This graduate assistantship requires knowledge of computer concepts and programming languages.   The position requires design, trouble-shooting, and support for websites and databases.  Duties include database management.   The National Science Foundation’s (NSF) PROMISE: Maryland’s Alliance for Graduate Education and the Professoriate (AGEP) uses the Xcalibur Scribe Tracking System and Registry (TSR) as part of the national evaluation program, Survey Monkey, and software for webinars.  The position also requires extensive use of social media and includes website programming.  The GA in this position will have knowledge of webpage design using Hypertext Markup Languages (HTML), Cascade Style Sheets (CSS), Extensible Markup Language (XML), and Java; all are necessary for designing and maintaining the program’s website and blogs.  

The GA will also have a sense of project management to assist with events and long-term projects.  The following media are used for PROMISE:  Wordpress, Google sites, Facebook, Twitter, and Blogspot.    The GA in this position should have background in the following topics: online communities, database implementation (SQL-based interface), project management, decision technology, information management, emerging technologies, system design, system performance, usability, and system architecture. 

This position will support several projects; the primary project will be the new Council of Graduate Schools Financial Literacy program: http://www.cgsnet.org/enhancing-student-financial-education, and will be responsible for implementing the "Go Live" project: http://www.cgsnet.org/project-summary-university-maryland-baltimore-county.  The applicant should have basic knowledge about  credit rankings and scores, budgeting, and debt reduction. 

Roles: The GA will work with the PROMISE team for the multi-campus AGEP http://promiseagep.wordpress.com/, the Graduate Student Development unit in The Graduate School at UMBC, and UMBC's campus-wide committee on financial literacy that includes a collaborative team of staff and students from Enrollment Management, the Graduate School, Financial Services, and The Office of Undergraduate Education. 

This is a 20 hour/week assistantship. It includes tuition remission, and student health insurance for the GA. Assistantship stipend rates: http://www.umbc.edu/gradschool/funding/minimum_stipend_levels.html

To Apply:

Send a cover letter and CV to Dr. Renetta Tull at rtull@umbc.edu, with the subject "CGS GA Position." 

Additional criteria: The initial email must include links from websites that you have designed, and links to public social media sites that you manage, e.g., Linked In groups, Twitter, blogs. The links must be accompanied by a few sentences that describe your role, e.g., administrator, content provider, editor. 

------------------------------------------------

NEW! UPDATE as of 11:50 PM, August 22, 2013

DEADLINE: 3:00 PM, Friday, August 23, 2013.

Due to the overwhelming response to this announcement, we will stop taking applications at 3:00 PM, tomorrow, Friday, August 23, 2013 so that we can take time to evaluate each applicant.  Applicants can begin to check their emails on Friday afternoon for notifications.  Interviews (for finalists only) will begin next week. Thank you for your interest!

-----------------------------------------------------

NEW: UPDATE as of 11:22 AM, August 23, 2013

Semi-finalists will have an additional assignment:

http://promiseagep.wordpress.com/2013/08/23/the-umbc-promisecgsgrad-student-development-ga-position-information-for-semi-finalists/

---------------------------------------------------------------------

NEW Update, September 3, 2013.

We thank everyone for their interest. We have chosen our GA. Congratulations to Piyush Waradpande, UMBC, Computer Science Department. 

It’s time for the 2013 SREB Institute on Teaching and Mentoring, Compact for Faculty Diversity!

PROMISE Maryland’s AGEP has been invited to nominate scholars for the upcoming SREB Conference. Read about our SREB trips to:

• Atlanta 2011: http://promiseagep.wordpress.com/2011/09/28/25-promise-students-and-affiliates-plan-to-attend-the-sreb-conference-in-atlanta-october-2011/
• Tampa 2012: http://promiseagep.wordpress.com/2012/07/21/2012-sreb-compact-for-faculty-diversity-conference-for-graduate-students-postdocs-and-jr-faculty/

YOU have a chance to attend in 2013 , but PROMISE has to nominate you. 

Here are some facts about the conference:

1. The 20^th Annual Compact For Faculty Diversity Institute on Teaching and Mentoring will be held at the Marriott Crystal Gateway Hotel in Arlington, Virginia from Thursday, October 31 – Sunday, November 3, 2013. We expect to exceed 1,100 in attendance. http://www.instituteonteachingandmentoring.org/Compact/sreb.html

1. Scholars nominated to attend the Institute should be individuals who have an expressed interest in teaching at the post-secondary level. All of the sessions at the Institute will focus on topics and issues related to teaching at the postsecondary level. Consequently, scholars who are not interested in teaching at the postsecondary level would not benefit from attending this Institute.

1. Nominated scholars must be minority or underserved STEM majors enrolled in a Ph.D. program. SREB will not accept nominations from students.

1. The conference will be in Arlington, VA. Hotel rooms will be available at no cost to you. Single rooms will not be available for scholars. Students will be placed in double rooms. 

TO APPLY: 

Write a comment to this post (below) with the following information, and in this order:

a) NAME

b) University & Department (no abbreviations)

c) Planned year of graduation for your PhD

d) One paragraph that describes the reason why you want to be a professor.

e) What PROMISE events have you attended, and what have you learned?

Our deadline is August 31, 2013. Please apply now. 

Note that the SREB website features some of our former scholars when they were students! Dr. Chris Whitt (PROMISE Peer Mentor, College Park) is now a faculty member at Augustana College, and Dr. Robert Alexander (PROMISE Peer Mentor from UMBC) is now at the CDC. Dr. Alexander conducts the research and evaluation for the CDC’s anti-smoking campaign and TV ads.

It’s time for the 2013 SREB Institute on Teaching and Mentoring, Compact for Faculty Diversity!

PROMISE Maryland’s AGEP has been invited to nominate scholars for the upcoming SREB Conference. Read about our SREB trips to:

• Atlanta 2011: http://promiseagep.wordpress.com/2011/09/28/25-promise-students-and-affiliates-plan-to-attend-the-sreb-conference-in-atlanta-october-2011/
• Tampa 2012: http://promiseagep.wordpress.com/2012/07/21/2012-sreb-compact-for-faculty-diversity-conference-for-graduate-students-postdocs-and-jr-faculty/

YOU have a chance to attend in 2013 , but PROMISE has to nominate you. 

Here are some facts about the conference:

1. The 20^th Annual Compact For Faculty Diversity Institute on Teaching and Mentoring will be held at the Marriott Crystal Gateway Hotel in Arlington, Virginia from Thursday, October 31 – Sunday, November 3, 2013. We expect to exceed 1,100 in attendance. http://www.instituteonteachingandmentoring.org/Compact/sreb.html

1. Scholars nominated to attend the Institute should be individuals who have an expressed interest in teaching at the post-secondary level. All of the sessions at the Institute will focus on topics and issues related to teaching at the postsecondary level. Consequently, scholars who are not interested in teaching at the postsecondary level would not benefit from attending this Institute.

1. Nominated scholars must be minority or underserved STEM majors enrolled in a Ph.D. program. SREB will not accept nominations from students.

1. The conference will be in Arlington, VA. Hotel rooms will be available at no cost to you. Single rooms will not be available for scholars. Students will be placed in double rooms. 

TO APPLY: 

Write a comment to this post (below) with the following information, and in this order:

a) NAME

b) University & Department (no abbreviations)

c) Planned year of graduation for your PhD

d) One paragraph that describes the reason why you want to be a professor.

e) What PROMISE events have you attended, and what have you learned?

Our deadline is August 31, 2013. Please apply now. 

Note that the SREB website features some of our former scholars when they were students! Dr. Chris Whitt (PROMISE Peer Mentor, College Park) is now a faculty member at Augustana College, and Dr. Robert Alexander (PROMISE Peer Mentor from UMBC) is now at the CDC. Dr. Alexander conducts the research and evaluation for the CDC’s anti-smoking campaign and TV ads.

PROMISE: Maryland’s AGEP and the Graduate Student Development Unit of The Graduate School at UMBC present the

2013 SPECIAL SEPTEMBER SATURDAY SESSION:

Success Seminar on Funding & Fellowships, with special emphasis on the National Science Foundation’s Graduate Research Fellowship Application. 

“Funding Graduate Education”

Speakers: PROMISE Alumni, Dr. Frances D. Carter-Johnson and Dr. Patricia Ordóñez Rozo 

(Dr. Frances Carter-Johnson was one of the speakers for the AAAS “FC” panel on “Transitions” at the 2013 SSI, and Dr.  Patti Ordóñez led the 2013 SSI Alumni PROMISE Talks panel.)

They’re coming back! They’re bringing their award winning seminar back to us! See the description from last year:

http://promiseagep.wordpress.com/2012/08/30/how-to-fund-your-graduate-education-dr-ordonez-rozo-and-dr-carter-johnson-promise-alumni-present-their-award-winning-seminar-on-saturday-sept-15-2012/

10:00 AM

Saturday, September 7, 2013

UMBC University Center Room 312

RSVP: 

• UMBC’s students: http://my.umbc.edu/groups/promise/events/18755
• If you are not a student at UMBC, RSVP by posting in the comment section at the bottom of this message with your name, school, and discipline (academic department)/major.

Graduate students and undergraduates from all schools in the region are invited to attend this seminar. All current LSAMP Bridge to the Doctorate Fellows are required to attend the workshop, and are required to apply for the NSF GRFP.

We have received many announcements for job and fellowship openings. Please page down to the comments section to see some of the latest listings.

Related articles

• Congratulations to PROMISE GA Miguel Nino! (promiseagep.wordpress.com)
• UMBC Again Named a “Great College to Work For” (umbcinsights.wordpress.com)

PROMISE: Maryland’s AGEP and the Graduate Student Development Unit of The Graduate School at UMBC present the

2013 SPECIAL SEPTEMBER SATURDAY SESSION:

Success Seminar on Funding & Fellowships, with special emphasis on the National Science Foundation’s Graduate Research Fellowship Application. 

“Funding Graduate Education”

Speakers: PROMISE Alumni, Dr. Frances D. Carter-Johnson and Dr. Patricia Ordóñez Rozo 

(Dr. Frances Carter-Johnson was one of the speakers for the AAAS “FC” panel on “Transitions” at the 2013 SSI, and Dr.  Patti Ordóñez led the 2013 SSI Alumni PROMISE Talks panel.)

They’re coming back! They’re bringing their award winning seminar back to us! See the description from last year:

http://promiseagep.wordpress.com/2012/08/30/how-to-fund-your-graduate-education-dr-ordonez-rozo-and-dr-carter-johnson-promise-alumni-present-their-award-winning-seminar-on-saturday-sept-15-2012/

10:00 AM

Saturday, September 7, 2013

UMBC University Center Room 312

RSVP: 

• UMBC’s students: http://my.umbc.edu/groups/promise/events/18755
• If you are not a student at UMBC, RSVP by posting in the comment section at the bottom of this message with your name, school, and discipline (academic department)/major.

Graduate students and undergraduates from all schools in the region are invited to attend this seminar. All current LSAMP Bridge to the Doctorate Fellows are required to attend the workshop, and are required to apply for the NSF GRFP.

We have received many announcements for job and fellowship openings. Please page down to the comments section to see some of the latest listings.

Related articles

• Congratulations to PROMISE GA Miguel Nino! (promiseagep.wordpress.com)
• UMBC Again Named a “Great College to Work For” (umbcinsights.wordpress.com)

We had a wonderful 2013 PROMISE Summer Success Institute (SSI) 10th Anniversary Celebration. Thank you, all of you, for coming, speaking, participating, sharing, and connecting! Classes will begin soon, but our campuses have plans for you … there is a reception at College Park, a lunch at UMB, and a dinner at UMBC, all coming up within the next two weeks!

At College Park: Annual Networking Reception:

Thursday, August 29, 2013 ● 4:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.

Stamp Student Union

Atrium Room 1107

http://www.gradschool.umd.edu/images/uploads/Welcome_Reception_2013flyer.pdf

At UMB: Welcome Back Lunch!

Tuesday, September 3, 2013 ● 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m

SMC Center, Room 203.

(This is the same location as the SSI. Room 203 is down the hall from the ballroom.)

At UMBC: PROMISE Fall Opening Meeting.

Friday, September 6, 2013 ● 4:30 p.m. – 6:00 p.m

Game Room, 2nd Floor of the Commons.

RSVP here: http://my.umbc.edu/groups/promise/events/18969.

Students from other campuses within the University System of Maryland, e.g., Bowie, Coppin, UMES, and others are invited to attend this event at UMBC. You may also attend the Funding Seminar which will be held the next day: http://my.umbc.edu/groups/promise/events/18755 (PROMISE Alums, Dr. Patti Ordóñez and Dr. Frances Carter-Johnson, will lead this session. In total, they have been responsible for millions of dollars of funding that have come to participants in their seminar.)

Other things to consider:

1) Dr. James Green wanted to be a speaker for SSI, but he couldn’t come, so he has invited you to attend sessions on entrepreneurship education at College Park! See details here:

http://promiseagep.wordpress.com/2013/07/18/promise-ssi-registrants-throughout-the-usm-are-invited-to-entrepreneur-office-hours-august-september-2013/

2) Remember our tips for the Fall semester: http://promiseagep.wordpress.com/2012/08/30/prepare-for-a-successful-fall-semester-communicate-with-your-faculty-a-message-for-new-and-continuing-grad-students/

3) Please give a hearty thank-you to Miguel Nino, our PROMISE GA who is now at VA Tech: http://promiseagep.wordpress.com/2013/08/16/congratulations-to-promise-ga-miguel-nino/

We had a wonderful 2013 PROMISE Summer Success Institute (SSI) 10th Anniversary Celebration. Thank you, all of you, for coming, speaking, participating, sharing, and connecting! Classes will begin soon, but our campuses have plans for you … there is a reception at College Park, a lunch at UMB, and a dinner at UMBC, all coming up within the next two weeks!

At College Park: Annual Networking Reception:

Thursday, August 29, 2013 ● 4:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.

Stamp Student Union

Atrium Room 1107

http://www.gradschool.umd.edu/images/uploads/Welcome_Reception_2013flyer.pdf

At UMB: Welcome Back Lunch!

Tuesday, September 3, 2013 ● 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m

SMC Center, Room 203.

(This is the same location as the SSI. Room 203 is down the hall from the ballroom.)

At UMBC: PROMISE Fall Opening Meeting.

Friday, September 6, 2013 ● 4:30 p.m. – 6:00 p.m

Game Room, 2nd Floor of the Commons.

RSVP here: http://my.umbc.edu/groups/promise/events/18969.

Students from other campuses within the University System of Maryland, e.g., Bowie, Coppin, UMES, and others are invited to attend this event at UMBC. You may also attend the Funding Seminar which will be held the next day: http://my.umbc.edu/groups/promise/events/18755 (PROMISE Alums, Dr. Patti Ordóñez and Dr. Frances Carter-Johnson, will lead this session. In total, they have been responsible for millions of dollars of funding that have come to participants in their seminar.)

Other things to consider:

1) Dr. James Green wanted to be a speaker for SSI, but he couldn’t come, so he has invited you to attend sessions on entrepreneurship education at College Park! See details here:

http://promiseagep.wordpress.com/2013/07/18/promise-ssi-registrants-throughout-the-usm-are-invited-to-entrepreneur-office-hours-august-september-2013/

2) Remember our tips for the Fall semester: http://promiseagep.wordpress.com/2012/08/30/prepare-for-a-successful-fall-semester-communicate-with-your-faculty-a-message-for-new-and-continuing-grad-students/

3) Please give a hearty thank-you to Miguel Nino, our PROMISE GA who is now at VA Tech: http://promiseagep.wordpress.com/2013/08/16/congratulations-to-promise-ga-miguel-nino/

The following information was shared by Dr. LaTese Briggs (PROMISE Alum, UMBC Chemistry & Biochemistry, Current Program Analyst at Faster Cures.) Dr. Briggs captivated the audience of the 2013 PROMISE SSI on Saturday, August 17, with her call to the audience to have their G.I. Jane/G.I. Joe moments. She called for people to be academically, mentally, and emotionally prepared to step into their moments. Dr. Briggs finished her undergraduate degree at Hood College, her PhD at UMBC, and her Postdoc at the Broad Institute, a collaborative between Harvard and MIT. Dr. Briggs said that she is now in her dream job at an “ACTION” tank.  During the 2013 PROMISE SSI, Dr. Briggs participated in the During her time at UMBC, Dr. Briggs was a Meyerhoff Biomedical Fellow, A Gates Fellow, and a Peer Mentor for PROMISE: Maryland’s AGEP. Dr. Briggs voluntarily provided the information below, after receiving inquires following her segment for the 2013 SSI Alumni PROMISE Talks. We thank her for being so giving of her time and expertise. 

• SSI 2013, August 17. 9:00 AM: The PROMISE Talks: PROMISE Alumni Discuss Their Research on Healthcare

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From Dr. Briggs:

Thank you again for inviting me to participate in the 10^th anniversary of SSI. It is always an honor to be invited to speak at SSI, but it was truly special to participate in such a milestone event.

I have a had  few student reach out to me to inquire about the Broad Institute and I thought that it might be helpful to share my response to them with the larger PROMISE audience. I have pasted some tips and useful links on the subject below.

1.      Well before you are ready to apply (<1 year prior if possible), please be sure to study the website thoroughly to really get a sense of what is happening at the Broad. Start NOW, well before you are ready to move on to your postdoc. Do this by:

a.      Familiarizing yourself with the website

b.      Review the online  Brochures and Annual reports

c.      Review the Program areas at the Broad

2.      Identify  Faculty at the Broad whose research align with your interests and skill sets. When you select these 2-3 people, make certain that you are very familiar with the work (read their papers, understand the larger initiatives that they might be a part of i.e. chemical biology platform, RNAi platform, etc).

a.      Also try to figure out which conferences these faculty members frequent and get yourself there to meet him/her, and of course when you do, position yourself so that you can strike up a conversation. It can be as simple as “I read about your research in X, and I found Y to be very interesting, can you tell me more about this?”

3.      Develop a research proposal that outlines a project that you would like to pursue in that lab and really make sure that it is comprehensive, well thought out, and is both in alignment  and can enrich the work that is already going on in that lab (Note: this is good to do for any postdoc position that you consider, I guarantee you that it will put you a few steps ahead of most candidates).

4.      Read about the Diversity Initiative which houses the Diversity Postdoctoral fellowship program. Be sure to read this page carefully before submitting the required documents to diversity@broadinstitute.org

5.      Keep in mind that you can also reach out to a faculty member directly if you prefer, or if there are no remaining diversity fellowship slots available.

Here are some other links that will help you familiarize with the organization:

Broad Mindset/Approach

Broad Blog

Broad video library

BE THOROUGH! The key to accessing a training opportunity at the Broad is congruency. You need to be both a scientific and cultural fit – meaning that you are motivated and enthusiastic about being creative and highly collaborative.  This is truly a unique organization, so take your time with learning what the Broad is about and really put your best foot forward in the application. The website is dense and there is a lot of “hidden” information, so go through it more than once. If you are selected for an interview, be prepared to give a talk and to  meet at least 10 people during your interview. The process is intense and competitive, but keep in mind that if you believe that you are exceptional, then you are exceptional, and it will reflect as such at all times. Don’t sell yourself short; however, be prepared to perform exceptionally when they tell you YES, you can join us as a Broadie!

LaTese L. Briggs, Ph.D.

FasterCures |A Center of the Milken Institute

Program Analyst

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We thank Dr. Briggs for sharing this information!

The following information was shared by Dr. LaTese Briggs (PROMISE Alum, UMBC Chemistry & Biochemistry, Current Program Analyst at Faster Cures.) Dr. Briggs captivated the audience of the 2013 PROMISE SSI on Saturday, August 17, with her call to the audience to have their G.I. Jane/G.I. Joe moments. She called for people to be academically, mentally, and emotionally prepared to step into their moments. Dr. Briggs finished her undergraduate degree at Hood College, her PhD at UMBC, and her Postdoc at the Broad Institute, a collaborative between Harvard and MIT. Dr. Briggs said that she is now in her dream job at an “ACTION” tank.  During the 2013 PROMISE SSI, Dr. Briggs participated in the During her time at UMBC, Dr. Briggs was a Meyerhoff Biomedical Fellow, A Gates Fellow, and a Peer Mentor for PROMISE: Maryland’s AGEP. Dr. Briggs voluntarily provided the information below, after receiving inquires following her segment for the 2013 SSI Alumni PROMISE Talks. We thank her for being so giving of her time and expertise. 

• SSI 2013, August 17. 9:00 AM: The PROMISE Talks: PROMISE Alumni Discuss Their Research on Healthcare

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From Dr. Briggs:

Thank you again for inviting me to participate in the 10^th anniversary of SSI. It is always an honor to be invited to speak at SSI, but it was truly special to participate in such a milestone event.

I have a had  few student reach out to me to inquire about the Broad Institute and I thought that it might be helpful to share my response to them with the larger PROMISE audience. I have pasted some tips and useful links on the subject below.

1.      Well before you are ready to apply (<1 year prior if possible), please be sure to study the website thoroughly to really get a sense of what is happening at the Broad. Start NOW, well before you are ready to move on to your postdoc. Do this by:

a.      Familiarizing yourself with the website

b.      Review the online  Brochures and Annual reports

c.      Review the Program areas at the Broad

2.      Identify  Faculty at the Broad whose research align with your interests and skill sets. When you select these 2-3 people, make certain that you are very familiar with the work (read their papers, understand the larger initiatives that they might be a part of i.e. chemical biology platform, RNAi platform, etc).

a.      Also try to figure out which conferences these faculty members frequent and get yourself there to meet him/her, and of course when you do, position yourself so that you can strike up a conversation. It can be as simple as “I read about your research in X, and I found Y to be very interesting, can you tell me more about this?”

3.      Develop a research proposal that outlines a project that you would like to pursue in that lab and really make sure that it is comprehensive, well thought out, and is both in alignment  and can enrich the work that is already going on in that lab (Note: this is good to do for any postdoc position that you consider, I guarantee you that it will put you a few steps ahead of most candidates).

4.      Read about the Diversity Initiative which houses the Diversity Postdoctoral fellowship program. Be sure to read this page carefully before submitting the required documents to diversity@broadinstitute.org

5.      Keep in mind that you can also reach out to a faculty member directly if you prefer, or if there are no remaining diversity fellowship slots available.

Here are some other links that will help you familiarize with the organization:

Broad Mindset/Approach

Broad Blog

Broad video library

BE THOROUGH! The key to accessing a training opportunity at the Broad is congruency. You need to be both a scientific and cultural fit – meaning that you are motivated and enthusiastic about being creative and highly collaborative.  This is truly a unique organization, so take your time with learning what the Broad is about and really put your best foot forward in the application. The website is dense and there is a lot of “hidden” information, so go through it more than once. If you are selected for an interview, be prepared to give a talk and to  meet at least 10 people during your interview. The process is intense and competitive, but keep in mind that if you believe that you are exceptional, then you are exceptional, and it will reflect as such at all times. Don’t sell yourself short; however, be prepared to perform exceptionally when they tell you YES, you can join us as a Broadie!

LaTese L. Briggs, Ph.D.

FasterCures |A Center of the Milken Institute

Program Analyst

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We thank Dr. Briggs for sharing this information!

Today, we celebrate part 1 of the 2013 PROMISE Summer Success Institute with a Dissertation House, and a Postdoctoral & Alumni Writing Suite at the SMC Center at UMB! Postdocs and alumni may join us virtually by posting your goals here. Dissertation House (DH) participants will be meeting with Dr. Wendy Carter-Veale. Those participating in the “in-person” DH and those who are participating virtually can post their goals here: https://dissertationhouse.wordpress.com/blog-online-challenge/summer-2013-challenge/.  Let’s make it a productive day!