oh, the places you'll go...

In the spirit of graduation, and in revisiting a book by Dr. Seuss, seeing it through my daughter's eyes, I want to share a story with you.

Many of you have probably heard some, if not all, of this story at a graduation event. It was more likely your high school graduation, or the high school graduation of a sibling, but a few years back it became popular to read excerpts from Dr. Seuss' Oh, the Places You'll Go! in lieu of a graduation speech. It really is a great story that my daughter requests fairly often as her bedtime story of choice. Having now read it many times, I am amazed each time at how the story reminds me of the trials and tribulations of graduate school. 

Here's my "interpretation" of the story as the story of graduate school:

In the beginning, you're just getting started. Possibilities are limitless. You're ahead of many of your classmates -- you're going to grad school! 

But then...you're still in grad school. They've gotten jobs, gotten married, bought houses, had children. They've passed you by...now you're "in a Slump."

And when you're in a Slump
you're not in for much fun.
Un-slumping yourself
is not easily done.***

You'll end up in the "waiting place" where people are just waiting. It may be waiting for the universe to provide you with some direction. Is grad school really for you? What are you going to do when you're done? When will my adviser get my reviewed chapters back to me? Just...waiting. 

But you'll get out of the waiting place and make progress. You'll finish your coursework. Present your research. Finish your comps. And then comes writing your dissertation...

All Alone!
Whether you like it or not,
Alone will be something
you'll be quite a lot.
...
There are some [things], down the road between hither and yon,
that can scare you so much that you wont want to go on.

But on you will go...

And will you succeed?
Yes! You will, indeed!
(98 and 3/4 percent guaranteed.)

You'll keep right on working, you'll get through your Slump. You'll get your chapters written, get your committee in a room, and YOU'LL DEFEND YOUR THESIS!

You'll graduate! You'll walk with all the rest of the students with your family proudly cheering you on, all of you relieved that you've finally graduated! At one college graduation, one mom expressed what every graduate student (and their families) was thinking, "Thank you, Lord!"

Even if you're not graduating this semester, it might be worth attending commencement. Envision yourself walking across the stage, shaking hands with the Dean of your college, being hooded by your major professor, moving on to the next great thing in your life. Singing (or at least humming along to) the U of A Alma Mater. 

So...
be your name Buxbaum or Bixby or Bray
or Mordecai Ali Van Allen O'Shea,
you're off to Great Places!
Today is your day!
Your mountain (dissertation) is waiting
So...get on your way! 
  
Do yourself a favor and buy a copy and read the whole thing yourself. Even better, buy it as a future graduation gift for yourself. You deserve it. I'll see some of you at graduation in a few weeks. 

- Dawn

***Editor's Note: All italicized text (with a few liberties taken by the blog author)  represents quotes of passages from:
Geisel, T.S. 1990. Oh, the Places You'll Go! Random House, Inc.: New York, New York.

earth day...being a "green" graduate student

As many of you have heard, with announcements of all kinds of activities all over Northwest Arkansas next week, Monday, April 22nd is Earth Day. In the spirit of Earth Day, I thought I would share some ways you too can be a "green" graduate student, and what you can do with old papers - that looked really promising based on the title, but ended up being completely useless, printed drafts of your dissertation/thesis/proposal, old user manuals that are hundreds of pages long, but now there's a new version...old bills, and all the other papers we accumulate as graduate students. 

For those papers you need to shred:

I recommend shredding all papers that have identifying information like old bills, copies of your resume/cv, or anything that you feel like purging out of your environment. So once they're shredded, what do you do with them?

• Recycle - you can always recycle them. White paper recycled at the University goes to a good place to be reborn as more white paper.
• Use as packing material - either put it in the box directly (if you really don't like someone) or you can put it in some old newspaper sleeves or other plastic bags first. It's great to cushion packages or fill empty space to keep things from moving around.
• Mulch - Shredded paper is a great mulch for your garden. I recommend a layer under a layer of more traditional mulch, but it helps suppress weed growth and keeps moisture in. Keep in mind that you want to only use shredded paper that is not printed with toxic inks...I usually use newspaper just to be on the safe side
• Cat litter - I know people who use shredded documents as cat litter. It's free and no one will want to try to steal your information from small bits of paper used by a cat for toilet paper
• For parties - shredded paper, especially the cross-cut kind, makes great confetti. Mix it up with a few pieces of colored paper to make it pretty
• Make your own paper - soak shredded paper in water, break it up into water and pulp, screen out the pulp, press out the water, let it dry and voila! recycled paper. 

For papers you don't need to shred:

• Paper airplane competitions - Get your fellow grad students together and let the competition begin. See how far you can get your paper airplane to go and do a bunch of research online on the best construction. (Go ahead and file this under "green procrastination.") The person who loses has to buy a case of Ramen Noodles for the lab. Recycle airplanes when finished.
• Gift wrapping/wrapping paper - I have a good friend who used drafts of her thesis to wrap her Christmas presents for her family...in case you were wondering what I've been working on for the past five years...
• More advanced origami - create cranes out of old documents to make peace with the previous draft of your proposal, the more red ink from your advisor, the prettier they look. Legend states that if someone makes 1000 cranes, their wish will come true. (Perhaps the opposite is true for graduate students, but you can send some paper and instructions to family members who share the dream of you graduating...) You can also make boxes and other origami creations to decorate your office. 
• Make pots for starting seeds - wrap a few pieces of paper around a toilet paper tube to create a small pot. Put seed starting soil in the pot and then plant your seeds. We do this with newspaper every year. 

Papers you don't want in your life:
 
The other option is always a bonfire (or just a burning party) with friends. (Once again be careful here...some inks could potentially be toxic...and we're talking about fire here.) This is also not the most earth friendly idea, but sometimes you need to release something back to the universe. Have everyone bring along a few documents that they no longer want creating negativity for them. Burning certain documents that I had saved helped me remove the reminder of something that didn't go well - or represented something stressful - from my personal space, and released the bad energy. We used it as kindling for a small fire in a fire bowl and then roasted marshmallows. I thought it was the perfect way to turn something bad into something good.

IMPORTANT NOTE/DISCLAIMER: Always check weather conditions before doing a burn of any kind. Dry conditions and/or windy conditions are not ideal. You don't want to attempt to rid yourself of negativity to end up with an even worse experience to remind you of it...Always use a fire pit or another container designed for fires and have something nearby like a hose or fire extinguisher just in case...

There are a lot of really cool events that are going on during the week of Earth Day on the University of Arkansas campus, throughout Fayetteville and Northwest Arkansas. Get out, enjoy the good weather, and learn at least one new thing that you can do to help the environment while you're at it...and don't forget to stop by the Fayetteville Farmer's Market on Saturday morning to support our local farmers, bakers, and other creative folk.

Happy weekend everyone...and Happy Earth Day!

~~~

Coming soon: 

I'm in the process of reading a book called So What Are You Going to Do with That?: Finding Careers Outside Academia, by Susan Basalla and Maggie Debelius. As a career counselor for graduate students, I realize that some students aspire to join the ranks as tenure-track faculty, and others have decided that the "ivory tower" is not the path they want to follow. The text takes us through the experiences of others who have advanced degrees and chose a different post-degree path. I should have a review for you in the next few weeks. So far, I'm really enjoying it. It's a fairly quick read (which is always good for graduate students) and only $9.06 on Amazon right now. You might want to pick up a copy...

- D.

looking ahead to summer...

I just gave a "Finding a Job After Graduation" seminar to a group of engineering graduate students yesterday. The focus was on finding an academic position, but much of what I discussed - breaking down the keywords in the position announcement, researching the institution, finding out about the community where you would be living - is very similar to what you need to do if searching for a non-academic position.

So, for those of you who are interested in entering academia after graduation and looking for that most-elusive tenure track faculty position, I have some advice on what to do this summer to prepare for "application season."

Preparing for Application Season
1. Update your CV

Haven't looked at your CV since your undergrad years? Was it still just in it's "resume" stage? Still waiting for that caterpillar to turn into a beautiful butterfly? Have no idea what I'm talking about when I say CV? 

CV stands for curriculum vitae. Basically, your life's work. Your resume (1 - 2 pages, max) on steroids (or fattened up depending on how you look at it). I recommend having a document where you compile everything you've ever done, no matter how trivial you think it may be, and keep one document that is your CV-ALL. Keep it updated regularly, and even if you're not sure if something should be in there, put it in anyway. For example, your section on "presentations" should not only include presentations, but any guest lectures you've done while your advisor was out of town, or course modules you taught. It could include presentations to elementary or high school student groups about your research. Think outside the box. You can always pare it down and tailor it better at a later date. 

Make sure you do not leave out what I call Leadership/Service. Institutions that hire you are looking for a well rounded person who can contribute outside of the department as well. You most likely will be required to in the form of "service." You will need to serve on committees addressing faculty and campus issues, and most institutions are focused on their link to the local community. If you've done volunteer work, served as an officer for a student (or national) organization, that's important. You're more than just your research. If your research is up to par and your educational background meets their needs, then they'll want to know if you'll get along with their faculty. Every person who reads your CV will be looking for a way to relate to you. 

2. Draft your statements of research and teaching interests

Most faculty positions you'll apply for will be asking for a cover letter, CV, references, and then most will ask for either a statement of teaching interests (or teaching philosophy) or a statement of research interests...or both. If it's a school focused on teaching excellence, they may not ask for a research statement, but most research-focused programs will still ask for a statement of teaching interests. 

I say draft for a very good reason. Each of your application materials (except for your transcripts...for obvious reasons) should be tailored to the school/institution/organization where you're applying. In your statement of teaching interests you should discuss some of the courses they offer that you'd feel comfortable teaching. In your statement of research interests, you should discuss labs/resources on their campus that you're interested in working in, what faculty you'd look forward to collaborating with, etc. 

3. Draft a cover letter***

This is a little more tricky and I recommend this with some trepidation. WHEN YOU START APPLYING FOR POSITIONS, DO NOT SEND A FORM LETTER. Whew. I'm glad I got that out of my system. Your cover letter is the document that is most tailored to the position you're applying for. It will be based strongly on what they've stated in their position announcement. Are they focused on research? Highlight your research background. Are they focused on excellence in teaching? Focus on your classroom experience and your interactions with students. Show them that you did research about their institution. You might want to address any discrepancies between what they're looking for in the position, and your experiences, what you might be lacking, and how you would remedy that, or what else you can "bring to the table." You can address disconnects in your CV...perhaps you started in a completely different major...and how that makes you able to bring a unique perspective to the position/department. Above all GIVE THEM THE INFORMATION AND THE DOCUMENTS THEY ASK FOR.

Your cover letter is your ticket to their short list for an interview. Make it amazing, and get an interview. Send a form letter, don't write the letter for the position posted, have typos and poor grammar, and it's a quick trip to the discard pile. 

4. Get to know yourself...

Before you even think about applying for any kind of position, you need to know yourself and answer the following questions:

• How flexible are you?

Are you willing to move across the country? Are you willing to take a post-doc position (or two) that will last one to two years before you have to move again? Do you need to make sure that a significant other will have a job that s/he can take where you move?

• What type of institution do you want to work for?

In the land of academia, do you want to work at a large research-focused institution, a small liberal arts college (SLAC), a community college, or something in between? Why? Do you want to work in academia at all? In the consulting world, there's a big difference between large and smaller firms in terms of responsibility and how broad your experiences are. What about government? 

• Do you like (or can you be ok with the risk of) rain, snow, hurricanes, earthquakes, heat?

What part of the country/world would you like to work? Is there anywhere you could never, ever, in a million years, see yourself? If you grew up in the southern United States, could you move to a cold climate where they get feet of snow every winter, and there are more gray days than sunny? Would you rather be cold than hot because there are only so many layers of clothes you can take off, but you can always put on more? (That's a little closer to my philosophy, personally...) If you like your job, but are miserable all the other hours of the day, you probably aren't going to be there long and probably aren't going to be much fun to work with.

• Do you want (need) to be near a large metropolitan area and all that has to offer, or are you dreaming of wide open land with very few neighbors?

Would you shrivel up without an active night life and music scene, or does quiet and not seeing cars for miles make you euphoric? THERE IS LIFE OUTSIDE OF WORK. Even if you love your job, you need to have activities and contacts outside of work for the days it doesn't go so well. You need to be fulfilled both professionally and personally. 

~~~

Applying for positions can be a full time job, so if you have some time to get a relaxed head start over the summer, do the prep work now so you're not so embroiled when it comes time to apply. Contact your references far in advance and let them know you're going to be applying for positions in the fall. Provide them with your application materials, the positions listing, and any other notes they may need. Give them plenty of time to get your letters in, and make it clear that you will be following up with them as deadlines near. Professors are busy so make sure you stay on their radar. 

Find a few good people to review your documents for grammar, typos and how they read. In some cases having people outside your discipline is a good idea. If they can understand your statement of research interests, that's a good thing. You never know who will be on the search committee. Commonly, there are at least one or two people outside the department, and even in the department, faculty have a wide range of backgrounds. If they can't understand your work, it doesn't make you look smart, it makes them feel like they can't recommend you if they have no idea what you do (at best) or ticks them off (far worse).

Read this article, How New Graduate Students Should Spend Their Summers, and look on the Chronicle for other resources from writing letter of reference and teaching to writing your CV. Another awesome resource for applying for academic positions is The Professor Is In. Read about her background and why she does what she does. It resonates with what my goals are as a GA and the frustrations that I think graduate students face. She offers a lot of free resources as well as consulting for a fee. 

Finally, you can always set up an appointment to meet with me. We can talk about your career goals, go through a job search session, I can review your documents and answer questions about the process of interviewing for a faculty position. And I don't charge a fee. It's my job. Just email me at dfarver(at)uark(dot)edu. 

Good luck. I look forward to hearing from you.

~~ Dawn

academic misconduct, research misconduct, and plagiarism...what you need to know

I realize that seeing the title of this blog post might make some students not want to read any further, but clearly understanding what "misconduct" is, and what it means to you as a graduate student is extremely important. As graduate students, we can experience academic misconduct from both sides of the table. As TAs, we may have students who commit academic misconduct in our classes, and as graduate students, we can be accused of, and commit misconduct as well. Misconduct can take many forms. Read on to learn more...

In my time as a graduate student, I have had the opportunity to sit through multiple workshops and presentations on plagiarism, and academic/research misconduct. As instructors and students, you may have heard about programs like "Turn It In" where you can submit papers that students have written and compare them to an online database to look for plagiarism. You also may have heard of accounts of professors, administrators, etc. having their dissertations reviewed years down the road only to find that some of their writing had been plagiarized. As a graduate student working on a thesis, dissertation, or paper, worrying about unintentional plagiarism might be enough to keep you up at night. In the latest issue of Grad Connections, I talked about a resource that was listed on Newswire, Avoiding Plagiarism: A resource for Students and Professionals by Miguel Roig. It's a good read for any graduate student to refresh yourself on what plagiarism is, and provides information on what happens once you've published your research. What about questions of authorship? Do you have to completely read every paper before you can site it yourself? Can you self-plagiarize? Check it out to see what you might not know about plagiarism. You can also view a video from the second session of the Responsible Conduct of Research seminar series offered every fall, Authorship and Publication.

Research misconduct is another serious issue that may be encountered by graduate students in the course of their studies. This can take the form of fabricating results, falsifying results, "stealing" someone else's research ideas, etc. Even if you do not commit research misconduct yourself, it may be something you encounter as a student working in a lab. It may be a fellow student, a lab technician, or even your advisor. Not sure what constitutes research misconduct? Oftentimes, if something doesn't feel right, it isn't.  For more information, please view the PowerPoint presentation, Research Misconduct: Policies and Consequences, also presented as part of the Responsible Conduct of Research seminar series. You will learn more about research misconduct, your responsibility if you observe research misconduct occurring, and the price that other researchers have paid for committing research misconduct. It's a quick way to end your career before it even starts.

As a graduate student, it is also important to understand the policies regarding Academic Misconduct. I know that all you fellow graduate students out there got to graduate school knowing full well what constitutes academic misconduct...and knowing better than to commit academic misconduct yourself. What you might not know about is what to do if you encounter academic misconduct in a class you're instructing. If you are teaching a course, you need to become intimately familiar with the Academic Integrity Policy and Procedures at the University of Arkansas. Know the process, know the steps, know what happens if a student commits (or you suspect a student has committed) academic misconduct in your class.  

Unless you're graduating in the spring or summer, I highly recommend that you register for and attend the Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) seminar series in the fall. (Don't worry. I'll remind you again before they start.) If you attend all three seminars, you will receive a certificate of completion, and more importantly, you'll know more about what you can do to avoid falling into a trap.

~~~

Upcoming Events:

Career Fest, Presented by the U of A Career Development Center
April 8 - 11, 2013 - Multiple events and times

For any graduate student who is going to be in the job market soon, it is worth your while to attend some or all of the events at Career Fest. Especially helpful for graduate students who have been out of the job hunting mode for awhile, are the presentations/workshops on Speed Networking/Social Media (Monday, April 8), Dress for Success (Tuesday, April 9) and Professional and Dining Etiquette (Wednesday, April 10). If you get an interview for a faculty or other academic position in the future, you may have to manage three or four different meals with potential future colleagues and administrators. You don't want them to remember you as the candidate who spilled spaghetti sauce all over his/her suit or slurped the soup. 

To find out more, and to register for events, please go to http://career.uark.edu/template/events/careerfest/.

Honing your Research Skills for Employment and Career Advancement
April 18, 2013, 6:00pm

This presentation will focus on key factors that are essential in developing research skills and a scholarly agenda that will serve as the foundation for a career in academe as a scholar or scholar/practitioner. A special emphasis will be placed on moving from the dissertation to peer-reviewed publications. Dr. Fred Bonner will walk session attendees through his process of converting his dissertation to multiple peer-reviewed articles and ultimately to a $1 million dollar grant funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF).

Registration is required. Please go to http://grad.uark.edu/dean/events/index.php for more information and to register for this event.

~~~

Best of luck finishing out your semester. More blog posts to come about making the best of your summer if you're looking for an academic position. Good luck to those wrapping it up so they can graduate in May. I wish you all the best for success as graduate students and in your future endeavors.

~~ Dawn