NASA OSSI Online Career Week, a virtual career fair for students pursuing degrees in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM). This exciting initiative is sponsored by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and it will take place February 10-12.

The NASA OSSI Online Career Week will allow students to connect and engage live with NASA, top STEM employers and graduate programs across the country. Participants will learn about internship, fellowship and job opportunities in the public and private sectors. They will also be able to interact with representatives from highly ranked graduate programs and network with admissions officers.  There is no cost or travel associated with their participation in this event.

Is this for graduate students? YES! 

From the website: Who Should Attend?

• Undergraduate and graduate students looking for internship, scholarship, and fellowship opportunities at NASA.
• Undergraduate and graduate students looking for internships and jobs in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics at companies across the country.

To register, students should visit the following link: http://nasaossi.brazenconnect.com/

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This information has been brought to UMBC and all schools within the PROMISE AGEP by the Institute for Broadening Participation, http://pathwaystoscience.org/. This opportunity is open to students nationwide. Please participate!

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UMBC participates in the Council of Graduate Schools’ initiative for pathways into careers.

Dear Graduate Students, Postdoctoral Fellows, and Members of the PROMISE Community,

We are in the process of developing a new program with collaborators, Tecnológico de Monterrey, in Monterrey, Mexico. We sent out an initial email to gauge interest in a new visiting professor program, and the response was overwhelming! We’re so glad to hear that you are interested in this opportunity as a pathway to your career.

We are working with Tec because of their interest in PROMISE, and our mutual values, which include dedication to teaching students, integrity, leadership, and community service.

The PROMISE AGEP is collaborating with Tec based on projects with the Latin and Caribbean Consortium of Engineering Institutions, the American Society for Engineering Education, and the World Engineering Education Forum. Since Monterrey Tec has a variety of disciplines available, they are interested in considering candidates from all disciplines.

______________________________

General details, along with answers to questions that have been posed over the last two weeks.

• This is a residential program. While hybrid programs may be considered, participants are expected to spend time teaching in Mexico.
• The duration of the position can range from 1 semester to 2 years.
• The position would include a monthly stipend, housing and round-trip transportation from Maryland to Mexico.
• There are language and cultural opportunities available for you and members of your immediate family who would be joining you.

• English — http://www.itesm.mx/wps/wcm/connect/ITESM/Tecnologico+de+Monterrey/English
• Spanish — http://www.itesm.mx/wps/portal?WCM_GLOBAL_CONTEXT=

• Candidates must be an enrolled graduate student, postdoctoral fellow, alumnus, staff or faculty member at/from an institution within the University System of Maryland (USM): http://www.usmd.edu/institutions/
  • Candidates from UMBC  (based on our agreement with UMBC and the Council of Graduate Schools to broaden pathways to careers): Candidates from UMBC may be from any discipline, and all racial/ethnic backgrounds will be considered. U.S. citizenship is not required, but you must be able to teach in English.
  • Candidates from all other institutions within the USM: (based on the agreement with the National Science Foundation (NSF) to broaden participation and increase diversity in STEM within the USM):
    • Candidates from other institutions within the USM must be in a Science, Technology, Engineering, or Mathematics field, as listed in the NSF’s List of Supported Fields. This list can also be found below, in the comment section.
    • Candidates from other institutions within the USM must be U.S. citizens and members of groups that are underrepresented in STEM, per the NSF AGEP Program: African-Americans, Hispanics, American Indians, Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians or other Pacific Islanders

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• The primary candidates will have a Ph.D. This program is being designed to provide  an on-ramp to the professoriate. There are positions that primarily involve teaching, and some that involve both teaching and research. You may apply if you will have a Ph.D. by the time of the placement.
  • Candidates from UMBC who have master’s degrees will be considered, but won’t have the title of “PROMISE Visiting Professor for Social Change.” These candidates will be referred to a Tec “teacher program” to teach high school students.
  • Candidates from all other USM institutions must have a Ph.D. in a STEM field.

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• All candidates must have some teaching experience, e.g., lecturing in the classroom at the college level, which include experiences through the PROMISE PROF-it program, as a Teaching Assistant, or as an instructor in a post-secondary institution.

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• All candidates must be willing to teach with technology, and should have some experience with technology, e.g., classroom management software (Blackboard), social media.

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To apply for the program*

(Disclaimer: The project is still in a proposed state, and applications will be screened by PROMISE prior to being sent to Monterrey Tec. Tec is not under any obligation to choose any candidates. The deans of the colleges at Tec along with other relevant offices will make all final decisions. A cohort model that will allow candidates to travel and participate as a group is still under consideration.)

• 1) One page overview, with the following guidelines:
  • 1 inch margins
  • Title:
    • Line 1: 16 pt, bold, Times New Roman: Applicant: PROMISE Visiting Professor for Social Change
    • Line 2: 14 pt, italics, Times New Roman: Your full name, your degree, area of expertise
  • Skip two lines
  • Content (Skip one line between each section): 12 pt, Times New Roman; use the headings in bold below in your document.
    • Line 1: Courses that I have already taught (include level, e.g., high school, community college, undergraduate studies, graduate students, and approximations of class sizes)
    • Line 2: Courses that I can teach (be sure that you are choosing courses based on their offerings: http://www.itesm.mx/wps/wcm/connect/ITESM/Tecnologico+de+Monterrey/English/Academic+offerings/?cache=none
    • Line 3: Experiences with technology in the classroom:
    • Line 4: Research Interests:
    • Line 5: Statement about commitment to community service:

• 2) One page cover letter addressed to Dr. Renetta Tull, Director of the PROMISE AGEP, discussing why you want to be a professor, what you want to learn, and future plans for teaching in the U.S. [Note: The PROMISE AGEP is designed to increase the numbers of professors who will serve students in the U.S. Participation in this program is meant to provide a short-term, international, collaborative experience from which you can build a successful and satisfying faculty career in the U.S.]

• 3) Full, unabridged CV

All documents should be merged (based on the order above: 1) overview, 2) letter, 3) CV) and submitted as one PDF document, with the title: PROMISE-MONTERREY TEC-your name

Send the document to promisestaff@gmail.com, and cc’d to rtull@umbc.edu, with the subject: PROMISE Professors for Social Change. (Please do not add or subtract anything from this subject title. Emails submitted with other subject lines may not be considered.)

*All interested candidates are strongly encouraged to attend the (free) Professional Development Workshop on preparing for the professoriate at the PROMISE Research Symposium and Professional Development Conference on Friday, Feb. 13, 2015, 1:30 – 3:30 PM, at the University of Maryland College, Park. Details and registration information can be found here: https://promiseagep.wordpress.com/2014/12/16/spring-2015-university-system-of-maryland-promise-agep-research-symposium-professional-development-conference-fri-feb-13-2015-um-college-park/. Candidates who have not previously met with Dr. Tull to discuss career interests, must do so before the application can be considered for the program. Application Deadline: The initial group of candidates will be sent to Tec on February 27, 2015.

The Meyerhoff Graduate Fellows Program at UMBC, and PROMISE: Maryland’s AGEP (the National Science Foundation’s PROMISE AGEP – Maryland Transformation, AGEP-T) for the State of Maryland, proudly present Dr. Hélène Hodak, Scientific Editor, Journal of Molecular Biology, Elsevier Inc. on Friday, Feb. 6, 2015.

Dr. Hodak will be talking about writing for high impact journals. We’ve often heard the term “publish or perish.” Many people are afraid of that term, and many are nervous about the idea of needing to publish in order to have their work deemed worthy. The Elsevier journals are known for being high-impact, and they have a global reputation for showcasing the best work in science. They have offices in NY, Amsterdam, and London. People from all disciplines are invited to come to the workshop and use the content of this talk to learn more about how to think about publishing, and how to dismiss fear of the process. Dr. Hodak’s background and training hail from the following institutions: Yale University, Institut Pasteur de Lille, Regional Hospital Center of Lille, France, Université Lille 2 – Droit et Santé; France. You can read more about Dr. Hodak’s scientific contributions on ResearchGate: http://www.researchgate.net/profile/Helene_Hodak2/citations

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Details for the talk:

• Friday, February 6, 2015
• 4:30 – 6:00 PM
• UMBC Campus, Public Policy Building, Room 206
• Afternoon refreshments will be served.

To RSVP/Register:  

• UMBC students/postdocs/faculty/staff: Login to your MyUMBC account. Click the green “I can attend” button at the bottom of the MyUMBC website for this event: http://my.umbc.edu/groups/promise/events/29770. If you have logged into MyUMBC, and you don’t see the green “I can attend button,” then please be sure that “join” the PROMISE group.
• Visitors (Visitors from any school within the University System of Maryland and the region are welcome to attend.): Use the comment section below to let us know that you are coming. Please add your name, school/organization, and discipline, as applicable.

Photo Credit: http://www.chimit09.org/images/PUP01.jpg

Public Policy Building, UMBC, atrium hallway. Photo credit: http://www.appam.org/assets/1/7/publicPolicy.jpg

Directions, parking, and other information will be posted in the comments below.

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Why is Elsevier so important? Here are some of the latest stats from 2014:

Journal Impact Factor Highlights

Amsterdam, 14 August, 2014

Elsevier, a world-leading provider of scientific, technical and medical information products and services, today announced the highlights of its journal Impact Factor performance in 2013. According to the 2013 Journal Citation Reports® (JCR) published by Thomson Reuters, Elsevier saw 61% of its journal Impact Factors increase from 2012 to 2013, well ahead of the aggregate across all other journals at 55%. Furthermore, 21% of Elsevier journals are in the top 10% of their subject category.

In 2013 Elsevier journals occupied the top position by Impact Factor in 61 subject categories, up from 58 in 2012. In addition, 14 Elsevier journals have risen to the top of their subject category and 40 journals have received an impact factor for the first time. Among these is Nano Energy, which published its first issue in 2012 and received an impressive first impact factor of 10.211.

- See more at: http://www.elsevier.com/about/press-releases/research-and-journals/elsevier-announces-2013-journal-impact-factor-highlights#sthash.NtkiXGPK.dpuf

More about Elsevier: Elsevier Inc., 600 Technology Square, Cambridge, MA 02139, U.S.A.  ElsevierConnect,  http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/00222836.  Contact Dr. Hodak: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/journal-of-molecular-biology/editorial-board/helene-hodak/

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Acknowledgements:

This workshop comes to UMBC through Dr. Michael Summers, and Ms. Justine Johnson of the Meyerhoff Graduate Fellows Program. http://my.umbc.edu/groups/meyerhoffgrad/events/28224. Additional sponsors include: PROMISE AGEP, The Graduate School at UMBC, and the UMBC Office of Postdoctoral Affairs.

About the Meyerhoff Graduate Fellows Program

Funded by an NIH-MBRS Initiative to Maximize Student Development (IMSD) grant, the Meyerhoff Fellows Program focuses on promoting cultural diversity in the biomedical sciences at the graduate level. Now in its 18th year, the program attracts students from such institutions as Duke, Emory, Stanford and the University of Delaware.
Read more>

This morning, Scott Morgan from DC’s The Morgan Group is the key speaker for our Saturday Brunch Seminar on public speaking and preparing presentations.

Morgan suggests that each person should have a “money slide” or a main idea that is featured in your slide deck. This is the slide that you use even if you only have two minutes to present. It is the slide that explains your main point to your committee, investors, employers during a job talk, etc.

Graduate students in Maryland have a wealth of resources at their fingertips! Please take some time to review the following information so that you can plan your calendars accordingly. There are programs at UMBC, the University of Maryland College Park, and the University of Maryland Baltimore. Graduate students at any of the institutions within the University System of Maryland are welcome to attend these seminars through the state’s PROMISE AGEP collaboration.

Events at College Park: 

http://www.gradschool.umd.edu/news_and_events/eventcalendar.html

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Events at UMB: 

http://graduate.umaryland.edu/

Note: The UMB-UMBC Partnership Innovation Symposium will be held on Jan. 30, 2015.

UMB also offers opportunities through the University of Maryland Medical School’s Research Career Development Program: http://medschool.umaryland.edu/career/

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Events at UMBC:

Full list here:

UMBC Graduate Student SPRING 2015 Seminars_Updated1_25_15

All graduate students attending institutions within the University System of Maryland are invited to attend a Special Saturday Success Breakfast Seminar on Public Speaking:

Saturday, January 31, 2015

Keys to Public Speaking: Prepare for Your Upcoming Presentation.

UMBC COMMONS, Room 331

10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

Speaker: Scott Morgan

Scott Morgan has been teaching communication skills for 20 years. His clients include the National Institutes of Health, the Mayo Clinic, Merck, NASA, EPA, City of Hope Cancer Center, and several universities: Harvard Medical School, UNC Chapel Hill, Cornell, Maryland, Ohio State, Minnesota, Duke, Nebraska and NC State University, and Texas A&M. He has 25 years of broadcast experience and teaches media and communication strategy to many think tanks in the Washington DC area. Specifically, as a Senior Associate with the Abshire Inamori Leadership Academy of the Center for Strategic and International Studies (http://csis.org/expert/scott-morgan). Scott graduated with honors from the University of California, Davis and authored the book Speaking about Science published by Cambridge University Press.

The Morgan Group has been training graduate students and postdocs in Maryland for more than 10 years.

Please come in preparation for your presentations at upcoming local meetings such as the various graduate research conferences, and the PROMISE Research Symposium.

Breakfast refreshments will be served. Please RSVP on MyUMBC: http://my.umbc.edu/groups/promise/events/28691 (UMBC graduate students, staff, postdocs, faculty). Participants from other universities may register as a comment to this post with your name and institution.

On Tuesday, January 20, 2015, Dr. Janet Rutledge, Dean of the Graduate School at UMBC, addressed the participants of the Winter 2015 Dissertation House. Dr. Rutledge, a national leader in graduate education, discussed the “process” of obtaining the PhD. She stated that the papers that were being written in high school or during undergraduate studies were generally “discovery papers,” or introductions to research. Graduate students are expected to learn the process of doing research in the discipline: gather background information, find out what others have done, learn what has worked well in the past and what didn’t work, and make strides toward possible solutions.

Dean Rutledge also discussed the need to develop skills for becoming an independent scholar, and the need to engage in scholarly activities outside of the classroom and the laboratory. She acknowledged that it can be difficult to develop a sense of scholarly independence, and said, “No one will lower your grade if you don’t submit to a conference.” Following this statement, the dean encouraged the graduate students to participate in their professional societies and begin to develop expert knowledge by connecting with others in the field. She noted that these activities may not necessarily be driven by others, and that students need plans of action to be sure that they are actively engaged in external academic activities that will be of benefit to their knowledge base, scholarly network, and future careers.

Dr. Rutledge’s research covered a mathematical model for speech using low bit-rate coding. In addition to being Vice Provost for Graduate Education and Dean of the Graduate School, she is on the faculty in the Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering.  

At 9:00 AM EST, we opened the Winter 2015 Dissertation House at the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC: An Honors University in Maryland). We have a wonderful group of students from UMBC and UMB in house, and we invite you to join us. Our Dissertation Coach is Dr. Wendy Carter-Veale. Dr. Carter-Veale is challenging the group to post “measurable” goals, and she urges everyone to be realistic so that each can accomplish an actual goal by the end of the week. Some people think that they will be able to accomplish huge tasks in a short period of time, and while you will be productive, we want to be sure that you are setting yourselves up for success. Therefore, it is not necessarily prudent to try to finish such a large task within a few days.

Graduate students who are participating in the Dissertation House here at UMBC had to apply to participate. If you are not participating in person, we invite you to join us online:

https://dissertationhouse.wordpress.com/blog-online-challenge/winter-2015-challenge/

Post your goals and join others in the challenge to “get it done!”

At 9:00 AM EST, we opened the Winter 2015 Dissertation House at the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC: An Honors University in Maryland). We have a wonderful group of students from UMBC and UMB in house, and we invite you to join us. Our Dissertation Coach is Dr. Wendy Carter-Veale. Dr. Carter-Veale is challenging the group to post “measurable” goals, and she urges everyone to be realistic so that each can accomplish an actual goal by the end of the week. Some people think that they will be able to accomplish huge tasks in a short period of time, and while you will be productive, we want to be sure that you are setting yourselves up for success. Therefore, it is not necessarily prudent to try to finish such a large task within a few days.

Graduate students who are participating in the Dissertation House here at UMBC had to apply to participate. If you are not participating in person, we invite you to join us online:

https://dissertationhouse.wordpress.com/blog-online-challenge/winter-2015-challenge/

Post your goals and join others in the challenge to “get it done!”

Dear Graduate Students and Postdocs,

Our colleagues at Anne Arundel Community College are seeking scholars with science and/or math backgrounds, and at least a master’s degree, to teach classes in the sciences. There are at least three courses that need an instructor for the Spring 2015 semester. They are asking for applicants ASAP. In addition, the Math Department at AACC (where PROMISE AGEP Alum, Dr. Alycia Marshall is Chair) is seeking three full-time faculty positions. We have a partnership with AACC through our PROMISE AGEP and the PROF-it program (http://promiseagep.wordpress.com/archived-posts/prof-it-professors-in-training/) and we want to extend these opportunities to all graduate students and postdocs. Please consider these opportunities below.

—-FROM THE CHAIR OF THE PHYSICAL SCIENCES DEPARTMENT —–

The Physical Science department needs people interested and willing to teach General Physical Science Lecture and lab (PHS 100), General Chemistry Lecture and Lab (Che 111), Oceanography (PHS 109), and Physics Lecture and Lab (algebra or Calculus based).

The requirements for the position are a Master’s degree in the subject area or a related area (Many engineering degrees, or Science Education Degrees are acceptable).  Teaching experience is preferred but not required.

All of our courses have course coordinators, and sample materials are readily available.  All lab curriculum are set, and we have a full complement of lab staff, so instructors do not have to do any lab set up or take down.

If you are interested, send a resume/CV directly to me via email:

Kirsten Casey

Department Chair Physical Sciences

Anne Arundel Community College

kacasey@aacc.edu.

If you apply through the AACC website,  contact me directly so that I can get back to you quickly.

———–FROM THE CHAIR OF THE MATH DEPARTMENT—————-

The math department is searching for three new full-time faculty members to join our department for the upcoming academic year.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS:

Master’s degree or higher in Mathematics, Mathematics Education or a related field with at least 18 graduate credit hours in mathematics.  Ability to teach a wide variety of courses included developmental and credit-level math courses is required.  Candidate should have demonstrated experience integrating technology and innovative teaching strategies to improve student learning.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:

Community College teaching experience is preferred.  Experience teaching online, hybrid, statistics and/or math courses for elementary education majors is highly desirable.  Experience in accelerated and/or technology-supported developmental mathematics programs and an ability to teach upper-level STEM courses such as the calculus series (Calculus 1, 2 and 3), Differential Equations, Linear Algebra and/or Discrete Structures is a plus.  A strong candidate has knowledge of the community college’s mission and issues directly related to serving community college students.  A Ph.D. is not required, but highly desirable.

Information can be found here:

Instructor/Assistant Professor, Mathematics

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Thank you to Dr. Alycia Marshall (degrees from UMBC, Bowie State University, and the University of Maryland College Park) for sharing these opportunities with us. Dr. Marshall chairs the Math Department at AACC, and is a former PROMISE Peer Mentor.  Another colleague and former College Park PROMISE Peer Mentor, Dr. Stacey O. Nicholls, http://ola4.aacc.edu/sonicholls/, is also at AACC. Dr. Nicholls and Dr. Marshall have served as speakers and mentors at some of our PROMISE Summer Success Institute (SSI) events over the years. Both former PROMISE Peer Mentors are tenured professors in the Math Department at AACC.