Friday, March 2, 2007

11:00-1:00—Registration/Surveys

1:00—Welcome (Slides)

1:30-2:30—Parallel Sessions:

1. First Year Cohort:
   What's Graduate School All About: Goals and Survival Skills (Slides)
   This session will address strategies for surviving and, in fact, thriving in graduate school and developing the necessary knowledge, experience and skills for a successful career. Topics include setting realistic goals and expectations, the differences between getting a M.S. and Ph.D. degree, selecting advisors and mentors, planning and building a research program, deciding on a teaching and/or industry career, starting to build a professional and peer community, and building your self confidence.
   
   
   Speakers:
   Prof. Anne Condon, University of British Columbia
   
   Prof. Candy Yiu, Portland State University
   
   
2. Second Year Cohort:
   Advisors and Mentors (Slides)
   This session will focus on the importance of carefully choosing advisors and mentors and the differences between the two, how to get the most out of your interactions with your advisor/mentor, responsibilities of both student and advisor/mentor in making the graduate research experience successful, and working through problems with the advisor/mentor relationships.
   
   
   Speakers:
   Prof. Mary Lou Soffa, University of Virginia
   
   Kamalika Das, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
   

2:30—Break

3:00-4:00—Parallel Sessions:

1. First Year Cohort:
   Networking and Professional Interaction (Slides)
   This session addresses the skills that are needed for networking - a very important component of a professional life. The topics include strategies for finding a community, meeting people in the field, promoting your research and yourself, and networking at conferences and workshops.
   
   
   Speaker:
   Prof. Jan Cuny, National Science Foundation and University of Oregon
   


2. Second Year Cohort:
   Ph.D. - Finding a Research Topic (Slides)
   This session will focus on strategies for actively identifying a viable research topic for your Ph.D. dissertation.
   
   
   Speaker:
   Prof. Padma Raghavan, Penn State University
   
   
   OR
   
   Masters - Career Opportunities (Slides) (Slides)
   This session will be a discussion of the various career opportunities for Masters graduates and how to find the perfect position for you.
   
   
   Speakers:
   Maria Hristova, Microsoft
   
   Rebecca Schultz, Google
   
   Dr. Telle Whitney, Anita Borg Institute
   

4:00—Break

4:30-5:45—Parallel Sessions:

1. First Year Cohort:
   All About Research (Slides)
   This session will focus on strategies for getting started and building a solid foundation in the research process as a graduate student. Topics include choosing a research area/topic, identifying a research adviser, working as part of a research team, setting research goals, tracking and maintaining your progress, taking the initiative in your own research, and working through problems in progress and adviser relationships.
   
   
   Speakers:
   Prof. Mary Jean Harrold, Georgia Tech Univ.
   
   Olga Pearce, Texas A&M University
   


2. Second Year Cohort:
   The Confidence Crisis (Slides)
   This session will address the confidence crisis that 2nd (and 3rd) year graduate students often face: how to recover from not doing as well in a course as you are used to doing, from not passing the PhD candidacy exams at your first try, from the frustration of not knowing what your specific research project will be, from the feeling that you dont know as much as your fellow graduate students. The discussion will focus on issues and rewards of persisting towards your goals and particular points in grad school where persistence is needed.
   
   
   Speakers:
   Prof. Renee Miller, University of Toronto
   
   Lisa Johansen, Penn State University
   

6:30—Reception - California East

7:30—Dinner - California West
Attendee introductions after dinner.

Saturday, March 3  

7:30—Breakfast - Italian Room

8:30-9:45—Parallel Sessions:

1. First Year Cohort:
   Academic Career Paths: Research and Teaching (Slides)
   This session will focus on the different career paths in academia. Topics include the roles of research, teaching and service and how they differ in different academic institutions, what are the expectations at your institution and how to find out the particulars, challenges and rewards of research/teaching; skills and experiences needed for success, and changing career paths and/or institutions during your graduate program.
   
   
   Speakers:
   Prof. Carla Ellis, Duke University
   
   Prof. Tiffani Williams, Texas A & M University
   



2. Second Year Cohort:
   Navigating a Technical Meeting
   This session addresses what you should prepare for, learn, and do when you attend conferences, workshops or any technical meeting, including meeting researchers and researchers visiting your department.
   

   Speaker:
   Prof. Soha Hassoun, Tufts University
   
   
   OR
   
   Finding a Summer Internship (Slides)
   This session will focus on how to go about finding an industry or government lab internship for the summer, the advantages and disadvantages of doing so, and how to get the most out of a summer internship.
   
   
   Speakers:
   Dr. Joann Ordille, Avaya
   
   Julie Weber, University of Michigan
   

9:45—Break

10:15-11:30—Parallel Sessions:

1. First Year Cohort:
   Non-Academic Career Paths: Industry & Government Labs
   This session will focus on the different career paths for Masters and Ph.D.s in industry and government laboratories. Topics will include different career paths in industry and government labs for new Ph.D. and a new Masters graduates, the challenges and rewards of a non-academic career, skills and experiences needed for success, opportunities for advancement and taking the initiative, collaborating with researchers in academia or other organizations, and positioning yourself to make career changes between labs and academia.
   
   
   Panel Speakers:
   Dr. Pamela Williams, Sandia National Labs
   
   Dr. Tessa Lau, IBM
   
   Mary Czerwinski, Microsoft Research
   
   Andrea Frome, Google
   


2. Second Year Cohort:
   Communication Skills (Slides)
   This session will focus on the importance of building excellent communication skills. Topics include strategies for high quality oral and poster presentations (including a short tutorial for the poster session presenters in the afternoon), as well as writing technical papers and proposals. Ethical issues that can arise will also be discussed such as author ordering, least publishable units (LPU), dual/simultaneous submissions, good and bad personal web page design/material, and plagiarism pitfalls.
   
   
   Speakers:
   Prof. Kathy McCoy, University of Delaware
   
   Prof. Janie Irwin, Penn State University
   

11:30—Lunch: Elizabethan ABCD
Table Seating by Research Interests

1:00-2:15—Parallel Sessions:

1. First Year Cohort:
   Having a Career and a Life (Slides)
   This session will address strategies for maintaining balance and good perspective in your life during graduate school and throughout your career. Topics will include achieving personal satisfaction in your career and family life, time management strategies, balancing your TA duties, your course work, and your research program, decision making strategies when career and family priorities seem to collide, the pros and cons of dating your fellow graduate students or faculty, and reevaluating your personal and career goals and initiating changes.
   

   Speaker:
   Prof. Chandra Krintz, University of California, Santa Barbara
   

2. Second Year Cohort:
   Finding Academic Year Funding (Slides) (Slides)
   This session will focus on how to go about finding financial support for your academic studies beyond that initial teaching/research assistantship position including positioning yourself for research assistantships, tracking down fellowship opportunities, and how to put together a successful application. How to survive temporary funding shortfalls/lapses will also be discussed.
   

   Speakers:
   Prof. Diane Litman, University of Pittsburgh
   
   Kristen Walcott, University of Virginia
   
   
   OR
   
   The Job Search Process (PDF)
   This session focuses on how you should prepare for the job search process, preparing for the interview, what questions to ask and what questions will be asked of you during the interview, what to do after the interview, deciding between multiple offers. The session will also highlight what you should be doing now to plan for your career.
   
   Speakers:
   Dr. Kathleen Fisher, AT&T Research

2:15—Break

2:45—First and Second Year Cohorts:

3:45—Research Poster Session and Reception

Posters will be presented by all second year cohort attendees.

5:00-5:30—First and Second Year Cohorts

1. Wrap Up:
   Final Remarks (Slides)
   

   Speakers:
   Prof. Mary Lou Soffa, University of Virginia
   
   Prof. Janie Irwin, Pennsylvania State University

6:30—Google & Microsoft Reception for all Students, Speakers, Guests