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Making UW Your Own – #UWGradSuccess

Recently, two graduate students from Chemistry, Sarah Vorpahl and Nick Montoni, organized and led a day-long gathering focused on Strengthening STEM through Diversity. The meeting brought together leaders from UW student organizations, as well as faculty, staff, and community partners to collectively discuss issues of equity in STEM and to develop concrete strategies that will promote a climate of inclusivity for multiple underrepresented communities studying, researching, and working in STEM disciplines.

Core Programs attended and gathered several pearls of wisdom from the plenary speaker UW bioengineering faculty Wendy Thomas, and from the student leadership panel, with representatives from Women in Chemical Sciences, oSTEM, SACNAS, AISES, and the student union UAW 4121. We will be sharing highlights and insights, and working on larger institutional guidance, over the next several weeks as the ideas and opportunities identified at the event will contribute to a larger learning environment where all students can thrive at UW. Here is just a start:

Imposter syndrome. “Imposter syndrome” is familiar to many in Graduate School (and beyond): that feeling that you aren’t smart enough or that you might not have what it takes to succeed. Here’s the thing, you are not alone! Surrounded by smart people, many of us may feel we don’t fit in. Some advice has been to “fake it til you make it.” We agree and yet this should not be confused with “suck it up and deal.” That is, if there are things within your grad program or research group that seem odd to you – ask questions, talk to a peer or trusted colleague to check out your observations, seek allies to support you and who can also speak up and ask for changes. Asking for what you need to thrive is a big part of making your graduate experience your own and one in which you can shine. Shifting our academic culture and landscape to a place that encourages human connection and growth will take all of us–from interpersonal changes to institutional, structural level changes.

Develop a growth vs. fixed mindset. Fixed mindset is the belief that “some people just have what it takes,” while others will never have what it takes. It is the thinking that some individuals are automatically good at understanding concepts and theories in their discipline, writing, acquiring research funding, public speaking, and so forth. This is simply not true. Being a graduate student is about developing and honing your skills, knowledge-base, and competencies over time. It is a process. In this regard, we encourage you to shift towards a growth mindset. If you are experiencing a roadblock in graduate school, it is more than likely that a peer or faculty has experienced a similar challenge. If you are part of the 1-in-3 graduate students who are coping with issues related to mental health, utilize campus resources like the DRS. DRS staff can help you draft an accommodation plan that is personal, confidential, and can set you up for success. Graduate school is a marathon, not a sprint, so pace yourself and give yourself permission to grow.

Find a mentor. There are numerous reasons why you seek out mentors in graduate school. An advisor can give you research direction, but a mentor really invests in you. National guidelines are now pointing to building a mentor team for academic direction, career guidance, and personal support. Mentors can make the difference between surviving and thriving – seek them out and invest time to build your team. As keynote speaker Dr. Thomas shared, when she finally had a mentor who was equally excited to talk to her about her research results, as well her feelings about the research, she knew she could stay in academia.

We thank the student event organizers, student organizations, and the UW programs that signed on as co-sponsors, for their dedication and hard work in investing in making UW a better place for all of us! Keep it coming. #Together #DiversifySTEM #UWGradSuccess

Best Regards,

Kelly, Jaye, and Ziyan
Core Programs Team

Off-Campus Library Access

Why can’t I use the library website unless I’m on campus?  — Anonymous

Sorry to hear you’re having trouble with this. In order to access the library from off-campus, you’ll have to use the Libraries off-campus proxy service. It sounds complicated, but it’s actually really simple. Instructions on their website will walk you through it.

Ask the Grad School Guru is an advice column for all y’all graduate and professional students. Real questions from real students, answered by real people. If the guru doesn’t know the answer, the guru will seek out experts all across campus to address the issue. (Please note: The guru is not a medical doctor, therapist, lawyer or academic advisor, and all advice offered here is for informational purposes only.) Submit a question for the column →

Getting the Most Out of Your Postdoc

At the UW and the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs, we are committed to you getting the most out of your postdoc experience here. There are a few national policies and high-level recommendations that can be useful if you need leverage to ask for time from your faculty advisor, or to step out at take risks, or to start exploring career pathways. There are many more, which we highlight in our Postdoc Handbook. Just to get started, here are a few based on work from entities including the NIH, NSF, National Postdoctoral Association, and others.

  • National Definition of a Postdoc
    • The NIH, NSF, and National Academies of Science have adopted a consistent definition. A postdoctoral fellow (postdoc) is “an individual who has received a doctoral degree and is engaged in a temporary and defined period of mentored advanced training to enhance the professional skills and research independence needed to pursue his or her chosen career path.”
  • Dual Role of Postdoc
    • The federal Office of Management and Budget states that postdocs have a “dual role” as both an employee and a trainee entitled to reasonable release time for professional development while on federal research grants. Professional development can include travel to conferences, networking or informational interviews, attending workshops, volunteer or service opportunities, and teaching opportunities.
  • 5 year term limits
    • Based on federal recommendations, postdocs should be limited to a five year term limit across several employment titles. The focus here is for you to make the most of your time in your postdoc and then to launch into the job or career you are ready to have!
  • Annual reviews and IDP requirements
    • Individual Development Plans (IDPs) are required for NIH supported postdocs and recommended along with annual evaluations for all postdocs as important mechanisms to encourage constructive feedback for postdocs, clarify responsibilities and expectations, record accomplishments and performance, and establish future goals for career growth and development.

Set Yourself Up for Success

Welcome new and returning UW graduate students at all three campuses! Whether you are beginning your very first quarter, in your second and final year of your program, or currently doing lab, thesis or dissertation work, Core Programs is here to support you by connecting you with tri-campus resources, professional development events, and wellness programming. As you begin the new quarter, here are some strategies that that can help set you up for success (your success):

You Belong Here. Some of you are the first in your families to earn a Bachelor’s degree, and now you are going even further by pursuing Master’s or Doctoral degrees. Some of you have moved hundreds, or even thousands, of miles away from your families and communities to attend graduate school. And while many of you are feeling excitement, anxiety, fear, or homesickness (totally normal by the way), the impact of these feelings are experienced unequally based on race, gender, sexuality, economic background, ability, and citizenship. A sense of belonging while you are in graduate school can greatly reduce both isolation and feeling like you will not be smart enough (aka imposter syndrome). We encourage you to reach out and connect with community, as this is vital to your success. Seek out peers, get curious. See below for a list of events and opportunities to connect.

Take It One Day at a Time. Think about what you need to thrive each day. For many of us, this can include time for exercise, enough sleep, time for connecting with a friend or family member, and time to get some work done. Take a look at your daily calendar and plan blocks of time where you can accomplish things from your priority lists and to-do lists, even while sustaining yourself. Graduate school is a marathon that can feel like a sprint sometimes. Keep the big picture in mind – why are you here, and where are you going next? You might have bigger projects you want to (or need to) accomplish. Break those down into manageable and realistic tasks and do just a little bit on the project each day. Before you know it, you’ve made progress.

Take Control of Your Schedule. This one may feel challenging to do when you have so many demands on your time – perhaps classes, research obligations, work responsibilities, family life, etc. And yet, your calendar is your own. Make note of the essential elements in each day and then look for the available spaces that might lie between other obligations. Even with a 15 or 30 minute time block, you can make progress on something that is important to you. Perhaps that is marking off one of the bite-sized tasks from your priority list (it can be energizing just to cross something off!), or stretching or going for a walk, or just resetting with some needed down time. Make sure you are getting what you need, even while you are being responsive to others’ needs. You can set boundaries on your time too. Give yourself 60-90 minutes of productive time and then reward yourself with a 30 minute break. When time feels out of our control, it can add to our feeling of being overwhelmed. Take it back – time is yours.

At Core Programs, we are right there with you – balancing many competing demands and needs and passions. We will keep sharing out resources and tips as we find them, and if you find things that really work for you, we want to hear about them too! Write us at cpinfo@uw.edu or post a photo on Instagram at #UWGradSuccess.

Best Regards,

Kelly, Jaye, and Ziyan
Core Programs Team

Additional Resources:

Welcome All! Tips for Preparing for the Fall Quarter!

Core Programs in the Graduate School extends a warm welcome to all new and returning graduate and professional students to the UW—Bothell, Tacoma, and Seattle.  Whether you are enrolled for a year, a few years, or several, we acknowledge that it takes time to settle into a new city, work rhythm, and culture. Even for those of us who have lived in the Pacific Northwest for many years, we are still discovering new places and making new connections.

For those of you who are returning to campus, we truly hope you had opportunities to re-energize during the summer so you can move forward with your academic, professional, and interpersonal goals.  We also appreciate that many of you are dreaming about and planning for life beyond graduate and professional school.

At Core Programs, we are here to root you on and support you as you work towards your goals — #UWGradSuccess. Here are some tips we hope you find useful, as you prepare for the first week of the new quarter:

You don’t have to know everything.  Your Graduate Program Advisors are doing a fantastic job of organizing departmental orientations and welcome events, and they are sharing a wealth of information about your program requirements and campus resources.  This is important for you, so you can plan ahead for your academic and professional goals.  At the same time, we encourage you to acknowledge that you don’t have to know everything right now.  Prioritize only the most important information and tasks you need to learn and do now and make time to re-visit information about your program and campus resources later (next week, next month, next quarter, etc.) Use an Individual Development Plan (IDP), so you can set goals for yourself with notes like “explore…” or “find out about…”. It takes one step at a time to make progress and figure out what’s next.  Be open and curious.

Find your community.  The University of Washington is a big place, with three campuses and multiple offsite research locations.  We know that a feeling of belonging is critical to your success as graduate and professional students.  It makes a difference to find and connect with people that can support your whole self—and not just your role as a graduate or professional student.  To help you find your community, check out the list below of upcoming welcome events and orientations.

Practice asking for help.  Throughout your time at UW, seeking guidance and feedback on your studies, professional pursuits, and interpersonal goals is also vital to your success.  The trick is knowing when and how to ask for help.   Maybe you’re unsure if you’re critically engaging with course readings in the most effective and efficient ways.  Be proactive, and send an e-mail to a second or third year student in your program, and ask if they can meet for coffee to go over your understanding of one of the readings.  You might learn new study tips that will make your life easier.  When you’re a new student, reaching out to a peer can be a more comfortable option rather than approaching faculty.  Just remember that you were selected out of many applicants to be in your department, so know that you belong here.

You will be hearing from us every two weeks with these e-newsletters. Add cpinfo@uw.edu to your e-mail contacts, to make sure our newsletters arrive in your inbox. You’ll also be hearing from the Graduate School every other week with the Graduate School Digest–a fabulous collection of events, resources, and quick tips for making the most of your graduate student experience.  Check out our Core Programs facebook page and the UW Graduate Student facebook page for more.

Best Regards,

Kelly, Jaye, and Ziyan
Core Programs Team

Making the Most of Seasonal Transitions

Greetings! How has your summer been? If it’s been like ours, there’s been some hard work, some good play, and continual reminders of why we do student affairs work in the Graduate School. Every time we have the privilege of talking with graduate students, we are in awe of your tenacity and creativity.

Some of you may be winding up summer quarter, some may be deep in research mode, others may just be getting started.  We at Core Programs just wanted to check-in and offer a few thoughts for making the remaining month before fall quarter work for you. What do you need most right now?  Is it a real break? Some play time? Some focused effort towards work? Some reflection about what’s ahead for the year?  Although the fall quarter is a little more than a month away, we thought we’d share some helpful tips to help you feel more prepared and ready to hit the ground running.

Set goals.  Make a list of goals that will address your interpersonal, wellness, intellectual, and professional needs.  Break your goals down into manageable tasks.  Deadlines can be self-imposed, but realistic.  Deadlines can also be external depending on whether you are applying for research funding, preparing for your qualifying exams, applying for a job, or ensuring that you block out time for self-care and relaxation.  Remain open to your goals and deadlines shifting, depending on your circumstances.  An individual development plan (IDP) can help you think through, and map out, your goals.

Write.  Maybe you’d like to start writing your thesis, plan to work on another dissertation chapter, or interested in revising that seminar paper so it’s publishable.  Get in the habit of doing structured, timed writing.  Set a goal to write for 30 minutes a day, or every other day, using a timer.  Choose a work space that will enhance your productivity.  For some, it’s the quiet of the library.  For others, it’s a bustling café.  Turn off your web browser and phone (unless you need your phone because of family or work-related responsibilities).  Also, it’s helpful to reach out to peers and have a writing partner or two.  Rely on one another to keep each other accountable to your work.  Here are more general writing resources.

Grow your networks.  Get an early start on your career development and network with professionals in academic, non-profit, private, or governmental sectors.  Your chances of finding, or getting, the job you want increase when you develop and sustain connections with industry professionals.  One strategy is to join LinkedIn (check out this tutorial, if you haven’t joined).  Use its search engine to look up individuals by job title or industry.  Peruse profiles to get a sense of how individuals describe their work, tasks and responsibilities, previous work experience, and the verbiage of their field.  Message individuals whose careers, companies, or industries pique your interest and set up an informational interview.

Find some space to release, reflect, or rejuvenate. While summer is busy for many of us, it also does offer more spaciousness as email inboxes are lighter and the sun is shining high.  Take some time for yourself – alone or with friends – to do something that is solely for you. Set yourself up for fall quarter by “filling your tank” with energy you can draw on as the months ahead get ever more full.  Perhaps start some refreshing habits that could keep you going into the fall.

We hope you find these tips useful as you prepare for the coming year.  As we get closer to the start of the fall quarter, we’ll be announcing an assortment of tri-campus welcome events, career-related programming, and more!  So stay tuned to this newsletter.

And let us know what you are up to!  #UWGradSuccess on Twitter or Instagram, or check out our Core Programs Facebook page.

Best,

Kelly, Jaye, Ziyan
Core Programs Team
UW Graduate School

Getting the Mentoring You Need

Throughout your training, but especially in the postdoc experience, your faculty supervisor plays a significant role with you and your future.  We know there is a full spectrum of what faculty have to offer and how this matches with what you need. From what we have learned, it can take “managing up” and being proactive in your relationship with your faculty advisor to make it work for you. The National Postdoc Association recently posted a blog with exceptional tips for how to get more from the mentoring opportunities you have.  In addition to these points, which we summarize below, we also always recommend developing a mentoring team so you can get a full spectrum of support from many and are not solely dependent on one person alone.

With a few additions from us, here are the top recommendations from the National Postdoc Association blog. See the full blog – available to all UW postdocs through our institutional membership with NPA – for even more tips:

  • Make time to meet regularly with your mentor(s). In many cases, you will need to request and initiate these.  Be prepared for your meetings, send a written summary of progress in advance, and focus your f2f meeting on particular questions or challenges you are confronting currently.  Have specific goals and tasks in mind. Send a follow up email of agreed upon next steps or decisions that get made during the meeting.
  • Be willing to listen and learn. Ask directly for feedback – what is currently going well, and what could be done differently to work more productively or effectively together. Not everyone is skilled at giving feedback, so asking for specific areas where you want to know how you can improve shows strength and the willingness to grow.
  • Be proactive about your needs. Being proactive is much more than just taking the initiative – it’s about using your time during your postdoc experience more effectively. Thinking about what the faculty needs can also help you respect their interests while asserting yours.
  • Be a problem solver. When bringing problems to your mentor, you should have possible solutions in mind to foster the development of your own problem-solving skills. While the mentor can provide ideas and feedback, sometimes no one knows your situation better than you.

As the NPA writer concludes: “No matter what kind of a mentor you have – one who offers little or no help; one who constantly overwhelms you with information; or even a mentor who is an experienced teacher and understands how to work effectively with a postdoc – you will get more out of mentoring if you are proactive in the process.”

Additional Mentoring Resources: 

Originally posted on August 18, 2016.

UW Seattle Campus Resources for Postdocs

The Office of Postdoctoral Affairs convened a brief but rich Winter 2016 Postdoc Orientation last week.  For those unable to attend, we wanted to highlight a few of the resources featured during the event.  We also are debuting the first UW Postdoc Handbook (v 1.0), available by February 1 on our website to download.

Office of Postdoctoral Affairs (OPA) While research advisors, schools, colleges, and programs retain primary responsibility for postdoctoral researchers within their disciplines, the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs (OPA) is here as a resource for postdocs, postdoc advisors and managers. We are invested in a productive postdoc experience where postdocs can successfully transition to their next career move.

Need Career Guidance? UW Career Center
A list of online resources and in-person services offered by the Career Center for postdocs seeking careers in the academia, corporate, non-profit, and government sectors.  Some consultation services are fee-based. All workshops are open to post-docs free of charge. Check out their Academic Career Series and Non-Academic Career Series.

Looking for Community?

FIUTS – FIUTS connects students – and postdocs – to local and global communities through programs that build international awareness, cross-cultural communication, and informed leadership. Based on campus at UW, FIUTS programs create a community of international and American students, members of the local community, and alumni around the world.

Q Center – UW Q Center is a primarily student run resource center dedicated to serving anyone with or without a gender or sexuality: students, postdocs, staff, faculty, alum, and community members. They put on regular programming events, and house a lending library. The Q Center also hosts a queer mentoring program – sign up to be a mentor or receive one. Their office is located at Husky Union Building (HUB) Room 315.

SACNAS – SACNAS UW Chapter supports the mission of fostering success of Chicano/Hispanic and Native American scientists – from college to professionals – to attain advanced degrees, careers, and positions of leadership in science. Postdocs are welcome at monthly meetings and events.

UWPA – The University of Washington Postdoctoral Association (UWPA) is an organization run by postdoctoral researchers for postdoctoral researchers. It is served by an executive committee, elected by peers, who have generously donated their time and efforts to improve the state of postdoctoral affairs at UW.

Working to Resolve Conflict?
Ombuds for consultation and mediation – The Office of the Ombud serves the entire university community by providing a collaborative and confidential environment to discuss your situation, consider options, and develop a plan for the future. Consultation and guidance regarding effective strategies to manage conflicts on your own are most common. Mediation is also available. To make an appointment, please call: 206-543-6028.

Questions about Benefits or Visas?
Benefits Office Anne Winkelman, Director

International Scholars Operations (ISO) For questions about visas, including relevant academic appointments, contact acadvisa@uw.edu.

Need Childcare Resources or Support as a Parent? Worklife and Childcare
Amy Hawkins, Director

There are other offices on campus who can help (the new Postdoc Handbook lists several). If you are in doubt about which services you need, please consult the Office of Postdoc Affairs (UWOPA@uw.edu) and we can point you in the right direction.

Originally posted on January 21, 2016.