Quick thoughts on assessment

Some of you as instructors recently received emails requesting assistance in your courses this coming semester. Beth Dietz, in her role as assessment coordinator, created two excellent resources to quickly summarize the assessment efforts in the department.

A three-minute video explains things well and succinctly, and this document on the department Team Drive summarizes our department implementation. Thanks to Beth for creating these. I hope each of you might take a minute to understand this process and the value in supporting it as I do.

Finally, those on the CTE list occasionally receive Assessment Briefs that cover a wide range of topics, including the most recent entry describing the assessment of the Global Miami Plan.

Teaching/mentoring award for grad students

Miami may nominate up two graduate students for an award from the Midwestern Association of Graduate Schools (MAGS):

Two awards have been created to recognize the importance of excellence in teaching and mentoring as a component of graduate education and the preparation of graduate students for future service as college and university faculty. One award will be given to a doctoral student and one to a master’s student. Each award includes a citation and a $750 honorarium that will be presented at the MAGS 74rd Annual Meeting, April 4-6, 2018, at the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel, Grand Rapids, MI.

Nominating a masters and/or a doctoral candidate from your institution for one of these prestigious awards is an excellent way to recognize and encourage future faculty and support the Council of Graduate Schools’ (CGS) efforts to promote Preparing Future Faculty to meet needs in academia. Please consider submitting a nomination in each category as appropriate to recognize excellence in your graduate teaching assistants.

Please see me for more information if you are interested in nominating a student from our department to represent Miami. Submissions need to be received in the graduate school by January 19.

OARS winter and spring term workshops

OARS is sponsoring several workshops on using various systems at Miami for those that may not be familiar with them (click on the links from each date to register)

  • eSPA: Internal routing required for all external grant submissions (Jan 11; Feb 28)
  • HawksNest: Miami’s crowdfunding platform for research (Jan 23)
  • SPIN Plus: Funding opportunities database, search engine, and notifications (Feb 20)

See Heather Johnston in OARS or me for more information.

Three-minute thesis (3MT) competition

The Graduate School has announced this year’s 3MT competition, for which the top presenters get some significant prize money, and the winner goes on to a regional competition! From Lou Haines:

I am happy to announce that the Graduate School’s 5th annual 3MT will be held on Wednesday, March 7, 2018. We have a 3MT workshop scheduled for Friday, February 9th and preliminary rounds on four dates in February. Students may register at this Qualtrics link, and when they do, I will add them to the 3MT Canvas site where they will find a wealth of information on preparing for the competition.

This is a fantastic way for students to hone their presentation skills as well as learn how to explain their research to a diverse group.

Topic Table Takeaways: Grants from a Miami Psychology Perspective

The Faculty Development & Welfare committee developed the idea to have occasional “topic table” meetings over lunch or coffee to discuss relevant professional development topics. The first of these on grant funding from an in-house perspective was held earlier this month. From Amanda Diekman (committee chair):

Here is a google doc with takeaways from the first Faculty Development Topic Table on Grants from a Miami PSY Perspective. Josh organized & it was a really useful conversation; the takeaways here are my summary based on the reflection of the attendees.

Graduate student achievement awards

All of the department’s nominees were selected for Graduate Student Achievement Awards from the Graduate School! Congratulations to the winners and thank you to the faculty mentors who work closely with these students and submitted nominations:

  • Lauren Forrest (w/ April Smith)
  • Amy McConnell (w/ Terri Messman-Moore)
  • Marie Parsons (w/ Elise Clerkin)
  • Marissa Smith-Millman (w/ Paul Flaspohler)

Summer research opportunities

Before your excellent undergraduates disperse, you may want to discuss summer research opportunities with them, as application deadlines are often over the winter break or shortly after. The ORU maintains a running list, there are hundreds of NSF-funded REUs, and I get emails for several that sound excellent for our majors. For example, the Big Ten schools collectively administer a summer research (SROP) program with experiences across many relevant content domains, such as the following due February 15:

The University of Wisconsin – Madison Psychology Research Experience Program (PREP) offers a 10-week program of mentored research, with an emphasis on applying tools of data science to problems in psychology and neuroscience. It is tailored for individuals from groups historically underrepresented in our field: racial and ethnic minorities, first-generation college students, individuals from low income families, and individuals with disabilities. PREP covers all travel and living expenses, and offers a modest stipend. In addition to carrying out research at a top-ranked psychology department, participants will also interact with faculty and trainees associated with the NSF-supported LUCID graduate training program…  take advantage of numerous professional development and networking opportunities, and engage with a broader community of >100 students participating in one of the UW–Madison’s many SROPs. Unique for 2018: PREP students will have full access to CogSci2018, taking place in Madison July 25-28.