Thriving in the Fall

As you delve into your first week of studies, we encourage you to incorporate wellness strategies that help you feel centered and connected to yourself and others. This is especially important during moments when you feel caught up in the frenzied demands of the quarter. We know that your success as graduate students is not only about developing intellectual and professional knowledge and skills, but also about cultivating your emotional resilience.

Try out these tips below and let us know how well they worked for you or share your favorite strategies with us at Core Programs:

Self-compassion. Let’s be real, attending graduate school is going to be hectic at times. You’re juggling everything from living in a new city (and in some cases a completely new culture) to getting acclimated to the rigor of your graduate program to taking care of loved ones. If you’re feeling overwhelmed, this is perfectly normal. Take a few moments to acknowledge your feelings, and recognize that many of your peers experience similar feelings too. So be kind and gentle with yourself. There’s a whole lot to learn, but the beautiful thing is, you can give yourself permission to not figure it all out right away.

Managing feedback. One of the most difficult things to hear in graduate school is critical feedback (whether constructive or unproductive) on your seminar paper, lab work, thesis or dissertation. It can sometimes feel like your intelligence is being scrutinized on a deeply personal level, even when the comments you receive are helpful to your intellectual and professional growth. In these moments, be intentional about listening to the feedback without self-judgement, take a few notes, and revisit the suggestions at a later time. Then make a conscious effort to take a break from your work. Catch up with a friend over the phone. Go for a 10-min walk. Listen to your favorite music. Grab dinner with some friends. Do all four! The goal is to avoid ruminating on criticism by engaging in activities that nurture you and connect you with your support system. You’ll find when you revisit the feedback, you’ll have a fresh perspective.

Sense of purpose. Sometimes when you’re in the thick of it all, it can be easy to focus solely on the factors that make graduate student life stressful. We encourage you to get an early start on curbing this by writing out a short list or an outline of all the positive reasons you’re in grad school (keep your grad school application Statement of Purpose nearby even)—in order to ground yourself. Are you passionate about a particular research topic and want to make scholarly contributions to your field(s)? Do you want to excel in a profession that will be rewarding to you and your family? Interested in making unique and innovative contributions to your community or society? Your reasons for being in grad school may change over time, but the most important things to center are your values, priorities and goals for earning that graduate degree rather than getting lost in the demands of it all.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

How to Deal with Criticism Well: 25 Reasons to Embrace It, Lori Deschene
UW Mindfulness Project — The UW Mindfulness Project’s (UWMP) mission is to promote daily maintenance of mental and emotional wellness by providing proactive programs dedicated to mindfulness-based practices that encourage students to slow down, reflect and connect to the present moment.

Good Science for Social Good

Data Science for Social Good paired data scientists with 16 UW graduate and undergraduate students to work on projects to reduce homelessness, foster community well-being and map better sidewalk routes for people with mobility challenges.

Getting Started With Your Graduate Education

On behalf of Core Programs in the Graduate School, welcome to all our new and returning graduate and professional students! We are thrilled you are at the University of Washington, where you will have a new year of opportunities to strengthen and grow your intellectual and professional skills. This fall, we encourage you to tap into resources that can help you thrive as you navigate graduate student life.

Here are just a few ways to get you started:

Find your ground. Graduate school is about navigating a complex set of academic, professional and social experiences. Whether you are new or returning to campus, this can sometimes feel overwhelming and unwelcoming—especially if you belong to an underrepresented community based on race, gender, sexuality, class, ability or citizenship. One way to counteract this imposter feeling is to say to yourself, “I do belong here.” You are in graduate school to enhance or find your career path, give back to your families and communities, or make important contributions to research and innovation.

Get to know department staff. From organizing orientations, providing a supportive ear to students, or ensuring that you fulfill your degree requirements, Graduate Program Advisors (GPAs) are often your first point of contact into graduate school. They also provide important administrative support for graduate programs. Feel free to reach out to your GPA, as they have a wealth of experience and knowledge of your campus. If they don’t know the answer, they can often connect you with campus resources that serve the needs of graduate students.

Attend department events. Whether they are faculty or peer presentations, departmental meetings, working committees, or peer pub nights, there are numerous opportunities to connect with peers, staff, and faculty throughout the year. These co-curricular spaces provide an opportunity for you to glean information such as how to develop strong presentations, pick up disciplinary lingo (don’t worry if you don’t know all the terms yet), learn the spoken and unspoken culture of your graduate program, and foster collegial relationships with faculty and peers. Remember to pace yourself—you need not attend everything as you are already busy. We know from experienced graduate students that it’s best to attend events that make sense to you and your schedule.

Prepare for graduate seminars. It’s totally natural to feel excited and anxious about attending your first graduate seminar—especially if you don’t know what to expect or are the first person in your family to attend graduate school. Fortunately, Dr. Ralina Joseph, associate professor of communication at UW Seattle, provides useful tips on how to succeed in a graduate seminar.

Find your community. The University of Washington is a big place, with three campuses and multiple off-site research locations. We know that a feeling of belonging on campus is critical to your success as graduate 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.

Best Wishes On a New Academic Year,

Kelly Edwards, Jaye Sablan, Ziyan Bai
Core Programs Staff, The Graduate School

Keeping the Momentum Going Through the End of the Quarter

As we head into the last two weeks of the quarter, some of you are completing your first year of graduate school, wrapping up a capstone project, writing a draft of a dissertation chapter, or eagerly anticipating graduation—all the while juggling family and community responsibilities. Many of you are in the midst of a job search and interviewing for future employment. We at Core Programs understand that it’s crunch time, and we’re here to encourage you to keep your momentum going. Here are some tips to get you through that last leg of the quarter:

Plan and prioritize. Make a daily list and prioritize what you must complete each day. De-prioritize anything that can wait. Because your time is scarce, create a “wish list” for things you can do after the crunch time has passed, and since they are on a separate list, you can trust you won’t forget about them!

Utilize your strengths. We wrote about this a few newsletters ago. What time of the day are you most productive? Whether it’s the morning, afternoon, or evening, do your graduate work during the time you feel the most motivated. Incremental bursts of work will allow you to be more productive, rather than setting aside unrealistic chunks of time. You’ll also feel satisfied because you’re actually getting work done.

Get support. Meet with a peer or two to review drafts of each other’s work or do mock job interviews in preparation for actual ones. Plan to debrief or release stress with a friend or colleague after you’ve worked through a milestone. Working with a colleague not only decreases isolation, it increases accountability.

Self-care. It’s important to renew your energy level, especially during crunch time. Go for a 5-minute walk after writing for an hour, grade a set of student papers and then listen to relaxing music, or make plans to share a healthy meal with a friend before continuing work into the evening. Do whatever reduces stress, feels rejuvenating, and allows you to get in “me time.”

Acknowledge and reward milestones. You’re nearly there, and that’s a feat in and of itself! Take time to recognize all your efforts each day and give yourself a treat for doing so! You definitely deserve it!

To all graduate and professional students who will complete your programs this year, we applaud you for your sheer dedication, tenacity, and passion. Best wishes in all your future endeavors! To all students who will be returning the coming year, Core Programs in the Graduate School will be here to encourage and support you! As always, we love hearing from you—your ideas, successes, frustrations, and thoughts on how we can better support your graduate experience. Contact us at cpinfo@uw.edu.

Stand Up!

We’ve all heard about the dangers of sitting for too long. Are there quiet places on campus to study on a laptop while standing up that are comfortable for someone over five-foot-six-inches tall? Although super cool, the counter height tables in the Research Commons are too low.

—The Standing Grad Student

What a great question! Yes, indeed, sitting is verboten now. It was hard to get a definitive list of standing opportunities on campus, but here are a few options to get you started: As you mentioned, the counters in the Research Commons. They have outlets and space for your laptop, but are low for taller students. Could you just stack some big, heavy books and make yourself a stand? The Odegaard Library also has counters, with the same pros and cons as before. The H-Bar coffee shop in the Physics Astronomy Building has tall tables and counters, but is not exactly a formal studying space. The Suzzallo Lobby and Allen North both have desktop computers on counters, so if you can work on a UW computer, that might be an option. We’ll post this question on the Graduate School Facebook group page and solicit suggestions.

And don’t despair, some sitting is not bad; and sometimes sitting feels so good. If you don’t have a standing desk, just stand up at regular intervals. This alternative position also definitely looks doable. Good luck!

Ask the Grad School Guide is an advice column for all y’all graduate and professional students. Real questions from real students, answered by real people. If the guide doesn’t know the answer, the guide will seek out experts all across campus to address the issue. (Please note: The guide 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 →

Being Supportive and Getting Support: Suicide Prevention for Grad Students

“It will never get any better,” or “I can’t take it anymore”–sometimes phrases like these appear as posts on social media or comments in passing. Other times it’s behaviors such as being increasingly anxious, withdrawing from others, increasing drug/alcohol use, or expressing thoughts about wanting to die or feeling like a burden.

Combined together, these are signs that your peer, colleague, or loved one is experiencing intense emotional distress and could be at-risk for suicide. These verbal and behavioral cues are often a person’s invitation for support, and it is our job as a community to recognize these cues and get help.

It is estimated that 11% of college students seriously consider suicide annually, rendering suicide the second leading cause of death among college students nationally. And graduate students are at greater risk than undergraduates.

The good news? The vast majority of suicides are preventable and most people recover from suicidal thoughts.

If you notice the signs that a person might be in emotional distress, follow these steps:

Show you care. Express your concern for the person’s well-being. Say something like, “You mean a lot to me, and I want to help,” or “You really matter. I’d like to support you.”

Ask directly about suicide. Say something like, “Sometimes when people have lost interest in their work, are feeling hopeless, and are withdrawing from others, they’re thinking about suicide. Are you thinking about suicide?” Asking about suicide will not put the idea in someone’s head. It is perhaps the most critical step in suicide prevention.

Get support. If it is a UW student you are concerned about, call SafeCampus at 206.685.7233 (SAFE). If you are concerned about a non-UW student, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1.800.273.8255 (TALK). This will route you to your local crisis center where the person in distress can receive a suicide risk assessment and will be connected to appropriate community resources. Encourage the person to call with you, but you can also call without him/her to seek expert advice on next steps. Please save both of these numbers in your cell phone! You never know when you might need them.

Restrict access to lethal means. Help to ensure that the person in distress does not have access to means that can be used in a suicide attempt, such as a firearm or large quantities of prescription medication.

If you are struggling with suicidal thoughts, there is help available!

You can call SafeCampus or head over to the Counseling Center or Hall Health. Both have walk-in crisis counselors available during business hours from M-F, and you can also receive ongoing treatment there. Importantly, there is no shame in having these thoughts.

Now Matters Now is a fantastic public resource where people who have experienced suicidal thoughts share their clinically proven coping strategies.

For more information on how UW is working to prevent suicide, please visit:
Forefront: Innovations in Suicide Prevention

This post’s guest author is Lauren Davis, Director of Higher Education and Senior Policy Analyst for Forefront: Innovations in Suicide Prevention (School of Social Work) and an MPA student at the Evans School of Public Affairs.

Cultivating Effective Writing Practices

We’re nearly halfway through the quarter, and we know you are all doing your best to manage and blend academic, interpersonal, and work responsibilities. We also know it can be difficult to find time for that seminar or research paper, or perhaps your capstone or thesis project. Below are some tips to get you on your way to writing. Incorporating these strategies into a regular routine takes time and practice—so be patient, be gentle with yourself, and most importantly, happy writing!

Free write. For those of us who procrastinate, most of the time it’s because we have very high standards for ourselves. We inevitably end up writing papers at the last minute. One way to work through this anxiety is to free write. Journal or type out all of your ideas and don’t worry about grammar or cohesion. Your ultimate goal is to get words on a page. Try this for 15 minutes and use a timer. More often than not, you’ll glean ideas, arguments, or even a thesis statement.

Making time & making space. What time of the day are you most productive? Set aside this time to write. Do you enjoy quiet, solitary spaces or bustling cafes? Being in the right environment is important to feeling comfortable and motivated. It’s all about recognizing both when you do your best work, and where you do your best work.

Set realistic goals. It is rare to get a full day to work on writing, and most experts suggest that these large blocks of time are not actually your most generative. Instead, break up the process into manageable pieces. You may want to carve out 15 minutes each day to write and eventually work your way up to 1–2 hour blocks. Setting up a more realistic writing schedule will allow you to feel successful along the way. By doing a little each day, you will find that the project is always percolating in your mind. You may also have some breakthroughs when you least expect it. Plus, you get to celebrate your progress along the way!

Join a writing group. Connect and coordinate a writing group with peers from your cohort, or with familiar colleagues from other graduate programs. You’ll find that even just sitting next to one another at a table can help you feel less isolated. Even if you are working on very different projects, you can hold each other accountable and cheer each other on.

Avoid distractions. This is a difficult one. We live in an age where multi-tasking is the norm, yet this can often be a distraction to writing. Switch off wifi access on your laptop and phones. Once you set aside time to write, commit to it without accessing social media or your favorite websites. Avoid searching for more references (often a great time sink). Many of you are parents, so we understand that you need your mobile phone nearby to connect with partners, caretakers, or your children.

Get support. The Odegaard Writing and Research Center (OWRC) recommends getting the support you need to complete your work. This includes scheduling a meeting with your professor to go over a draft or asking a peer who is a strong writer to help revise your work. You can also schedule tutoring appointments at your campus writing center, because they assist students at all degree levels. If your department has a writing center, we encourage you to seek out assistance and tutoring from those resources as well.

Conflicts with Advisor

What do you do when it becomes clear your graduate advisor will never let you graduate due to personal conflicts? —Anonymous

Yeesh. I am so, so sorry. It’s clear from the tone of your question that you are not being dramatic or flippant. This is one of the worst case scenarios for a graduate student. But please be assured that you are not the first nor the only, and there are protocols and strategies in place just for this. First, it’s essential that you document your interactions and conflicts with your advisor. You need to be able to be able to point to the specific responsibilities that your advisor is failing to fulfill, rather than just claim a vague “My advisor has it in for me.” The first step is usually to talk directly to your advisor. If that doesn’t help, then usually you should go to your Graduate School Representative (GSR) and other committee members. Of course, all this depends on your situation and your relationships with these individuals. It also sounds like you are past this point?

In that case, you should start following the Graduate School’s Academic Grievance Policy. You attempt an “informal conciliation,” where you invite the director/chair or dean to conciliate the grievance with your advisor. If this discussion with your advisor and the facilitator does not resolve the grievance, you then request the Graduate School to assist in an informal resolution. An associate dean of the Graduate School then acts as conciliator, either directly or with the involvement of the Office of the Ombudsman. If you’re still dissatisfied with the informal conciliation, you can then file a formal complaint with the Graduate School. This is an involved process, outlined here. Please note that there are certain time limitations. I hope this doesn’t sound daunting. Such a process is in place for your protection, really. I truly hope it works out!

Kelly Edwards, associate dean for student and postdoctoral affairs in the Graduate School, has these tips for additional strategies and self-care while you go through this process:

Facing conflicts with your advisor is one of the hardest things you do in your academic career. I know from talking to many students that it can take an emotional toll as well as a professional one. Knowing how to manage yourself (the one thing you can control in the situation) can help you get through it. These are a few strategies that have helped some students in the past, which may be helpful to you:

Stay calm (hard to do!). While it is understandably frustrating/upsetting/infuriating, do things (yoga, walking, breathing, venting conversations with allies) to help calm you. It will be easier to do what you need to do when you are thinking more clearly, and calming your stress response helps you think.
Put the roadblock in perspective. It might feel like the end of the world, or the end of your academic career, but is it really? Talk to others about your situation. When necessary, have someone from the outside (the department chair, my office in the Grad School, your GSR) explore the conflict or current barrier with your advisor. It may not be what it seems, and there may be a way past it.
Know when to move on. There are times when a personal conflict presents too large a barrier to work through with the usual channels, and the emotional cost to you may not be worth it (the professional cost too—as deep conflicts with your advisor will not often yield positive letters of reference, etc). Even though it feels like a set-back (and it often does involve taking some extra time in the program), changing advisors, finding a new research team, identifying a new project is sometimes the best way forward.
Find allies. This is tough, and you shouldn’t do it alone. Find safe people to talk to, including those you can vent with (family, peers) and those who you can strategize with (other faculty, staff, and leaders).

Optional:

Be transparent and direct. It may not be safe to do this, in which case, take one of the other communication routes, but it can be helpful at times to just name what you perceive from your advisor. Stating this as descriptively and non-emotionally as possible is important. Something like: “Can I run something by you? I’ve been noticing a trend with my drafts and your feedback in that it seems you are really not happy with my work. Can we talk about what I can do differently that will help me move forward? I am really motivated to finish and I want to know what steps I can take to make that happen.” Document the conversation in an email to confirm what you have heard, and that becomes a learning contract of sorts for the two of you, which you can refer back to as needed.

Preparing for Teaching Careers at Community Colleges

If teaching is your passion, it is well worth exploring a career working at a community college. Although community colleges can vary from one another, excellence in teaching and student-centered learning are always top priorities. Community colleges also offer an array of degrees and certificates, serving student populations that enrich and diversify the classroom. Because teaching is such a priority, it takes the right approach to be successful in getting a faculty position at a community college. It is also worth learning about, and applying to, different campuses to find the best organizational fit for you. In the meantime, below are a few tips to consider when applying:

Preparing and Applying

Every community college has a unique mission statement and set of core values. Visit the college’s website to learn more about its institutional culture and courses offered. Contact faculty and set up informational interviews at the campus. Gain a sense of student experiences on campus by engaging students in conversation. Your goal is to learn as much as you can about the institution so you can tailor your application. More tips:

Read the faculty job posting carefully to know what is expected
Tailor your cover letter and highlight your enthusiasm for the college’s mission and student population stating why you want to work at that specific institution, your awareness of the college’s student learning needs, and your interest and experience in teaching
Submit a concise resume that showcases your teaching experience and de-emphasizes your research
Submit a well-crafted statement that describes your teaching philosophy

The Interview

Community college interview panels will have a standard set of questions. Set up a mock interview with a friend or peer and practice your responses to the following sample questions. You’re aiming for well-thought out responses that speak to your specific experiences with teaching and why you’re a great fit for the college. It also doesn’t hurt to contact the department and ask what you can expect during the interview. Sample interview questions:

Why do you want to teach at our college?
Give an example of a successful teaching experience you had in the classroom.
Talk about your greatest frustration in teaching and what you learned from this.
Tell us about your experience working or volunteering in diverse settings.
How do you assess student learning?
What departmental activities were you involved in during grad school or while you taught at another college?

Teaching Demo

During the interview, you will most likely be required to do a teaching demo for the hiring committee. Here are some suggestions to help you prepare:

Do an online search and look at course syllabi from the department you are applying to
Design a lesson with the college’s student population in mind and treat the demo as if you were teaching a real class
Start your lesson by describing the goals for the day and ask everyone to introduce themselves
Include activities that get committee members talking with each other
Use handouts as a teaching tool
Avoid lecturing and be relatable
Make sure your lesson highlights your teaching philosophy

Core Programs thanks our partners in the Seattle Colleges District for providing feedback on this newsletter:

Marty Logan, Human Resources Director, North Seattle College
Kate Krieg, Associate Dean of Humanities and Social Sciences Division, Seattle Central College

Additional Resources

Applying to Community Colleges, Inside Higher Ed
Writing a Cover Letter for a Community College Job, Inside Higher Ed
Interviews at Community Colleges, Inside Higher Ed
Giving A Teaching Demo, Inside Higher Ed

Student Parents

I’m a single parent. Are there any resources available to me? —Anonymous

First of all, congratulations! Kids are awesome. The Childcare Assistance Program provides resource and financial support, in the form of childcare assistance. You can also connect with other student parents. The center is located on the Seattle campus in Schmitz Hall. For Tacoma student parents, the UW Tacoma Childcare Assistance Program helps with childcare costs. (Unfortunately, Bothell currently doesn’t have any funds for childcare assistance.)