Category Archives: Grad

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OARS Research Fair

In response to requests from new and continuing faculty for more information about the research support services available here at Miami, OARS will sponsor a research fair on Tuesday, September 12 from 10:00am to 2:00pm in the Heritage Room in Shriver Center. No registration required. Modeled after Miami’s annual benefits fair, the research fair will offer resources related to a range of services, including:

  • Internal funding for research
  • Collaborative research opportunities
  • Research centers
  • Laboratory services
  • Program evaluation services
  • Statistical services
  • Writing support services
  • Proposal development assistance
  • Research ethics and integrity support
  • Undergraduate research support
  • Crowdfunding

Support for writing and service learning

In preparing your courses and other pursuits, please keep in mind the valuable resources offered by the Howe Center for Writing Excellence and the Office of Community Engagement and Service.

A selection of Howe Center services, from Liz Wardle, Director, Howe Center:

  • Workshops for faculty about writing
  • Faculty can also sign up to participate in writing groups in order to make progress on their own writing, or to attend a writing “boot camp.”
  • We also support graduate students with dissertation completion groups and writing boot camps.
  • On our website you can find statements for your syllabi about writing center usage, as well as videos to introduce your students to the writing center services.
  • You can join the HWCE mailing list here.

Services from Community Engagement and Service, from Christie Zwahlen, Director:

The Miami University Service-Learning Designation Committee (SLDC) is now accepting Service-Learning class proposals for the Spring and Summer 2018 terms. Miami defines Service-Learning (SL) as “an experiential pedagogical practice that uses action and reflection to meet needs and enhance learning through mutually beneficial, reciprocal partnerships”. Note that a syllabus is NOT required at the time of submission. Due Wednesday, September 20, 2017. [Upcoming Service-Learning Workshops for Faculty are co-sponsored by CTE and available on either website.]

Finally, Faculty from all Miami campuses are invited to submit a proposal for the first-ever Miami SOUP, a mini-granting dinner which celebrates and supports innovative and transformative community change projects in Southwest Ohio. Teams of campus and community partners are eligible to apply. Proposals are due Sunday, September 24.

Four proposals will be chosen as finalists to present their ideas LIVE before a voting audience hungry for soup and change on Saturday, October 21. First prize will receive a minimum of $2,000 + donations; second prize will receive a minimum of $1,000 + donations. Mini-grants are one-time (not yearly recurring) awards.

Graduate seminar on diversity in STEM

In the fall, Joyce Fernandes (BIO) will be offering a graduate seminar on “Broadening participation in STEM–what it means, and why it matters in higher education.” Beyond the inherent benefits in bringing more diverse perspectives to bear on a problem, Joyce writes:

Funding agencies want scientists and educators to demonstrate their approaches to include diverse groups of students and other participants with an immediate goal of inclusion, and an ultimate goal of a diversified workforce. What can you do as a scientist and/educator to contribute to this ongoing effort of broadening participation in STEM, in your current practices or in the near future?  [Participants will] read literature, engage in mini-projects (boots on the ground), and reach a more “energetically favorable” place than where we started, both collectively and individually.

My overall goal for this seminar is to provide a space and the experience for graduate students to explore the scope of Broadening Participation in STEM by reading and discussing literature on this topic. How do these ideas impact your own roles as scientists and educators? What can you bring to the table based on your own experiences?  We will also interact with [undergraduate] students who are enrolled in programs which have goals of broadening participation.

Who are your accomplished alums?

CAS is maintaining a list of your most interesting undergrad and grad alumni, for featuring alumni profiles in newsletters, websites, and other communications. The department can also make use of these to benefit programming ranging from events, to class visits, to hosting during conferences.

Think about some of the “success stories” among your academic lineage, as well as undergraduate RAs and other close advisees, who may be in industry, government, or NGOs. CAS asks you to reach out to them and have them complete the information here so CAS can edit them into narrative alumni profiles. The new format can be previewed here.

Support the grad students! #MoveInMiami

Graduate students attend a conference in Chicago

Psychology graduate students in Chicago

Each year, Miami coordinates a one-day fundraising campaign, #MoveInMiami. Departments, programs, and organizations are encouraged to propose specific programming they would like to target for contributions through the campaign. These focal “projects” are promoted on the first-year move-in date on Thursday, August 24 to parents, alumni, and the Miami community.

We have selected to focus on the Graduate Student Travel Fund. As you know, Cecilia and Amy set up this fund specifically to augment the available university funds for graduate students to attend and present at conferences. We will also be supporting the undergraduate neuroscience curriculum in a separate project.

A big component of the campaign has been promoting projects through social media. University accounts, President Crawford, and alumni networks will all be publicizing the campaign, and faculty are encouraged to consider joining in through social media platforms as they see fit.

Often these campaigns are run with goals and/or challenges that we might discuss closer to move-in. In the past it has been a successful (“record-breaking”) way to generate enthusiasm and support for all kinds of programs across the university. More to come…