How Laura Koehn Works

Laura Koehn, Ph.D. Student, School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences

Neighborhood: Fremont
Area of study, as you would tell your advisor: Fisheries management
Area of study, as you would tell your family: Marine ecology

Laura Koehn studies interactions between forage fish, predators and forage fisheries in the California Current. She is the recipient of several scholarships and grants, including a North Pacific Marine Science Organization travel award and a Pacific Seabird Group Travel award this year. In 2015, Koehn received an honorable mention for the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship. As an undergraduate at the UW, she studied penguins in Argentina with Dee Boersma and The Penguin Project.

Work

Give us a one-word description of how you work:

Effectively

How do you manage your to-dos?

I write to-do lists in a notebook or day planner.

What are your essential apps, software or tools?

R studio, Dropbox, Excel, Gmail

Where do you most often work?

My office.

How do you manage your time?

When I have a bunch of things that need to get done, I tackle what I’m most interested in working on first, unless there is something with a nearer deadline. I also like to give myself deadlines for smaller tasks that make up a bigger task.

What is your best time-saving shortcut?

I use the people around me as resources when I don’t know answers instead of endlessly Googling/searching.

What are some of your productivity strategies you’ve honed over your years in school?

Focus on small chunks of work to accomplish bigger tasks, that way you feel good about completing something sooner. Take breaks — if you really can’t focus, it’s better to take a 15 minute or so break and get some fresh air than continue to try and struggle through. Alternate between tasks you find fun and those that are mundane or hard.

Life

What mundane thing are you really exceptional at?

Riding the bus.

What are you currently reading? For pleasure, if possible.

The Monsters of Templeton by Lauren Groff

What’s the last thing that made you laugh?

When I was cooking an egg tonight and went to flip it and dropped it off the stove.

How do you recharge?

Going for little adventures around town — trips to bookstores, new breakfast restaurants, etc.

What’s your sleep routine like?

I usually get to bed around 11 p.m. and wake up around 7:30 a.m. I get at least eight hours of sleep the majority of nights. However, my cat wakes me up a lot in the middle of the night so my sleep is interrupted, which I don’t recommend.

Inspiration

What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?

Know how to communicate your science to any audience.

Who’s your support system?

My boyfriend and the other ladies in my lab. And my cat.

What do you wish you had started doing sooner in grad school?

Stating my thoughts, opinions and ideas more readily and openly at group meetings, with my advisory committee, and during collaborative projects — i.e., being more confident in my own ideas.

Stopped doing sooner?

Neglecting my health. I wish I had stopped not leaving time to exercise and take care of myself.

How UW Works was inspired by LifeHacker’s How I Work.

Did you enjoy this series? Check back Wednesdays during the Spring quarter for the latest mid-week motivation! While you wait, you can read more in this series, nominate a student or professor to be featured, or answer the questions yourself! (Students should answer the questions via this form; faculty should use this form. If you prefer to answer the questions over email, drop us a line at gradnews@uw.edu).

From an Overworked TA

The class I am a TA for requires 12 hours of student interaction and about half a day of preparing materials. Every week. This is way more than the 20 hours/week that I am paid to do. The instructor knows this and had originally requested twice as many TAs as we have, but the department, being broke, only assigned two of us for this awful job. This particular class is known to be this way, as I have learned from talking to past sufferers. I have been TA-ing for two years now and have noticed a wild disparity in the workload for different classes. My question is: how is this fair? The department pays everyone the same amount, still how is it that some TAs get away with just 4 hours of work while others have to do upwards of 20? Since this is an issue of the department, I don’t know how to proceed. The officials in the department get very defensive when asked this. I don’t want to risk not being considered for future TA positions and am therefore not going to pursue the topic with them, but isn’t this just exploitation of us students by those in power? If the department has no money, they should figure out a better way to do this than exploit two students every  quarter (yes, this class is taught every quarter). I am at a loss here and am losing my sanity not finding time to do anything else that actually matters for my Ph.D. Please help. –Anonymous

This week’s answer is provided after consultation from the Labor Relation’s Office.

Yikes. I’m sorry this TA-ship has been such a negative experience for you. Fortunately, you have resources at your disposal to help you resolve some of these issues.

You’ve said you do not wish to pursue these issues with your department. But you should know all academic staff employees are covered under a collective bargaining agreement by UAW Local Union 4121. If you do want to file a grievance against your department, the Union will help you do that. A Union representative urges Academic Student Employees to remember that addressing workplace concerns is time-sensitive under the Union contract.

Another resource available to you is the Office of the Ombud, which provides a space for members of the UW community to voice their concerns and develop plans for addressing difficult situations. The Ombud is easily accessible, with offices on all three campuses. Students contact the Ombud to discuss a range of issues including TA appointments. They are your go-to for addressing problems with the department’s culture. They’ll advise you on your situation without starting a formal complaint or grievance, and they won’t contact your department about the matter unless you ask them to do so.

Best of 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 →

How Alex Bolton Works

Alex Bolton, J.D. ’16, (former) GPSS President

Department/program: Law
Neighborhood: Ballard and Orting
Area of study, as you would tell your advisor: Law
Area of study, as you would tell you family: Law, with an interest in state government and higher education

Alex Bolton, J.D. ’16, bleeds purple and gold. He earned his B.A., a M.P.A. and his J.D. from the University of Washington, and was named to the Husky 100 in 2016. Keeping with his service to the UW, he was President of the Graduate & Professional Student Senate from 2015-2016. He has worked as a legal intern for the Washington State Senate Committee Services and as a Law Clerk for the Washington State Office of the Attorney General.

Work

Give us a one-word description of how you work:

Strategically.

How do you manage your to-dos?

Prioritize, delegate, write lists and use email as a de facto list.

What are your essential apps, software or tools?

Email, calendar, Twitter

Where do you most often work?

I do my GPSS work at the office, and my school work at the library.

How do you manage your time?

Prioritize and review my calendar each morning.

What is your best time-saving shortcut?

Being in the office and available — I think it helps avoid emails and additional meetings.

What are some of your productivity strategies you’ve honed over your years in school?

Learning how to prioritize, and often realizing that not everything is going to get done. Properly valuing sleep has helped as well to make sure that I am more productive while awake. I have flirted with the minimal sleep boundary a little too much this year.

Life

What mundane thing are you really exceptional at?

Listening.

What are you currently reading? For pleasure, if possible.

Astoria by John Jacob Astor and Lost Pacific Empire: A Story of Wealth, Ambition, and Survival by Thomas Jefferson

What’s the last thing that made you laugh?

The Grinder.

How do you recharge?

Sleep, spending time with my girlfriend and her two daughters, traveling, hiking, Husky sports.

What’s your sleep routine like?

This year, not enough during the week. I try to get no less than six hours a night. Before this year, I shot for eight hours, and usually got seven hours.

Inspiration

What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?

Nobody’s going to die if you don’t do it perfect.

Who’s your support system?

My girlfriend, best friends from undergrad and friends I have made through GPSS. Coach Petersen.

What do you wish you had started doing sooner in grad school?

Prioritizing working out (I still haven’t).

Stopped doing sooner?

I weaned off of coffee somehow and switched to tea during law school. I wish I would have done that sooner.

How UW Works was inspired by LifeHacker’s How I Work.

How Prof. Dee Boersma Works

Dee Boersma, Wadsworth Endowed Chair in Conservation Science and Director, Center for Ecosystem Sentinels

Department/Program: Biology
Research focus: Seabirds and Conservation

Known as the Jane Goodall of penguins, Boersma is, by all accounts, a force of nature. At age 22, she spent a year living on the uninhabited Galapagos Islands, studying penguins. Since then, she has become a highly distinguished researcher of seabirds. Her research focuses on the well-being of penguins and what they tell us about the state of our environment. Boersma has received more than a dozen awards for her work, including a UW Distinguished Teaching Award in 1993.

Work

Give us a one-word description of how you work:

Smart.

How do you manage your to-dos?

Often with lists.

What are your essential apps, software or tools?

There are few apps I enjoy.

Where do you most often work?

Outside.

How do you manage your time?

I save some for something I want to do.

What is your best time-saving shortcut?

I use a canned letter for students interested in graduate school that is long, detailed, and should help them think about if they need to go to graduate school and where they should consider applying.

Life

What are you currently reading for pleasure?

The AARP magazine.

How do you recharge?

I get away from apps, email and other technologies.

What’s your sleep routine like?

I go to bed at 10:21 each night.

Inspiration

What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?

It doesn’t matter where you go to graduate school as long as it is a PAC-12, Big 10 or Ivy League School.

Who’s your support system?

My friends.

What pitfall do you consistently see students falling into?

Not focusing on the problem they are trying to solve. They get distracted by technology and do not spend time thinking.

What do your most successful students do?

They use their time productively and work smart.

How UW Works was inspired by LifeHacker’s How I Work.

How Prof. Shawn Wong Works

Shawn Wong, Professor
Department/program: English and Comparative Literature, Cinema and Media
Research focus: Asian American literature, fiction, screenwriting, creative writing

Professor Shawn Wong has taught around the globe — at Universität Tübingen (Germany), Jean Moulin Université (Lyon, France), University of Ljubljana (Slovenia) and at the University of Washington Rome Center (Italy). He’s been honored by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Society of Professional Journalists. He is the author of several anthologies and novels; one of his novels, American Knees, was made into a movie in 2013. He is one of the founding teachers of The Red Badge Project, a collaboration with actor Tom Skeritt that uses the power of storytelling to help veterans process trauma. He’s given advice for first-year students at the UW, and now he’s giving us some tips and tricks for getting it all done.

Work

Give us a one-word description of how you work.

Creatively.

How do you manage your to-dos?

I write them down in a notebook, then try and remember where I put the notebook.

What are your essential apps, software or tools?

Word, Google, the New York Times

What is your best time-saving shortcut?

I work in my office rather than at home.

What are some of your productivity strategies you’ve honed over your years in academia?

Though it takes more time, I prefer to meet face-to-face with my students rather than send them an email so that we can have a conversation, debate, come to agreement, etc. I like to “see” that they understand something. I think it’s more effective to comment on their writing in person rather than write notes in the margin that they might not read. Also, I like my students to work collaboratively on almost everything from writing papers, doing research and even taking exams.

Life

What mundane thing are you really exceptional at?

Housecleaning.

What are you currently reading for pleasure?

Novels written by friends of mine (so I don’t have to lie to them anymore about having read their books).

What’s the last thing that made you laugh?

My son’s concept of the world.

How do you recharge?

I own a 1968 Plymouth Roadrunner muscle car.

Inspiration

What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?

My mentor, the American writer Kay Boyle, told me, “Writing is about belief.”

Who’s your support system?

My family.

What pitfall do you consistently see students falling into?

Choosing a path that they aren’t committed to, or choosing a path that’s chosen by their parents or someone else.

What do your most successful students do?

They find a path that satisfies their heart and their mind.

How UW Works was inspired by LifeHacker’s How I Work.

Tips for Postdocs from National Postdoc Association Meeting

On March 18–19, 2017, leadership from OPA and UWPA participated in the 15^th Annual National Postdoc Association meeting in San Francisco. Three members from the Fred Hutch Student and Postdoc Advisory Committee also attended, and a postdoc from Center for Infectious Disease Research (CIDR) so Seattle was well-represented! There were many good working sessions and an opportunity to learn from our peer institutions and other postdoc-led organizations. Here are just a few insights for postdocs gathered from the meeting – we will be sharing more in the coming weeks.

Seek experiences outside your primary research group. Peter Fiske, plenary speaker and consultant/entrepreneur, advised spending as much as 20% of your time exploring other resources and experiences on and off campus. Academic training is good at providing deep expertise, and yet “you have a keel without a boat”. PhDs have a tremendous amount to offer, but need more experience in adaptability, collaborative problem-solving, leadership to be successful in future careers, in and outside academia.
All jobs come through relationships. Expand your network. Networking is about genuine relationships created through shared interests or connections; it is not about shallow schmoozing with dozens. Use your existing network of peers and advisors to connect you. Ask for help. Join our UW Postdoc LinkedIn group as one starting point, and seek out other online spaces (including Twitter) where your professional societies or disciplines connect.
Know your rights. As a pregnant postdoc, you have federal protections under the ADA and Title IX. We will do a separate blog post on this to clarify rights of pregnant and parenting postdocs. One national survey showed only 40% of pregnant postdocs requested some kind of accommodation during pregnancy (e.g. modifying schedules, avoiding lifting, limiting toxic exposures, etc.) as compared to 70% in other sectors. You need to ask – it is a protected right!
Build your Mentoring Plan: We heard advice from the NSF program officers that the culture is changing for postdocs from an apprenticeship model (where you learn by doing and watching) to professional training model. Be explicit with your research advisor about the time you want to spend on professional development, how and why. And build your mentoring team also, so you have a broader base of input to guide your career development.
Include Work/Life Balance in your IDP. Resilience is coping with, bouncing back from, and adapting to difficult situations – and academic life is full of them. Resilience requires we invest in ourselves and the things that renew or sustain us. Set goals and milestones for dimensions of the “wellness wheel” that are important for you now (e.g. financial, physical, nutritional, relational, spiritual…). Schedule yourself on your calendar to make sure these things happen.
Make your dollars go further. Apply for travel awards through professional societies and foundations. Ask your PI or department to match what you bring in. Seek external sponsors for events you want to hold (e.g. donating pizza to a lunch gathering). Consult with the librarian who researches funding sources and can advise you on tailoring your searches (at UW it is the Graduate Funding Information Service).
Culture Fit: If you are considering a position, how do you find out about the organizational culture there? Culture goes beyond stated vision and values to daily practices, and how people engage with each other. Culture is “the way we do things around here”. Ask a range of people about it during your interviews and site visits. Also, do the self-reflection and assessment work to learn what is most important to you in a workplace culture (what makes you happy and productive?). Do your research and ask yourself: Will you thrive, personally and professionally in the organizational culture?

And don’t forget that all UW postdocs, faculty, and staff are eligible for a free membership with NPA because UW is a sustaining institutional member. You get access to resources behind their firewall and also connected with their networks. Please email OPA if you are interested in the affiliated membership from NPA.

Postdoc Resolution Passes Faculty Senate!

On March 2, 2017, the UW Faculty Senate voted unanimously in support of this Class C Resolution which will be sent to all faculty as a notification this week. The Resolution was drafted by the Faculty Council on Research in consultation with the UW Postdoc Association and the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs. We are happy to share this important step toward greater institutional support and wider recognition across the faculty and administration of the essential roles postdocs play in our research, teaching and service missions at UW. We share the full text of the Resolution here and will also post a copy on our OPA website. One proposed next step is to form a Task Force to address key policy and practice issues across the UW postdoc population. If you have input for this group to consider, please contact us at uwopa@uw.edu.

Class C Resolution

The Faculty Council on Research recognizes the invaluable service provided by postdocs to both the research and education missions of the University. Post-doctoral researchers are a critical part of the University’s research enterprise, and provide key mentoring and education to UW graduate and undergraduate students.

The postdoctoral experience is nationally recognized as a temporary and transitional period of advanced mentored training toward an independent career. As an institution and as individual faculty advisors, it is vital for us to commit to recognizing that postdocs are on a pathway to career independence. The National Academies of Sciences has studied the postdoc experience extensively and put forward clear recommendations in 2000 and in 2014. With this resolution, the FCR outlines the commitments and practices that would strongly support the UW in achieving parity with national guidelines and peer standards.

Further, by improving our support and services for postdocs, the UW can continue to recruit and retain the best and the brightest. Prior to the re-opening of the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs in 2015, the UW was missing a go-to place for resources, guidance, professional development programming, policies, and coordination of diverse services across many UW units relating to postdoctoral affairs. Centralizing some of these services will provide efficiencies in that faculty supervisors and departments will be able to utilize and adapt rather than building anew, which will additionally help reduce inequities and inconsistencies in our treatment of postdocs at UW.

WHEREAS, the National Science Foundation Survey shows University of Washington ranked 9^th nationally out of 323 institutions by total numbers of postdoctoral appointees in science, engineering, and health in 2014;

WHEREAS, several national bodies, including the NIH, NSF, the federal Office of Management and Budget, the National Postdoctoral Association, and the National Academies have defined the role of postdoctoral researcher as “a temporary position of advanced mentored training in research,” and recognize the “dual role” of postdocs as employees and trainees;

WHEREAS, we must, as a university employing over one thousand post-doctoral researchers, commit to fulfilling our obligations toward these vital members of our research and learning ecosystem and align with national guidelines and peer institutions.

BE IT RESOLVED that the Faculty Senate urges the Provost’s Office to make the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs within the Graduate School a permanent part of the University organization with the responsibility of coordinating policies, practices, and procedures for postdocs;

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the University recognizes the University of Washington Postdoctoral Association (UWPA) as an organization of interest for the postdoctoral research body of the University and for the University. The University should support, promote and respect the independence of the Association.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Faculty Senate urges the Provost’s Office to create a Task Force for Postdoctoral Affairs to include members from key unit responsible for postdocs, such as: Academic HR, the Graduate School, the Office of Research, the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs, the Faculty Senate, School of Medicine, and the UW Postdoctoral Association.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Faculty Senate urges the Provost’s Office to charge the Task Force for Postdoctoral Affairs to develop the policies and practices that would bring UW in line with national guidelines and peer institutions, including but not limited to the following issues:

Limiting the years possible under the various job titles encompassing postdoctoral researcher training, with the goal of promoting postdocs into more independent and permanent positions in a timely manner;
Enforcement for the dual role of postdoctoral researchers as both employees and trainees with reasonable release time and support for professional development including workshops, travel to conferences, or teaching opportunities;
Commitment to faculty mentorship for postdocs, including advising on Individual Development Plans and diverse career trajectories;
Identification of point people within each unit serving postdocs to serve as coordinators with the central Office of Postdoctoral Affairs;
Consistency with offer letters extended to postdocs to include clear reference to salary, benefits, terms of appointment, grievance options, role expectations, and connections to university resources;
Streamline the job classifications used for postdoctoral research fellows to facilitate tracking and accountability from first hiring to exit;
Centralize data collection and tracking of postdocs, including the satisfaction with their training and tracking of employment after leaving in order to quantify the quality of research training received at the University;
Through relevant policy, faculty code, or by-laws changes, include postdoc representation on relevant University bodies such as the Research Advisory Board, the Faculty Council on Research, and others.

Approved by the Faculty Council on Research, January 2017
Approved by the Senate Executive Committee, February 13, 2017
Approved by the Faculty Senate, March 2, 2017

An app for dissertation writing

The free Gingko app combines the functionality of outlines with the fluidity of mind-maps and index cards. One reviewer wrote if the app had existed previously, “it would have saved me two years off my Ph.D.”

Recommendations for Recommendations

How many times is too many times to ask a professor for a letter of recommendation? I often find out about opportunities at the last minute, but don’t want to burden my advisors with creating a letter for me at the drop of a hat. Is it acceptable to re-use a general one that was written for you? Is it an ethical violation to upload your own letter of recommendation? —Anonymous

(This week’s answer is courtesy of Rebecca Aanerud, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Planning)

It is fine to ask for a letter of recommendation as often as needed. Faculty recognize that providing letters of recommendation is part of our job. Most faculty will be able to quickly make any adjustments to a previous letter and so the time commitment is relatively small. That said, it is also completely fine to be direct and simply ask if there are limits or parameters on how many times to request a letter and within what time frame. You should not upload a general one unless you have permission to do so. If someone writes a general one, you should ask at that time if it is acceptable to use for future purposes without further permission.

When Is It Time to Move On?

A postdoc experience is often a leap of faith. You might make decisions about what’s next for you after your doctoral program based on need, opportunity, ambition, passion, interest, or a combination of these factors. Once you land a postdoc position, you will learn different things about yourself, and certainly you will also learn things about your research group that were not always clear through the interview process.

With this newsletter, we pose the question – when is it time to move on? There are numerous factors to consider, but the main thing to know is: it is healthy to ask this question, regardless of your current experience (whether 6 months or 6 years into your postdoc).

Is It Time to Change Groups?

Are you getting the opportunities for growth and experience that are important for your next career steps? It is not uncommon for a PI to hire a postdoc because of a skillset they bring to the group. This is a good thing; but, if you are simply reproducing skills and experiences from your graduate research, you are not growing. You are just working. A postdoc should be both – work and professional growth.

Are you in a mentoring or work environment where you can flourish? Postdocs have diverse needs when it comes to mentoring and work environments. Learn more about your own needs and seek an environment, a mentor, and a research group that provides the experience you need to become your best.

What about letters of recommendation? If you truly have a difficult relationship with a PI, you will likely be concerned about the kind of letter of recommendation they will provide. This is among the reasons we often advocate for building a mentoring team, or a deeper bench of supervisors and researchers who can speak for you. Develop your own succinct, dispassionate narrative of what happened with a given faculty advisor if the relationship has truly broken down and you feel you cannot trust a letter from them. You can think about core elements that are useful to share, such as: I wasn’t getting enough independence in this particular lab group and I need to grow further; we had differences of opinion regarding best directions for the work; I learned a considerable amount but we never connected and it made it difficult to sustain the working relationship… You can make it a positive story – one that emphasizes what you are seeking more than what you are not getting. Regardless of your feelings, it doesn’t look good to future employers if you talk badly about your former supervisor.

Is it Time to Leave Postdoc-ing Behind Altogether?

Postdoc experiences are great for building your professional network, gaining more skills and experience, and also doing important self-reflection regarding what kind of career is really going to be meaningful for you.

When you’ve garnered enough skills and experience to be competitive, move on! Because of imposter syndrome, some of us may never feel truly ready. Or myths may circulate about what it takes to be competitive in the job market. Do your own research on what your field needs, and get feedback from several people about your track record. Hiring committees are comprised of many people and it can help to get diverse perspectives about your strengths and where your gaps may be.

Or, after more time in an academic research setting, you may now have enough information to know this isn’t the right trajectory for you. Maybe for what you want to do next, you don’t need more advanced research training, but instead need to cultivate other skills or experiences. A variety of self-assessment tools can help you identify where your particular interests and skill sets are pointing you, and you may be surprised by the answers.

Whatever your situation, handling yourself professionally through the transitions will go a long way. Asking yourself – am I in the right place, am I getting what I need – is a lifelong practice that will serve you well in finding the best fit in work environment, supervision, and portfolio. And taking a proactive approach will help assure you get what you need. You never know until you ask! If you need help thinking these issues through, or practicing how a conversation could go with your faculty supervisor, please always feel free to sign up for an office hour or make an appointment with the OPA senior faculty advisors.

Additional Resources: