Every graduate student needs to know the guidelines for responsible conduct of research.  Depending on the discipline, students need to have additional training regarding rules and regulations for conducting research using animals or humans (including surveys) and details related to ownership of work. All doctoral students and all master’s students should be prepared to learn about “Responsible Conduct of Research” training.

Photo credit: https://www.citiprogram.org/

ANSWERS TO FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

FOR THE SESSION ON OCTOBER 21, 2015

Registration:

Attendees from UMBC: Please register at http://my.umbc.edu/groups/promise/events/36089

Attendees from other universities: Please register by indicating your interest in coming to the event in the comments below.

Understanding professors’ expectations shouldn’t be a mystery. However, sometimes, there are disconnects between what a faculty member wants a student to produce for a project, and how the student interprets the instructions. In many cases, the expectations of faculty are clearly articulated, either in written or oral format. However, in other cases, there are situations where a faculty member’s feedback or outcomes from discussions regarding progress may not be as clear because they involve aspects of non-verbal communication such as eye contact, gestures, facial expressions, tone of voice, and eye contact.

Addressing the Needs of Graduate Students

We draw particular attention to the needs of graduate students for our “When Faculty Say X” success seminar series. Graduate students have several forms of faculty interaction that have their own sets of nuances. For graduate students, the faculty member is a teacher, a mentor, an advisor, and a future colleague. There are several phases through which one must pass to navigate the transitions. During coursework, there is the phase where one follows the syllabus, turns in the homework, and takes the exam. During the qualifying exam and proposal stages, it can be difficult for a student to determine what they are supposed to know on the journey toward building expertise in a discipline or particular area of research. In addition to becoming a contributor to the field, a professor may have a methodology that must be employed by all in her lab, or a set of theories which need to be used set the foundation for all work that comes out of the research group. There may be bibliographies that one must reference, techniques that must be mastered, and simple “unwritten rules” that must be followed. Some of the rules may include attending every group meeting and each departmental colloquium. Other rules may extend to writing, i.e., explicit use of a citation style, paragraph structure, or drafting process.  In the past, we have had in-person seminars and panels where students have a chance to post questions online, and faculty answer them in-person during a dinner seminar.

Launching #WhenFacultySayX 2015

In order to accommodate schedules of faculty guests who will join our seminar this year, and in an attempt involve all of the students in our PROMISE AGEP network and beyond, we are launching an interactive, online version of the seminar in conjunction with Twitter that will allow all to participate.

Here’s how it will work.

Between Wednesday, October 7, and Thursday, October 15, 2015, we invite graduate students to post questions to faculty below in the comment section (you do not need a wordpress account to participate, we encourage anonymous posts.) Simultaneously, we will launch #WhenFacultySayX on Twitter, and will encourage questions from graduate students broadly, and answers from faculty colleagues from any school. On Friday, Oct. 9, 2015, PROMISE Director, Dr. Renetta Tull (@Renetta_Tull) will answer questions on Twitter.  Our faculty experts, Dr. Ralph Pollack, Dr. Joel Morris, and Dr. John Jeffries,

Faculty: Faculty colleagues from around the world are welcome to share things that they want students to clearly understand, using the hashtag #WhenFacultySayX. You are also welcome to join the conversation below and reply through the comments. 

Students: This program was developed for you. It was developed to remove the barriers and fear regarding asking any and all questions related to your success. You may post anonymously.  Do you have a question that you want a faculty member to answer? Post it in the comment section of this post at the bottom of this page. You may post anonymously.

Our featured faculty panel of experts will answer questions that are posted on this website, below. 

Featured faculty:

1. Dr. Ralph Pollack – representing natural and mathematical sciences. Dr. Pollack was a faculty member in the Chemistry & Biochemistry Department at UMBC from 1970 – 2007 and Associate Vice President for Research from 2007. Dr. Pollack has extensive experience in both writing and reviewing proposals. He was funded continuously from his arrival at UMBC to his retirement from active research in 2007, and he has obtained funding for research, teaching, graduate student training, symposia, major equipment and travel from state, national, international and private agencies. 
2. Dr. Joel Morris – representing engineering and IT. Dr. Morris’ research focuses on topics including stochastic and deterministic system theory with applications to communications and statistical signal processing, joint-time frequency/time-scale analysis and applications, robust signal processing, fading channel communications, and adaptive signal processing and applications. Professor Morris’ received training from Howard University, Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn, and Johns Hopkins University. Dr. Morris was a faculty panelist for the in-person version of “When Faculty Say X” a few years ago when PROMISE placed a strategic focus on scholarly writing. 
3. Dr. John Jeffries – representing education and humanities. Professor Emeritus and Dean Emeritus of the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences (Ph.D. Yale University). Dean Jeffries specializes in twentieth-century America and American political and policy history. His distinguished teaching has earned him designation as a UMBC Presidential Teaching Professor and gained him a University of Maryland Regents Award for Teaching Excellence.
4. Dr. Renetta Tull – Online Moderator.  Dr. RenettaTull will moderate the discussion and will add commentary based on her experience as a former faculty member at University of Wisconsin-Madison, adjunct at College Park (http://hesp.umd.edu/facultyprofile/Tull/Renetta), and member of the program faculty groups for MSRP at MIT, and QoLT at Carnegie Mellon and University of Pittsburgh. Tull is Associate Vice Provost for Graduate Student Development and Postdoctoral Affairs and writes on issues of graduate student professional development and degree completion. 

___________________

Historical Perspective

____________________

The “When Faculty Say X” seminar began as a PROMISE seminar in 2003, initially titled, “Understanding Faculty Expectations” as part of the PROMISE SUCCESS 2003, a pre-cursor to the PROMISE Summer Success Institute (SSI). During an orientation session for new graduate students at UMBC circa 2004, UMBC Psychology Professor Dr. Susan Sonnenschein posted a chart with two columns. The left column noted “What Faculty Say,” and the right column noted “What They Mean.” PROMISE adopted this method and started the “Faculty X|Y – When Faculty Say X, They Really Mean Y” seminar to allow students to anonymously ask questions, and have a faculty panel answer the questions (grouped by topic area) in person. This seminar has drawn crowds of more than 100 graduate students. The “they really mean y” portion of the title was dropped over time.  This 2015 #WhenFacultySayX virtual seminar is the online evolution of those early panels and workshops.

Some of the programs and questions from past years can be found in these links:

When Faculty say “X” … Understanding Faculty Expectations, Unwritten Rules. Dinner Seminar, Fri. Oct. 10, 2014

“When Faculty Say ‘X’ …” Do you understand what faculty say and mean? Dinner seminar, Friday, Oct. 11, 2013

Last year, we were unable to answer all of the questions during the seminar, so we added some videos to the library with answers to some of the questions. Here is an example:

(Other videos that answer questions from past years can be accessed here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_uKXMv-Mty_sRI31EzJm0E0cJTX20mve)

——

Added 10/9/15, 11:29 AM: Thank you to several of our PROMISE mentors and PhD alumni from around the country who are also assisting with answering questions.

Interested in teaching or becoming a faculty? Ivette Cruz and Sundia Nazario Cardona from Ana G. Mendez University in Wheaton, MD will come to campus to discuss about bilingual teaching opportunities and faculty positions! Please come to listen about these opportunities! Refreshments will be served. 

• Please register at the myUMBC website

Attendees who are not affiliated with UMBC:

• Please comment on the following link to indicate your interest in coming: https://promiseagep.wordpress.com/?page_id=3272&preview=true&preview_id=3272

Information Session at UMBC  – Weds. October 14, 2015

Meet with the Campus Director and the Academic Director:

• Wednesday, October 14, 2015 ( Note date change from 10/13 to 10/14.)
• 2:00 PM
• Administration Building, Room 218
• UMBC
• UMBC Directions & Parking: http://about.umbc.edu/visitors-guide/directions/. Closest parking lot: Administration Drive. Note that there is construction on campus. The Administration Drive parking lot is metered.

Registration

• Please register at the myUMBC website (http://my.umbc.edu/groups/promise/events/36039)

Attendees who are not affiliated with UMBC:

• Please comment below to indicate your interest in coming.

Light refreshments will be served. 

UPDATES: Posted Oct. 12, 2015, 11:26 AM EST

More on the dual-language process: 

BILINGUAL (REF: http://www.suagm.edu/maryland_3/en_por_que_suagm.asp)
The bilingual model has several purposes. The first and principal purpose is to meet the current need to develop bilingual professionals in different areas where students can develop the skills necessary to compete in a global society.

Second, it seeks to develop social and academic language. This is to provide students with the opportunity to learn through both languages, while developing skills and understanding different cultures.

Third, by offering the same amount of instruction in both languages ​​(50/50), our model will provide the labor market with fully bilingual and competent individuals who can meet the needs of their employers and the growing global market economy.

Fourth, the bilingual model is the first of its kind, which is the first program at the university where the students learns through immersion in both languages. Finally, our model produces bilingual professionals, confident in their field of study in both English and Spanish.

Courses 

AGMUS in Wheaton works in a way that similar to regional centers in Maryland (e.g., Shady Grove) where courses are part of the curricula from other universities within the system, but students can take them at a location that works for them. In this case, students can receive a degree from AGMUS system in Puerto Rico, through a degree program that offers courses here in Maryland. Focusing on adult learners (23 years old+) and a bilingual model allow AGMUS to provide the market with professionals who have experience and strong skills.  The degree programs that are listed include coursework in areas where graduate students and postdocs have experience, e.g., chemistry, biology, mathematics, information systems. Click here to see all of the offerings: http://www.suagm.edu/maryland_3/en_ofrecimientos_academicos.asp.

When you click on the degree programs (each colored rectangle in the each of the three columns), you will see a full list of courses, e.g., calculus, economics, psychology. There are 29 degree programs, and each has a list of associated courses. Each of the courses listed here will be taught in Maryland at the AGMUS campus in Wheaton, MD.

Examples:

Courses – A.B. Engineering Technology: 

http://www.suagm.edu/maryland_3/Programas_de_Estudio_Maryland/UNE_Program_Outlines/UNE_AS_CienciasElectronics.pdf

Courses – BBA – Information Systems: 

http://www.suagm.edu/maryland_3/Programas_de_Estudio_Maryland/UT_Program_Outlines/BBA_Information_Systems.pdf

Location for the AGMUS Campus

(Note: the information session on 10/14 is at UMBC. These directions below are provided for future reference. The directions below can assist with determining distance from a current location, planning, and scheduling.)

ADDRESS:
11006 Veirs Mill Road
Wheaton, MD 20902
Tel: 301-949-2224
1-800-854-8181

Campus Map: http://www.suagm.edu/maryland_3/imagenes/AGMUS_capital_center_area_campus_map.jpg

The AGMUS campus in Wheaton, MD is accessible via public transportation.

It is across the street from the Wheaton Metro Stop, and is a 5 minute walk due to the traffic pattern. The location is in a mall area.

Metro Map: http://www.wmata.com/rail/maps/map.cfm

UMBC: Take the MARC Penn Line to Union Station, take the Red Line Metro toward Glenmont. Exit at Wheaton.

College Park: Take the College Park Metro to Fort Totten. Switch to the Red Line toward Glenmont. Exit at Wheaton.

Walking Map from the Metro to the AGMUS Building

The 2015 PROMISE Fall Harvest Dinner for graduate students and postdocs at schools within the University System of Maryland will be held Friday, November 20, 2015, at  5:00 PM.

Location:

University of Maryland College Park

Stamp Student Union

2203 Stamp – Colony Ballroom

This dinner will allow you to connect with graduate students and postdocs who are in your field, allowing you to build collaborative relationships, connections, and expand your network. You may bring a guest to this event. PROMISE wants you to include your support network in events. 

This event is free.

REGISTER:

Stay tuned to this page for any additional information.

October brings dissertation writing opportunities for all! UMBC has a Dissertation House, and UM College Park has a Dissertation Writing Retreat! If you aren’t at either of those schools, you can blog your progress and join the conversation online: https://dissertationhouse.wordpress.com/blog-online-challenge/summerdh2015/

For the event at UMBC

If you are an employee of UMBC (50% time or more) or a “Non-Traditional” student, and if you are working on your graduate school courses, proposal, or dissertation, then this event is for you!

Eligibility:

• You can be in a graduate program at any school, and are currently a working, career professional at UMBC.
• You are a career professional at one of the other schools within the USM, and are a current graduate student at UMBC

We’ve worked with our UMBC employees who are also graduate students at UMBC, College Park, Northeastern, and other institutions.  This session will have support, coaching, and food will be provided for you on both days.

You work hard every day to serve others on our campus! You may be supporting your family members, or you have decided to take some time for yourself to reach your goals.  Now, let us work with you to finish your graduate degree. This version of the “Dissertation House” was created just for you!

Dissertation House for UMBC Employees and Non-Traditional Students
Friday, 10/16/15,   9:00 – 5:00 PM (Part I),
Saturday, 10/17/15, 10:00 – 3:00 PM(Part II). 

(NOTE: Time may change to 10-5 each day. Plan for this possibility.)

RSVP by clicking “I can attend” on MyUMBC: 

http://my.umbc.edu/groups/promise/events/35509

and apply via the Dissertation House’s website:

http://dissertationhouse.wordpress.com

Apply by October 7, 2015

For the Dissertation Writing Retreat at College Park

31st Annual MCA Conference | November 13-14, 2015
"Talking Through Conflict: Exploring Communication Strategies"
Bowie State University, Bowie, MD