GradSTEP 2003

Bringing the Real World Into the Academy

Saturday, January 18, 2003

9:00 am - 3:00 pm Registration
Featheringill 106
Snacks and beverages available

9:30 am - 10:30 am Session I
Distance Education                                                      
Featheringill 200
Cordelia M. Brown, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
F2P2 Credit: Technology or Teaching and Learning (1 hour)

As education methodologies change, so do the ways in which education is delivered. This workshop on distance education will explore the many types of distance education forms that exist and will cover: the issues and challenges faced by distance educators, scenarios in various distance education settings, and strategies for effective implementation of distance education in a variety of disciplines.

Ethics and Tenure                                                       
Featheringill 211
Mark Barr, Dept. of English
F2P2 Credit: World of the University (1 hour)

We will not only discuss the realities of working in a tenure-track position and the ever-expanding presence of non-tenured academic postings, but will also examine the place of tenure within the university structure as a whole. With reference to recent experiments to do away with the system at some institutions, we will explore the place that tenure has in the formation of professional ethics and academic freedom.

How to Sell Yourself and Your Ideas...in Writing                     Featheringill 110
Kim Brown, Dept. of Cancer Biology
F2P2 Credit: Professional Development (1 hour)

The number of individuals applying for grants and external funding well exceeds the number of grants available. Therefore, it is important that your proposal stands out from the rest. Learn the basic elements of proposal writing, common mistakes that proposal writers make, and other details that will make your grant proposal rise to the top.

Lifestyles of the Not-So-Rich and Not-So-Famous                  Featheringill 129
Scott Evans, Dept. of Human & Organizational Development
F2P2 Credit: Professional Development (1 hour)

Wondering how different your life and lifestyle might be depending on whether you choose an academic or non-academic career path after graduation? Wondering about the differences between academic positions that stress research and those that focus on teaching as a priority? Join this panel discussion and hear from some people in academic and non academic jobs about their work and the types of lifestyles their chosen paths afford them.

Using Case Studies to Bring Relevance to the Classroom             Featheringill 306
Laurie Earls, Dept. of Pharmacology
F2P2 Credit: Teaching and Learning (1 hour)

We are often plagued by questions of how the material that we teach relates to our students or how they will ever use it. One way to keep a subject from seeming like useless material that can be forgotten immediately after the exam is to incorporate case studies into the curriculum. This workshop will give examples of case studies from various disciplines. Participants will learn about resources for case studies, examine principles for writing their own case studies, and discuss how and when to incorporate cases into a course.

10:45 am - 11:45 am Plenary Session                
Featheringill 134
Lessons from the Real World: A Panel of VU Grad Alumni Share
Their Experiences and Advice                                                            
F2P2 Credit: Professional Development (1 hour)

In this moderated panel discussion, former VU graduate students who are now teaching at a variety of colleges and universities will talk about the career choices they made and how their graduate school experiences influence their current work. After sharing advice on getting jobs in academia and managing the first few years as a new faculty member, they will respond to questions from the audience.

Panelists:
Melinda D. Kane, Assistant Professor of Sociology and Political Economy at the University of Texas at Dallas, earned her PhD in Sociology in 2000.  She then held the position of Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of North Florida before moving to UT-Dallas.  Melinda’s research and teaching interests include social stratification, social movements, and political sociology.  Her most current work examines the conditions under which social movements are able to generate legal change.  Melinda was a MTF at the Center for Teaching in 1999-2000.  She received her B.A. in sociology from Villanova University (1993) and her M.A. (1995).   

Adam Meyer, Associate Professor of English and Chair of the Department of English at Fisk University, graduated from Vanderbilt in 1991 with a PhD in English.  He earned degrees from Kenyon College (BA) and the University of New Mexico (MA).  Adam’s primary areas of scholarly interest are American Literature, particularly African American and Jewish American Literature, although he has taught a wide range of courses while at Fisk.
Mike Pinter, Professor of Mathematics and Director of the Teaching Center at Belmont University, received his PhD in 1991 in Mathematics from Vanderbilt University.  While a graduate student, he taught mathematics at MTSU and Belmont.  In addition to a faculty position at Belmont, he has held the positions of Associate Dean of the School of Sciences, Interim Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, and Assistant Director of the Teaching Center.  This January, he began a 3-year term as Director of the Teaching Center.  His primary teaching interests are general education mathematics and discrete mathematics; research interests are in graph theory and undergraduate research.  He typically teaches Analytics (a junior-level course in Belmont’s Honors Program), a non-algebra general education course, and Discrete Mathematics.  Mike also has degrees from Hendrix College (BA), University of Mississippi (MEd), and Vanderbilt (MS). 

Ali Sekmen, Assistant Professor of Computer Science at Tennessee State University, graduated from Vanderbilt University in 2000 with a PhD in Electrical Engineering.  He holds B.S. and M.S. degrees in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from Bilkent University, Ankara, Turkey. Ali has published in the areas of robotics, intelligent systems, and signal processing. He was a member of the Intelligent Robotics Laboratory of Vanderbilt University between 1997-2000. Previously, Ali held the position of Assistant Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Tennessee State University. His research interests include human-robot interaction, intelligent systems, mobile robots, humanoid robots, and component-based software systems development. He has taught over ten different Engineering and Computer Science classes at the undergraduate and graduate level.

11:45 am - 1:00 pm LUNCH                               
Rand Hall
Join GradSTEP colleagues at Rand Hall for lunch. Tickets distributed at GRADSTEP registration are required for admittance to Rand.

At Rand, get your food and then follow signs to the Special Event Room, where GradSTEP participants can sit together.

1:15 pm - 2:30 pm Session II
Academic Service-Learning: Integrating Classroom and Community       
Featheringill 110
Leigh Gilchrist, Dept. of Leadership, Policy, and Organizations
F2P2 Credit: Teaching and Learning (1.25 hours)

During this session, we will discuss what academic service-learning is as well as its role within institutions of higher education. A panel of faculty and graduate students who are actively implementing academic service-learning within their respective fields/classrooms will assist us in exploring the benefits, barriers, and opportunities to utilizing academic service-learning as a means to linking classroom content and community. Resources and references related to academic service-learning will be provided.

Applying Real World Diversity as Part of the Academic Experience       
Featheringill 306
Martha García, Dept. of Spanish & Portuguese
F2P2 Credit: Teaching and Learning (1.25 hours)

Diversity can be incorporated into the curriculum of all courses as a relevant lesson of the real world. Also, understanding diversity and its contributions help students to function better in all aspects of academic life. In this session, we will explore different approaches to cooperative learning that encourage students to meet and get to know other students, staff, and administrators in order to encourage diversity appreciation.

Establishing a Publishing Record in Engineering and the Sciences       
Featheringill 211
Jonathan Sprinkle, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
F2P2 Credit: Professional Development (1.25 hours)

Professors in today's science and engineering colleges find themselves under the "Publish or Perish" rules of tenure. Graduate education, fundamentally, is a long course in research. Many graduate students achieve their degrees, only to find out that they never learned how to tell others about their ideas. Without learning how to publish, and establish good practices of publishing, graduates will have trouble in the publish or perish world. This session will help participants learn about different publication venues and will cover basic topics such as abstracts and re-publishing (do's and don'ts).

Publishing in the Humanities and Social Sciences                       Featheringill 129
Jason Bell, Dept. of Philosophy
F2P2 Credit: Professional Development (1.25 hours)

This session will explore useful avenues in the humanities and social sciences for getting articles, book reviews, edited books, and books prepared and published. We will look at advice provided by journal editors and publishing houses; think about mentors who can provide help along the way, and inquire about the natural steps that connect an initial "publishable" thought to the finished product.

Real World Skills: Designing a Web Page for Your Course or Your Professional Accomplishments                                                   
Featheringill 203
Trina Schmidt, Dept. of Educational Technology
F2P2 Credit: Technology (2.25 hours)

If you can follow the directions on a cake box, you can build your own web page. It's that easy! Practically any Microsoft document can be converted into HTML to post on the web. Learn some basic strategies for developing a web page in this interactive, hands-on session. This workshop continues in Session III (2:45pm - 3:45pm).

2:45 pm - 3:45 pm Session III
A World of Difference? Research vs. a Small Liberal Arts College       
Featheringill 129
Amy Hirschy, Dept. of Leadership, Policy, and Organizations
F2P2 Credit: World of the University (1 hour)

What are ways to compare faculty positions at research universities and liberal arts colleges? In this session, we will explore how and why colleges are categorized and ways in which faculty positions at each type of institution compare. Specifically, faculty roles of teaching, research, governance, service, and relationships/contact with students will be addressed.

Financial Planning for Graduate Students and Postdocs               Featheringill 110
Jamie Hearnes, Dept. of Biochemistry
F2P2 Credit: Professional Development (1 hour)

The income of a graduate student/postdoc leaves much to be desired. What can we do now to make that desire become a reality? This workshop is designed for the inexperienced financial planner and focuses on the basics of creating a budget, saving money, and investing money (including information regarding stocks, bonds, mutual funds, etc). In addition, we will discuss financial issues that should be considered when applying for a faculty position, including cost of living calculations, benefits packages, and salary negotiations.

More Than Words: Maximizing the Effectiveness of Evaluations and Classroom Assessment Techniques                                            Featheringill 211
Kathy Williams, Graduate Department of Religion
F2P2 Credit: Teaching and Learning (1 hour)

Although we seldom think about course evaluations and CATs (classroom assessment techniques) as direct windows into our students' desires, this indeed is one of their main functions. By utilizing these resources and treating the results as 'more than words,' we can obtain feedback that will allow us not only to find out what we're doing well, but will also assist us in modifying classroom activities that are actually inhibiting student learning. Thus, this workshop will explore various ways to effectively utilize these tools in your classroom as well as interpret their results.

For information on upcoming events, please see gradSTEP. For information on past events, please see our gradSTEP Archive.

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