Invest in Your Future, Summer Edition: A Graduate Success Symposium to be Held May 23-24

Looking to use your summer productively, but aren't sure where to start? Need a primer on resources available to you as a GradTerp? Join the Graduate School on May 23-24, 2017 in Stamp Student Union for networking and interactive, hands-on sessions to help you make this summer count! Our program features three tracks: Academic Success, Wellness, and Career & Professional Development, but participants can mix and match to best meet their needs and interests. Join us for one or both days!

This event is free, but space is limited. Register now online. Please register by May 15, 2017

Do you require any accommodations to participate in this event? UMD welcomes participants with disabilities. To request accommodations needed to participate in this event, contact Susan Martin, smarti18@umd.edu, no later than May 12, 2017.

 (Schedule subject to change.)

TUESDAY 5/23

SESSION 1:

Preparing to Teach in AY 2017-2018 : Teaching next year for the first time and not sure where to start your planning?  Or teaching again next year and want to make some changes and adjustments?  During this session, representatives from TLTC and the Graduate Teaching Fellows program will lead us through some exercises designed to help you be thoughtful about planning your syllabus.  We’ll consider how to use previous classroom experiences to design your next course and how to apply techniques of backward design to your course preparation.

Avoiding Procrastination: There are strategic reasons to delay work on your thesis or dissertation—and then there’s procrastination.  Procrastination, a common concern for graduate students, is correlated with increased stress.  Join Michael Gale and Dr. Kimberly Bethea of the Counseling Center’s Learning Assistance Service to learn methods for understanding the causes of your procrastination and methods for overcoming it so you can get back to work.  

Bringing Career and Professional Development Events to your Graduate Student Group:  This session is ideally for executive board members of graduate student organizations, but anyone interested in bringing more career and professional development topics to their graduate student organization is welcome to attend. Topics covered: 1) engaging career related program ideas, 2) ideas for increasing attendance at organization meetings 3) involving alumni from your program, 4) leveraging departmental and other campus resources. 

SESSION 2:

How to Apply for a Fulbright (Francis Duvinage, UMD National Scholarships Office): The Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government and is designed to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries. Fulbright Scholars study, teach and conduct research, exchange ideas and contribute to finding solutions to shared international concerns. Over 160 countries actively participate in the Fulbright Program. The application process begins 18 months in advance. The August 1, 2017 application deadline is for AY 2018-2019 Fulbrighters. Plan ahead and learn more about the possibility of becoming a Fulbright Scholar!

Staying Healthy for a Productive Summer: Summer is finally here! You promised yourself that this summer you will get healthy, get productive, and achieve all those things may have languished on the back burners during the past semester.  But where to start?  How do you take care of yourself, eat well, develop good habits and pattern for a productive summer and beyond?  Join Sarah Wilson (Coordinator of Health and Wellness) and Jane Jakubczak (Coordinator of Nutrition Services) of the University Health Center for advice, resources, and discussion on self-care and good nutrition.

Summer Destination: Creating and Implementing Your Personal Career Plan :  This session provides a useful overview of professional development and career planning strategies for graduate students. You will leave with a timeline of recommended professional development tasks, a list of online career tools and resources that you can explore this summer. This session focuses on small, realistic steps you can use how now and in the future to identify and land great jobs and remain fulfilled in your career.

SESSION 3:

National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship Information Session (Francis Duvinage, UMD National Scholarships Office): The NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (NSF GRFP) is the largest and one of the most prestigious awards available to support graduate studies toward Ph.D.’s in science, math, engineering, and social/behavioral fields. The NSF award provides 3 years of support, with an annual stipend of $34,000. You can learn more about the NSF award at www.nsfgrfp.org.   Students may apply TWICE for the NSF GRFP - once before starting graduate studies, and once during the first two years of graduate study.  To be eligible to apply for an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship, you must be a US citizen or Permanent Resident.  Deadlines to apply will be in late October 2017. Planning early give you your best chance of success!

Mindful Coping: Graduate school poses many challenges, and sometimes you need help coping with all the demands.  Join Dr. Carlton Green of the Counseling Center to learn how habits of mindfulness can help you cope with worry, anxiety, and the day-to-day demands of being a graduate student.

Identifying Your Career Options- A Road map for those in the Humanities & Social Sciences :  Graduate students develop and possess many highly sought after skills that can be applied to a variety of career paths in and outside of academia. This workshop will enable you to identify the unique set of things that you do well. You will also learn how to justify to employers that you have these transferable skills that can be applied to positions in different industries.

WEDNESDAY-  5/24

SESSION 1:

Finding Opportunities: Important Tips for International Students: Come and learn from Dr. Amitava Gangopadhyay’s journey from his PhD in Geology to a consulting career in big data! After a brief presentation, there will be time for Q & A. Additional information and tips for international students about how to proactively manage their own career path and the transitions associated with Optional Practical Training.

Successful conferencing: from proposing to attending (Fellows from the Writing Center): Graduate students are encouraged to attend conferences--but exactly how do you do that?   How do you write a conference proposal, where do your travel funds come from, and how do you network once you are at the conference?  Come ask a panel of graduate students offer guidance about how to “conference,” from proposing to attending.

Pursuit of Happiness:  We all want to be happy, and summer is the perfect time to find happiness.  Join Dr. Noah Collins of the Counseling Center to discuss research findings about factors related to happiness and creating more positive emotion in your life.

SESSION 2:

Sharing your research with public audiences: Writing for an academic audience is necessary for graduate school and an academic career.  Sharing your research with a broader public audience requires different moves--and has different impact.  Join GS Writing Center director Dr. Linda Macri to discuss and practice what to consider when shifting your writing from one audience to another.

Job Searches for Graduate Students: What are the most effective job search techniques? How should you be spending your “job search” time each week? Come to this session to learn more about what really works? Leave with a plan for how you are going to do some job searching during this summer. This session is followed by a private lunch with Dr. Brad Conrad, Director, Society of Physics Students and Sigma Pi Sigma, which is a member organization affiliated with the American Institute of Physics.

SESSION 3:

Getting Involved and Staying Connected to Campus and Community (GSL and GSG):  Creating community across campus is easier when you know where to look. Join the office of Graduate Student Life (GSL) and the Graduate Student Government (GSG) as we delve into different opportunities that are available to meet other grads and find community. GSL seeks to provide programs that help create a tangible graduate student campus community- organizing everything from Graduate Student Kickoff and Graduate Student Appreciation Week, to family events like the Halloween Party.  GSG specializes in advocacy- you can volunteer to serve in paid and unpaid positions, as well as coordinate and fund events within your department or between different units on campus. Together we can help support and entertain Grad Students of ALL AGES.

To post-doc or not to post-doc: This panel session will provide graduate students the opportunity to find out about how various UMD postdocs navigated from graduate school to a postdoctoral researcher. Panelists will discuss identifying postdocs, transitioning from graduate student to independent research, why they chose a postdoc and how life has been. The panelists are from across campus including the social sciences.

Summer Destination: Strategically Preparing for Your Academic Job Search: Start early and be proactive by learning more about how to be a competitive candidate for an academic position. This session will provide an overview of the academic job search process that will complement what learn from your mentors. General information about timelines and a variety of documents involved in a typical academic search will be covered.