Dr. LaTese Briggs invites all to a special opportunity to meet world-renowned scientists on Sept. 9, 2012. Dr. Briggs is a former PROMISE Peer Mentor (Biochemistry/Structural Biology, UMBC), Meyerhoff Biomedical Graduate Fellow, and Gates Fellow. After she finished the PhD at UMBC, Dr. Briggs was a postdoctoral fellow at the Broad Institute for Genomics which is a collaborative between MIT and Harvard, followed by a stint as an Analyst at Decision Solutions in the Boston area. Dr. Briggs is now a Program Analyst with Faster Cures, a Washington DC Think Tank that serves as the Milken Institute’s “Center for Accelerating Medical Solutions.”

A Message from Dr. Briggs: 

You are invited to join more than 1,000 leaders on Sunday, September 9 from 8:30 am to 12:30 pm. for a series of compelling short panels and talks at the George Washington University Marvin Center. Topics of these panels will include: Basic, translational and clinical research Maximizing the economic and societal return on investments in bioscience The fate of American research universities Bolstering our science and technology education programs Addressing major diseases like cancer, AIDS and Alzheimer’s Drug development The contributions of life science to areas like energy, clean water, agriculture, and protection from pandemics and bioterrorism Experts in health, science, education, the economy; policy makers; business leaders; Presidential advisors, and Nobel Laureates are among the panelists participating in a dynamic discussion about ensuring science remain a top national priority.   To register, please email smayberry@fastercures.org with your name, affiliation, and email address. Speakers include: ·         Deborah Brooks, Co-founder and Executive Vice Chairman, The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research ·         Jean-Lou Chameau, President, California Institute of Technology ·         Peter Chiarelli, CEO, One Mind for Research; General (ret.), U.S. Army ·         Steven Chu, Nobel Laureate; United States Secretary of Energy ·         Alan Krueger, Chairman, White House Council of Economic Advisers ·         Eric Lander, President, Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT ·         Subra Suresh, Director, National Science Foundation ·         James Watson, Nobel Laureate; Chancellor Emeritus, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory For more information about the Celebration of Science program, please visit www.celebrationofscience.org.

Dr. LaTese Briggs invites all to a special opportunity to meet world-renowned scientists on Sept. 9, 2012. Dr. Briggs is a former PROMISE Peer Mentor (Biochemistry/Structural Biology, UMBC), Meyerhoff Biomedical Graduate Fellow, and Gates Fellow. After she finished the PhD at UMBC, Dr. Briggs was a postdoctoral fellow at the Broad Institute for Genomics which is a collaborative between MIT and Harvard, followed by a stint as an Analyst at Decision Solutions in the Boston area. Dr. Briggs is now a Program Analyst with Faster Cures, a Washington DC Think Tank that serves as the Milken Institute’s “Center for Accelerating Medical Solutions.”

A Message from Dr. Briggs: 

You are invited to join more than 1,000 leaders on Sunday, September 9 from 8:30 am to 12:30 pm. for a series of compelling short panels and talks at the George Washington University Marvin Center. Topics of these panels will include: Basic, translational and clinical research Maximizing the economic and societal return on investments in bioscience The fate of American research universities Bolstering our science and technology education programs Addressing major diseases like cancer, AIDS and Alzheimer’s Drug development The contributions of life science to areas like energy, clean water, agriculture, and protection from pandemics and bioterrorism Experts in health, science, education, the economy; policy makers; business leaders; Presidential advisors, and Nobel Laureates are among the panelists participating in a dynamic discussion about ensuring science remain a top national priority.   To register, please email smayberry@fastercures.org with your name, affiliation, and email address. Speakers include: ·         Deborah Brooks, Co-founder and Executive Vice Chairman, The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research ·         Jean-Lou Chameau, President, California Institute of Technology ·         Peter Chiarelli, CEO, One Mind for Research; General (ret.), U.S. Army ·         Steven Chu, Nobel Laureate; United States Secretary of Energy ·         Alan Krueger, Chairman, White House Council of Economic Advisers ·         Eric Lander, President, Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT ·         Subra Suresh, Director, National Science Foundation ·         James Watson, Nobel Laureate; Chancellor Emeritus, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory For more information about the Celebration of Science program, please visit www.celebrationofscience.org.

• I start things off with a post about UMBC's culture, and our participation in national civic engagement initiatives.

• WILL program director Kate Drabinski describes connecting with her communities and her research through bike rides and blog posts.

• UMBC alum Richard Blissett draws lessons from a year of service as an Americorps Vista volunteer in Baltimore's Brooklyn neighborhood.

• Women's Center Director Jess Myers and sophomore Max Barnhart (on video) share a new initiative bringing men on campus together to talk about what manhood means.

• SGA President Kaylesh Ramu  talks (on video) about the "greater purpose" of a college education, and issues an invitation.  Kaylesh will be appearing Tuesday morning with the U.S. Under Secretary of Education on a panel at the National Press Club focused on civic engagement.  You can watch live online.

• UMBC junior Caitlyn Leiter-Mason and alum Mitch Case are in Charlotte this week as delegates to the Democratic National Convention.  You can follow their adventures on their blog, A Tale of Two Delegates.

Kaylesh Ramu

• Martha Kanter, U.S. Under Secretary of Education
• Nancy Cantor, Chancellor, Syracuse University
• Muriel Howard, President, American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU)
• Bernie Ronan, Chair, The Democracy Commitment
• Kaylesh Ramu, President, UMBC Student Government Association
• Scott Peters, Co-­Director, Imagining America
• Harry Boyte, National Coordinator, The American Commonwealth Partnership
• Bill Muse, President, The National Issues Forums
• David Mathews, President, The Kettering Foundation (via video)

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

“How to Fund Your Graduate Education”

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

Dr. Carter-Johnson is a graduate of UMBC’s Department of Public Policy and currently serves as a STEM Policy Analyst at Westat.  Dr. Carter-Johnson has degrees in Public Policy, Applied Physics, Pure Physics, and Mechanical Engineering from UMBC, Georgia Tech, and Spelman College. She has received fellowships from NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP), SREB, GAANN, and GEM. As of September 2012, Dr. Carter-Johnson will be joining the Teaching and Learning Laboratory at MIT.

Dr. Ordóñez Rozo is a graduate of UMBC’s Department of Computer Science. She is an Assistant Professor at the University of Puerto Rico Rio Piedras. Dr. Ordóñez Rozo has degrees in Hispanic and Italian Studies, and Computer Science.  She has taught several classes at UMBC and was a Technical Trainer for UMBC’s Training Centers, focusing on JAVA Computer Programming Certifications and curriculum development. Dr. Ordóñez Rozo was a NSF Graduate Research Fellow, and has won fellowships from Xerox, Verizon, and UMBC.

Dr. Carter-Johnson and Dr.  Ordóñez Rozo were PROMISE Peer Mentors and have collectively been invited speakers on this topic at the National Science Foundation’s HBCU-UP national conference, the American Association for the Advancement in Science’s  Emerging Researchers Network national Conference, Harvard, UMBC, and MIT. This fall, Dr. Ordóñez Rozo will also present this topic in Puerto Rico. Our speakers’ work was presented at the “Understanding Interventions” national conference in 2012. To date, at least 10 of their mentees who have taken their workshops have won the prestigious NSF GRFP Fellowship, or other award, for a total of approximately $1 million of fellowship money! 

Saturday, September 15, 2012

Public Policy Building, Room 206

SESSION 1: “Funding Your Graduate Education.” 

10:00 AM -12:00 PM — SEMINAR (General Public)

This seminar will include general information about funding for graduate school. Information regarding a variety of fellowships will be shared. Most of the content will focus on funding that is available in the U.S. for students in STEM fields.  Many of these fellowship opportunities are sponsored by the U.S. government, and are therefore reserved for U.S. students. There will be a small amount of information available to international students and students in the Humanities and Education, but in addition to talking about general fellowships, a primary focus of this seminar will be the National Science Foundation’s Graduate Research Fellowship (GRFP).  The NSF GRFP Fellowship covers STEM fields, including social and behavioral sciences, e.g., Psychology, STEM Education, Public Policy.)

Breakfast will be served.

————————————

SESSION 2: “Starting Your Application”

12:00 PM – 3:00 PM — NSF Fastlane session (By reservation/appointment only)

To join this session, you must reserve your space in the comments below before September 7, and you must bring your laptop.  This session is for those who are making the commitment to submit the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship application. Participation in this session requires participation in SESSION 1. This session will take you through the process of logging onto the Fastlane, NSF’s online application submission website, and the presenters will assist you with the early stages of preparing your essays and documents for the fellowship application.

List of fields: http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2012/nsf12599/nsf12599.htm#appendix.

Applicants for the GRFP must meet the following criteria:

• During the senior year of an undergraduate program
• After completing their undergraduate program but prior to entering graduate school
• During the first year of graduate school
• Prior to completing the Fall term of the second year of a full-time graduate program.

Lunch will be served at SESSION 2.

[Both undergraduates and graduate students may attend SESSION 1 and SESSION 2.]

Other NSF GRFP recipients are invited to join these session to provide advice. The original MyUMBC discussion with funding information can be found here:
http://my.umbc.edu/groups/promise/discussions/113

To Attend, PLEASE RSVP:

• Students at UMBC should login to MyUMBC and click “I can Attend” here: http://my.umbc.edu/groups/promise/events/12946.
• Students from other campuses may RSVP by writing your name, discipline, and school in the comments below.
• Students from underrepresented groups in STEM, LSAMP, AGEP, ERC, other US government sponsored programs, e.g., McNair, Trio, NIH, etc.  are especially invited to attend as participating in a seminar about the NSF GRFP fits into the missions of various government agencies with regard to increasing diversity in STEM.

This program is sponsored by PROMISE: Maryland’s Alliance for Graduate Education and the Professoriate (AGEP), and The Graduate School at UMBC.

Related articles

• Funding for Graduate School (gradschool360.wordpress.com)
• Annual PROMISE Summer Success Institute: August 17-18, 2012 @ UMBC & The Hotel at Arundel Preserve (promiseagep.wordpress.com)
• Learn more about graduate school: July 18, 2012 (gradschool360.wordpress.com)

Related video

Watch Dr. Frances Carter-Johnson and Dr. Ordóñez Rozo as they present an interactive workshop on funding at MIT, Summer 2012:  http://video.mit.edu/watch/msrp-fellowship-preparation-dr-francis-carter-and-dr-patricia-ordonez-11766/ (Start video at 3:39.) You may use this video as a resource before and after the September 15, 2012 workshop.

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

“How to Fund Your Graduate Education”

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

Dr. Carter-Johnson is a graduate of UMBC’s Department of Public Policy and currently serves as a STEM Policy Analyst at Westat.  Dr. Carter-Johnson has degrees in Public Policy, Applied Physics, Pure Physics, and Mechanical Engineering from UMBC, Georgia Tech, and Spelman College. She has received fellowships from NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP), SREB, GAANN, and GEM. As of September 2012, Dr. Carter-Johnson will be joining the Teaching and Learning Laboratory at MIT.

Dr. Ordóñez Rozo is a graduate of UMBC’s Department of Computer Science. She is an Assistant Professor at the University of Puerto Rico Rio Piedras. Dr. Ordóñez Rozo has degrees in Hispanic and Italian Studies, and Computer Science.  She has taught several classes at UMBC and was a Technical Trainer for UMBC’s Training Centers, focusing on JAVA Computer Programming Certifications and curriculum development. Dr. Ordóñez Rozo was a NSF Graduate Research Fellow, and has won fellowships from Xerox, Verizon, and UMBC.

Dr. Carter-Johnson and Dr.  Ordóñez Rozo were PROMISE Peer Mentors and have collectively been invited speakers on this topic at the National Science Foundation’s HBCU-UP national conference, the American Association for the Advancement in Science’s  Emerging Researchers Network national Conference, Harvard, UMBC, and MIT. This fall, Dr. Ordóñez Rozo will also present this topic in Puerto Rico. Our speakers’ work was presented at the “Understanding Interventions” national conference in 2012. To date, at least 10 of their mentees who have taken their workshops have won the prestigious NSF GRFP Fellowship, or other award, for a total of approximately $1 million of fellowship money! 

Saturday, September 15, 2012

Public Policy Building, Room 206

SESSION 1: “Funding Your Graduate Education.” 

10:00 AM -12:00 PM — SEMINAR (General Public)

This seminar will include general information about funding for graduate school. Information regarding a variety of fellowships will be shared. Most of the content will focus on funding that is available in the U.S. for students in STEM fields.  Many of these fellowship opportunities are sponsored by the U.S. government, and are therefore reserved for U.S. students. There will be a small amount of information available to international students and students in the Humanities and Education, but in addition to talking about general fellowships, a primary focus of this seminar will be the National Science Foundation’s Graduate Research Fellowship (GRFP).  The NSF GRFP Fellowship covers STEM fields, including social and behavioral sciences, e.g., Psychology, STEM Education, Public Policy.)

Breakfast will be served.

————————————

SESSION 2: “Starting Your Application”

12:00 PM – 3:00 PM — NSF Fastlane session (By reservation/appointment only)

To join this session, you must reserve your space in the comments below before September 7, and you must bring your laptop.  This session is for those who are making the commitment to submit the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship application. Participation in this session requires participation in SESSION 1. This session will take you through the process of logging onto the Fastlane, NSF’s online application submission website, and the presenters will assist you with the early stages of preparing your essays and documents for the fellowship application.

List of fields: http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2012/nsf12599/nsf12599.htm#appendix.

Applicants for the GRFP must meet the following criteria:

• During the senior year of an undergraduate program
• After completing their undergraduate program but prior to entering graduate school
• During the first year of graduate school
• Prior to completing the Fall term of the second year of a full-time graduate program.

Lunch will be served at SESSION 2.

[Both undergraduates and graduate students may attend SESSION 1 and SESSION 2.]

Other NSF GRFP recipients are invited to join these session to provide advice. The original MyUMBC discussion with funding information can be found here:
http://my.umbc.edu/groups/promise/discussions/113

To Attend, PLEASE RSVP:

• Students at UMBC should login to MyUMBC and click “I can Attend” here: http://my.umbc.edu/groups/promise/events/12946.
• Students from other campuses may RSVP by writing your name, discipline, and school in the comments below.
• Students from underrepresented groups in STEM, LSAMP, AGEP, ERC, other US government sponsored programs, e.g., McNair, Trio, NIH, etc.  are especially invited to attend as participating in a seminar about the NSF GRFP fits into the missions of various government agencies with regard to increasing diversity in STEM.

This program is sponsored by PROMISE: Maryland’s Alliance for Graduate Education and the Professoriate (AGEP), and The Graduate School at UMBC.

Related articles

• Funding for Graduate School (gradschool360.wordpress.com)
• Annual PROMISE Summer Success Institute: August 17-18, 2012 @ UMBC & The Hotel at Arundel Preserve (promiseagep.wordpress.com)
• Learn more about graduate school: July 18, 2012 (gradschool360.wordpress.com)

Related video

Watch Dr. Frances Carter-Johnson and Dr. Ordóñez Rozo as they present an interactive workshop on funding at MIT, Summer 2012:  http://video.mit.edu/watch/msrp-fellowship-preparation-dr-francis-carter-and-dr-patricia-ordonez-11766/ (Start video at 3:39.) You may use this video as a resource before and after the September 15, 2012 workshop.

Prepare for a successful Fall semester: Communicate with your faculty (A message for new and continuing grad students.) 

The new semester is starting and we know that first and second year graduate students are generally immersed in classes, while more advanced doctoral students are working on experiments, preparing for exams, writing the dissertation, preparing for the defense, and preparing for a job.  As part of the writing, studying, and preparing, it is important to note that all graduate students (regardless of status, whether in the first year or in the last semester of PhD candidacy) must maintain strong levels of communication with your faculty members. If you attended the 2012 Summer Success Institute, you heard about the importance of working with and connecting to faculty in several of the presentations.  Earlier in the year, we posted 5 things that you should do to be successful BEFORE classes begin.Now that classes are starting, let’s talk about 5 things that you should do DURING the semester as they pertain to faculty/student interactions.

1. Go to office hours for your faculty members … all of them. The Guaranteed 4.0 Book by Donna O. Johnson and Y.C. Chen describes the POH – Professor’s Office Hours as a must. Talk to your professors about the content that they taught in class. Talk to them about updates in the field (you are graduate students, therefore you should be able to “see” your research and topics in everyday life, in the news, in the latest journal articles, etc.) Discuss your understanding of what they are teaching.  [Faculty pay attention to the people who are coming to their office hours. Ask questions! Discuss the research! If something isn't going well, and the faculty are asked about the student, if they say "well, _____insert name ___ never came to see me," then there will be an assumption that the student isn't serious.]
2. Always keep your appointments! If you are going to be late, contact the professors in advance. If you need to request a change of appointment date or time, contact them in advance with the request. Once you make a change, do not continue to make changes. Try to maintain your scheduled appointment. [Regularly missed appointments make faculty wary of trying to make future accommodations for students. Don't fall into the category of having a reputation of missing appointments.]
3.  Go to the department’s seminars and ask questions. Faculty need to see that you are engaged in scholarly pursuits. [All graduate students need to attend the departments seminars and colloquia, even when it is not "mandated."  Schedule it like a class. This is an unwritten rule.]
4. Go to your advisor’s and committee members’ research talks. Whether the talk is within your department, or in other departments, or even at a conference that you’re attending, you should be in the audience. You should also go up to them after the talk and let them know your thoughts, ask additional questions, share some praise, or ask about something that wasn’t clear.  [This is an unwritten expectation.]
5. Make sure that you talk with all of the faculty in your department regularly. It’s not good enough for you to know your faculty. They need to know you. This is simple. They should know you beyond what your admissions file says, and beyond what  the grade beside your name says on Blackboard or their grade book.  This connection doesn’t need to extend to sharing personal business. The faculty in your department should know about your research interests, your career aspirations, your skills, and your ideas. You, the graduate student, need to open the lines of communication and make plans and time in your schedule to talk with your faculty. Some faculty have open door policies, some will talk with you by appointment, and some will have conversations with you at departmental events.

Don’t view talking with the faculty as a chore. They are people too! Enjoy the character-building exercise of taking time to know people of different academic ranks, and people with a variety of personalities. Strengthen this attribute. It will serve you well, both as a graduate student, and as you progress in your career. Have a great semester!

__________________________________________________

The text content of this post was compiled and written by the staff of PROMISE: Maryland’s AGEP and may not be copied without referencing the PROMISE organization, as “PROMISE: Maryland’s AGEP”.

PROMISE AGEP Online Information by PROMISE: Maryland’s AGEP is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

Prepare for a successful Fall semester: Communicate with your faculty (A message for new and continuing grad students.) 

The new semester is starting and we know that first and second year graduate students are generally immersed in classes, while more advanced doctoral students are working on experiments, preparing for exams, writing the dissertation, preparing for the defense, and preparing for a job.  As part of the writing, studying, and preparing, it is important to note that all graduate students (regardless of status, whether in the first year or in the last semester of PhD candidacy) must maintain strong levels of communication with your faculty members. If you attended the 2012 Summer Success Institute, you heard about the importance of working with and connecting to faculty in several of the presentations.  Earlier in the year, we posted 5 things that you should do to be successful BEFORE classes begin.Now that classes are starting, let’s talk about 5 things that you should do DURING the semester as they pertain to faculty/student interactions.

1. Go to office hours for your faculty members … all of them. The Guaranteed 4.0 Book by Donna O. Johnson and Y.C. Chen describes the POH – Professor’s Office Hours as a must. Talk to your professors about the content that they taught in class. Talk to them about updates in the field (you are graduate students, therefore you should be able to “see” your research and topics in everyday life, in the news, in the latest journal articles, etc.) Discuss your understanding of what they are teaching.  [Faculty pay attention to the people who are coming to their office hours. Ask questions! Discuss the research! If something isn't going well, and the faculty are asked about the student, if they say "well, _____insert name ___ never came to see me," then there will be an assumption that the student isn't serious.]
2. Always keep your appointments! If you are going to be late, contact the professors in advance. If you need to request a change of appointment date or time, contact them in advance with the request. Once you make a change, do not continue to make changes. Try to maintain your scheduled appointment. [Regularly missed appointments make faculty wary of trying to make future accommodations for students. Don't fall into the category of having a reputation of missing appointments.]
3.  Go to the department’s seminars and ask questions. Faculty need to see that you are engaged in scholarly pursuits. [All graduate students need to attend the departments seminars and colloquia, even when it is not "mandated."  Schedule it like a class. This is an unwritten rule.]
4. Go to your advisor’s and committee members’ research talks. Whether the talk is within your department, or in other departments, or even at a conference that you’re attending, you should be in the audience. You should also go up to them after the talk and let them know your thoughts, ask additional questions, share some praise, or ask about something that wasn’t clear.  [This is an unwritten expectation.]
5. Make sure that you talk with all of the faculty in your department regularly. It’s not good enough for you to know your faculty. They need to know you. This is simple. They should know you beyond what your admissions file says, and beyond what  the grade beside your name says on Blackboard or their grade book.  This connection doesn’t need to extend to sharing personal business. The faculty in your department should know about your research interests, your career aspirations, your skills, and your ideas. You, the graduate student, need to open the lines of communication and make plans and time in your schedule to talk with your faculty. Some faculty have open door policies, some will talk with you by appointment, and some will have conversations with you at departmental events.

Don’t view talking with the faculty as a chore. They are people too! Enjoy the character-building exercise of taking time to know people of different academic ranks, and people with a variety of personalities. Strengthen this attribute. It will serve you well, both as a graduate student, and as you progress in your career. Have a great semester!

__________________________________________________

The text content of this post was compiled and written by the staff of PROMISE: Maryland’s AGEP and may not be copied without referencing the PROMISE organization, as “PROMISE: Maryland’s AGEP”.

PROMISE AGEP Online Information by PROMISE: Maryland’s AGEP is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

• President Obama named UMBC President Freeman Hrabowski as Chair of the President's Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for African Americans. And U.S. News named Dr. Hrabowski to the STEM Leadership Hall of Fame.

• The University System of Maryland adopted a system-wide on-campus smoking ban, effective June 30, 2013.

• Dr. William Lacourse was appointed Dean of UMBC's College of Natural and Mathematical Sciences.

• Dr. Rebecca Boehling, Director of UMBC's Dresher Center for the Humanities, was appointed Director of the International Tracing Service, an international organization dedicated to "serving the victims of Nazi persecution and their families by documenting the fate of the victims and keeping their memory alive."

• Dr. Hrabowski created a new fund to support innovative teaching at UMBC.

• UMBC Events Coordinator Shannon Booker, of #shannonbookerdoesstuff fame, left for Nova Southeastern University in Florida. Jackie Aliotta will now be working with student organizations as they plan their amazing events.

• The Student Events Board launched a new web site.

• Many people at UMBC had a hand in envisioning and preparing for BreakingGround, an initiative that launched today.

• And way back before it was super-trendy (during final exam week, actually), staff members in the Division of Student Affairs said, "I threw a wish in a well, don't ask me I'll never tell, I looked to you as it fell, and now you're in my way."