Monthly eNewsletter
October 2007
In This Issue
Everyday Excellence
Meet Pradeep Khanal
Featured Graduate School Resource
Topics in Community Engagement
Spotlight on Faculty
Meet Professor Chris Bell
Out in the Real World
UTeach Program Expansion
Tips and Tools for Success and Survival
Graduate Student Organizations
Getting a Life
Tour Texas' best barbeque
Key Graduate Dates and Events
More dates and events for Fall 2007
Dates
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| Oct 15 | Last day to apply for a graduate degree |
| Oct 29 - Nov 9 | Spring 2008 registration for continuing and readmitted students |
Workshops
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| Oct 10 | PDCE Workshop: Extend Your Metaverse: Research and Learning in Second Life's Virtual Environment |
| Nov 5 | PDCE Workshop: Part II Writing: Literature Review Sections and Background Research: Finding Your Academic Voice |
Events
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| Oct 16 & 30 | GSA general meetings - open to all |
| Oct 25 | Understanding the IRB process |
| Oct | October is Cyber Security Awareness Month. See events hosted by ITS. |
Suggestions
If you have opinions on other topics that you would like to see offered
in these newsletters, we would love to hear them. Please send ideas
to
emcketta@mail.utexas.edu or
kmabley@austin.utexas.edu
Congratulations to these members of the UT graduate community!
Hangwen Li (Nutritional Sciences) recently received a prestigious Department of Defense Predoctoral Fellowship for $99,900 through the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs for his research on prostate cancer. Hangwen Li works with the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center under the supervision of Dr. Dean Tang.
Maru Buendia-Senties, (Radio-Television-Film) has been named a Princess Grace Award winner. Buendia-Senties has won the Cary Grant Film Award, a graduate scholarship to complete her thesis film, “El Puente” (The Bridge), which will show the Mexican-American border in a way that conveys the riveting lifestyle of its people and how their stories get lost in translation by the media. Read more.
Catherine Dossin (Art History) was presented with the inaugural Graduate Student Instructor Award to acknowledge her outstanding work in teaching and learning.
Professor Norval Glenn (Sociology) has received
the prestigious Warren E. Miller Award for Meritorious Service to the Social
Sciences.
Marianela Vega Oroza (Radio-Television-Film) has been selected by the Cultural
Center of Barcelona, Spain for their program called "El Artista del
mes" ("The
artist of the month"). A selection of her work will be shown at their
gallery during December 2007.
Important Graduate Links
Graduate School Home Page
Graduate
Student Assembly
Dean of Students
Office
Libraries
DIIA
ITS
UHS
OSFS
Message from the Dean
On October 2, vice provost John Dollard and I had the opportunity to speak to a number of graduate students at the Graduate Student Assembly (GSA) meeting about flat-rate tuition for graduate students. Four years ago, with the de-regulation of tuition by the Texas Legislature, the Tuition Policy Advisory Committee was formed. I serve on this committee, as do the presidents of Student Government, Senate and the GSA. Initially, the university moved to a flat-rate model for the undergraduates. The philosophical underpinning of flat-rate tuition for undergraduates is to give students an incentive to take more courses each semester and thus graduate more quickly.
For graduate students, however, the purpose of flat-rate tuition is to allow the students to know exactly what their bill will be and thus better plan for the financial needs throughout their graduate program. This system is not about getting more money for the university and will not significantly change the overall tuition and fees paid by most graduate students. Additionally, the current situation makes it very difficult for the university to factor in graduate student support in reimbursing teaching assistants and assistant instructors because of various fees in each college and program. This change will allow us to reimburse for the whole amount of tuition and fees for TAs and AIs.
“Flat-rate” tuition does not mean that every graduate student will pay the same amount of tuition regardless of their hours, but rather that your tuition will depend upon the college or school you belong to and the number of hours you are taking. For example, all graduate students in Liberal Arts enrolled for 9 hours will pay one rate, while those enrolled at 6 hours will pay another. Tuition would be set at the beginning of each year, for all 11 colleges. In the spring, the tuition rate for the fall will be available. In this model, summer tuition costs would be 85% of the long semester hours.
I hope this helps you better understand the plans for flat-rate tuition for graduate students. If you have any questions, please contact Brian Gatten, GSA president.
Best wishes,
Victoria E. Rodríguez
Vice Provost and Dean of Graduate Studies
Everyday Excellence
Electrical Engineering student Pradeep Khanal speaks about technology, perseverance, and his work as the Programs Director of the Graduate Student Assembly (GSA). >> Read more
Featured Graduate School Resource
(GRS 392J) Topics in Community Engagement: Project Management and Consulting Projects
Sharpen your communication skills, apply theory, build your network, and explore career paths in this practical and experiential professional development course. GRS 392J provides all graduate students the opportunity to apply their knowledge while working on actual problem-based research projects for clients in the public, private, and non-profit sectors. Publication opportunities for research papers are possible. Dr. Leslie Jarmon will help you find your ideal client, and design and execute your research project.
This course will be taught by Dr. Leslie Jarmon in Spring, 2008 on Wednesdays,
9:00 a.m. - 12:00 noon in SZB 380. Unique #65950. Consent of
Instructor required.
http://www.utexas.edu/ogs/pdce/grs/392J_ce.html
Spotlight on Faculty
The office of Dr. Chris J. Bell, Assistant Professor and John A. Wilson Fellow in Vertebrate Paleontology, looks like a maze in the Halloween cornstalk tradition, but the walls of this maze are bookshelves. Inside, books range in topic from snake encyclopedias to journals about rodent skeletons to geology books reprinted from 1790, with Italian marbleized covers. Read more about him.
Out in the Real World
UTeach Program Expansion Possibilities
During Fall 2007, with support from the Government of Nuevo León, Mexico, and The University of Texas at Austin, Dr. Lupita Carmona (Science and Mathematics Education) will be conducting a research study on the feasibility and scalability of having the UTeach Program in the State of Nuevo León. The convergence of current Educational Reforms in Mexico, assessments on the impact of NAFTA, and recommendations from the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development present a coherent framework indicating the need to improve mathematics and science at all educational levels. The UTeach Program, hosted by The University of Texas at Austin, integrates content, pedagogy, equity, and technology in order to better prepare mathematics and science teachers for secondary school teaching. The UTeach Program is considered one of the most prestigious pre-service teacher preparation programs in the US.
Getting a Life
A Tour of Texas's Best BBQ
If we lived in the wild, October would be the month to start eating everything
in sight in order to prepare physically for the winter. In our highly civilized
world, we have the option of going out for barbecue instead. Within a short
drive of Austin are Kreuz Market, where the cavernous kitchen ovens appear
only a step away from Dante's fiery eighth circle and where for years,
silverware was forbidden to diners; and the Salt Lick, with its expansive
grounds, BYOB rowdiness and homemade blackberry cobbler. Within a walk of
UT campus is Iron Works, a tree-house of sorts serving meats of all sorts
(and baked potatoes as a veggie option). Visit one or tour them all in the
hungry weekends leading up to winter.
http://www.10best.com/feature.html?ID=39
Tips and Tools for Success and Survival
Tips for surviving the Natural Habitat – Graduate Student Organizations
A great part of the graduate experience is the creation of and involvement in new communities, whether in-department, cross-department, or extra-department. GradLife offers a comprehensive list (including contact information) of the student organizations open to and run by graduate students, including the Graduate Epicurean Society, Modernisms Interest Group, Society of American Archivists, Texas Graduate Christian Fellowship, Graduate Business Adventure Team, Graduate Real Estate Society, and several dozen more. Consider these as a way to deepen current interests, cultivate new ones, and meet people outside of your immediate trajectory: http://www.utexas.edu/ogs/gradlife/campus/studentorgs.html