Mentoring Week
"The successful development of graduate students into independent
scholars is highly dependent on the quality of the mentoring they receive,"
said Dean Jon Butler when he announced that the week of October 29 would be "Mentoring
Week" at the Graduate School. Directors of graduate studies held seminars,
panels, and informal discussions within their departments on the importance of
guiding and encouraging students. Workshops were organized to explore ways to
evaluate and improve mentoring techniques. The high point of the week came on
November 1 with a guest lecture by Kathy Barker, hosted by the Graduate Student
Assembly. Barker has lectured extensively on how to direct a research lab and
train students and postdoctoral fellows. She is the author of At the Helm: A
Laboratory Navigator (Cold Spring
Harbor Press, 1998) and At the Bench: A Laboratory Navigator (Cold Spring Harbor Press, 2005), handbooks that
explain how research groups work at the human level and how a newcomer can
succeed in a life-science laboratory.
Writing Initiatives
This year the Graduate School is reprising past successes and offering
new activities designed to help students succeed in their academic writing. The
Graduate School now has five graduate-student writing tutors, one from each
division and two with ESL training. They are available to assist with the
challenges of seminar papers, dissertations, and other writing tasks.
Back by popular demand, Dissertation Boot Camp was offered over the
course of two autumn weekends, September 29-30 and November 10-11.
This intense but stress-free program is designed for students in the process of
writing their dissertations, especially those who are within a few months of
completion. Fellows in the Office of Graduate Career Services, under the
guidance of Victoria Blodgett, organized these communal laptop marathons.
Drinks and snacks, including lunch and dinner, are provided; cell phones and
kibitzers are proscribed. Writing tutors are on hand whenever necessary to
offer one-on-one help. Also this fall, Assistant Dean Robert Harper-Mangels led
a grant-writing workshop in September, offering guidance on how to apply for
(and win) science fellowships and research funds from the NSF.
Join the company of scholars
Astrophysicist Meg Urry is the next faculty member to give a talk as
part of the dean's lecture series, "In the Company of Scholars." Urry, the
Israel Munson Professor of Physics and Astronomy and chair of the physics
department, will speak about "Black Holes, Galaxies, and the Evolution of the
Universe" on December 3 in the Hall of Graduate Studies. "In the Company of
Scholars" invites a faculty member to explain his or her research in a way that
is understandable to a general audience. Future talks in the series: Leon
Plantinga, the Henry L. & Lucy G. Moses Professor Emeritus of Music, will
present "Music and the Industrial Revolution" on February 26, 2008; and on
April 8, Benjamin Polak, professor of economics and management, will speak on "Game
Theory for Humanists."
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