Workshops in Business Management

Cindy Batchelder
Reality for the current crop of new PhDs is that fewer than half will find academic positions. The remainder of new PhDs will most likely find employment in industry or government in positions that require a broader range of career skills than typically offered in the traditional PhD program. With this in mind, my PFTF project will address the need for graduate students to possess a basic level of business management skills to complement the strong scientific training already in place at UC Davis. I will organize several seminars focusing on variety of business management-oriented topics. Seminar topics will include training in people-management skills like how to hire, build, and motivate a team of employees (or a team of grad students, postdocs, and technicians in a laboratory); intellectual property laws and patents; budgeting for the entrepreneur or the principal investigator; and business or contract negotiation skills.

Science writing for the public

Elena C. Berg
In the face of dwindling public funds for scientific research, the future of our success as scientists lies increasingly on our ability to garner public interest and support. The aim of my project is provide training to graduate students and postdoctoral scholars in the written communication of their research ideas and experiences to a general audience. A common complaint outside of (and even within) academia is that science is intimidating or inaccessible to those who are not specialists. Scientists often become isolated within their professions, communicating only with fellow experts through talks or journal articles. Although some research makes its way to the public in the form of newspaper articles, popular books, or documentaries, most of what scientists do remains a complete mystery to the public.

Most scientists see the tremendous value in sharing their ideas and helping to foster a more dynamic interface with the public, but many do not know where to begin. My aim is to facilitate communication with the public by holding a writing workshop open to graduate students and postdoctoral scholars of all disciplines. During weekly meetings held over two quarters, we will: 1) discuss different styles of non-academic writing (e.g. newspapers, magazines, adult or children’s books),
2) discuss writings by scientists who have been particularly successful at translating their academic work into forms accessible to a general audience, and
3) exchange drafts of our own work for ongoing comment and discussion.

In addition, I will invite several local scientists, mostly UC Davis faculty, to give informal talks about their efforts to bridge the gap between academia and the public.

Health and Life Balance Seminars for Graduate Students and Postdocs

Karrie Cesario
Graduate school is physically, mentally, and psychologically demanding. As a result, students often feel anxious, burnt out and/or disconnected from the University and healthy habits such as exercise and eating a balanced diet often fall by the wayside. For my Professors of the Future Project, I plan to address this issue by developing a four lecture series given by graduate students for graduate students. This sequence will discuss how to lead a healthy, well-balanced life during the final stages of graduate school and postdoctoral appointments.

For this project, I plan to recruit graduate students and post doctoral scholars from multiple disciplines across campus, such as nutrition, exercise physiology, and psychology, to deliver a one-hour seminar on how to reduce stress and promote overall well being in one’s life during time’s of stress. Furthermore, I plan to work with each presenter to develop a one-page handout summarizing his or her presentation. At the end of the hour, this handout and the handouts from previous lectures in the series will be made available for lecture attendees to take home.

Teaching Partners Mentor Program

Elizabeth Deitchman
The Teaching Partners is an intensive mentoring program offered in conjunction with the Teaching Resources Center's TA Consultant Program. During Winter Quarter 2004, a number of TAs campus-wide will have the opportunity to improve their teaching skills by working in teams of three with a TA Consultant. Each partner will benefit from the full range of mentoring services provided by the TA Consultants, including a mid-quarter interview, class observation, and videotaping. Partners will also meet as a group several times throughout the quarter to discuss their goals and interests in topics related to teaching. Partners who meet all the program's expectations will receive a certificate of completion at the quarter's end.

Making Campus Seminars Accessible to the UCDMC

Sonal Desai
My project is to make seminars on campus more accessible to the researchers at the Cancer Center. The focus of my project is to establish video conferencing or internet connection between the campuses so that seminars held on the main campus could also be attended at the Cancer Center.

During fall quarter I will assess the equipment needs for main campus and the Cancer Center, and apply for funding to update each system. I will also survey researchers at the Cancer Center and determine which seminar series is of greatest interest and will use this series set up the initial conferencing. The first video conferencing will begin during winter quarter. I plan to expand the number of seminars available at the Cancer Center during spring quarter, once all of the technical difficulties have been worked out. My hope is that this project will bring the Cancer Center researchers closer to the main campus and increase communication between them. Potentially this project could be expanded to include other seminars on campus as well as seminars on other campuses.

Seeing Past the Present: Helping Grad Students Through the First Years of a TAship

Kristin Koster
The first two years of graduate school can be uniquely stressful, especially for students who enter with a TA ship for which they are the primary instructor in an undergraduate course. In the humanities, many graduate students who TA Foreign Languages, Comparative Literature and English attend two graduate seminars, a pedagogy seminar, and teach up to five days per week. My project creates a series of workshops aimed at providing support, encouragement and guidance for TAís who carry the heaviest teaching loads. These workshops will be open to all students in the graduate community who feel overwhelmed as a result of their beginning teaching or research responsibilities.
The workshops will focus on these objectives: 1) To bring senior graduate students and professionals in stress-management together with new graduate students to help articulate the particular stresses of the grad school/teaching experience; 2) To workshop ideas to bolster morale, support and validate the students during their most stressful times; 3) To link entering students more tightly with the greater graduate student community, so that they can both envision themselves as scholars, and be reminded of the greater scholarly community to which they belong; 4) To make students aware of some of the less obvious benefits of teaching, including resume bolstering, awards, certificates, fellowships and grants that honor and highlight their service as teachers to the university community, and to their departments.

Ethics and Guidelines on The Conduct of Research Involving Human Subjects

Thomas Ndolo
As mandated by the federal government, all research projects involving human subjects require approval by Institutional Review Board (IRB). In addition, graduate student and postdoctoral fellows intending to undertake such studies are required to submit human subject protocols and participate in a training program on ethical standards governing the protection of human subjects in research with the Office for Human Protection (OHRP). Unfortunately, ethical principles and guidelines on conduct of research involving humans are not adequately covered in graduate and postdoctoral training programs.

The purpose of my PFTF project is to develop a training program to meet these requirements. More specifically: (a) develop and provide a comprehensive training program on ethical issues involving human subjects in research; (b) familiarize graduate students and postdoctoral fellows with the application and approval process of human protocols.

A part of project implementation, I intend to prepare a booklet on ethical principles and guidelines for the conduct of research involving human subjects. Secondly, I will organize a series of workshops in collaboration with OHRP and Graduate Studies. These workshops will cover pertinent issues including; historical, ethical and legal foundations for policies and procedures regarding the conduct of research involving human subjects. The Nuremberg Code, Declaration of Helsinki and The Belmont Report will be covered. Other topics will include elements of informed consent, confidentiality and privacy of data and patient records, the jurisdictions, structure and responsibilities of the IRB, and writing successful human subject protocols.

Integrating Our Personal and Professional Selves

Esther Prins
Academics are renowned for being consumed by work--and feeling guilty when we aren't. However, an unbalanced professional and personal life can lead to conflict, pressure, and sacrificing that the things that give us joy, such as friendships, volunteering, caring for children and family, and being active citizens. Work/family conflicts are especially acute for women: those who have children early in their career are less likely to achieve tenure than male counterparts. To make wise decisions and to flourish personally and professionally, postdoctoral scholars and graduate students need a forum in which to share their hopes and anxieties and to learn from scholars who have successfully balanced these spheres.

To explore work-life balance issues, I will plan a monthly seminar and discussion series during Winter and Spring 2004. Speakers will include female and male faculty members and senior administrators representing various disciplines, career stages, and life situations (e.g., dual-career couples). The series will cover topics such as parenting and family life, being a scholar and active citizen, dual-career couples, the tenure process, university policies relating to work-life balance, and others. (Input from PFTF fellows will help determine seminar topics.) I will collaborate with the Advisory Committee on Work-Life Balance, Women's Resources and Research Center, Department of Women and Gender Studies, and other departments to plan and publicize the seminars. I will assess the project's success by administering a brief survey after each session and leading an evaluative discussion at the final session.

Acquiring Funding from both Traditional and Non-traditional Sources in the Biological Sciences

Aaron Rundus
One of the major challenges facing graduate students and post-doctoral scholars on the U. C. Davis campus is securing funding both in the form of grants for research and fellowships for tuition and living expenses. The majority of extramural funding has traditionally come from federal agencies such as the NSF, USGS, and NIH, however many of these federal programs have received significant cuts in recent years. Decreases in federal support and increased competition for what funding does exist make the need to find alternative or non-traditional sources of support of paramount importance. My project proposal will address this need by presenting a series of workshops focused on securing funding from both traditional federal sources and non-traditional private foundations/corporations.

A series of workshops will focus on obtaining

1) research support and contributions from private corporations
2) equipment for use by researchers free of charge or at a reduced cost from private companies
3) funding from traditional government agencies and 4) a separate workshop on utilizing research based web pages to acquire funding for graduate and post-doctoral research. The creation of web pages highlighting the work of a particular student or lab provides exposure to a wide audience at a minimal cost. These sites serve as an advertisement where students may ask for donations or contributions to support research endeavors.

Creating a Successful Graduate Student and Faculty Relationship: A Faculty Response

Sheri Tatsch
My project was conceptualized as a method to bring to the forefront of the mentor/mentee relationships the needs, expectations, and desires of UC Davis faculty, in the creation and maintenance of a productive and healthy rapport between themselves and those that they administer. This study follows a 1999 PFTF project by Alessia Ortolani, entitled Mentoring of Graduate Students, that sought out the perspective of UC Davis graduate students.

Creating a Successful Graduate Student and Faculty Relationship is intended to bring balance to the equation of the mentor/mentee relationship. The UC Davis campus presently employs approximately 5,050 academic personnel currently serving an estimated 6,340 students in both its graduate studies and professional schools. This study will survey the UC Davis faculty in search of their perspectives on building and working within a thriving mentor/mentee relationship. Some of the overall questions to be explored are; Have faculty members thought out and expressed their views and expectations to themselves and the students that they work with, Are their expectations of themselves within this relationship being met, Are they successful in meeting the expectations expressed by those that they advise? These queries and more hold the promise of enlightening faculty/graduate relationships.

Creating a Merit-Based Scholarship/Grant Writing Competition for Postdocs at UC Davis

Albert van Geelen
We postdocs are an essential element contributing to the success of the university enterprise. Because we have completed our training as graduate students, successfully finished a doctoral dissertation project, juggling multiple tasks, sometimes without much supervision, we are goal-oriented and aware of time constraints. Because we no longer have to take classes or teach (except by choice), we can devote all of our time to research and writing. This capacity to advance research projects on a full-time basis for our P.I’s makes us a valuable labor force. It is my conviction that the university should acknowledge this by supporting the development and implementation of a merit scholarship/grant-writing competition for postdocs at UC Davis. The ability to secure funding is an important measure of our potential to find permanent employment within a large, research oriented institution, such as UC Davis. I believe, as do many other postdocs, that there is a need for a UC Davis merit scholarship/grant-writing competition for postdocs.

The goal of this project is to develop and implement a merit-based scholarship/grant writing competition, to be held annually at UC Davis, open to all postdocs working at UC Davis. The competition would have several categories, because there is a diverse population of postdoctoral scholars at UC Davis. The grants/proposals would be of limited scope and content. The proposals would be judged by UC Davis faculty, with appropriate expertise. The competition would award a cash prize ($1000) to a number of selected grants.

The Nuts and Bolts of Effective Presentations

Jason Villarin
Effective presentation skills are an essential part of any academic or professional career. While classic presentation skills are undoubtedly important, they are not the entire equation. Consider an individual familiar with the rules of an effective presentation, but has technical trouble when sitting down to assemble the presentation or when using modern devices to give the presentation. Constructing a multimedia presentation may seem easy with practice, but for the first time user the technological learning curve may add to the stress of the pending presentation. Further, if a presenter is going to use the increasingly popular laptop/projector method, it may be beneficial to have a basic understanding of troubleshooting the system. Technological challenges don't stop with PowerPoint; many large national meetings require the bulk of the presenters to use a poster-presentation to communicate their work. Here again, technological ability may limit the conversion from idea to presentation. To address these needs, I am producing a series of open workshops designed to increase the participants' proficiency in effectively using technology for presentations.