|
|
Welcome to 2021Ringing in a New Year frequently brings bouts of optimism and this especially appears to be the case judging from the good riddance 2020 items that dominated advertisements. However, my teenage children have aptly reminded me the challenges of 2020 still remain. Sigh, reality tells me they are correct. I imagine there are many of us trying to balance optimism with the uncertainty that remains.
Importantly, I’d like to congratulate all of you for surviving the Fall 2020 semester. This is a heroic accomplishment! All of you experienced challenges, some more than others, please know that I recognize the extra efforts you had to make to meet these challenges. I understand it may feel daunting to gear up for another semester of the same situation. There are resources to help, please reach out to me, your graduate program leadership, and/or your peers for assistance.
Key elements as we enter the Spring semester:
- Instruction will begin in Stage 1, which is in-person instruction for essential courses only.
- Required weekly testing for those on campus, register for a test at https://covid19.arizona.edu/covid19-testing. For more information on mandatory testing see https://covid19.arizona.edu/mandatory-testing
- If an individual is traveling into Tucson from outside Pima County, it is strongly recommended to observe a 7-day self-quarantine. During this self-quarantine, students should only leave their residence to attend essential classes, attend work, care for family members, or to obtain food, medical care, or medications.
- Everyone has to re-enroll in the Wildcat Daily Well Check, text “join” to 35106. This will be required to complete and will be utilized in the testing registration and reporting process.
- University of Arizona researchers Drs. Jill Williams and Stephanie Murphy are conducting a study to understand STEM student experiences of COVID-19 and how the pandemic is affecting their persistence and success in STEM. Please complete the survey at https://uarizona.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_3UjGlEUVBnjRAsR
- President Robbins announced on Friday (1/8) that the University will be a COVID-19 vaccination site for individuals who qualify under Phase 1B. Please watch for email communications for registration information.
Lastly, I’d like to reiterate that one of my most important jobs is to support all of you. Burn-out is real and can happen to any of us. Your voice is important and your feedback is valued. In the first few weeks of the semester, I would love to hear how it is going. Here’s your menu of ways to convey that message:
Take care and stay healthy,
Kirsten
Your Assistant Dean for Graduate Education
| |
|
Data Science Ambassador Program
The Data Science Ambassador (DSA) program is hosted by the UA Data Science Institute. Each year, ambassadors are selected to support and foster data science literacy in their respective college. CALS Ambassadors serve as a resource to help researchers and educators with data science related questions.
For more information and/or to apply to the DSA program, see: https://datascience.arizona.edu/ambassadors
| |
CALS 2020/21 Data Science Ambassadors
| |
A main goal of DSAs is to help the CALS community find resources they need to conduct amazing research. Check out a few of the many UA data science resources below:
| |
Survey: Data Science Literacy
Attention CALS undergraduate and graduate students:
Please help the CALS Data Science Ambassadors collect information about data science literacy within CALS by filling out THIS SURVEY! Filling out this 2-minute survey form automatically enters you into a raffle for a $30 Visa gift card
Survey link: https://forms.gle/ekx53dhbEkVx88Nw9
| |
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)
The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) offers unpaid, job-protected leave to graduate students for one of the following reasons:
- for the birth and care of the newborn child of an employee;
- for placement with the employee of a child for adoption or foster care;
- to care for an immediate family member (spouse, child, or parent) with a serious health condition; or
- to take medical leave when the employee is unable to work because of a serious health condition
| |
- EIS student, Rebecca Howes, received the EIS Leadership Award for efforts in creating student community, plan (safe) activities, and welcome new students in the middle of a pandemic.
- EIS student, Greg Chism, received the EIS Education Award for serving a critical role in the Graduate College's NSF GRFP Development team, and mentored undergrad and high school students in research, and was very active in outreach, including but not limited to Insect Discovery.
- EIS student, Davide Bergamaschi, received the EIS Education Award for involvement in both in-person and online delivery of outreach in the spring version of Insect Discovery, mentored undergraduates, and partnered with Wendy Moore in the fall to deliver an innovative, hybrid in-person/online version of Insect Systematics.
- ENVS student, Lydia Jennings, was interviewed by Nature regarding lessons learned by researchers during the pandemic https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-03521-9
- BE student, Bekah Waller, was one of six graduate students at the University of Arizona to be selected to receive the annual Louise Foucar Marshall Foundation Dissertation Fellowship which helps Arizona graduate students complete their doctoral dissertation. Bekah's application was selected based on her topic, methodology, and potential contribution her research will provide
- ENVS student, Cyrus Smith, is being recognized this month for the initiative he has demonstrated in pursuance of an MS degree, working diligently and often independently prior to and throughout the COVID quarantine, and for his dedication as a Teaching Assistant
| |
Have a suggestion for the next Cause for Applause?
Have a suggestion for the next Cause for Applause? See someone deserving of recognition? Just because we are socially distancing, doesn’t mean we can’t celebrate achievements. Send your suggestions to Kirsten Limesand (limesank@arizona.edu) by the last Tuesday of each month.
| |
Trainings on How to be a Mentor
During the Fall 2019 semester, I met with individuals from all CALS affiliated graduate programs to listen to the concerns of graduate students. Each Master the Month messenger will include an update from one of these topics because transparency and accountability are core values to me.
I would be no where without the guidance and time commitment of the dozens of individuals who have served a mentorship role in my professional life. There have also been experiences along my career that have helped me make a list of things I will never do to a trainee. I am grateful for both the positive and negative experiences, albeit it takes a little more time and perspective to be grateful for negative experiences.
Despite being a faculty member for 15 years, I still have improvements I can make in my mentoring of others. In that spirit, I am fully vested in the feedback of improving the graduate student mentoring experience.
So far, these are the activities in the mentorship area:
- “Let’s Talk Mentoring”: Last semester we hosted 3 brown bag lunch discussions to gather input on a series of questions about mentoring. Notes from these sessions can be found at https://docs.google.com/document/d/1LLUmpGM_FbZDIbejkH4ltwX9DYqvJO7Nh8VQcjb7yVM/edit?usp=sharing. This semester, I plan on gathering input from the CALS Graduate Student Council on the goals and outputs that should be a priority. Stay tuned for email announcements on discussions set for later this semester.
- A handbook for managing mentoring programs: starting, supporting and sustaining effective mentoring by Laura Gail Lunsford was highly recommended to me by a colleague. If you use the library website you can read it online for free. Although I am only partly through the book, I feel I can highly recommend it to others.
- Last semester we started some conversations with the Indige-FEWSS program to discuss training in Indigenous Mentoring Practices. Stay tuned for email announcements on this important series.
- The Graduate College is piloting a program called The Effective Mentoring of Minoritized and Under-Represented Students Seeking Doctorates. This semester-long program is aimed at developing and enhancing effective mentoring for BIPOC (Black/Brown and Indigenous People of Color) doctoral students. I have applied to be in the initial cohort of this program and I hope to be able to share what I learn with the graduate program directors and coordinators in the College.
My ultimate goal is to cultivate a culture of mentorship in CALS. I hope to gain insight from a majority of you along the journey of accomplishing this vision.
| |
January Monthly Observations
- National Mentoring Month: This was an easy choice, mentoring is near and dear to me. In addition to planning the next series of “Let’s Talk Mentoring” sessions (see You spoke, I listened segment above), I’m adding activities to improve my own mentoring If you would like to be a mentor in your community, see http://www.nationalmentoringmonth.org/ to get started.
- National Blood Donor Month: Growing up in the rural Midwest, I remember by parents donating blood on a frequent basis. It’s almost embarrassing to admit that I haven’t donated since I was an undergrad. Millions of people including cancer patients, organ recipients, and victims of accidents; rely on blood donations. This is my reminder to contact the American Red Cross and set up an appointment.
| |
Happening This Month
Graduate Center programs Career Forward Sprint and Career Advising
| |
Graduate Writing Institute (GWI): The GWI helps graduate students complete advanced research projects, articles for publication, grant and research proposals, conference presentations, theses, and dissertations. Applications will open March 2021. For more information see https://wsip.arizona.edu/program/graduate-writing-institute
Grad Slam Presentation Competition (learn more and register at http://bit.ly/UAGradSlam). Information sessions January 27 through February 24, Online via Zoom
- January 27, 9 AM to 10 AM
- February 9, 4 PM to 5 PM
- February 22, 12 PM to 1 PM
- February 25: Registration Deadline
Are you interested in learning more about teaching at the college level, working and communicating with adult learners, or exploring the scholarship of teaching and learning? These courses can be taken individually OR as part of the Certificate in College Teaching.
- IA 597: Mindful Teaching and Learning, Tuesdays 11 am - 12:15 pm Live Online! This class is designed to provide practical application of current research about Mindfulness in teaching. Course themes and activities focus on: defining mindfulness and contemplative pedagogy, historical and cultural origins, scholarship surrounding and supporting mindful teaching, choosing, planning, facilitating, and assessing basic mindful teaching strategies, strategies for the online classroom and other trends in mindful teaching in higher education.
- IA 680: Classroom Assessment, Asynchronous Online! A comprehensive review of the literature on classroom assessment strategies and methods as related to course design, measurement of student learning outcomes, and examination of instructional methods and practices. Emphasis will be placed on interpretation of assessment as the definer of the curricular design process as well as the practical application of classroom and online methods that effectively assess student and course success.
- IA 697a: Learner-Centered Teaching, Tuesdays 2:00 – 4:00 pm Live Online! This course provides a foundation in learner-centered teaching, and includes scholarship of college-level teaching and learning, approaches course and lesson design, techniques to implement and assess active and collaborative learning, and development of reflective teaching practices. Appropriate for anyone interested in learning more about college-level teaching or adult education.
| |
FFAR Fellows program (.pdf): Graduate students in our top universities spend years honing their research capabilities. Yet, the keys to success include mastering the essential soft skills: Dealing with interpersonal conflict, understanding and managing different communication styles and ways of working, accepting and giving appropriate and useful feedback, truly listening and communicating to various publics. For more information: ffarfellows.org
The Graduate College Diversity Team sponsors Weekly Grad Chats that take place each Tuesday from 4:00 to 5:00 PM. To learn more about Grad Chats, click here.
| |
NIH Office of Intramural Training and Education Resilience Series and Programing: Offering a series of webinars and small group discussions focused on helping undergraduate students, postbacs, graduate students and postdoctoral fellows in the sciences develop the resilience needed to thrive in high-knowledge environments. Trainees can register for the webinars using the links below or they can visit our website (https://www.training.nih.gov) and check under “upcoming events”. Trainees who participate in the webinar or who watch the webinar online at another time, are welcome to participate in the small group discussions. Groups will be held each Monday and Tuesday one week following the webinar. Trainees who complete five of the small groups and who participate in, or watch, all of the webinars will receive a certificate upon completion of the series. The series topics and dates are listed below:
| |
|
|
|
|
