "I think it is a great idea to have the prospective students stay at the Inn at St. Mary's. It is nice for the students to be close to campus when they are only here for a weekend, and the Inn is very impressive. I also think our department does a good job providing opportunities for the current graduate students and prospective graduate students to interact by having current graduate students take the perspectives to meals."
- "Our department is proactive when it comes to organizing social events where graduate students, faculty, and staff can interact. The Christmas party, picnics, and Happy Hours once a month are prime examples. These events are
especially important in our department because of its diversity (geoscience, environmental engineering, and civil engineering)."
- "I like how the first years share a large office for one year. It helps the new students to get to know each other. However, I also like that after the first year, the students can move into smaller offices where the environment is quieter and more focused."
- "I really like that our department has set up the desk czar system for assigning offices and desks. (Offices are not reserved for certain research groups. Desks, mananged by the desk czar, are assigned by seniority and first come first serve basis.) It eliminates a lot of potential conflicts and allows students of different research topics to interact more."
- "Students bring food and drinks to their defenses and food is often times served at department seminars. It really motivates students to attend both and keeps them more attentive during the presentation."
- "Our adviser makes us present at least once a semester (often times more) and once during the summer to our research group. I cannot begin to stress how beneficial this is when it comes time to present at a conference or defend a thesis or dissertation. Every research group should do this because everyone has room to improve when it comes to public speaking. It also forces the student to gain a more thorough understanding of their research ecause when you are forced to teach something you learn it better yourself."
- "I also like that our adviser has weekly meetings with us. I think this is an essential practice for a graduate student's success. Weekly meetings keep you from wasting time and keep the line of communication open between student and adviser."
I'd like to share some of the feedback from the Mathematics Department. Note that the remarks in quotes are feedback I'm sharing from others, and the rest is my own.
1. What aspects of your department's recruitment process convinced you to come to ND?
"I disagree with the assumption implicit in the phrase recruitment process, that it is necessarily desirable to convince people to come to ND; and think it would be more humane for the people subject to recruitment, to try to provide as accurate information as possible, letting people decide freely.
Before coming here, I was inadequately informed about just how pervasive religion (Catholic and other) is among graduate students. I understood that this was a Catholic school and that most undergraduates are Catholic. I was quite interested in how this would affect my life here,
but no one volunteered information on the subject, and when I asked, was encouraged to think that it wouldn't affect me much, which wasn't true. ...
If I had understood the religious nature of the school better, I might well not have come here. Who knows, I might have been happier elsewhere, it's hard to say. ... "
6. Teaching your own course - does your department offer
ample opportunities for this & how do they decide who
teaches and what they teach?
"Ample Opportunities? Absolutely not. Despite my coming here with two years college teaching experience, I was not allowed to teach my own course until my last year here. Only a very limited selection of courses is available for graduate students to teach. The professors, from the department and visiting, want most of the more interesting
courses for themselves."
On the other hand, during the summer, graduate students usually teach courses in various levels of Calculus, as well courses touching on Probability, Linear Algebra, and Differential Equations. For those looking for a first teaching opportunity in the core courses they will probably need to teach in their first jobs, this is a good opportunity to get comfortable writing lecture notes and dealing with an entire class on one's own. Most students are usually able to teach the first summer they express an interest, although some are not, and must wait another year.
In other topics:
The Mathematics Department holds an informal tea 4 days a week at 3:30. It's an opportunity for graduate students to relax and interact with faculty and visitors.
A Graduate Student Seminar meets biweekly, allowing graduate students to grow in confidence in their speaking ability by giving talks to their fellow, friendly graduate students. It's also a nice way to learn about other areas from people who aren't going to assume you know more than you do. (Visiting colloquium speakers very often speak to the experts in their fields and thereby lose most graduate students after only a few moments.)
Recruitment: We have 3 weekends of which the majority of prospective students visit, however, we allow students to visit whenever they can. Graduate students organize parties and activities during their visit. The graduate students get along very well and the prospective students would not get to see that interaction if they were now constantly surrounded by people in the department. In the end, the graduate students are "rewarded," with free lunches/dinners.
A two-day TA training in August is mandatory for the first year students. It is not the most effective course ever, but it is a nice icebreaker to ND and the first lecture as graduate students. It marked the first time we spoke to one another as our entire group of first-years. And from the point of view of the Kaneb Center, it's a definite start on the right track--I know they wish more departments would require it the way we do. (The department's "orientation," which is the meeting where we were told what classes to choose from, leaves a bit to be desired.)
TA/"super-TA": TA duties are pretty consistent from person to person, so it's not like anyone's being treated specially, and there's good interaction cooperation between current/prior TA's (I'm thinking of lab training, and even sharing of old solutions from year to year in particular). The super-TA option is terrific and a great way to develop relationships with both faculty and students. (The extra pay and free parking are icing on the cake.)
Our department votes to increase the graduate student stipend each year to match that of the incoming first years.
** GSU Graduate Student Survey: Department “Best Practices” **
1. What aspects of your department's recruitment process convinced you to come
to ND?
Sample survey responses:
- During the visit out, I was able to get a feel for the department. Everyone was very friendly and I got a sense that this was a place where I wouldn't get lost in the crowd.
- Meeting the professors and learning of the diverse areas of research offered here. Also just walking around campus helped out a lot.
- The friendliness of the faculty to the students and to each other. They like to collaborate and are family friendly.
- The department seemed to show interest in me from the beginning and the recruitment weekend showed through the enthusiasm of the student hosts.
- Efficiency.
2. How did your department's orientation program prepare you for life at ND?
Sample survey responses:
- It was repetitive, but very thorough and useful.
- It brought forth some issues that we all will need to go through eventually, kind of helping us know what to prepare for later on.
- I don't really remember much of what was said, but I felt that talking to other graduate students about their experiences was helpful.
- Very well.
- When I first got here (~5 years ago) the orientation left much to be desired; we had very little preparation for our TA duties. Since then, however it has improved a lot.
3. How does your department determine what graduate seminars it will offer each
semester?
- Seminars are offered according to division (organic, analytical, physical, inorganic, biochemistry, etc.). The topics are generally on the cutting edge of the research in the field and are presented by visiting professors, researchers in industry, or students in the department. Members of the faculty organize the seminar schedules each semester.
4. In regard to serving as a TA - how does your department prepare you for your
TA duties?
Sample survey responses:
- I am not sure that the department does any real preparation. Most of what I have learned thus far has been through experience.
- They had us perform most of the labs before the semester started, we have weekly meetings to discuss the labs we had just done and the labs next week. They also did practice grading things.
- Very well. It requires us to go through the same experience as the students (lecture, lab, etc) so we are best able to help them. The weekly meetings are good, though once in a while uneventful.
- Open lab.
- There was very little preparation when I was a first year student. Now, there are extensive workshops on every aspect of TAing. They are all packed into a seemingly stressful week, but I think the department does a pretty good job of preparing incoming students.
5. In regard to research - how does your department promote/reward research?
Sample survey responses:
- We select the advisor we wish to do research for and then we do research for him/her.
- Flexible to student schedules, yet shows the priority and emphasis that needs to be placed on research. Promote/reward: unknown.
- The chemistry department relies heavily on research. Everyone understands that research is the bulk of our degree, so there is no need to promote it. I think there are a few yearly awards for outstanding research, but I don't know who decides the winners of these awards.
- Probably through grants and fellowships, or the annual award given to an outstanding graduate student.
6. Teaching your own course - does your department offer ample opportunities for
this & how do they decide who teaches and what they teach?
Sample survey responses:
- We are required to TA for our first year. Most students also TA for their second year. After that, you can request to be given a TA assignment in your 3rd, 4th and 5th years. You can also request one of a few positions that give more responsibility to the TA (giving lectures in place of the professor... etc.)
- I am not sure. Most of it seems to be random and I am pleased to say I have had probably one of the most diverse experiences as a TA. Lecture and lab TA for general chem and orgo. Majors and non-majors alike. It doesn't get any better.
- Students that are fully funded by their advisors or who secure their own funding through grants/fellowships are not required to teach unless there is a shortage of available TAs. However, all students have the opportunity to teach. Those who want to teach upon completion of their degree find it beneficial to pursue teaching opportunities available through the department. More in-depth/extensive teaching opportunities are given to students with more experience.
7. Conferences - how does your department support conference presentations and
attendance?
Sample survey responses:
- I don't think our department offers funding for conferences, but I'm not sure. I've always been supported by my advisor when I've gone (and the GSU).
- It seems to me like only the upper level graduate students go.
- Gives a set yearly financial support. Encourages it very well and regularly as a part of research experience and learning. Oftentimes is kept local - need more room for longer travel distances.
- As far as I know, students are funded to attend conferences by their advisors. Students are encouraged to attend perhaps 1 conference per year. Some advisors fund students to attend as an observer, but most require that the student either present a poster or give a talk about their current research at the conference.
8. (a) Professional development – How does your department (advisor) prepare you
for the rigors of academia? OR
(b) How does your department help those who wish to seek careers outside
academia?
Sample survey responses:
- I have been well prepared for a career in academia. Had I chosen a career in industry, I would have been prepared as well, but less so.
- Alternative co-programs are available through the Kaneb center for teaching. Workshops and career recruitments are available for a variety of necessities: cover letters, resumes, interviews, etc.
- My boss has done an exceptional job preparing and helping with my lab mates’ job- related issues, so I am sure once I am ready to join the workforce, I will have no problems.
- They do both, mostly non-academia, but for those who wish to go into academia, advisors will tend to gear those people toward things that will be beneficial for them, like TAing for more years, or becoming a lecture TA, so you help the professors teach the course. For non academia seeking people, they have you do strictly research, more like an industrial job.
- Through workshops.
9. Does your department have a student organization? If so, what is its role?
Sample survey responses:
- We have many informal clubs. Most are journal clubs in which we discuss
articles in the literature.
- Yes - keep our opinion heard and benefited
- I'm assuming, don't know though.
- I am not sure.
10. How does your department communicate important information to you -
especially at the last minute - email, letters, and posters in department
common areas?
Sample survey responses:
- We receive most of our communications by email. Flyers are also posted around
the building and sometimes placed in our mailboxes. Last minute information is
sent out by email.
- All three forms
- Email especially. Cheryl does a good job on keeping us informed through the
use of a weekly newsletter and periodically informs us of any changes.
- They email us all the time, and they give us mail in a mail box they have for each student.
- All of these methods
11. (a) What does your department do to promote peaceful resolutions of
conflicts and serious issues?
(b) Are you aware of your department's grievance policy?
Sample survey responses:
- (a) I haven't had a conflict, so I don't know what our department would do. (b) I am
not aware of the grievance policy.
- (a) They offer help, but will allow you to come to some resolution on your own if
that is what you prefer. (b) Not really
- (a) Don't know. (b) No.
- (a) I am not sure. (b) I am not sure.
12. "How does your department help you in evaluating your academic
progress/professional development each year?
- The faculty hold meetings twice a year to discuss the progress of each student
in the department. The students then get letters describing areas in which they are doing
well or need improvement. The student advisors give more regular feedback on the student’s success.
13. Do you receive any feedback from you advisor/DGS on an annual basis?
- First year students chose advisors at the end of the fall semester. All other students receive feedback from their advisors on a regular basis. Each advisor has a different level of involvement, so the frequency at which students get feedback may range from daily to every couple months.
There weren't a lot of responses in our department, but here goes...
1. What aspects of your department's recruitment process convinced you to come to ND?
Bringing us on for an on-campus visit was extremely helpful.
2. How did your department's orientation program prepare you for life at ND?
It mainly prepares us for life in the philosophy department.
4. In regard to serving as a TA - how does your department prepare you for your TA duties?
We all attend the Kaneb center workshop. Most profs also schedule regular or semi-regular meetings with their TAs to make sure all TAs are on the same page and to allow TAs an opportunity to discuss problems and teaching techniques.
6. Teaching your own course - does your department offer ample opportunities for this & how do they decide who teaches and what they teach?
Yes, not only are we offered opportunities, the opportunities are requirements. We all teach Introduction to Philosophy to start out, which is sufficiently broad that you can focus on anything in philosophy. We are given a lot of flexibility. If we want to teach something other than Intro, our request can often be accommodated.
7. Conferences - how does your department support conference presentations and attendance?
With money, which is effective. Our department secretaries and faculty members are good about forwarding fliers that let us know what conferences are going on at other univerisities.
10. How does your department communicate important information to you - especially at the last minute - email, letters, and posters in department common areas?
All of the above. E-mail is particularly effective.
1. What aspects of your department's recruitment process convinced you to come to ND?
I was impressed by the student poster session. And just the
information about the program (e.g., the quant opportunities, students
weren't thrown into teaching without TAing and feeling comfortable
with being and Instructor of Record)
3. How does your department determine what graduate seminars it will offer each semester?
Availability and willingness of faculty.
4. In regard to serving as a TA - how does your department prepare you for your TA duties?
Recommended the Kaneb Center and I spoke with my advisor and the
instructor for whom I was TAing.
7. Conferences - how does your department support conference presentations and
attendance?
Our department is very supportive of conference presentations. This is
great!
> 8. (a) Professional development – Academic: how does your department
> (advisor)
> prepare you for the rigours of academia? OR
They offered a academic writing course taught by a postdoc that was
somewhat helpful. They have in the past offered grant writing courses.
There are also graduate student meetings in which faculty discuss
different academic issues.
> 9. Does your department have a student organization? If so, what is
> its role?
There are students that are part of
faculty organizations and their job it to represent the rest of the
students and report back to the rest of the students. Other student
groups are to help each other prepare for prelims or other reading
groups. Then there are program groups that students can present
research to other students. And there are the graduate meetings.
- Many people noted the guaranteed funding/good fellowships as a big determining factor in their decision to attend ND.
- One student thought the department does a good job in pairing students and faculty based on the students' research interest. During the recruiting weekend, the students have a chance to meet with every faculty member in their engineering emphasis (structural, environmental, geosciences). This gives the students a chance to ask questions and also express interest in a research group.
- One student mentioned that he/she never had any problems receiving travel funds. I know our department has two terms/year in which students can apply for travel funding. Usually, funding is only granted to those who are making oral presentations.
- As Caitlyn mentioned, our department has pizza lunches to update us on faculty searches, answer questions, and take comments/suggestions. The department director of graduate studies and department chair attend.
- Once a month, a student organizes "happy hour" at 4:00 on Friday. The department pays for the snacks.
- While this is very dependent upon the advisor, students are generally happy with the accessibility of their advisors.
Could Be Better Practices
- Students would like more information on masters requirements. They feel masters information is not as well publicized as the PhD's.
- The departmental orientation could use a campus tour.
- The class offerings are limited.
- We need geology seminars.
- Professional development is lacking.
- People were unaware of the grievance policy. However, as one of the respondents mentioned, he/she has not needed to know it.
Kelly Martin
Department Representative for Civil Engineering and Geological Sciences
To add to the discussion, here are a few things that Civil Engineering and Geological Sciences Department does well.
-During recruitment, we try to give prospective students a sense for housing options available on and off campus. We also take them for meals at local restaurants. I really think this gives students an opportunity to get acquainted with the South Bend area.
-At least once a year, if not once a semester, the DGS and department chair gather CEGEOS grad students for a pizza lunch with the intention of discussing complaints, confusions and dispelling rumors. The graduate students are free to speak openly, but the grad students also collect comments anonymously before the meeting for anyone who doesn't feel comfortable sharing their issues or questions.
-This is more something my adviser does than my department. My adviser shares part of the responsibility of organizing seminar speakers. He always sends those speakers to lunch with graduate students who do research related to the speaker's field. This gives graduate students an opportunity to converse with the seminar speakers in a small group.
1. What aspects of your department's recruitment process convinced you to come to ND?
Having Catherine and Michael Zuckert helped, as did positive word of mouth from previous PhD students here. The campus visit sold me. The placement record and emphasis on a solid background in a second field also convinced me.
Primarily having the opportunity to meet with all the faculty in my field, but also having the chance to meet a large number of graduate students and having all expenses for the trip covered.
2. How did your department's orientation program prepare you for life at ND?
Not much. But I don't think much was necessary.
I don't remember the orientation program being of great value.
4. In regard to serving as a TA - how does your department prepare you for your TA duties?
Mostly by referring us to the Kaneb center which is fine, but I gained more by having good professors under whom I TA'ed.
The department does not specifically do anything to prepare me for my TA duties; that job seems to be left up to the various professors.
5. In regard to research - how does your department promote/reward research?
Grants for student-faculty collaborative research.Occasional recognition of publications. Strong, strong support for conference travel.
Holding seminars, making it a condition for summer funding, DYFs, and evaluation.
6. Teaching your own course - does your department offer ample opportunities for this & how do they decide who teaches and what they teach?
The decision process is very vague and seems to me to be at the whim of the undergraduate administrators who are hostile to my subfield--not in themselves (though some surely are) but who don't think that undergrads like it. More clarity in this would be appreciated, especially now that non-ABD students are allowed to teach courses through the "Gender Studies" program.
7. Conferences - how does your department support conference presentations and attendance?
Absolutely perfectly.
By reimbursing most of the cost of attending conferences
8. (a) Professional development - Academic: how does your department (advisor) > prepare you for the rigours of academia? OR
(b) How does your department help those who wish to seek careers outside academia?
I can't speak to the latter. I think we're given a strong basis for success in terms of an academic background. I'm not sure we're as solid in terms of practical concerns: Few students publish independently. I am not sure the department weighs in on our behalf as strongly as they could on various job fronts. And I don't think the University gives adequate support in this endeavor (e.g., replacing Career Services with Interfolio). My advisor, and various faculty members, have always given good and helpful advice.
9. Does your department have a student organization? If so, what is its role?
Primarily social, with occasional and generally unfruitful attempts to be professional.
Yes, and its primary role seems to be the organizing of social functions.
10. How does your department communicate important information to you - especially at the last minute - email, letters, and posters in department common areas?
Too often at the last minute, thanks primarily to certain individuals in the graduate program. Generally via e-mail with occasional postings in the mailroom.
One of the mechanical engineering seminars involves a forum of people who work in academia, and another of their seminars involves a forum of people who work in industry; this way, students can see pros and cons of each type of career.
In one class in the Mechanical Engineering Department, students write a grant proposal as one of their homework assignments. This project gives students an exposure to one aspect of working as a professor at a university.
This conference will address the plural, contested, and changing meanings of the common good as people have understood it in various contexts. Investigating the common good amidst the contact and interaction of cultures lays bare the tensions between individual and collective good, between competing political parties and systems, and between social justice and mass victimization. cheap essay | cheap research paper | cheap term paper
Reasonably well, though
Reasonably well, though there were more meetings and presentations than I think were strictly necessary. There is only so much one can absorb at once; it might have been more efficient if the department simply introduced us to the
places to go and people to ask for information. I think voucher codes or coupons are more important than ever to people trying to save money on their shopping online.
The decision process is very
The decision process is very vague and seems to me to be at the whim of the undergraduate administrators who are hostile to my subfield--not in themselves (though some surely are) but who don't think that undergrads like it. I think voucher codes or coupon codes are more important than ever to people trying to save money on their shopping online such as promotional codes.
Best Practices in Sociology
Here are five responses collected from sociology grad students to the questions regarding best practices. The students broadly represent early, middle and ABD points in the program.
1. What aspects of your department's recruitment process convinced
you to come to ND?
I wasn't aware that there was a recruitment process after I came here. I came
because of the academic quality, fit of research interests, and financial
offer.
Stipends, sociology of education area, correspondence with Pat Kipker and Maureen Hallinan.
The possibility to work with the faculty of my choice.
I first received an invitation to apply, and Maureen Hallinan called me
personally to let me know I had been accepted before I received any formal
letter. That was nice.
The part where they accepted me! It was nice to get a personal call too.
2. How did your department's orientation program prepare you for life
at ND?
Which is the orientation program .... Dan's seminar? If yes, pretty well. It was
interesting and opened my eyes on several issues I wasn't aware of.
Proseminar first semester was good. And grad student social events.
They send announcements in advance and the students make extra suggestions if they desired courses don't appear in the list.
n/a
Was it supposed to? I guess it did an OK job.
3. How does your department determine what graduate seminars it will
offer each semester?
I guess that by asking faculty which classes they are willing to offer ... And
some faculties talk to students to guess whether they are going to have demand.
I don’t know.
I was fortunate to TA for a professor who felt the preparation of the TA was as
important as the duties we did for him. It was not only a practice of teaching
for myself, but was handled as if we were in a course ourselves.
Magic Beans.
4. In regard to serving as a TA - how does your department prepare
you for your TA duties?
More work should be done on this. But since TA opportunities are scarce, perhaps
that's enough ...
n/a
I never served as a TA for my department so I can't comment on this.
I was fortunate to TA for a professor who felt the preparation of the TA was as
important as the duties we did for him. It was not only a practice of teaching
for myself, but was handled as if we were in a course ourselves.
More Magic Beans.
No real prep, just got tossed in.
5. In regard to research - how does your department promote/reward
research?
100%. Money for conferences, small grants, weekly seminars, dedicated advisors,
research-prone environment, lots of talks, etc. Great job.
Professors require research in seminars. They encourage us to meet with them to discuss ongoing research. Money is available to present research at conferences. And I do research for my assistantship.
I believe that they encourage you to get your Master's Thesis published somewhere. I got my MA from somewhere else so I can't comment much on this.
blank
Clearly there's pressure on the promotion end. At the reward end ... I don't think we do much beyond the standard (and quite acceptable) recognition one gets when someone sees you in the hallway and nods. You think to yourself: "She must have seen that book review I did in Minor Incidents in the Occident!"
6. Teaching your own course - does your department offer ample
opportunities for this & how do they decide who teaches and what they
teach?
Same as 4.
I don’t feel there are many opportunities to teach. I think there are more opportunities to teach a study section of large intro courses. You can request a teaching assistantship for the next year in the spring semester. I’m not sure how they decide, but I expect you should talk to a professor you want to TA for.
I was never offered the opportunity to teach my own course so this is still somewhat of a mystery to me; i.e. how do they decided who teaches and what they teach.
I was fortunate to have been able to teach my own course, but my understanding
was that only a select few have that opportunity.
Nope. Not that I know of.
7. Conferences - how does your department support conference
presentations and attendance?
The dept does a good job. There are about $250 for each student/year. That was
helpful to me this year for presenting a paper in a conference.
We can get reimbursed for travel costs that aren’t covered by GSU.
They offer between 400 and 500 dollars to present in a conference, which is very limited for presenting at conferences outside the Midwest. Sometimes, conference registration is more than 100 dollars so very little is left for plane ticket and lodging. INternational travel is mostly off limits unless you get a specific invitation or an outside sponsor.
Very well. I was able to attend two different conferences during my time at ND.
Like shit! This was a recruiting point - imagine my disappointment to discover it's only a few hundred dollars a year.
8. (a) Professional development – Academic: how does your department
(advisor) prepare you for the rigours of academia?
a) I'm happy with it. I was lucky to have great advisors. They make you aware
that the academia it's not an easy job but provide you with the tools for
trying to make it.
Proseminar is helpful in learning what we should be doing to prepare ourselves for the job market. Also the new meetings held by Bill Carbonaro are helpful.
My advisor helped me a lot. He introduced me to key and relevant actors in my field, encouraging me to have time to talk to them extensively during conferences and talks at ND and elsewhere. He also invited me to write papers with him. Additionally, he met regularly with me to discuss my future goals in academia and to measure my progress as a grad student. He supported my job applications by sending letters of recommendation on my behalf and was attentive about the best job offers in the market. He always provided me with the needed software to conduct my research and offered financial support to conduct fieldwork and present my work at conferences.
ND Sociology does a great job of preparing grad students who seek a research
intensive position in academia. The courses are geared toward learning the
skills necessary for this. However, if teaching is your primary goal, this is
often devalued or ignored.
I think we do very well at professional development (A) and are far more open than many other depts with regard to non-academic postings
OR (b) How does your department help those who wish to seek careers
outside academia?
I haven’t experienced much help in this area, but I’m not interested in careers outside academia.
It is discouraged.
blank
9. Does your department have a student organization? If so, what is
its role?
If it has, I'm not aware of it.
We don’t have any official student organization, but there are informal social gatherings among us grad students. The department even partially funds some of these activities. Some students participate in intramural sports here at ND. Also, first year students have student mentors in the department.
No.
blank
No, we don't roll like that.
10. How does your department communicate important information to you
- especially at the last minute - email, letters, and posters in
department common areas?
All of these.
All of those. We get emails and letters in our mail boxes and there are posters.
By e-mail because I am a non-resident grad student.
Email is utilized extensively
Email. Electroshock.
11. (a) What does your department do to promote peaceful resolutions
of conflicts and serious issues?
No idea.
Students can meet with the DGS and the chair of the department.
I don't know because I have never been involved in any conflict.
Don't know
(b) Are you aware of your department's grievance policy?
No.
Yes. It is written in a handbook. I can read it whenever I encounter any difficulty.
No.
No.
12. "How does your department help you in evaluating your academic
progress/professional development each year?
They send you a letter saying whether you did a great job, were ok, or need to
put more effort.
We get a letter about our progress in the department, in addition to grades and feedback from professors in specific courses.
They send a letter measuring your progress although is quite vague. They should improve the language used to measure your progress in more detail. They mostly tell you satisfactory/unsatisfactory which is not very helpful.
If you have a good advisor, which I do, they will keep in touch and give you
that information and work with you to set and meet important goals.
Probably ... don' t know.
13. Do you receive any feedback from you advisor/DGS on an annual basis?
Yes, of course, but not formally. I have several informal talks with them
throughout the year and they are always ready to get together when I need their
help. I'm very happy about it.
Yes, see above.
Yes, I do.
More often than annual.
Not yet, but I'm a young 'un!
Best Practices in Sociology
Here are five responses collected from sociology grad students to the questions regarding best practices. The students broadly represent early, middle and ABD points in the program.
1. What aspects of your department's recruitment process convinced
you to come to ND?
I wasn't aware that there was a recruitment process after I came here. I came
because of the academic quality, fit of research interests, and financial
offer.
Stipends, sociology of education area, correspondence with Pat Kipker and Maureen Hallinan.
The possibility to work with the faculty of my choice.
I first received an invitation to apply, and Maureen Hallinan called me
personally to let me know I had been accepted before I received any formal
letter. That was nice.
The part where they accepted me! It was nice to get a personal call too.
2. How did your department's orientation program prepare you for life
at ND?
Which is the orientation program .... Dan's seminar? If yes, pretty well. It was
interesting and opened my eyes on several issues I wasn't aware of.
Proseminar first semester was good. And grad student social events.
They send announcements in advance and the students make extra suggestions if they desired courses don't appear in the list.
n/a
Was it supposed to? I guess it did an OK job.
3. How does your department determine what graduate seminars it will
offer each semester?
I guess that by asking faculty which classes they are willing to offer ... And
some faculties talk to students to guess whether they are going to have demand.
I don’t know.
I was fortunate to TA for a professor who felt the preparation of the TA was as
important as the duties we did for him. It was not only a practice of teaching
for myself, but was handled as if we were in a course ourselves.
Magic Beans.
4. In regard to serving as a TA - how does your department prepare
you for your TA duties?
More work should be done on this. But since TA opportunities are scarce, perhaps
that's enough ...
n/a
I never served as a TA for my department so I can't comment on this.
I was fortunate to TA for a professor who felt the preparation of the TA was as
important as the duties we did for him. It was not only a practice of teaching
for myself, but was handled as if we were in a course ourselves.
More Magic Beans.
No real prep, just got tossed in.
5. In regard to research - how does your department promote/reward
research?
100%. Money for conferences, small grants, weekly seminars, dedicated advisors,
research-prone environment, lots of talks, etc. Great job.
Professors require research in seminars. They encourage us to meet with them to discuss ongoing research. Money is available to present research at conferences. And I do research for my assistantship.
I believe that they encourage you to get your Master's Thesis published somewhere. I got my MA from somewhere else so I can't comment much on this.
blank
Clearly there's pressure on the promotion end. At the reward end ... I don't think we do much beyond the standard (and quite acceptable) recognition one gets when someone sees you in the hallway and nods. You think to yourself: "She must have seen that book review I did in Minor Incidents in the Occident!"
6. Teaching your own course - does your department offer ample
opportunities for this & how do they decide who teaches and what they
teach?
Same as 4.
I don’t feel there are many opportunities to teach. I think there are more opportunities to teach a study section of large intro courses. You can request a teaching assistantship for the next year in the spring semester. I’m not sure how they decide, but I expect you should talk to a professor you want to TA for.
I was never offered the opportunity to teach my own course so this is still somewhat of a mystery to me; i.e. how do they decided who teaches and what they teach.
I was fortunate to have been able to teach my own course, but my understanding
was that only a select few have that opportunity.
Nope. Not that I know of.
7. Conferences - how does your department support conference
presentations and attendance?
The dept does a good job. There are about $250 for each student/year. That was
helpful to me this year for presenting a paper in a conference.
We can get reimbursed for travel costs that aren’t covered by GSU.
They offer between 400 and 500 dollars to present in a conference, which is very limited for presenting at conferences outside the Midwest. Sometimes, conference registration is more than 100 dollars so very little is left for plane ticket and lodging. INternational travel is mostly off limits unless you get a specific invitation or an outside sponsor.
Very well. I was able to attend two different conferences during my time at ND.
Like shit! This was a recruiting point - imagine my disappointment to discover it's only a few hundred dollars a year.
8. (a) Professional development – Academic: how does your department
(advisor) prepare you for the rigours of academia?
a) I'm happy with it. I was lucky to have great advisors. They make you aware
that the academia it's not an easy job but provide you with the tools for
trying to make it.
Proseminar is helpful in learning what we should be doing to prepare ourselves for the job market. Also the new meetings held by Bill Carbonaro are helpful.
My advisor helped me a lot. He introduced me to key and relevant actors in my field, encouraging me to have time to talk to them extensively during conferences and talks at ND and elsewhere. He also invited me to write papers with him. Additionally, he met regularly with me to discuss my future goals in academia and to measure my progress as a grad student. He supported my job applications by sending letters of recommendation on my behalf and was attentive about the best job offers in the market. He always provided me with the needed software to conduct my research and offered financial support to conduct fieldwork and present my work at conferences.
ND Sociology does a great job of preparing grad students who seek a research
intensive position in academia. The courses are geared toward learning the
skills necessary for this. However, if teaching is your primary goal, this is
often devalued or ignored.
I think we do very well at professional development (A) and are far more open than many other depts with regard to non-academic postings
OR (b) How does your department help those who wish to seek careers
outside academia?
I haven’t experienced much help in this area, but I’m not interested in careers outside academia.
It is discouraged.
blank
9. Does your department have a student organization? If so, what is
its role?
If it has, I'm not aware of it.
We don’t have any official student organization, but there are informal social gatherings among us grad students. The department even partially funds some of these activities. Some students participate in intramural sports here at ND. Also, first year students have student mentors in the department.
No.
blank
No, we don't roll like that.
10. How does your department communicate important information to you
- especially at the last minute - email, letters, and posters in
department common areas?
All of these.
All of those. We get emails and letters in our mail boxes and there are posters.
By e-mail because I am a non-resident grad student.
Email is utilized extensively
Email. Electroshock.
11. (a) What does your department do to promote peaceful resolutions
of conflicts and serious issues?
No idea.
Students can meet with the DGS and the chair of the department.
I don't know because I have never been involved in any conflict.
Don't know
(b) Are you aware of your department's grievance policy?
No.
Yes. It is written in a handbook. I can read it whenever I encounter any difficulty.
No.
No.
12. "How does your department help you in evaluating your academic
progress/professional development each year?
They send you a letter saying whether you did a great job, were ok, or need to
put more effort.
We get a letter about our progress in the department, in addition to grades and feedback from professors in specific courses.
They send a letter measuring your progress although is quite vague. They should improve the language used to measure your progress in more detail. They mostly tell you satisfactory/unsatisfactory which is not very helpful.
If you have a good advisor, which I do, they will keep in touch and give you
that information and work with you to set and meet important goals.
Probably ... don' t know.
13. Do you receive any feedback from you advisor/DGS on an annual basis?
Yes, of course, but not formally. I have several informal talks with them
throughout the year and they are always ready to get together when I need their
help. I'm very happy about it.
Yes, see above.
Yes, I do.
More often than annual.
Not yet, but I'm a young 'un!
Computer Science (2nd Comment)
1. What aspects of your department's recruitment process convinced you to come to ND?
I attended ND as an undergrad and had worked on an undergraduate research project with my future advisor. I liked the area of research and the financial award was better than the other schools who offered financial assistance. I was also familiar with the general department procedures, faculty, etc. and felt that I already knew a lot of people here.
2. How did your department's orientation program prepare you for life at ND?
The professors told us about their general procedures. It wasn’t all that helpful.
3. How does your department determine what graduate seminars it will offer each semester?
I believe faculty who are up for tenure review seek out the seminar speakers (they take turns each semester as needed so that they can meet people who may be able to write support letters for them).
4. In regard to serving as a TA - how does your department prepare you for your TA duties?
A meeting with the instructor in charge of the course.
5. In regard to research - how does your department promote/reward research?
My department has a student research symposium where
each student can (optionally) present their work through a poster. Both students
and professors select a poster and winners of the student-choice and faculty
choice awards receive a certifcate and a sum of money. At the end of
the academic year, my department also gives out an RA award.
Largely, I think great research is rewarded with a faster degree and personal satisfaction.
6. Teaching your own course - does your department offer ample opportunities for this & how do they decide who teaches and what they teach?
I believe that any student who would like to pursue an academic career would get to teach their own course before leaving Notre Dame by talking to their advisor and the DGS and expressing their career plans.
7. Conferences - how does your department support conference presentations and attendance?
My department (usually my advisor) reimburses all of my
expenses. My advisor decides which conferences would benefit my career and sends me accordingly, whether I am presenting something or just meeting many researchers in my sub-field that could be useful in the future.
8. (a) Professional development Academic: how does your department (advisor) prepare you for the rigours of academia? OR
(b) How does your department help those who wish to seek careers outside academia?
I think my advisor attempts to prepare me for the rigors of academia by giving the students in our lab a lot of responsibility to find our own projects (related to our research area) and convince him of their worth. If he likes an idea, he will have a brainstorming session with the entire lab and the proposing student has to argue the merits of the project. Any conference presentations are also brought before the entire lab and students critique the work before it is presented in an attempt to solicit the questions and objections that audience members may raise (and hopefully the student presenting has appropriate answers!).
The department seems to be geared toward everyone wanting to work in academia (or do industrial research/engineering).
9. Does your department have a student organization? If so, what is its role?
Not that I know of.
10. How does your department communicate important information to you
- especially at the last minute - email, letters, and posters in department common areas.
The secretaries send out emails.
11. (a) What does your department do to promote peaceful resolutions of conflicts and serious issues?
(b) Are you aware of your department's grievance policy?
I’m not aware of the specific policies, but know where to find them.
The grievance policy is on the CSE webpage and they made us aware of its location and gave us a paper manual at the beginning of the year.
12. How does your department help you in evaluating your academic progress/professional development each year?
Nothing that I know of.
13. Do you receive any feedback from you advisor/DGS on an annual
basis?
Yes. Our advisor gives us feedback frequently and the DGS hands out evaluation forms prepared by our advisor.
Comments of Students
1. What aspects of your department's recruitment process convinced you to come to ND?
Before I visited Notre Dame, I was in touch of the graduate secretary
who arranged my flight and just about everything else for me. While I
was here visiting, I felt welcome by both faculty and graduate
students. For breakfast, lunch, and dinners, we (prospective students)
got a chance to talk privately with current graduate students who gave
us advice on just about anything.
During my visit, I also had a chance to talk to the faculty members
and especially a faculty whom I was very interested in working with
and who is now my advisor. I'm glad to have been given that
opportunity because it gave me a sense that we shared research
interest and could work together.
Last but not least, my department gave me the option of starting in
the summer, which I took. That was, I believe, the best thing that I
could have done to prepare myself for a life as a graduate student.
2. How did your department's orientation program prepare you for life at ND?
The professors told us about their expectations and provided us with
some general guidelines.
3. How does your department determine what graduate seminars it will offer each semester?
I don't know. I think that our faculty try to invite researchers in
their respective fields to come give a talk. Although our seminars
take place every Thursday, we don't always have a speaker.
4. In regard to serving as a TA - how does your department prepare you for your TA duties?
My department gave me a TA manual.
5. In regard to research - how does your department promote/reward research?
My department started a student research symposium a year ago where
each student can (optionally) present their work through a poster. Both students
and professors select a poster and winners of the student-choice and faculty
choice awards receive a certifcate and a sum of money. At the end of
the academic year, my department also gives out an RA award.
On a Friday of each month, my department holds a "Friday papers" event
where attendees receive a list of publications made by someone in the
department during that month. Refreshments are served, which help
boost attendance.
6. Teaching your own course - does your department offer ample opportunities for this & how do they decide who teaches and what they teach?
When I visited, I was told that any student who would like to pursue
an academic career would get to teach their own course before leaving
Notre Dame. I'm not sure how/who selects which course a student should
teach, but it seems that the course should be at least somewhat
related to the student's research area.
7. Conferences - how does your department support conference presentations and attendance?
My department (or rather, my advisor) reimburses all of my
expenses. Usually, whenever I have a paper published and if I am able
to go, I will be given the opportunity to do so.
8. (a) Professional development Academic: how does your department (advisor) prepare you for the rigours of academia? OR
(b) How does your department help those who wish to seek careers outside academia?
I feel that my department/advisor has helped me more with improving my
research skills than my teaching skills. Each student must TA at least
twice before receiving their PhD, but some courses only require
grading and interaction with students in the class can be minimal.
Job flyers are posted around the department but other than that, I am
not aware of how my department helps students seeking a non-academic career.
9. Does your department have a student organization? If so, what is its role?
Not that I know of.
10. How does your department communicate important information to you
- especially at the last minute - email, letters, and posters in
department common areas?
The secretaries send out emails.
11. (a) What does your department do to promote peaceful resolutions of conflicts and serious issues?
(b) Are you aware of your department's grievance policy?
I have no idea.
The grievance policy is on the CSE webpage so I would think that most
students would know where to look, although we've never been informed
about it directly.
12. How does your department help you in evaluating your academic progress/professional development each year?
Nothing that I know of.
13. Do you receive any feedback from you advisor/DGS on an annual
basis?
No.
Feedback from Biological Sciences
1. What aspects of your department's recruitment process convinced you to come to ND?
-The presentations by the faculty about the projects going on in their labs drew me in
-Interest from individual PI's
-I liked the program -- there were several research programs that interested me, and I liked being able to do a rotation instead of having to commit to a PI
-Meeting the professors and grad students and the informal get together at the end of the visit were both aspects that helped me to decide that this was a place i wanted to be (and to decide who it was i wanted to work with). On the other hand, the fact that the visit occurs BEFORE you've been officially accepted to the department made the whole thing much more stressful than it should have been..and this is one of the only departments that i know of that does this
-Good research and available funding.
2. How did your department's orientation program prepare you for life at ND?
-Don’t really remember. Apparently didn’t do much.
-Not well - things we were told would happen didn't. For example, taking core courses in first year. One of these first year core courses wasn't offered until our third year. "Requirements" were impossible to meet due to the
department's inability to offer the opportunity to meet them.
-Reasonably well, though there were more meetings and presentations than I think were strictly necessary. There is only so much one can absorb at once; it might have been more efficient if the department simply introduced us to the
places to go and people to ask for information.
-Fairly well, though it was overly long and pedantic. It could be 2 hours instead of a whole day.
3. How does your department determine what graduate seminars it will offer each semester?
-Terribly! We have different systems in place for the 3 different “clusters” in our department. We never seem to hear about seminars until the last moment, and often the selection is quite limited.
-I'm not entirely sure, but I believe the professors take it in rotation to lead them, and there is generally one for each of the three subject clusters. Suggestions from graduate students in some cases, desire of the professor to
teach a particular topic in others.
4. In regard to serving as a TA - how does your department prepare you for your TA duties?
-Students are expected to discuss when they are TAing with their advisor, and then they have a (small) say in what courses they teach.
-On the job. No "preparation" provided by the department.
I don't really remember. I had all the information I needed, but I don't remember the training.
-Depends more on the class and the professor teaching it than it does on the department, i think. The intro bio classes i've TA-ed were good in terms of preparing me to teach and understanding the material that i was teaching.
The course instructor/coordinator prepares us well. We had weekly meeetings and were able to ask questions if we needed.
5. In regard to research - how does your department promote/reward research?
-Our department encourages students to start research immediately. At the department level, there aren’t many rewards for research
-Not sure. Doesn't seem to happen at the departmental level. More at the lab level
-If your work doesn't get done, you don't graduate. It's pretty self-rewarding or self-punishing. Some advisors push harder than others.
-They will make a matching monetary contribution if you receive a small grant from an outside source (up to $1000 i think), so that's nice if you can get money in the first place. The Ecology group has some small grants you can
get for research, especially if you'll be working up at the UNDERC research center.
-Don't know of any actual "rewards", as in "best graduate student" or "paper of the year".
-In terms of promoting research, i think it depends more on the major professor and on the student.
-On the other hand, the worst thing for promoting research that I've come across has been a small number of graduate-level classes that take up an unnecessary amount of time. Most grad classes are, as they should be, directed discussions or hands-on demonstrations of techniques. In these cases, the student can take away whatever he or she wants, without taking too much time away from research. Some classes, however, trend towards more of an undergraduate style, wherein assessment is held in higher esteem than communication of knowledge, and the students are made to complete homework assignments, long papers, and exams. These classes, and they have been thankfully uncommon, have been the number one impediment to research in my graduate career. I feel I should add that the busy work and over reliance on assessment in these classes has NOT, in my opinion, helped me to learn and retain the material in a superior manner than if they had been simple read-and-discuss classes.
6. Teaching your own course - does your department offer ample opportunities for this & how do they decide who teaches and what they teach?
-Graduate students rarely, if ever, teach their own courses.
-Not aware of any opportunities to teach your own course. Only lab TA's available.
-Grad students are generally not permitted to teach courses officially, but there are opportunities to team-teach or student-teach courses run by professors.
-This also depends on one's advisor to some extent, as some advisors view grad students as handy substitute lecturers and encourage their participation in teaching, while others view teaching as a distraction from lab work and permit
their students to do only the minimum required by the department.
-The "teaching apprenticeship" opportunity is a good one for having some hands-on experience in course design, but i think it depends on the advisor as to how much you actually get to do. I was lucky enough to be able to really help put together the curriculum and do a lot of lecturing, but I've
heard that in other cases it trends towards being no more than a glorified TA. Aside from the apprenticeship, i think there are ways you can pull some strings to do some teaching, but not really in any official capacity (i.e.
being listed as the instructor).
7. Conferences - how does your department support conference presentations and attendance?
-This seems to be on a lab by lab basis. We are encouraged to attend one meeting each year. Our lab covers travel, registration, and housing, and then we are required to apply for GSU funding (Gordon CPG).
-There is a travel budget for which one can apply to defray conference fees.
-The department doesn't, that i know of. I've gotten support from the graduate school though, and that's been very, very nice.
8. (a) Professional development – Academic: how does your department (advisor) prepare you for the rigours of academia? OR (b) How does your department help those who wish to seek careers outside academia?
-We get to see first hand the “rigours of academia” through our advisors, and often see job candidates come through the department. I do not feel we are well prepared for careers outside of academia.
-Advisor - informally if you ask. Helps w/ resume preparation and job talks. Department - No help. Not at all that I know of.
-Could do much better with career planning in the department. Would love career development info available specifically for the Biology field as opposed to from an outside department, which is all that I know of that is
available. Academic bio jobs are particularly difficult to find. It would be nice to have more guidance in finding and getting these jobs. A course/seminars/workshops???
-There are all those career center workshops we can go to, but I don't know of much within the department. My advisor does give me advice and cautions on what to expect in academia.
-My advisor has prepared me fantastically. He has encouraged me to publish, to explore my own research questions, to attend conferences, and to meet and
talk to visiting speakers.
9. Does your department have a student organization? If so, what is its role?
-The role of the Biology Student Graduate Organization (BGSO) is to provide a forum for expression of student opinion, opportunities for social interaction, and mechanisms for communication between the students and the faculty.
-Yes - tailgates.
-Yes; it primarily plans social events, but also does some important work on researching grad student needs and lobbying to have them filled.
-Yes, the BGSO. They have tailgates and make shirts. Whoo.
-Yes, organizing various events for biology graduate students
10. How does your department communicate important information to you - especially at the last minute - email, letters, and posters in department common areas?
-Last minute information is typically sent out by e-mail.
-E-mail.
-All of the above. Email is the most common.
-Last minute information is communicated--effectively--via email. I think they do a pretty good job.
11. (a) What does your department do to promote peaceful resolutions of conflicts and serious issues? (b) Are you aware of your department's grievance policy?
-I believe we are supposed to speak with either our advisors or the DGS about serious issues. I am unaware of our department’s grievance policy.
-There is a system to resolve conflicts, but not familiar with it.
-I know we have one, but thankfully, I've never yet had to use it.
-I dont know.
-Not explictly, but if we have a mandatory lecture now to learn about it, that would be reason to file a grievance about wasting our time, so its a catch 22.
12. "How does your department help you in evaluating your academic progress/professional development each year?
-(More at the advisor level) We are required to have yearly meetings with our graduate committee after passing our comprehensive exams.
-Academic progress - we are informed if we are deficient in any of the annual mileposts to graduation. Annual committee meetings. Professional development - no help.
-Well, they send you letters reminding you that you should have taken your comps six months ago and they'll cut off your funding if you don't hurry up... I don't think there's much of a formal progress evaluation process, at least in
my area. It's mostly left to you and your advisor to keep track of where you are in relation to where you should be. Personally, I like the flexibility, as every thesis is different and it can be difficult to make hard-and-fast rules and deadlines that work well for everybody. On the other hand, a well-advertised schedule of major milestones would give the grad students slightly more bargaining power in pushing professors to set up meetings, exams, and so forth. Perhaps it would help if the department sent out notices along the lines of "Second years: you will need to schedule your written exams for sometime between now and August. Now is the time to pester your committee for
topics if you have not already done so."
-They tell us if we're "on schedule" or not with respect to our candidacy (i.e. should have taken written exams/oral exams by this date, etc.)
13. Do you receive any feedback from you advisor/DGS on an annual basis?
-N/A (DGS = my advisor)
-Yes
-Formally? No, we just try to keep each other updated semi-regularly, when he's around and when I have an achievement to announce or a problem I need his help
with.
-From my advisor, on an almost daily basis.
More Best Practices
More Commments from the Department of Civil Engineering and Geological Sciences
- "I think it is a great idea to have the prospective students stay at the Inn at St. Mary's. It is nice for the students to be close to campus when they are only here for a weekend, and the Inn is very impressive. I also think our department does a good job providing opportunities for the current graduate students and prospective graduate students to interact by having current graduate students take the perspectives to meals."
- "Our department is proactive when it comes to organizing social events where graduate students, faculty, and staff can interact. The Christmas party, picnics, and Happy Hours once a month are prime examples. These events are
especially important in our department because of its diversity (geoscience, environmental engineering, and civil engineering)."
- "I like how the first years share a large office for one year. It helps the new students to get to know each other. However, I also like that after the first year, the students can move into smaller offices where the environment is quieter and more focused."
- "I really like that our department has set up the desk czar system for assigning offices and desks. (Offices are not reserved for certain research groups. Desks, mananged by the desk czar, are assigned by seniority and first come first serve basis.) It eliminates a lot of potential conflicts and allows students of different research topics to interact more."
- "Students bring food and drinks to their defenses and food is often times served at department seminars. It really motivates students to attend both and keeps them more attentive during the presentation."
- "Our adviser makes us present at least once a semester (often times more) and once during the summer to our research group. I cannot begin to stress how beneficial this is when it comes time to present at a conference or defend a thesis or dissertation. Every research group should do this because everyone has room to improve when it comes to public speaking. It also forces the student to gain a more thorough understanding of their research ecause when you are forced to teach something you learn it better yourself."
- "I also like that our adviser has weekly meetings with us. I think this is an essential practice for a graduate student's success. Weekly meetings keep you from wasting time and keep the line of communication open between student and adviser."
Comments from the Mathematics Department
I'd like to share some of the feedback from the Mathematics Department. Note that the remarks in quotes are feedback I'm sharing from others, and the rest is my own.
1. What aspects of your department's recruitment process convinced you to come to ND?
"I disagree with the assumption implicit in the phrase recruitment process, that it is necessarily desirable to convince people to come to ND; and think it would be more humane for the people subject to recruitment, to try to provide as accurate information as possible, letting people decide freely.
Before coming here, I was inadequately informed about just how pervasive religion (Catholic and other) is among graduate students. I understood that this was a Catholic school and that most undergraduates are Catholic. I was quite interested in how this would affect my life here,
but no one volunteered information on the subject, and when I asked, was encouraged to think that it wouldn't affect me much, which wasn't true. ...
If I had understood the religious nature of the school better, I might well not have come here. Who knows, I might have been happier elsewhere, it's hard to say. ... "
6. Teaching your own course - does your department offer
ample opportunities for this & how do they decide who
teaches and what they teach?
"Ample Opportunities? Absolutely not. Despite my coming here with two years college teaching experience, I was not allowed to teach my own course until my last year here. Only a very limited selection of courses is available for graduate students to teach. The professors, from the department and visiting, want most of the more interesting
courses for themselves."
On the other hand, during the summer, graduate students usually teach courses in various levels of Calculus, as well courses touching on Probability, Linear Algebra, and Differential Equations. For those looking for a first teaching opportunity in the core courses they will probably need to teach in their first jobs, this is a good opportunity to get comfortable writing lecture notes and dealing with an entire class on one's own. Most students are usually able to teach the first summer they express an interest, although some are not, and must wait another year.
In other topics:
The Mathematics Department holds an informal tea 4 days a week at 3:30. It's an opportunity for graduate students to relax and interact with faculty and visitors.
A Graduate Student Seminar meets biweekly, allowing graduate students to grow in confidence in their speaking ability by giving talks to their fellow, friendly graduate students. It's also a nice way to learn about other areas from people who aren't going to assume you know more than you do. (Visiting colloquium speakers very often speak to the experts in their fields and thereby lose most graduate students after only a few moments.)
Josh Cole
GSU Rep, Mathematics.
Best Practices Survey
A few comments from the CBE Department:
Recruitment: We have 3 weekends of which the majority of prospective students visit, however, we allow students to visit whenever they can. Graduate students organize parties and activities during their visit. The graduate students get along very well and the prospective students would not get to see that interaction if they were now constantly surrounded by people in the department. In the end, the graduate students are "rewarded," with free lunches/dinners.
A two-day TA training in August is mandatory for the first year students. It is not the most effective course ever, but it is a nice icebreaker to ND and the first lecture as graduate students. It marked the first time we spoke to one another as our entire group of first-years. And from the point of view of the Kaneb Center, it's a definite start on the right track--I know they wish more departments would require it the way we do. (The department's "orientation," which is the meeting where we were told what classes to choose from, leaves a bit to be desired.)
TA/"super-TA": TA duties are pretty consistent from person to person, so it's not like anyone's being treated specially, and there's good interaction cooperation between current/prior TA's (I'm thinking of lab training, and even sharing of old solutions from year to year in particular). The super-TA option is terrific and a great way to develop relationships with both faculty and students. (The extra pay and free parking are icing on the cake.)
Our department votes to increase the graduate student stipend each year to match that of the incoming first years.
Feedback from the Chemistry Department
** GSU Graduate Student Survey: Department “Best Practices” **
1. What aspects of your department's recruitment process convinced you to come
to ND?
Sample survey responses:
- During the visit out, I was able to get a feel for the department. Everyone was very friendly and I got a sense that this was a place where I wouldn't get lost in the crowd.
- Meeting the professors and learning of the diverse areas of research offered here. Also just walking around campus helped out a lot.
- The friendliness of the faculty to the students and to each other. They like to collaborate and are family friendly.
- The department seemed to show interest in me from the beginning and the recruitment weekend showed through the enthusiasm of the student hosts.
- Efficiency.
2. How did your department's orientation program prepare you for life at ND?
Sample survey responses:
- It was repetitive, but very thorough and useful.
- It brought forth some issues that we all will need to go through eventually, kind of helping us know what to prepare for later on.
- I don't really remember much of what was said, but I felt that talking to other graduate students about their experiences was helpful.
- Very well.
- When I first got here (~5 years ago) the orientation left much to be desired; we had very little preparation for our TA duties. Since then, however it has improved a lot.
3. How does your department determine what graduate seminars it will offer each
semester?
- Seminars are offered according to division (organic, analytical, physical, inorganic, biochemistry, etc.). The topics are generally on the cutting edge of the research in the field and are presented by visiting professors, researchers in industry, or students in the department. Members of the faculty organize the seminar schedules each semester.
4. In regard to serving as a TA - how does your department prepare you for your
TA duties?
Sample survey responses:
- I am not sure that the department does any real preparation. Most of what I have learned thus far has been through experience.
- They had us perform most of the labs before the semester started, we have weekly meetings to discuss the labs we had just done and the labs next week. They also did practice grading things.
- Very well. It requires us to go through the same experience as the students (lecture, lab, etc) so we are best able to help them. The weekly meetings are good, though once in a while uneventful.
- Open lab.
- There was very little preparation when I was a first year student. Now, there are extensive workshops on every aspect of TAing. They are all packed into a seemingly stressful week, but I think the department does a pretty good job of preparing incoming students.
5. In regard to research - how does your department promote/reward research?
Sample survey responses:
- We select the advisor we wish to do research for and then we do research for him/her.
- Flexible to student schedules, yet shows the priority and emphasis that needs to be placed on research. Promote/reward: unknown.
- The chemistry department relies heavily on research. Everyone understands that research is the bulk of our degree, so there is no need to promote it. I think there are a few yearly awards for outstanding research, but I don't know who decides the winners of these awards.
- Probably through grants and fellowships, or the annual award given to an outstanding graduate student.
6. Teaching your own course - does your department offer ample opportunities for
this & how do they decide who teaches and what they teach?
Sample survey responses:
- We are required to TA for our first year. Most students also TA for their second year. After that, you can request to be given a TA assignment in your 3rd, 4th and 5th years. You can also request one of a few positions that give more responsibility to the TA (giving lectures in place of the professor... etc.)
- I am not sure. Most of it seems to be random and I am pleased to say I have had probably one of the most diverse experiences as a TA. Lecture and lab TA for general chem and orgo. Majors and non-majors alike. It doesn't get any better.
- Students that are fully funded by their advisors or who secure their own funding through grants/fellowships are not required to teach unless there is a shortage of available TAs. However, all students have the opportunity to teach. Those who want to teach upon completion of their degree find it beneficial to pursue teaching opportunities available through the department. More in-depth/extensive teaching opportunities are given to students with more experience.
7. Conferences - how does your department support conference presentations and
attendance?
Sample survey responses:
- I don't think our department offers funding for conferences, but I'm not sure. I've always been supported by my advisor when I've gone (and the GSU).
- It seems to me like only the upper level graduate students go.
- Gives a set yearly financial support. Encourages it very well and regularly as a part of research experience and learning. Oftentimes is kept local - need more room for longer travel distances.
- As far as I know, students are funded to attend conferences by their advisors. Students are encouraged to attend perhaps 1 conference per year. Some advisors fund students to attend as an observer, but most require that the student either present a poster or give a talk about their current research at the conference.
8. (a) Professional development – How does your department (advisor) prepare you
for the rigors of academia? OR
(b) How does your department help those who wish to seek careers outside
academia?
Sample survey responses:
- I have been well prepared for a career in academia. Had I chosen a career in industry, I would have been prepared as well, but less so.
- Alternative co-programs are available through the Kaneb center for teaching. Workshops and career recruitments are available for a variety of necessities: cover letters, resumes, interviews, etc.
- My boss has done an exceptional job preparing and helping with my lab mates’ job- related issues, so I am sure once I am ready to join the workforce, I will have no problems.
- They do both, mostly non-academia, but for those who wish to go into academia, advisors will tend to gear those people toward things that will be beneficial for them, like TAing for more years, or becoming a lecture TA, so you help the professors teach the course. For non academia seeking people, they have you do strictly research, more like an industrial job.
- Through workshops.
9. Does your department have a student organization? If so, what is its role?
Sample survey responses:
- We have many informal clubs. Most are journal clubs in which we discuss
articles in the literature.
- Yes - keep our opinion heard and benefited
- I'm assuming, don't know though.
- I am not sure.
10. How does your department communicate important information to you -
especially at the last minute - email, letters, and posters in department
common areas?
Sample survey responses:
- We receive most of our communications by email. Flyers are also posted around
the building and sometimes placed in our mailboxes. Last minute information is
sent out by email.
- All three forms
- Email especially. Cheryl does a good job on keeping us informed through the
use of a weekly newsletter and periodically informs us of any changes.
- They email us all the time, and they give us mail in a mail box they have for each student.
- All of these methods
11. (a) What does your department do to promote peaceful resolutions of
conflicts and serious issues?
(b) Are you aware of your department's grievance policy?
Sample survey responses:
- (a) I haven't had a conflict, so I don't know what our department would do. (b) I am
not aware of the grievance policy.
- (a) They offer help, but will allow you to come to some resolution on your own if
that is what you prefer. (b) Not really
- (a) Don't know. (b) No.
- (a) I am not sure. (b) I am not sure.
12. "How does your department help you in evaluating your academic
progress/professional development each year?
- The faculty hold meetings twice a year to discuss the progress of each student
in the department. The students then get letters describing areas in which they are doing
well or need improvement. The student advisors give more regular feedback on the student’s success.
13. Do you receive any feedback from you advisor/DGS on an annual basis?
- First year students chose advisors at the end of the fall semester. All other students receive feedback from their advisors on a regular basis. Each advisor has a different level of involvement, so the frequency at which students get feedback may range from daily to every couple months.
Philosophy Best Practices
There weren't a lot of responses in our department, but here goes...
1. What aspects of your department's recruitment process convinced you to come to ND?
Bringing us on for an on-campus visit was extremely helpful.
2. How did your department's orientation program prepare you for life at ND?
It mainly prepares us for life in the philosophy department.
4. In regard to serving as a TA - how does your department prepare you for your TA duties?
We all attend the Kaneb center workshop. Most profs also schedule regular or semi-regular meetings with their TAs to make sure all TAs are on the same page and to allow TAs an opportunity to discuss problems and teaching techniques.
6. Teaching your own course - does your department offer ample opportunities for this & how do they decide who teaches and what they teach?
Yes, not only are we offered opportunities, the opportunities are requirements. We all teach Introduction to Philosophy to start out, which is sufficiently broad that you can focus on anything in philosophy. We are given a lot of flexibility. If we want to teach something other than Intro, our request can often be accommodated.
7. Conferences - how does your department support conference presentations and attendance?
With money, which is effective. Our department secretaries and faculty members are good about forwarding fliers that let us know what conferences are going on at other univerisities.
10. How does your department communicate important information to you - especially at the last minute - email, letters, and posters in department common areas?
All of the above. E-mail is particularly effective.
Psychology Best Practices
1. What aspects of your department's recruitment process convinced you to come to ND?
I was impressed by the student poster session. And just the
information about the program (e.g., the quant opportunities, students
weren't thrown into teaching without TAing and feeling comfortable
with being and Instructor of Record)
3. How does your department determine what graduate seminars it will offer each semester?
Availability and willingness of faculty.
4. In regard to serving as a TA - how does your department prepare you for your TA duties?
Recommended the Kaneb Center and I spoke with my advisor and the
instructor for whom I was TAing.
7. Conferences - how does your department support conference presentations and
attendance?
Our department is very supportive of conference presentations. This is
great!
> 8. (a) Professional development – Academic: how does your department
> (advisor)
> prepare you for the rigours of academia? OR
They offered a academic writing course taught by a postdoc that was
somewhat helpful. They have in the past offered grant writing courses.
There are also graduate student meetings in which faculty discuss
different academic issues.
> 9. Does your department have a student organization? If so, what is
> its role?
There are students that are part of
faculty organizations and their job it to represent the rest of the
students and report back to the rest of the students. Other student
groups are to help each other prepare for prelims or other reading
groups. Then there are program groups that students can present
research to other students. And there are the graduate meetings.
Best Practices: - Many
Best Practices:
- Many people noted the guaranteed funding/good fellowships as a big determining factor in their decision to attend ND.
- One student thought the department does a good job in pairing students and faculty based on the students' research interest. During the recruiting weekend, the students have a chance to meet with every faculty member in their engineering emphasis (structural, environmental, geosciences). This gives the students a chance to ask questions and also express interest in a research group.
- One student mentioned that he/she never had any problems receiving travel funds. I know our department has two terms/year in which students can apply for travel funding. Usually, funding is only granted to those who are making oral presentations.
- As Caitlyn mentioned, our department has pizza lunches to update us on faculty searches, answer questions, and take comments/suggestions. The department director of graduate studies and department chair attend.
- Once a month, a student organizes "happy hour" at 4:00 on Friday. The department pays for the snacks.
- While this is very dependent upon the advisor, students are generally happy with the accessibility of their advisors.
Could Be Better Practices
- Students would like more information on masters requirements. They feel masters information is not as well publicized as the PhD's.
- The departmental orientation could use a campus tour.
- The class offerings are limited.
- We need geology seminars.
- Professional development is lacking.
- People were unaware of the grievance policy. However, as one of the respondents mentioned, he/she has not needed to know it.
Kelly Martin
Department Representative for Civil Engineering and Geological Sciences
Recruitment, Seminars and More!
To add to the discussion, here are a few things that Civil Engineering and Geological Sciences Department does well.
-During recruitment, we try to give prospective students a sense for housing options available on and off campus. We also take them for meals at local restaurants. I really think this gives students an opportunity to get acquainted with the South Bend area.
-At least once a year, if not once a semester, the DGS and department chair gather CEGEOS grad students for a pizza lunch with the intention of discussing complaints, confusions and dispelling rumors. The graduate students are free to speak openly, but the grad students also collect comments anonymously before the meeting for anyone who doesn't feel comfortable sharing their issues or questions.
-This is more something my adviser does than my department. My adviser shares part of the responsibility of organizing seminar speakers. He always sends those speakers to lunch with graduate students who do research related to the speaker's field. This gives graduate students an opportunity to converse with the seminar speakers in a small group.
-Caitlyn Shea, GSU co-VP
Some Feedback from Poli Sci
1. What aspects of your department's recruitment process convinced you to come to ND?
Having Catherine and Michael Zuckert helped, as did positive word of mouth from previous PhD students here. The campus visit sold me. The placement record and emphasis on a solid background in a second field also convinced me.
Primarily having the opportunity to meet with all the faculty in my field, but also having the chance to meet a large number of graduate students and having all expenses for the trip covered.
2. How did your department's orientation program prepare you for life at ND?
Not much. But I don't think much was necessary.
I don't remember the orientation program being of great value.
4. In regard to serving as a TA - how does your department prepare you for your TA duties?
Mostly by referring us to the Kaneb center which is fine, but I gained more by having good professors under whom I TA'ed.
The department does not specifically do anything to prepare me for my TA duties; that job seems to be left up to the various professors.
5. In regard to research - how does your department promote/reward research?
Grants for student-faculty collaborative research.Occasional recognition of publications. Strong, strong support for conference travel.
Holding seminars, making it a condition for summer funding, DYFs, and evaluation.
6. Teaching your own course - does your department offer ample opportunities for this & how do they decide who teaches and what they teach?
The decision process is very vague and seems to me to be at the whim of the undergraduate administrators who are hostile to my subfield--not in themselves (though some surely are) but who don't think that undergrads like it. More clarity in this would be appreciated, especially now that non-ABD students are allowed to teach courses through the "Gender Studies" program.
7. Conferences - how does your department support conference presentations and attendance?
Absolutely perfectly.
By reimbursing most of the cost of attending conferences
8. (a) Professional development - Academic: how does your department (advisor) > prepare you for the rigours of academia? OR
(b) How does your department help those who wish to seek careers outside academia?
I can't speak to the latter. I think we're given a strong basis for success in terms of an academic background. I'm not sure we're as solid in terms of practical concerns: Few students publish independently. I am not sure the department weighs in on our behalf as strongly as they could on various job fronts. And I don't think the University gives adequate support in this endeavor (e.g., replacing Career Services with Interfolio). My advisor, and various faculty members, have always given good and helpful advice.
9. Does your department have a student organization? If so, what is its role?
Primarily social, with occasional and generally unfruitful attempts to be professional.
Yes, and its primary role seems to be the organizing of social functions.
10. How does your department communicate important information to you - especially at the last minute - email, letters, and posters in department common areas?
Too often at the last minute, thanks primarily to certain individuals in the graduate program. Generally via e-mail with occasional postings in the mailroom.
Mostly by e-mail.
Academia and Industry Forums
One of the mechanical engineering seminars involves a forum of people who work in academia, and another of their seminars involves a forum of people who work in industry; this way, students can see pros and cons of each type of career.
Writing a grant proposal
In one class in the Mechanical Engineering Department, students write a grant proposal as one of their homework assignments. This project gives students an exposure to one aspect of working as a professor at a university.
This conference will address
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Best Practices Survey
Our secretaries always send out last minutes reminders to seminars and other events to help boost attendance.
-Tam Chantem, GSU Co-VP, Computer Science & Engineering