The PROMISE AGEP will be represented at the annual conference for the National Postdoctoral Association on Friday, March 13. The conference will run from March 13-15, and will be held at the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB), downtown, in the Southern Management Corporation’s Campus Center, (SMC CC) https://www.umaryland.edu/campuscenter/. This is the same location that hosted our PROMISE Summer Success Institute and anniversary celebration in 2013.

PROMISE AGEP will be discussed in a panel session, Institutional Diversity Postdoctoral Fellowships: Growing Your Own Faculty Pipeline, on Friday, March 13, 1:45 PM, SMC CC, Room 351. PROMISE Director, Dr. Renetta Tull will be one of the speakers. Discussions will include the PROMISE Postdoctoral Program, and UMBC’s Postdoctoral Fellowship for Faculty Diversity.

Websites:

Listed on MinorityPostdoc.org: http://www.minoritypostdoc.org/view/event-2015-NPA.html

NPA Website: http://www.npacommunity.org/?2015AMFriWorkshops

NPA Agenda site: http://www.nationalpostdoc.org/images/stories/Documents/AnnualMeetings/2015AnnualMeeting/NPA-2015-Annual-Meeting-Agenda-at-a-Glance-for-Web-02-20-2015.pdf

Postdocs from the University System of Maryland can register to attend the conference at a discount. Some postdoctoral affairs offices are also sponsoring waivers to attend.  Please email Dr. Renetta Tull, rtull@umbc.edu, with the subject “NPA Conference” if you are interested in attending. The deadline for registering online is Feb. 27, 2015; please email Dr. Tull by 12 noon on Feb. 27th to be included in the list of postdocs from Maryland.

The new Career-Life Balance Initiative at UMBC is sponsoring a February 2015 workshop on preparing career paths that will include a healthy integration of work and those things that are important to life, e.g., health and wellness, family. This workshop is sponsored by UMBC’s initiative new project, “On Ramps” to Full Professor: Institutional Support for Post-Family Leave Faculty Research Reintegration, National Science Foundation Grant #1446406.” The series of workshops and seminars will be open to the campus community at UMBC, and guests from the University System of Maryland. The sessions will cover topics that support development of a better integration of career and activities that shape everyday life.

The precursor event will be a Career-Life Balance “Writing Corner” breakfast session for graduate students on Monday, Feb. 23. During this session, graduate students will be able to have some dedicated time to work on grant submissions, CV updates, dissertations, applications, etc. The Career-Life Balance “Writing Corner” is a new initiative that is taking the best practices from the PROMISE Dissertation House, PROMISE Writing for Publication, and PROMISE Postdoctoral Writing Suite activities, and combining them with needs that graduate students expressed in a CLB poll launched at UMBC during the Fall semester 2014. The “Writing Corner” concept was developed by the CLB GA, Amanda Lo, who worked with graduate students to gauge interest. Amanda describes the space as follows: “This room will serve to help others achieve career-life balance by providing a comfortable environment where graduate students, post-doctorate fellows, faculty, and staff can allocate time to work at ease on their writing. All participants are encouraged to bring their own laptops and any materials that they might need to assist them with their writing.” Students may RSVP for the Monday, February 23rd “CLB Writing Corner” here: http://my.umbc.edu/groups/careerlifebalance/events/30310.

The key CLB event for the month will be a Wednesday, February 25, 2015 workshop on planning your career portfolio. This workshop will be led by Dr. Laura Koppes Bryan, Dean of the Yale Gordon College of Arts and Sciences, at the University of Baltimore (UB). Dean Bryan is an advocate for effective strategies on managing both work and life responsibilities. She worked as an independent consultant for LK Associates, where she consulted with organizations on various areas, including work-life effectiveness. She also served as Director of Work-Life at the University of Kentucky where she analyzed data surveying the work-life culture for both faculty and staff members. She developed and implemented the UK Work-Life vision and strategy; through her advocacy and presentation to the University Board of Trustees, she was approved of a budget of 11 million dollars for the work-life initiatives. Dr. Bryan is a member of the PROMISE AGEP STEM Deans Council, and is partnering with The Career-Life Balance Initiative at UMBC, The PROMISE AGEP for the University System of Maryland, UMBC’s Office of Postdoctoral Affairs, and The Graduate School at UMBC, to provide this seminar for all graduate students and postdoctoral fellows, in all disciplines. All members of the campus community are invited to attend.

• Event: Developing A Career Portfolio
• Date: Wednesday, February 25, 2015
• Speaker: Dr.LauraKoppes Bryan,
  • Dean Laura Bryan from UB will discuss developing a career portfolio with a focus on managing both career and life responsibilities. At this event, attendees will be able to walk away with ideas or an outline for developing their career portfolio.  All attendees will receive a complimentary copy of Dean Bryan’s latest book, Shaping Work-Life Culture in Higher Education: A Guide for Academic Leaders.
  • About Dr. Bryan: http://www.ubalt.edu/cas/faculty/alphabetical-directory/laura-k-bryan.cfm
• Location: UMBC, The Commons, Room 329 (Directions to events co-sponsored by the PROMISE AGEP.)
• Time: 1:00 – 2:15 PM
• Lunch will be served
• This event is free, and is sponsored by NSF #1446406.
  • REGISTRATION: The event is open to all graduate students, postdocs, faculty, staff, and alumni. The event will be applicable to all academic disciplines. Visitors from other USM institutions are invited, as part of our PROMISE AGEP alliance.
  • Members of the UMBC community can register here: http://my.umbc.edu/groups/promise/events/29579
  • Visitors from other campuses can reply in the comment section of this email so that we will know that you are coming.

The Career-Life Balance project at UMBC is part of a special initiative that is being sponsored by the National Science Foundation: http://www.nsf.gov/career-life-balance/, in concert with objectives on the topic that are being put forth by the White House: http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2012/02/15/career-life-balance-fair-continues-promote-flexible-workplaces-america-s-scientists-. Read more from the press release by the White House here: http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/09/26/white-house-and-national-science-foundation-announce-new-workplace-flexi

Dear Graduate Students,

The PROMISE AGEP co-sponsors monthly professional development seminars for graduate students, and one of the increasingly popular workshops is called, “When Faculty Say ‘X’ … Understanding Faculty Expectations, Unwritten Rules.” This seminar, held annually at UMBC, features a panel of faculty members who answer questions that students post (often anonymously) on the PROMISE website. Sometimes, faculty do not have a chance to answer all of the questions since the seminar has time limits. In addition, if students ask individual or small group questions following the seminar, the general audience does not have the benefit of hearing the answer. To address these additional questions, graduate students in PROMISE asked if I would take some time to provide some answers. The result is a short video series called “Moments To Mentor” which answers all of the questions that were not addressed in the seminar.

These “Moments to Mentor” will be posted throughout the rest of the Spring 2015 semester. We invite you to visit the PROMISE YouTube Channel for other videos that showcase seminars on topics such as financial education, and advanced statistics.

Best wishes as you pursue your degree and career goals.

Kind regards,

Renetta G. Tull, Ph.D.

Director, PROMISE: Maryland’s AGEP

The PROMISE AGEP, The Graduate School at UMBC, and The UMBC Office of Postdoctoral Affairs are co-sponsoring the “Advanced Statistics” seminar series with Dr. Christopher Rakes. Dr. Rakes is presenting series on structural equation modeling and meta-analysis. The next lunch seminar is on Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2015. A live webcast will be available on our PROMISE YouTube channel for those who aren’t available to have lunch with us, to learn in person.

Session 4: Feb. 11, 2015
Structural Equation Modeling
Testing the Validity of a Causal Structure

Lunch and learn: 

Lunch will be served at the beginning of the seminar. You may eat during the session.

Live Webcast

NASA OSSI Online Career Week, a virtual career fair for students pursuing degrees in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM). This exciting initiative is sponsored by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and it will take place February 10-12.

The NASA OSSI Online Career Week will allow students to connect and engage live with NASA, top STEM employers and graduate programs across the country. Participants will learn about internship, fellowship and job opportunities in the public and private sectors. They will also be able to interact with representatives from highly ranked graduate programs and network with admissions officers.  There is no cost or travel associated with their participation in this event.

Is this for graduate students? YES! 

From the website: Who Should Attend?

• Undergraduate and graduate students looking for internship, scholarship, and fellowship opportunities at NASA.
• Undergraduate and graduate students looking for internships and jobs in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics at companies across the country.

To register, students should visit the following link: http://nasaossi.brazenconnect.com/

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This information has been brought to UMBC and all schools within the PROMISE AGEP by the Institute for Broadening Participation, http://pathwaystoscience.org/. This opportunity is open to students nationwide. Please participate!

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UMBC participates in the Council of Graduate Schools’ initiative for pathways into careers.

Dear Graduate Students, Postdoctoral Fellows, and Members of the PROMISE Community,

We are in the process of developing a new program with collaborators, Tecnológico de Monterrey, in Monterrey, Mexico. We sent out an initial email to gauge interest in a new visiting professor program, and the response was overwhelming! We’re so glad to hear that you are interested in this opportunity as a pathway to your career.

We are working with Tec because of their interest in PROMISE, and our mutual values, which include dedication to teaching students, integrity, leadership, and community service.

The PROMISE AGEP is collaborating with Tec based on projects with the Latin and Caribbean Consortium of Engineering Institutions, the American Society for Engineering Education, and the World Engineering Education Forum. Since Monterrey Tec has a variety of disciplines available, they are interested in considering candidates from all disciplines.

______________________________

General details, along with answers to questions that have been posed over the last two weeks.

• This is a residential program. While hybrid programs may be considered, participants are expected to spend time teaching in Mexico.
• The duration of the position can range from 1 semester to 2 years.
• The position would include a monthly stipend, housing and round-trip transportation from Maryland to Mexico.
• There are language and cultural opportunities available for you and members of your immediate family who would be joining you.

• English — http://www.itesm.mx/wps/wcm/connect/ITESM/Tecnologico+de+Monterrey/English
• Spanish — http://www.itesm.mx/wps/portal?WCM_GLOBAL_CONTEXT=

• Candidates must be an enrolled graduate student, postdoctoral fellow, alumnus, staff or faculty member at/from an institution within the University System of Maryland (USM): http://www.usmd.edu/institutions/
  • Candidates from UMBC  (based on our agreement with UMBC and the Council of Graduate Schools to broaden pathways to careers): Candidates from UMBC may be from any discipline, and all racial/ethnic backgrounds will be considered. U.S. citizenship is not required, but you must be able to teach in English.
  • Candidates from all other institutions within the USM: (based on the agreement with the National Science Foundation (NSF) to broaden participation and increase diversity in STEM within the USM):
    • Candidates from other institutions within the USM must be in a Science, Technology, Engineering, or Mathematics field, as listed in the NSF’s List of Supported Fields. This list can also be found below, in the comment section.
    • Candidates from other institutions within the USM must be U.S. citizens and members of groups that are underrepresented in STEM, per the NSF AGEP Program: African-Americans, Hispanics, American Indians, Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians or other Pacific Islanders

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• The primary candidates will have a Ph.D. This program is being designed to provide  an on-ramp to the professoriate. There are positions that primarily involve teaching, and some that involve both teaching and research. You may apply if you will have a Ph.D. by the time of the placement.
  • Candidates from UMBC who have master’s degrees will be considered, but won’t have the title of “PROMISE Visiting Professor for Social Change.” These candidates will be referred to a Tec “teacher program” to teach high school students.
  • Candidates from all other USM institutions must have a Ph.D. in a STEM field.

——

• All candidates must have some teaching experience, e.g., lecturing in the classroom at the college level, which include experiences through the PROMISE PROF-it program, as a Teaching Assistant, or as an instructor in a post-secondary institution.

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• All candidates must be willing to teach with technology, and should have some experience with technology, e.g., classroom management software (Blackboard), social media.

______________________________

To apply for the program*

(Disclaimer: The project is still in a proposed state, and applications will be screened by PROMISE prior to being sent to Monterrey Tec. Tec is not under any obligation to choose any candidates. The deans of the colleges at Tec along with other relevant offices will make all final decisions. A cohort model that will allow candidates to travel and participate as a group is still under consideration.)

• 1) One page overview, with the following guidelines:
  • 1 inch margins
  • Title:
    • Line 1: 16 pt, bold, Times New Roman: Applicant: PROMISE Visiting Professor for Social Change
    • Line 2: 14 pt, italics, Times New Roman: Your full name, your degree, area of expertise
  • Skip two lines
  • Content (Skip one line between each section): 12 pt, Times New Roman; use the headings in bold below in your document.
    • Line 1: Courses that I have already taught (include level, e.g., high school, community college, undergraduate studies, graduate students, and approximations of class sizes)
    • Line 2: Courses that I can teach (be sure that you are choosing courses based on their offerings: http://www.itesm.mx/wps/wcm/connect/ITESM/Tecnologico+de+Monterrey/English/Academic+offerings/?cache=none
    • Line 3: Experiences with technology in the classroom:
    • Line 4: Research Interests:
    • Line 5: Statement about commitment to community service:

• 2) One page cover letter addressed to Dr. Renetta Tull, Director of the PROMISE AGEP, discussing why you want to be a professor, what you want to learn, and future plans for teaching in the U.S. [Note: The PROMISE AGEP is designed to increase the numbers of professors who will serve students in the U.S. Participation in this program is meant to provide a short-term, international, collaborative experience from which you can build a successful and satisfying faculty career in the U.S.]

• 3) Full, unabridged CV

All documents should be merged (based on the order above: 1) overview, 2) letter, 3) CV) and submitted as one PDF document, with the title: PROMISE-MONTERREY TEC-your name

Send the document to promisestaff@gmail.com, and cc’d to rtull@umbc.edu, with the subject: PROMISE Professors for Social Change. (Please do not add or subtract anything from this subject title. Emails submitted with other subject lines may not be considered.)

*All interested candidates are strongly encouraged to attend the (free) Professional Development Workshop on preparing for the professoriate at the PROMISE Research Symposium and Professional Development Conference on Friday, Feb. 13, 2015, 1:30 – 3:30 PM, at the University of Maryland College, Park. Details and registration information can be found here: https://promiseagep.wordpress.com/2014/12/16/spring-2015-university-system-of-maryland-promise-agep-research-symposium-professional-development-conference-fri-feb-13-2015-um-college-park/. Candidates who have not previously met with Dr. Tull to discuss career interests, must do so before the application can be considered for the program. Application Deadline: The initial group of candidates will be sent to Tec on February 27, 2015.

The Meyerhoff Graduate Fellows Program at UMBC, and PROMISE: Maryland’s AGEP (the National Science Foundation’s PROMISE AGEP – Maryland Transformation, AGEP-T) for the State of Maryland, proudly present Dr. Hélène Hodak, Scientific Editor, Journal of Molecular Biology, Elsevier Inc. on Friday, Feb. 6, 2015.

Dr. Hodak will be talking about writing for high impact journals. We’ve often heard the term “publish or perish.” Many people are afraid of that term, and many are nervous about the idea of needing to publish in order to have their work deemed worthy. The Elsevier journals are known for being high-impact, and they have a global reputation for showcasing the best work in science. They have offices in NY, Amsterdam, and London. People from all disciplines are invited to come to the workshop and use the content of this talk to learn more about how to think about publishing, and how to dismiss fear of the process. Dr. Hodak’s background and training hail from the following institutions: Yale University, Institut Pasteur de Lille, Regional Hospital Center of Lille, France, Université Lille 2 – Droit et Santé; France. You can read more about Dr. Hodak’s scientific contributions on ResearchGate: http://www.researchgate.net/profile/Helene_Hodak2/citations

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Details for the talk:

• Friday, February 6, 2015
• 4:30 – 6:00 PM
• UMBC Campus, Public Policy Building, Room 206
• Afternoon refreshments will be served.

To RSVP/Register:  

• UMBC students/postdocs/faculty/staff: Login to your MyUMBC account. Click the green “I can attend” button at the bottom of the MyUMBC website for this event: http://my.umbc.edu/groups/promise/events/29770. If you have logged into MyUMBC, and you don’t see the green “I can attend button,” then please be sure that “join” the PROMISE group.
• Visitors (Visitors from any school within the University System of Maryland and the region are welcome to attend.): Use the comment section below to let us know that you are coming. Please add your name, school/organization, and discipline, as applicable.

Photo Credit: http://www.chimit09.org/images/PUP01.jpg

Public Policy Building, UMBC, atrium hallway. Photo credit: http://www.appam.org/assets/1/7/publicPolicy.jpg

Directions, parking, and other information will be posted in the comments below.

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Why is Elsevier so important? Here are some of the latest stats from 2014:

Journal Impact Factor Highlights

Amsterdam, 14 August, 2014

Elsevier, a world-leading provider of scientific, technical and medical information products and services, today announced the highlights of its journal Impact Factor performance in 2013. According to the 2013 Journal Citation Reports® (JCR) published by Thomson Reuters, Elsevier saw 61% of its journal Impact Factors increase from 2012 to 2013, well ahead of the aggregate across all other journals at 55%. Furthermore, 21% of Elsevier journals are in the top 10% of their subject category.

In 2013 Elsevier journals occupied the top position by Impact Factor in 61 subject categories, up from 58 in 2012. In addition, 14 Elsevier journals have risen to the top of their subject category and 40 journals have received an impact factor for the first time. Among these is Nano Energy, which published its first issue in 2012 and received an impressive first impact factor of 10.211.

- See more at: http://www.elsevier.com/about/press-releases/research-and-journals/elsevier-announces-2013-journal-impact-factor-highlights#sthash.NtkiXGPK.dpuf

More about Elsevier: Elsevier Inc., 600 Technology Square, Cambridge, MA 02139, U.S.A.  ElsevierConnect,  http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/00222836.  Contact Dr. Hodak: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/journal-of-molecular-biology/editorial-board/helene-hodak/

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Acknowledgements:

This workshop comes to UMBC through Dr. Michael Summers, and Ms. Justine Johnson of the Meyerhoff Graduate Fellows Program. http://my.umbc.edu/groups/meyerhoffgrad/events/28224. Additional sponsors include: PROMISE AGEP, The Graduate School at UMBC, and the UMBC Office of Postdoctoral Affairs.

About the Meyerhoff Graduate Fellows Program

Funded by an NIH-MBRS Initiative to Maximize Student Development (IMSD) grant, the Meyerhoff Fellows Program focuses on promoting cultural diversity in the biomedical sciences at the graduate level. Now in its 18th year, the program attracts students from such institutions as Duke, Emory, Stanford and the University of Delaware.
Read more>

Graduate students in Maryland have a wealth of resources at their fingertips! Please take some time to review the following information so that you can plan your calendars accordingly. There are programs at UMBC, the University of Maryland College Park, and the University of Maryland Baltimore. Graduate students at any of the institutions within the University System of Maryland are welcome to attend these seminars through the state’s PROMISE AGEP collaboration.

Events at College Park: 

http://www.gradschool.umd.edu/news_and_events/eventcalendar.html

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Events at UMB: 

http://graduate.umaryland.edu/

Note: The UMB-UMBC Partnership Innovation Symposium will be held on Jan. 30, 2015.

UMB also offers opportunities through the University of Maryland Medical School’s Research Career Development Program: http://medschool.umaryland.edu/career/

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Events at UMBC:

Full list here:

UMBC Graduate Student SPRING 2015 Seminars_Updated1_25_15

All graduate students attending institutions within the University System of Maryland are invited to attend a Special Saturday Success Breakfast Seminar on Public Speaking:

Saturday, January 31, 2015

Keys to Public Speaking: Prepare for Your Upcoming Presentation.

UMBC COMMONS, Room 331

10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

Speaker: Scott Morgan

Scott Morgan has been teaching communication skills for 20 years. His clients include the National Institutes of Health, the Mayo Clinic, Merck, NASA, EPA, City of Hope Cancer Center, and several universities: Harvard Medical School, UNC Chapel Hill, Cornell, Maryland, Ohio State, Minnesota, Duke, Nebraska and NC State University, and Texas A&M. He has 25 years of broadcast experience and teaches media and communication strategy to many think tanks in the Washington DC area. Specifically, as a Senior Associate with the Abshire Inamori Leadership Academy of the Center for Strategic and International Studies (http://csis.org/expert/scott-morgan). Scott graduated with honors from the University of California, Davis and authored the book Speaking about Science published by Cambridge University Press.

The Morgan Group has been training graduate students and postdocs in Maryland for more than 10 years.

Please come in preparation for your presentations at upcoming local meetings such as the various graduate research conferences, and the PROMISE Research Symposium.

Breakfast refreshments will be served. Please RSVP on MyUMBC: http://my.umbc.edu/groups/promise/events/28691 (UMBC graduate students, staff, postdocs, faculty). Participants from other universities may register as a comment to this post with your name and institution.