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surefire

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  1. Upvote
    surefire got a reaction from qeta in Question about revise and resubmit reviewer's comment   
    Congrats on the R & R!
     
    I haven't been through an R & R myself, but I was at a workshop a little while ago that detailed the process and recommended different strategies for dealing with one (I'm in the social sciences though, so it might be a bit different).
     
    With regards to deciding which reviewer recommendations to incorporate, I was advised to divide the feedback into "little tasks" and "big tasks" and to highlight which feedback was voiced by more than one reviewer - my sense was that if more than one reviewer brings something up, you probably should incorporate/address the comments, for sure. That gives you a "have to do" list. From there, you can get a sense of how much time you need to address the "have to" list and then make separate decisions about the rest of the feedback.
     
    I've never seen a paper that said, "We wanted to do this, but had no time". "No time" isn't a compelling excuse. The phrase I read more commonly is "This task is beyond the scope of this current research". If you think that the suggested "extension" enriches the purpose/argument of the paper, then it might be worth addressing. If it's just a "neat offshoot" of your project, than you might be better off just mentioning it as a "future direction for research" - just acknowledging it in that capacity might be enough for the reviewer.
     
    My advice then, would be to categorize the feedback, come up with a "have to" list and then write up a bullet-point plan for dealing with the feedback (either how you will incorporate it or mention it in the paper, or how you will acknowledge it and give a reason for not incorporating it in the R & R response). Then present the plan to your supervisor, and they can endorse or amend your decisions. Good luck!
  2. Upvote
    surefire reacted to Sigaba in TA a class that starts end of August but no information   
    Don't worry but be as proactive as possible. You want to end up working with the best mentoring professor available, in a course relevant to your interests, at a time that doesn't muck up your schedule. You may have a better chance getting that assignment if you lean forward rather than back.

    But what ever you do, don't worry. There's plenty of time for that later.
  3. Upvote
    surefire reacted to TakeruK in TA a class that starts end of August but no information   
    Typically, prep for TA work starts in the week or two before class begins. Some schools don't even assign TAs until this time! You're fine
     
    Each person's style would be different, but what works for me is to start on the course material about 1-2 weeks before the term begins (readings, assignments etc.). This way, I am always 1-2 weeks ahead of the class. I find that this helps me stay "fresh" with the material because I just recently went over it, and also it helps me stop myself from spending far more time on the course I'm TAing that I should be. And I think it also helps so that I can adjust e.g. problem sets to fit with the class ability as we go along, instead of setting everything in stone before I even know my students.
  4. Upvote
    surefire got a reaction from fuzzylogician in TA a class that starts end of August but no information   
    Good advice above! Breathe!
     
    I have a summer TA-ship that technically started in July, and the prof didn't touch base with me until last week (it was to ask whether or not I'd be available to invigilate the mid-term, which was yesterday). I used to stress about the TA assignments, but now I try to take a cue from the prof or instructor as to how laid-back or not the TA post is.
     
    I usually abide by some CYA (Cover Your Ass) principles. When I first get confirmation of an assignment, I'll e-mail the prof or instructor just to introduce myself, "I'm surefire and I belong to you to the tune of 120 hours for SuperFun101 next semester". That way, they have my e-mail and an opportunity to elaborate on the appointment, if they feel like it (again, some profs are overzealous and others are laid back). Mostly they'll e-mail back quickly to say, "Thanks. I'll be in touch". On some occasions a prof will e-mail me back to say something like, "Here are the names of other TAs in the course" or "I'm out of town for a conference in October, you'll guest lecture on that date, cool?"; and sometimes I get radio silence. If I don't hear anything, I'll send another e-mail a week or two before the course under the auspices of "checking in". Maybe I'll mention that I read their syllabus from last year, or give them my ID so they can add me to Blackboard, or mention the "hours allocation" form that they typically have to do that gives me a breakdown of the tasks. If I'm a bit concerned about what the appointment entails, I might say, "If I understand the structure of the course, the first task to be attentive to is the assignment due at the end of September", just to try and establish what the first expectation is - this gives them a chance to say, "Oh wait, actually, you're running office hours that start the second week", or something. In any case, I usually get a response at that point.
     
    During my early TA appointments, I would sometimes ask students who had TA-ed for a prof before what the assignment was like. That would put me at ease and help me establish the "tone" of the prof. Eventually though, you get good at getting a read on profs and taking a cue from them - it gets easier, promise!
  5. Upvote
    surefire got a reaction from ἠφανισμένος in Trouble deciding between Law and Grad School   
    Hi Pavelboca,
     
    Welcome to the GC! I'm not going to be of any help on a coherent diagnosis of NYU/Penn/Columbia, because my context is Canadian. But I'm drawn to your question because the "law school or grad school" debate was a pickle I found myself mired in a few years ago. To give the story away up front: I'm currently in a PhD program. In trying to decide between law school or grad school, I opted to get an 1 year MA in socio-legal studies to test the water (in Canada, you typically get an MA before the PhD w/o much of the US-style "terminal MA" baggage). During the MA, I wrote the LSAT (which I abhorred on a special level - writing the LSAT was a good exercise for me in figuring out if I really wanted to go the law school route). The unique MA allowed me to be in conversation with both JDs and PhDs, and through these discussions, I quickly realized that the law school route wasn't for me.
     
    I'm going to recommend that you look outward, reflect inward, and cultivate a conversation regarding "fit".
     
    First, I'm going to say this:
    - Any (responsible) poster on GC, in looking at your "what do grad schools base their decisions on" question, can only answer one way: it depends (though of course, people might have specific ideas about the specific schools you've named). For a summary of the criteria, you need only look to the sub-forum contents of the GC, which cover things like the GRE and statements of purpose (and looking within the threads will give you a sense of how they're "weighted" and what people think about what one needs to do to meet the criteria). For a "quick and dirty" idea, you can look at schools of interest on the "Results Search", where people often divulge their stats and accept/reject status for grad school recommendations.
    - Going to law school because you want to be rewarded for a high GPA isn't a good idea.
    - Going to grad school because you want to be rewarded for a penchant for writing is not a good idea.
    - Working under the assumption that anyone is going to be persuaded that you belong in a program because you can "see yourself" at the destination is not a good idea.
     
    I hope that's not harsh. It's not intended to be. These are things that I would have benefited from hearing.
     
    I think you should:
    - Do a bit of GC recon to get a sense of stats and criteria.
    - Talk to current law students and lawyers: what does their day to day reality consist of? Can you "see yourself" being good at those tasks and thriving in that reality, not just "enjoying" the professional identity?
    - Talk to current grad students and professors: same questions as above.
    - Try crafting two different personal statements: one for law school and one for grad school. This will help you articulate "fit" (which consists of sussing out the resources that you will bring to the program and the resources you will draw upon in the program to FINISH the damn program AND what, as a thriving scholar, you ultimately will be able to contribute with the opportunity). I'd be interested to see which one of these feels like more "work" to you: give each a fair shake by doing some research first on the different pursuits, and then write the two statements - which one makes you feel at a loss or feels "forced" or false, if any? That's a good gut reaction to listen to.
    - Seriously consider not doing either. Seriously. Just entertain the notion for a sec and see what that feels like. I worked for almost two years between the MA and PhD before I'd made up my mind on the latter. I realized that neither law nor grad school are good places for people who just weren't sure what else to do with themselves, and if I couldn't articulate whether I wanted one or the other, I wasn't going to convince any programs worth attending that they should want me. Having had the work experience, I feel much better-equipped during the rough, solitary parts of the PhD.
     
    None of this is meant to be condescending or mean and I hope you don't see this response as a blatant disregard of your questions. You don't need to jump right to "which schools might take me?", some recon and reflection at this stage will help you articulate the best route, generally, and the best prospects, more specifically.
     
    HTH! Good luck.
  6. Upvote
    surefire got a reaction from Pavelboca in Trouble deciding between Law and Grad School   
    Hi Pavelboca,
     
    Welcome to the GC! I'm not going to be of any help on a coherent diagnosis of NYU/Penn/Columbia, because my context is Canadian. But I'm drawn to your question because the "law school or grad school" debate was a pickle I found myself mired in a few years ago. To give the story away up front: I'm currently in a PhD program. In trying to decide between law school or grad school, I opted to get an 1 year MA in socio-legal studies to test the water (in Canada, you typically get an MA before the PhD w/o much of the US-style "terminal MA" baggage). During the MA, I wrote the LSAT (which I abhorred on a special level - writing the LSAT was a good exercise for me in figuring out if I really wanted to go the law school route). The unique MA allowed me to be in conversation with both JDs and PhDs, and through these discussions, I quickly realized that the law school route wasn't for me.
     
    I'm going to recommend that you look outward, reflect inward, and cultivate a conversation regarding "fit".
     
    First, I'm going to say this:
    - Any (responsible) poster on GC, in looking at your "what do grad schools base their decisions on" question, can only answer one way: it depends (though of course, people might have specific ideas about the specific schools you've named). For a summary of the criteria, you need only look to the sub-forum contents of the GC, which cover things like the GRE and statements of purpose (and looking within the threads will give you a sense of how they're "weighted" and what people think about what one needs to do to meet the criteria). For a "quick and dirty" idea, you can look at schools of interest on the "Results Search", where people often divulge their stats and accept/reject status for grad school recommendations.
    - Going to law school because you want to be rewarded for a high GPA isn't a good idea.
    - Going to grad school because you want to be rewarded for a penchant for writing is not a good idea.
    - Working under the assumption that anyone is going to be persuaded that you belong in a program because you can "see yourself" at the destination is not a good idea.
     
    I hope that's not harsh. It's not intended to be. These are things that I would have benefited from hearing.
     
    I think you should:
    - Do a bit of GC recon to get a sense of stats and criteria.
    - Talk to current law students and lawyers: what does their day to day reality consist of? Can you "see yourself" being good at those tasks and thriving in that reality, not just "enjoying" the professional identity?
    - Talk to current grad students and professors: same questions as above.
    - Try crafting two different personal statements: one for law school and one for grad school. This will help you articulate "fit" (which consists of sussing out the resources that you will bring to the program and the resources you will draw upon in the program to FINISH the damn program AND what, as a thriving scholar, you ultimately will be able to contribute with the opportunity). I'd be interested to see which one of these feels like more "work" to you: give each a fair shake by doing some research first on the different pursuits, and then write the two statements - which one makes you feel at a loss or feels "forced" or false, if any? That's a good gut reaction to listen to.
    - Seriously consider not doing either. Seriously. Just entertain the notion for a sec and see what that feels like. I worked for almost two years between the MA and PhD before I'd made up my mind on the latter. I realized that neither law nor grad school are good places for people who just weren't sure what else to do with themselves, and if I couldn't articulate whether I wanted one or the other, I wasn't going to convince any programs worth attending that they should want me. Having had the work experience, I feel much better-equipped during the rough, solitary parts of the PhD.
     
    None of this is meant to be condescending or mean and I hope you don't see this response as a blatant disregard of your questions. You don't need to jump right to "which schools might take me?", some recon and reflection at this stage will help you articulate the best route, generally, and the best prospects, more specifically.
     
    HTH! Good luck.
  7. Upvote
    surefire got a reaction from sacklunch in Trouble deciding between Law and Grad School   
    Hi Pavelboca,
     
    Welcome to the GC! I'm not going to be of any help on a coherent diagnosis of NYU/Penn/Columbia, because my context is Canadian. But I'm drawn to your question because the "law school or grad school" debate was a pickle I found myself mired in a few years ago. To give the story away up front: I'm currently in a PhD program. In trying to decide between law school or grad school, I opted to get an 1 year MA in socio-legal studies to test the water (in Canada, you typically get an MA before the PhD w/o much of the US-style "terminal MA" baggage). During the MA, I wrote the LSAT (which I abhorred on a special level - writing the LSAT was a good exercise for me in figuring out if I really wanted to go the law school route). The unique MA allowed me to be in conversation with both JDs and PhDs, and through these discussions, I quickly realized that the law school route wasn't for me.
     
    I'm going to recommend that you look outward, reflect inward, and cultivate a conversation regarding "fit".
     
    First, I'm going to say this:
    - Any (responsible) poster on GC, in looking at your "what do grad schools base their decisions on" question, can only answer one way: it depends (though of course, people might have specific ideas about the specific schools you've named). For a summary of the criteria, you need only look to the sub-forum contents of the GC, which cover things like the GRE and statements of purpose (and looking within the threads will give you a sense of how they're "weighted" and what people think about what one needs to do to meet the criteria). For a "quick and dirty" idea, you can look at schools of interest on the "Results Search", where people often divulge their stats and accept/reject status for grad school recommendations.
    - Going to law school because you want to be rewarded for a high GPA isn't a good idea.
    - Going to grad school because you want to be rewarded for a penchant for writing is not a good idea.
    - Working under the assumption that anyone is going to be persuaded that you belong in a program because you can "see yourself" at the destination is not a good idea.
     
    I hope that's not harsh. It's not intended to be. These are things that I would have benefited from hearing.
     
    I think you should:
    - Do a bit of GC recon to get a sense of stats and criteria.
    - Talk to current law students and lawyers: what does their day to day reality consist of? Can you "see yourself" being good at those tasks and thriving in that reality, not just "enjoying" the professional identity?
    - Talk to current grad students and professors: same questions as above.
    - Try crafting two different personal statements: one for law school and one for grad school. This will help you articulate "fit" (which consists of sussing out the resources that you will bring to the program and the resources you will draw upon in the program to FINISH the damn program AND what, as a thriving scholar, you ultimately will be able to contribute with the opportunity). I'd be interested to see which one of these feels like more "work" to you: give each a fair shake by doing some research first on the different pursuits, and then write the two statements - which one makes you feel at a loss or feels "forced" or false, if any? That's a good gut reaction to listen to.
    - Seriously consider not doing either. Seriously. Just entertain the notion for a sec and see what that feels like. I worked for almost two years between the MA and PhD before I'd made up my mind on the latter. I realized that neither law nor grad school are good places for people who just weren't sure what else to do with themselves, and if I couldn't articulate whether I wanted one or the other, I wasn't going to convince any programs worth attending that they should want me. Having had the work experience, I feel much better-equipped during the rough, solitary parts of the PhD.
     
    None of this is meant to be condescending or mean and I hope you don't see this response as a blatant disregard of your questions. You don't need to jump right to "which schools might take me?", some recon and reflection at this stage will help you articulate the best route, generally, and the best prospects, more specifically.
     
    HTH! Good luck.
  8. Upvote
    surefire got a reaction from Dr. Old Bill in Trouble deciding between Law and Grad School   
    Hi Pavelboca,
     
    Welcome to the GC! I'm not going to be of any help on a coherent diagnosis of NYU/Penn/Columbia, because my context is Canadian. But I'm drawn to your question because the "law school or grad school" debate was a pickle I found myself mired in a few years ago. To give the story away up front: I'm currently in a PhD program. In trying to decide between law school or grad school, I opted to get an 1 year MA in socio-legal studies to test the water (in Canada, you typically get an MA before the PhD w/o much of the US-style "terminal MA" baggage). During the MA, I wrote the LSAT (which I abhorred on a special level - writing the LSAT was a good exercise for me in figuring out if I really wanted to go the law school route). The unique MA allowed me to be in conversation with both JDs and PhDs, and through these discussions, I quickly realized that the law school route wasn't for me.
     
    I'm going to recommend that you look outward, reflect inward, and cultivate a conversation regarding "fit".
     
    First, I'm going to say this:
    - Any (responsible) poster on GC, in looking at your "what do grad schools base their decisions on" question, can only answer one way: it depends (though of course, people might have specific ideas about the specific schools you've named). For a summary of the criteria, you need only look to the sub-forum contents of the GC, which cover things like the GRE and statements of purpose (and looking within the threads will give you a sense of how they're "weighted" and what people think about what one needs to do to meet the criteria). For a "quick and dirty" idea, you can look at schools of interest on the "Results Search", where people often divulge their stats and accept/reject status for grad school recommendations.
    - Going to law school because you want to be rewarded for a high GPA isn't a good idea.
    - Going to grad school because you want to be rewarded for a penchant for writing is not a good idea.
    - Working under the assumption that anyone is going to be persuaded that you belong in a program because you can "see yourself" at the destination is not a good idea.
     
    I hope that's not harsh. It's not intended to be. These are things that I would have benefited from hearing.
     
    I think you should:
    - Do a bit of GC recon to get a sense of stats and criteria.
    - Talk to current law students and lawyers: what does their day to day reality consist of? Can you "see yourself" being good at those tasks and thriving in that reality, not just "enjoying" the professional identity?
    - Talk to current grad students and professors: same questions as above.
    - Try crafting two different personal statements: one for law school and one for grad school. This will help you articulate "fit" (which consists of sussing out the resources that you will bring to the program and the resources you will draw upon in the program to FINISH the damn program AND what, as a thriving scholar, you ultimately will be able to contribute with the opportunity). I'd be interested to see which one of these feels like more "work" to you: give each a fair shake by doing some research first on the different pursuits, and then write the two statements - which one makes you feel at a loss or feels "forced" or false, if any? That's a good gut reaction to listen to.
    - Seriously consider not doing either. Seriously. Just entertain the notion for a sec and see what that feels like. I worked for almost two years between the MA and PhD before I'd made up my mind on the latter. I realized that neither law nor grad school are good places for people who just weren't sure what else to do with themselves, and if I couldn't articulate whether I wanted one or the other, I wasn't going to convince any programs worth attending that they should want me. Having had the work experience, I feel much better-equipped during the rough, solitary parts of the PhD.
     
    None of this is meant to be condescending or mean and I hope you don't see this response as a blatant disregard of your questions. You don't need to jump right to "which schools might take me?", some recon and reflection at this stage will help you articulate the best route, generally, and the best prospects, more specifically.
     
    HTH! Good luck.
  9. Upvote
    surefire reacted to fuzzylogician in How to phrase request to Professor of restricted class in another department   
    Dear Professor X, 
     
    My name is Coconut Water, an incoming Masters student in the Department of Education at UCLA. I am writing to ask whether it would be possible for me to take your class 'Topics in Awesomeness' in the upcoming Fall semester. This class was recommended to my by my advisor, Prof Y, since my research interests include Awesomeness and Amazingness. I believe your class would be a great way for me to round out my classes for the Fall and to start thinking about a topic for my thesis. Please let me know if you have any questions or if there is any additional information I can provide. 
     
    Thank you,
    Coconut Water 
     
    ---
    If this is someone who you might consider collaborating with, or having on your thesis committee or some such, you could include a line about looking forward to meeting this prof in person in the Fall.
  10. Upvote
    surefire reacted to TakeruK in How much does an assistant professor really make?   
    You can see how much Canadian schools pay their universities here: http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/81-595-m/81-595-m2009076-eng.pdf (data is from 2008-2009 so the pay rates should be a few percentage points higher now). [Make sure you read the second table for each school; i.e. the ones that exclude medical/dental profs]
     
    Maybe there is a similar study/survey for US schools or other countries you may be interested in? At top Canadian schools, assistant profs in the physical sciences start around $80k ish per year and full professors make about $110k-$120k. If you have admin duties, like Dean status, you might make up to $160k. In some cases, you keep the pay raise even after you go back to "regular prof" status. All major Canadian schools are public and provincial governments require all public entities to publish the pay for all of their employees greater than some amount ($75k in some places, $100k in others) and these numbers above are from looking up profs in the physics department at my school. 
     
    By "assistant professor", I mean an entry level tenure track position. There are lecturers in Canada that are not normally labelled as "assistant professor" (or any "professor" rank at all) and they would generally be employed simply to teach. At bigger schools in Canada, their pay range is around $50k to $60k. I know at my MSc school, an entry level lecturer is paid about $8000/course and they might teach 6 courses per year (3/3 load). This seems to be the right ballpark rate because non-research colleges in Canada (i.e. "community colleges" in the US) pay their full time teaching staff at a starting rate of about $50k-$60k and the pay scales up to around $90k once you have been there a long time.
     
    So I think how much a prof gets paid depends a lot on field and location. I'm not in academia "for the money", as in I'm not doing it to make big bucks. As you pointed out, most PhDs have enough education/skills to make much more than starting salary ranges. I love my work but I don't love it so much to be willing to do this for $30k / year!
     
    My goal is to find some balance where I make enough to live comfortably and also do work that I enjoy. Unless I needed the money, I wouldn't give up all job satisfaction in order to make $150k+ but I also wouldn't give up a reliable income in order to do what I want! So I try to not worry too much about "what if I had a BS in engineering" and just set reasonable income goals before deciding to move on in academia. When I decided to do a PhD program after a MSc program, I made the decision factoring in the low stipend that PhDs get paid. One big factor in whether I continue in academia post-PhD will really depend on my ability to find a decent paying postdoc (my target salary is around $60-$65k, and probably my minimum is $55k; I think typical postdocs in my field get paid around $50k-$60k per year, so these numbers high goals but not unrealistic).
  11. Upvote
    surefire reacted to TakeruK in How to write to POI in an elegant way?   
    Even in my field where contacting POIs is more common, this is definitely still true--you need a reason to ask and this type of question is a perfectly fine reason. I agree with your other points too--it's up to the student to find out about SOP fit, not asking the POI on how to write their SOP!!
     
    To answer this question though, this is how I phrased my emails:
     
     
    That was my basic outline and I added some personalization where appropriate (for some profs, I had met them at conferences or whatever before). I keep these emails super short though--no more than 5 sentences for sure! I do not attach any application-like documents and do not even bring them up because I don't want to sound like I am trying to get them to evaluate/influence my admission/application at all.
     
    My main goal with these emails is to make sure that this prof is someone that I could actually work with if I get accepted to the school. The usual response I got was "Thanks for contacting me; yes I would be very interested to work with a student in , please apply" and sometimes they clarify that they cannot influence the admission process. I don't even want them to influence the admission process, all I want is to make sure I have a research interest match at this school and that I won't sound silly on my SOP stating that I want to work with Prof X when everyone on admissions knows that Prof X is going to retire/leave the school/go on sabbatical/change research interests/have no funding etc. One important information I did get from one of the profs was that they told me they would not have any funding at all for the project so I would have to earn my stipend by TAing a lot until we write a grant for it. I felt that this was an important piece of information to know and it did influence my own decision at the end of the application period. 
  12. Upvote
    surefire got a reaction from VulpesZerda in How to write to POI in an elegant way?   
    Hi there surlefil!
     
    I love this question because you ask about writing "elegantly", which I think is a splendid consideration and priority for e-mail correspondence and, ultimately, I feel that elegant writing (including propriety and a capacity to be CONCISE) will help you to get what you want from the correspondence.
     
    When I see these requests, I usually begin by pointing people to the Female Science Professor blog post on the topic: http://science-professor.blogspot.ca/2011/10/writing-to-me-reprise.html
    This is a great reference point as she provides various templates. One must consider the context (i.e. it is standard in science disciplines to secure the supervision, or prospective supervision, of a prof before applying, so that adds an additional imperative/thing that one needs to ask for that doesn't necessarily apply to you here). But, I think it's still very helpful to get the POI's POV to get a sense of what requests compel what responses!
     
    I'd like to give you a few more pointers though, as I've actually recently attended a workshop on writing professional and academic e-mails - one thing that I've learned in my 2nd year of the PhD, it's infinitely preferable to ask or attend a workshop to figure out academic decorum rather than trying to figure it out the hard way through trial and error (there are plenty of lessons you'll have to learn this way, why not reduce the discomfort where possible?)
     
    Anyway, pointers for you!
     
    Before/while writing the e-mail, ask yourself:
    1) What is the nature of my relationship with the recipient?
    2) What is the nature of the request?
    3) What are the cultural norms that the person may likely follow in his/her context in terms of the language used in e-mail messages? (When in doubt, be more formal than informal)
    4) How does the e-mail reflect my own personal image?
    5) Can I find this information out elsewhere?
    It seems lame, but working these questions out for yourself will help you to formulate your expectations and will help you to write an e-mail where these expectations are stated clearly and concisely.
     
    E-mail subject:
    This should contain the purpose of the e-mail (Reference request OR Prospective student seeking information, or something). DO NOT just put "Good Afternoon :)" or something equivalent.
     
    Opening:
    When you are not acquainted with the recipient and it is an academic e-mail, open with your name, institutional affiliation and academic credentials.
     
    Purpose:
    You should have a request or purpose, this will make it much easier for the prof to respond. State your request/purpose. It might be that you are applying and are considering their program and you're interested in ascertaining "fit" or you're info-seeking. Be clear. Be formal, polite, and not presumptuous. Regarding presumptuousness: avoid imperatives ("I am grateful for the info that YOU WILL send me..."). Instead, hedge with "if" clauses: "I was wondering if you might be willing/able... at your convenience" Again, what you want them to be willing/able to do depends on your expectations and how you answer the questions I provided earlier. For you, I think, the request is for their consideration and possible insight, as you work to articulate prospective "fit". DON'T go pedantic or verbose here, it's possible to be excessively polite: "If you had any spare time at any point to send me the info I would be forever grateful and humbled by this act of kindness" = NO.
     
    Background:
    Provide just enough context and background to make your purpose/request justified and clear. Avoid being "wordy". This is a good space to briefly say why you contacted THEM and to show that you've done some re-con already. Show them that you've done some homework. Did a referee recommend them to you? Did you get a sense of their interests from their faculty page or a paper they've written recently? Say so, show them that you've gotten a sense of their interests, and then state your interests so that they can see the parallel. It should make sense to them why you're considering their program and - arguably more importantly at this stage of correspondence - why you contacted them. Then - again, depending on your purpose, ask some specific questions here (about research opportunity or insight on your prospective fit in the program given your interests - or, as geography rocks points out, you can ask them about their availability in taking students, which is a common and specific request). At this stage, I wouldn't recommend attaching a statement of interest or resume - instead, at this point, close this section by offering to give additional information at their request.
     
    Close:
    Reiterate the request/purpose. Thank them for their time and consideration/insight. Close with a "Regards" or "Sincerely" (I prefer the former), avoid "Cheers" on first correspondence, it's too familiar.
     
    General tips:
    -Be polite but efficient.
    - Be formal and respectful but not overly differential, apologetic, or mechanical.
    - Don't send a form letter. As mentioned in the background section, the prof should know why you contacted THEM specifically.
    - Spell their name correctly, for goodness sake!
    - Make it EASY for them to respond, even if the response is some variation of "no". It should be easy for them to say "I can help" or "I can't help". Specific requests/purpose with proof of recon ensures this.
    - Think of the correspondence in stages. It's bad form to send a litany of possibly labour-intensive (or maybe vague) requests at once (I want assurances that I'm touching base with a relevant program/prof AND I want you to look at my resume AND I want help on my SOP...). First task is to establish the correspondence and express interest and show how that interest is valid. If the connection and interest is validated, the prof will let you know in a response and they'll probably state what they're willing to deal with next (this is why you offer to send them stuff or to elaborate on what you've provided already, that makes it easier for the prof to say "Sure, I'm taking students, send me that SOP" or something).
    - Not that I think that you're likely to do this, but I frequently tell people who are trying to initiate correspondence with new POIs to avoid trying to deflate the awkwardness or stand out from the pack by being "clever" (while there is debate on this elsewhere, I think the sentiment mostly holds for the SOP as well, just FYI). I've tried to articulate the risk in attempting cleverness elsewhere, and I recently saw a blogpost that I think sums it up nicely, so I'm just going to indulge my own hobby-horse here for a second and shoe-horn in that reference: http://whatever.scalzi.com/2010/06/16/the-failure-state-of-clever/
     
    Best of Luck to you! Sorry that I failed to take my own advice and formulate a concise response! HTH!
  13. Upvote
    surefire got a reaction from surlefil in How to write to POI in an elegant way?   
    Hi there surlefil!
     
    I love this question because you ask about writing "elegantly", which I think is a splendid consideration and priority for e-mail correspondence and, ultimately, I feel that elegant writing (including propriety and a capacity to be CONCISE) will help you to get what you want from the correspondence.
     
    When I see these requests, I usually begin by pointing people to the Female Science Professor blog post on the topic: http://science-professor.blogspot.ca/2011/10/writing-to-me-reprise.html
    This is a great reference point as she provides various templates. One must consider the context (i.e. it is standard in science disciplines to secure the supervision, or prospective supervision, of a prof before applying, so that adds an additional imperative/thing that one needs to ask for that doesn't necessarily apply to you here). But, I think it's still very helpful to get the POI's POV to get a sense of what requests compel what responses!
     
    I'd like to give you a few more pointers though, as I've actually recently attended a workshop on writing professional and academic e-mails - one thing that I've learned in my 2nd year of the PhD, it's infinitely preferable to ask or attend a workshop to figure out academic decorum rather than trying to figure it out the hard way through trial and error (there are plenty of lessons you'll have to learn this way, why not reduce the discomfort where possible?)
     
    Anyway, pointers for you!
     
    Before/while writing the e-mail, ask yourself:
    1) What is the nature of my relationship with the recipient?
    2) What is the nature of the request?
    3) What are the cultural norms that the person may likely follow in his/her context in terms of the language used in e-mail messages? (When in doubt, be more formal than informal)
    4) How does the e-mail reflect my own personal image?
    5) Can I find this information out elsewhere?
    It seems lame, but working these questions out for yourself will help you to formulate your expectations and will help you to write an e-mail where these expectations are stated clearly and concisely.
     
    E-mail subject:
    This should contain the purpose of the e-mail (Reference request OR Prospective student seeking information, or something). DO NOT just put "Good Afternoon :)" or something equivalent.
     
    Opening:
    When you are not acquainted with the recipient and it is an academic e-mail, open with your name, institutional affiliation and academic credentials.
     
    Purpose:
    You should have a request or purpose, this will make it much easier for the prof to respond. State your request/purpose. It might be that you are applying and are considering their program and you're interested in ascertaining "fit" or you're info-seeking. Be clear. Be formal, polite, and not presumptuous. Regarding presumptuousness: avoid imperatives ("I am grateful for the info that YOU WILL send me..."). Instead, hedge with "if" clauses: "I was wondering if you might be willing/able... at your convenience" Again, what you want them to be willing/able to do depends on your expectations and how you answer the questions I provided earlier. For you, I think, the request is for their consideration and possible insight, as you work to articulate prospective "fit". DON'T go pedantic or verbose here, it's possible to be excessively polite: "If you had any spare time at any point to send me the info I would be forever grateful and humbled by this act of kindness" = NO.
     
    Background:
    Provide just enough context and background to make your purpose/request justified and clear. Avoid being "wordy". This is a good space to briefly say why you contacted THEM and to show that you've done some re-con already. Show them that you've done some homework. Did a referee recommend them to you? Did you get a sense of their interests from their faculty page or a paper they've written recently? Say so, show them that you've gotten a sense of their interests, and then state your interests so that they can see the parallel. It should make sense to them why you're considering their program and - arguably more importantly at this stage of correspondence - why you contacted them. Then - again, depending on your purpose, ask some specific questions here (about research opportunity or insight on your prospective fit in the program given your interests - or, as geography rocks points out, you can ask them about their availability in taking students, which is a common and specific request). At this stage, I wouldn't recommend attaching a statement of interest or resume - instead, at this point, close this section by offering to give additional information at their request.
     
    Close:
    Reiterate the request/purpose. Thank them for their time and consideration/insight. Close with a "Regards" or "Sincerely" (I prefer the former), avoid "Cheers" on first correspondence, it's too familiar.
     
    General tips:
    -Be polite but efficient.
    - Be formal and respectful but not overly differential, apologetic, or mechanical.
    - Don't send a form letter. As mentioned in the background section, the prof should know why you contacted THEM specifically.
    - Spell their name correctly, for goodness sake!
    - Make it EASY for them to respond, even if the response is some variation of "no". It should be easy for them to say "I can help" or "I can't help". Specific requests/purpose with proof of recon ensures this.
    - Think of the correspondence in stages. It's bad form to send a litany of possibly labour-intensive (or maybe vague) requests at once (I want assurances that I'm touching base with a relevant program/prof AND I want you to look at my resume AND I want help on my SOP...). First task is to establish the correspondence and express interest and show how that interest is valid. If the connection and interest is validated, the prof will let you know in a response and they'll probably state what they're willing to deal with next (this is why you offer to send them stuff or to elaborate on what you've provided already, that makes it easier for the prof to say "Sure, I'm taking students, send me that SOP" or something).
    - Not that I think that you're likely to do this, but I frequently tell people who are trying to initiate correspondence with new POIs to avoid trying to deflate the awkwardness or stand out from the pack by being "clever" (while there is debate on this elsewhere, I think the sentiment mostly holds for the SOP as well, just FYI). I've tried to articulate the risk in attempting cleverness elsewhere, and I recently saw a blogpost that I think sums it up nicely, so I'm just going to indulge my own hobby-horse here for a second and shoe-horn in that reference: http://whatever.scalzi.com/2010/06/16/the-failure-state-of-clever/
     
    Best of Luck to you! Sorry that I failed to take my own advice and formulate a concise response! HTH!
  14. Upvote
    surefire reacted to fuzzylogician in Journal Publication and negotiating the Canada/US impasse   
    You're welcome!
     
    You ask good questions. There is no magical way to learn what journals are considered better for reputation or for hiring/tenure purposes. I've attended some very interesting panels about publishing organized by my field's national society, where the most immediate result seemed to be that people disagree about this, but that still there are some constants. I took that to mean that you want to have a diverse profile, so everyone can find something that they like. I think you mostly learn about this by gaining faculty's confidence and asking them about their experiences and opinions. You can also learn from the experiences of graduating students, if they went on the job market (if they at least got as far as getting interviews). Universities will differ in their hiring and tenure practices and I agree that it gets complicated if you're interested in markets outside where you are currently studying because people will be less familiar with them. However, quite universally, higher ranked (and more) publications are better.  
     
    One good way to know if any journal is being read by the scholars in your field is to check whether others cite papers from there. Also (relatedly) you can go on some famous/upcoming researchers' websites and see where they publish their work. Those would be good venues. I like the idea of going on recent hires' websites and seeing where they publish. Also, ask the faculty in your department. They will know about the process at your university and may have some more anecdotal knowledge about other departments. When you go to conferences, ask other students about the process at their university, or if you meet young faculty, you can ask them about their own progress and if they have any advice. A lot of people will be very generous with what they've learned if you just ask.  
  15. Upvote
    surefire reacted to Darth.Vegan in Transferring into a new program   
    You should frame it in terms of your interests shifting and being better supported in another department. 
  16. Upvote
    surefire reacted to fuzzylogician in Switching Programs After Leaving Disastrous Department   
    Generally speaking, yes, it's possible to overcome blemishes and past problems in your record, but it won't be easy. Your chances will greatly improve if you could get letters of recommendation from professors at the school you left. If you can't get any letters from there and instead will only have letters from undergrad or from non-academic employers, that will raise some red flags that you will have no choice but to address head on. Since you already have an MA, I don't know if there is a serious option for you to do an extra year at some program to show dedication and get better/more current letters, but that may be necessary if all your letters are outdated.
     
    However, if the attitude that comes across here also comes across in your application, I think you may be sabotaging yourself. You read like you are blaming everyone and everything else for your failure and not taking any responsibility for anything. Maybe it's true that you were completely in the right and they were completely in the wrong, but not knowing the other side of the story, most people will tend to believe that the truth is somewhere in the middle and if you're putting it all on the other side then there is something wrong with you. I'd keep the explanations about your past short and focused on the facts, without blaming anyone for what happened. Focus on your current interests and your future goals. I think another issue I had reading your post is that it's really not clear why you want to do a PhD. It's not something you do just because you couldn't get another job--people like that tend to have a high likelihood of not graduating and schools therefore try to stay away from them. You will need to write a SOP that expresses your passion for research and gives compelling reasons for wanting to go back to a graduate program despite the bad experience you had in the previous program. So -- to answer your question, you are not doomed but you will be fighting an uphill battle if you are serious about applying to school again.
  17. Upvote
    surefire reacted to fuzzylogician in Journal Publication and negotiating the Canada/US impasse   
    Do you want to have a job in the US or in Canada once you graduate? Do Canadians generally read the US journals, and vice versa? When hiring/tenure decisions are made in Canadian universities, do the US journals count less/as much/more than the Canadian ones? (This assumes that in the US, the US journals are higher ranked than the Canadian ones.) Do the answers change if we are just considering your particular subfield vs. the field more generally? 
     
    Unless the Canadians ignore the US journals, which I highly doubt (but you can tell me otherwise and I'll believe you), I think the best choice is the highest ranked journal that will accept you, that appeals to the general audience that you would like to read your paper. It doesn't matter that you might not even get past the editor's desk at some journals, no one needs to ever know that--though I hope your advisor can help you select submission venues in a way that makes this eventuality unlikely; one thing to maybe try if this submission uses unusual kinds of data is to write the editor before submitting to ask if their journal would be interested in a submission like yours. Another is to submit to one of the journals that have already published papers based on similar data sources in the past, since they are more likely to be sympathetic to your paper. Since you still have several years to go before you graduate, you can afford to have a longer reviewing process which might happen if you get rejected from a more prestigious journal and have to resubmit to another journal later on. My guess is that US journals have a wider audience than Canadian ones and that they count just the same (or more, if they are higher ranked) for hiring/tenure purposes. In that case, a US journal seems like the better choice. The main reason to prefer a Canadian journal is if it is better at reaching your target audience or if a publication there will do more to help you get hired down the line. Remember, if there is someone in particular who you want to make sure reads your paper (e.g. a famous scholar in your field), you can just email them your paper and ask for comments. There is no need to choose a journal to maximize the chances of them being exposed to the paper; this decision should be more about greater benefits, not about reaching any individual person.
  18. Upvote
    surefire got a reaction from wildviolet in Feeling discouraged and unsure about PhD applications   
    Welcome to the GC!
     
    I want to give you a prompt response, seeing as you're meeting with this professor this afternoon!
     
    You are absolutely correct to point out that the majority of grad students have been in this position at one point or another! You are also correct to recognize that you're out of your element a bit with this course... and that's okay!
     
    Honestly, it would be more alarming if you were looking to apply for top-tier PhDs WITHOUT having had the experience of being pushed out of your comfort zone and made to rise to the occasion at one point or another! The most successful grad students I know have faced such challenges, either a challenging semester or course or research assignment or SOMETHING. The students that crumble are the ones that arrive at the PhD level and have found everything to be a breeze up until that point, because they have limited coping mechanisms to ADAPT so, when faced with their first challenge, they have a bit of a melt-down. It doesn't feel like it right now, but you'll be able to reflect upon this later as a mettle-testing opportunity!
     
    For the first draft of my MA research proposal, my supervisor made me re-write it from scratch... twice. After six drafts she accepted it and the thesis ended up being a winning writing sample.
    In the first semester of my PhD, I got a "B" on my first Stats exam (so, like, not even a "B+" or a straddling "B+/A-"). That course was "required", but was not my specialty - kind colleagues at the time pointed out that it would be more of a concern if I wanted to make it my specialty. I buckled down and met with the prof and finished the rest of the assignments and exams so I was able to round out the course with an "A-". This does not keep me up at night.
     
    When you meet with the prof, don't frame this as a global crisis re: your writing. It's not this prof's job to sooth your ego. You want to inquire as to how you can meet THIS prof's expectations for THIS class. So ask specific stuff about that and take good notes in the meeting. Find out if (s)he would be interested in reading a DRAFT of your next essay for the class, maybe two weeks before the deadline. Then, make an honest effort to employ the feedback and hopefully you'll get an opportunity to show them and revise accordingly.
     
    Also, TALK to your colleagues. You'll find someone there to empathize with.
    Also Also, be sure to take time for self-care! After the meeting, give yourself permission not to think about it for a few days - trim a bonsai tree or go to the gym or something. Then come back ready to tackle the challenges this course poses with feedback in tow!
     
    I hope your meeting goes well! Good luck!
     
    You got this!
  19. Upvote
    surefire reacted to somethinbruin in Advice on converting 30-pg paper to conference presentation   
    I have taken longer papers and turned them into conference presentations, although I'm in a different field than yours (English lit) so YMMV with regard to my advice. It's not a huge issue to not "re-write" the whole paper, but that's pretty much what I had to do with mine because of time constraints. The thesis/thoughts are the same, but since writing and presenting are so different, it inevitably requires a different rhetorical approach to suit the situation. 
     
    The first real question I would have for you is what are the time constraints this presentation is operating under? Generally conferences limit you to 15-20 minutes, and if that's the case you've still got a pretty long way to go. A 15 minute presentation is about 7-8 double-spaced pages since most people can read/deliver a page in about two minutes.
     
    The second question is what can you eliminate as ancillary? What will your audience generally know since they share your field? Your paper may be theory heavy, but since your audience is high-level, you may not have to delve as deeply into it as you think. What is your core argument? I think you've already identified one ancillary argument that can be left out of the presentation. That's good. Most of your work is going to require stripping away ancillary material, which is never easy because we are emotionally invested in our work and our writing. Faulkner said "In writing, you must kill all your darlings" and I've never found that more true than when reworking a paper. You've got to recognize that you love it, then recognize that it doesn't work for what you need in its current form, then kill it and bring it back to life as something else. 
     
    When I have taken longer papers and reworked them for conferences, I've always started by writing an abstract. Most literature conferences require them for the proposal anyway, so I've found them a good place to start. Sell your paper to yourself in 200 words. That way you're working from something small, rather than looking at this daunting 30 page document that you have to cut by 75%. The abstract boils down your paper to its core argument. Then it's easier to build it back up.
     
    After I've got the abstract, I ask myself what is the essential information that forms the linchpin. I jot down a few notes/quick list of what these areas/sections are. What absolutely, positively cannot be cut? Open a new document on your computer, and put the new abstract at the top. Then copy and paste the key paragraphs from those indispensable sections from the old paper into the new presentation. This will look rough, but it will give you a place to start. The challenge then becomes fitting these sections together by filling in the gaps, but at least with this method you've stripped away most of the 30-page paper, distilled it to its core essence and into something that you can start to refashion into your final presentation.
     
    Also, don't be too worried about presenting in front of the "home crowd." It will be worth it because, in the end, whatever questions you might get can be used to strengthen your presentation before you ultimately deliver it at the conference. I recommend taking a legal pad and pen up with you so that you can jot down questions and notes for later. When I've done dry runs with faculty, they've always been very gracious, helpful and thought provoking. No one expects you to be as good as a professor with tenure. They know you're a grad student just starting out, and they appreciate that you're taking your first halting steps into professionalization. It is natural to be self-conscious about presenting, but I wouldn't worry too much about running a draft past faculty. They're there to help you, not to put you in front of a firing squad.
     
    Good luck refashioning your paper! I'm sure you'll be great.
  20. Upvote
    surefire got a reaction from ruru107 in Students failing due to unawareness of requirements   
    I'm usually prone to coddling the students, so I actually surprise myself a bit with the answer: I think he needs to get zeroes on all of the quizzes, and then his grade is his grade.
     
    I have been in this situation, mostly. In the classes I TA, there's a policy re: deductions for late papers: it's 5% a day - including weekends (they submit online to turnitin, so this isn't onerous) - after 5 days the paper WILL NOT be accepted. This is a policy of the institution, so I do get to say that my hands are tied on this stipulation. However, at least a few times a semester, I have students who finish and submit papers after the 5 days have elapsed - either they missed the instruction, or they really didn't believe that, after going to the trouble of writing the damn paper, I wouldn't accept it. But yeah, I don't accept the papers, they get zeroes, and they can appeal the grade - or the policy - to the undergrad admin. Final papers are worth 30%, so students HAVE failed as a result of this, and these are in cases where they actually did the work, but they did not heed the instruction. Adhering to this is a bit easier when the stipulation is IN the syllabus (it's not clear from your post if that's the case, but I assume the syllabus at least had a break-down of how their grade would be comprised, right?).
     
    Inform him of his options for appeal. List all the avenues open to him (accessibility centre, doctor's note, appeal process to dean or whomever). That IS a kindness that you can offer, you know? That way, you're not just rendering the mark and walking away - you COULD just do that, but highlighting his opportunities IS a compromise that you can offer (the other compromises regarding opening up the quizzes are, as you've ascertained, not really feasible options).
     
    This sucks. Sorry! Really though, you sound like a capable and compassionate TA, don't beat yourself up and don't keep thinking that you're "letting him fail". This is an opportunity to address the issue, whether it's an accessibility thing or a work habit thing. Otherwise, you're just stalling the issue and it WILL emerge again in another class, where another instructor will agonize over what to do.
  21. Upvote
    surefire reacted to TakeruK in What piece(s) of advice would you give to new TAs?   
    I agree that teaching is never as valued as direct research impact in research oriented fields when it comes to hiring decisions at research oriented universities.
     
    I do agree that for my field, if you do want a tenure track assistant prof position at a research oriented university, then yes, teaching should be a very low priority for you. The advice I hear is to have a minimal amount of it so that 1) you actually have some experience and 2) hiring committees who only really care about research but want to claim that they care about teaching can point to something on your CV that says you've taught before. I know that my current school does not consider teaching ability at all when it comes to tenure decisions. One prof at my school who was passionate about teaching was asked to spend less time on teaching because his classes were too good. He is now somewhere else, at a school where he feels his teaching is as valued as his research. 
     
    That said, I don't think it's sound advice to actually tell graduate students to slack off on TAing. First of all, that article that was linked in NicholasCage's post is almost 25 years old. I think in general, most schools have begun to shift towards valuing teaching as well, even if it's tiny. There are centres for teaching & learning popping up at various campuses and even my super-research-oriented school opened their own Centre for Teaching and Learning a few years ago. 
     
    If a student is absolutely certain they want to pursue a career that is purely research, then it makes sense to devote all of their time into research. However, I think with the current job market, it's a very bad idea to limit your career options so much and to me, it's a far better idea to develop your teaching portfolio as much as possible. Personally, I enjoy teaching, so I don't need pragmatic reasons to motivate me but it's still true that while spending time on teaching might not gain you very much towards the most research-oriented jobs, the little extra effort you can do is probably beneficial in the long run because it will increase your chances at a much broader range of careers.
     
    Time management is essential in grad school and I'm not saying to say yes to every teaching opportunity. I'm also not saying you should say no every time either. The best answer, I think, is to advise grad students to think about what kind of careers we want after the PhD and to make sure almost everything we do, whether it's teaching or research or otherwise, is a step towards these goals.
  22. Upvote
    surefire got a reaction from fuzzylogician in Students failing due to unawareness of requirements   
    I'm usually prone to coddling the students, so I actually surprise myself a bit with the answer: I think he needs to get zeroes on all of the quizzes, and then his grade is his grade.
     
    I have been in this situation, mostly. In the classes I TA, there's a policy re: deductions for late papers: it's 5% a day - including weekends (they submit online to turnitin, so this isn't onerous) - after 5 days the paper WILL NOT be accepted. This is a policy of the institution, so I do get to say that my hands are tied on this stipulation. However, at least a few times a semester, I have students who finish and submit papers after the 5 days have elapsed - either they missed the instruction, or they really didn't believe that, after going to the trouble of writing the damn paper, I wouldn't accept it. But yeah, I don't accept the papers, they get zeroes, and they can appeal the grade - or the policy - to the undergrad admin. Final papers are worth 30%, so students HAVE failed as a result of this, and these are in cases where they actually did the work, but they did not heed the instruction. Adhering to this is a bit easier when the stipulation is IN the syllabus (it's not clear from your post if that's the case, but I assume the syllabus at least had a break-down of how their grade would be comprised, right?).
     
    Inform him of his options for appeal. List all the avenues open to him (accessibility centre, doctor's note, appeal process to dean or whomever). That IS a kindness that you can offer, you know? That way, you're not just rendering the mark and walking away - you COULD just do that, but highlighting his opportunities IS a compromise that you can offer (the other compromises regarding opening up the quizzes are, as you've ascertained, not really feasible options).
     
    This sucks. Sorry! Really though, you sound like a capable and compassionate TA, don't beat yourself up and don't keep thinking that you're "letting him fail". This is an opportunity to address the issue, whether it's an accessibility thing or a work habit thing. Otherwise, you're just stalling the issue and it WILL emerge again in another class, where another instructor will agonize over what to do.
  23. Upvote
    surefire got a reaction from Liquirizia in What piece(s) of advice would you give to new TAs?   
    All excellent advice so far! I only have a couple of specifics to add.
     
    - I would echo what rising_star said re: accessing your university's teaching centre, where available. The workshops through this resource are incredibly helpful to aid not only your students' development, but your own efficiency.
     
    - I would also echo what jullietmercredi said about organization. It is absolutely worth the time to come up with a system for organizing; it will be worth it even if you have ONE student/essay that goes AWOL, as you'll be able to quickly ascertain what's up (every semester students seem to top themselves in the creative ways that they disregard my submission instructions, while you should resist the urge to coddle, a good organization system will ensure that you can detect these hiccups quickly).
     
    - On the organization front: I would also encourage you to spreadsheet your hours. I work at a Uni with a union, so there are stipulations about workload whereby one can grieve/remedy situations of over-work. I understand that this varies around universities, so I would encourage you to get acquainted with your departmental/university culture on the TA front and find out how TA assignments are comprised and what routes there are to address issues - in any case, track your hours. If a prof thinks that marking each mid-term test should take you 15 minutes, and you take a half hour for each, that does not mean that you suck at marking (though it is true that you'll take some time to find your groove), it might mean that there needs to be an adjustment in terms of the assignment or the hours that are expected/available to mark it. Think of it this way: if you just put your head down and do the excess work, some poor schmuck TA that does the class NEXT time will have to contend with the same issue. Again, find out the routes to address issues and gauge your departmental culture on this - it might just be a matter of informally discussing things with the prof, it might be a matter of submitting something to the uni HR so they can adjust the TA assignment. At the very least, spread-sheeting will help you get acquainted with how many hours each task in a semester requires, so you can predict how to plan your NEXT semester AND you can concretely see how you are becoming more efficient in each task.
     
    - Have a "warm fuzzies folder". Every nice e-mail from prof or students, solicited or unsolicited, goes in the folder. This will make it easier to compose a teaching dossier later on. If someone says something nice about what a great TA you are, ask them to put that sentiment in an e-mail and send it to you - that might feel weird, but self-advocacy is a good skill to hone.
     
    - I'm a strong advocate of the electronic rubric. That is, typing up comments in a word doc rubric and stapling these to the essays, rather than printing blank rubrics and writing in them. This has several benefits: (1) There's no question that my comments are legible; (2) I can send the whole doc to the prof, if they're interested, so that they can get a sense of trends in the comments and/or they have the comments on-hand if a student comes in to complain about the mark; ( 3) I find that students tend to skim comments if I put lots of them on BOTH the paper and the rubric, so I mostly put them on the rubric (which I have space for, as I'm typing them up) BUT I refer to specific examples from the paper (that is, global comment and then, "see the example I've commented upon on page 5"); (4) I can CHANGE the damn comments/mark if need be; scribbled-out comments on a student's paper both look messy and sometimes prompt students to complain - "I can see that you gave me a 4.5/5 then changed it to 3.5, whyyyyyy?"; there will be occasions where you have to go back and adjust - say, if you dock big marks initially for students who missed a certain component, but then it turns out that the majority missed this component, you might re-visit the assignment question and realize that it was confusingly phrased and be inclined to deduct less - so electronic marks help with this.
     
    - Don't be afraid to sometimes tell the students that they're being inappropriate or unprofessional, it's a courtesy, really. If a student sends an e-mail that makes you cringe, tell them so. Don't just say, "that's inappropriate" and also refrain from an exhaustive point-by-point, just point quickly to the irksome thing and then address the request. Many of them will not reward you for this effort by amending their correspondence/conduct. However, I find that those that do rise to the occasion appreciate the advice - after all, it helps then glean more expedient/favourable responses, right? 
  24. Upvote
    surefire got a reaction from NeilM in What piece(s) of advice would you give to new TAs?   
    All excellent advice so far! I only have a couple of specifics to add.
     
    - I would echo what rising_star said re: accessing your university's teaching centre, where available. The workshops through this resource are incredibly helpful to aid not only your students' development, but your own efficiency.
     
    - I would also echo what jullietmercredi said about organization. It is absolutely worth the time to come up with a system for organizing; it will be worth it even if you have ONE student/essay that goes AWOL, as you'll be able to quickly ascertain what's up (every semester students seem to top themselves in the creative ways that they disregard my submission instructions, while you should resist the urge to coddle, a good organization system will ensure that you can detect these hiccups quickly).
     
    - On the organization front: I would also encourage you to spreadsheet your hours. I work at a Uni with a union, so there are stipulations about workload whereby one can grieve/remedy situations of over-work. I understand that this varies around universities, so I would encourage you to get acquainted with your departmental/university culture on the TA front and find out how TA assignments are comprised and what routes there are to address issues - in any case, track your hours. If a prof thinks that marking each mid-term test should take you 15 minutes, and you take a half hour for each, that does not mean that you suck at marking (though it is true that you'll take some time to find your groove), it might mean that there needs to be an adjustment in terms of the assignment or the hours that are expected/available to mark it. Think of it this way: if you just put your head down and do the excess work, some poor schmuck TA that does the class NEXT time will have to contend with the same issue. Again, find out the routes to address issues and gauge your departmental culture on this - it might just be a matter of informally discussing things with the prof, it might be a matter of submitting something to the uni HR so they can adjust the TA assignment. At the very least, spread-sheeting will help you get acquainted with how many hours each task in a semester requires, so you can predict how to plan your NEXT semester AND you can concretely see how you are becoming more efficient in each task.
     
    - Have a "warm fuzzies folder". Every nice e-mail from prof or students, solicited or unsolicited, goes in the folder. This will make it easier to compose a teaching dossier later on. If someone says something nice about what a great TA you are, ask them to put that sentiment in an e-mail and send it to you - that might feel weird, but self-advocacy is a good skill to hone.
     
    - I'm a strong advocate of the electronic rubric. That is, typing up comments in a word doc rubric and stapling these to the essays, rather than printing blank rubrics and writing in them. This has several benefits: (1) There's no question that my comments are legible; (2) I can send the whole doc to the prof, if they're interested, so that they can get a sense of trends in the comments and/or they have the comments on-hand if a student comes in to complain about the mark; ( 3) I find that students tend to skim comments if I put lots of them on BOTH the paper and the rubric, so I mostly put them on the rubric (which I have space for, as I'm typing them up) BUT I refer to specific examples from the paper (that is, global comment and then, "see the example I've commented upon on page 5"); (4) I can CHANGE the damn comments/mark if need be; scribbled-out comments on a student's paper both look messy and sometimes prompt students to complain - "I can see that you gave me a 4.5/5 then changed it to 3.5, whyyyyyy?"; there will be occasions where you have to go back and adjust - say, if you dock big marks initially for students who missed a certain component, but then it turns out that the majority missed this component, you might re-visit the assignment question and realize that it was confusingly phrased and be inclined to deduct less - so electronic marks help with this.
     
    - Don't be afraid to sometimes tell the students that they're being inappropriate or unprofessional, it's a courtesy, really. If a student sends an e-mail that makes you cringe, tell them so. Don't just say, "that's inappropriate" and also refrain from an exhaustive point-by-point, just point quickly to the irksome thing and then address the request. Many of them will not reward you for this effort by amending their correspondence/conduct. However, I find that those that do rise to the occasion appreciate the advice - after all, it helps then glean more expedient/favourable responses, right? 
  25. Upvote
    surefire reacted to TakeruK in How many conference presentations in a year is normal?   
    I think 1-3 per year is a good amount. I would say that I'd like to go to one general annual conference that happens every year (e.g. the annual meeting for your discipline's national society) just to keep in touch with other people in the field and see what else is going on. Usually, these meetings are very wide in breadth so you won't find a lot of depth on your topic but you can meet a variety of people and also stay up to date on what else your field does. Then, I think it's a good idea to go to one or two more focussed meetings where you can really explore and learn about specific issues in your field. 
     
    I think 3 is a good upper limit because it takes like 1-2 weeks to fully prepare for a meeting, then a week for the actual meeting, and probably some time afterwards to catch up on what you missed. So any more than 3 meetings and it's potentially 2 months a year where you are just doing meetings instead of advancing your research. But I think if there is a good opportunity, then no need to stick to the 3 meetings/year rule.
     
    I have never paid for a conference out of pocket and I would probably never choose to do so (i.e. if I can't find funding for it and/or my supervisor does not think they should pay for it, then I won't go). I don't think it's ever worth the cost, unless you can get most of it covered through small grants and/or volunteering at the meeting for free registration (or if the meeting is close enough that you can just commute).
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