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Grad News

September

Monthly eNewsletter
September 2007

In This Issue

Everyday Excellence
Meet Linguistics doctoral student Aaron Shield

Featured Graduate School Resource
Tools for Success in Graduate School and Beyond

Spotlight on Faculty
Meet Professor Itty Abraham

Out in the Real World
Program for elementary bilingual education teachers

Getting a Life
Visit the Blanton

Tips and Tools for Success and Survival:  Health Workshops and Intramural Sports

Key Graduate Dates and Events
Dates
Date Event
Sept 14

Last day a graduate student or a law student may, with the required approvals, add a class.
Workshops
Date Event
Oct 10 Extend Your Metaverse: Research and Learning in Second Life's Virtual Environment
Oct 15 Last day to apply for a graduate degree
Important Graduate Links

Graduate School Home Page
Graduate Student Assembly
Dean of Students Office
Libraries
DIIA
ITS
UHS
OSFS

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Supporting Graduate Education

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@mail.utexas.edu

Message from the Dean

Greetings from the Graduate School and welcome to the 2007-2008 academic year! The beginning of any new year is an exciting time, and I want to encourage both new and returning students to take advantage of all that UT has to offer.  In addition to the opportunity to work with some of the finest faculty members in the country, I know you will want to take advantage of UT’s first-class libraries, computer facilities and research labs.  You can also take time to enjoy the wonderful visual and performing arts, lectures, museums and rare literary treasures found on campus.  And of course, you can always cheer for any number of Longhorn sports teams or partake of the recreational sports facilities yourself.

At the Graduate School, we strive to provide the support and resources you need to be both academically productive and personally successful.  Our staff and deans are available in MAI 101 to answer your questions and point you in the right direction.  In addition, each month you will receive this electronic newsletter to help keep you informed and connected to the graduate community.  It will highlight students and faculty doing cutting-edge and unique work, provide links to useful resources, offer kudos to students, staff and faculty and much more.  Make sure to visit the Graduate School web site often to find invaluable resources and information to support your success.

Once again, welcome to the new school year.  I wish you every success in your studies and look forward to hearing from you.

Best wishes,
Victoria E. Rodríguez
Vice Provost and Dean of Graduate Studies

Everyday Excellence

A scribble in the margin of an old notebook gave Linguistics doctoral student Aaron Shield the idea that became his dissertation topic: to study the use of sign language in deaf and hearing autistic children. 

Featured Graduate School Resource

Tools for Success in Graduate School and Beyond

What is success in graduate school?  The answer is likely to be different for each graduate student; however, Tools for Success can help graduate students define success on a personal level before setting out to achieve it.  This resource provides a model to frame success based on six key skills or “tools” from “building on your strengths” to “how to effectively communicate your ideas”. It can help students become more efficient, effective, compelling, and hence competitively positioned, both in graduate school and the world beyond.
http://www.utexas.edu/ogs/current//toolkit.html

Spotlight on Faculty

Itty Abraham, the director of the South Asia Institute at The University of Texas.

“One advantage of working at a university is that you don’t have to be as driven by day-to-day events,” says Dr. Itty Abraham. “You can take a more long term perspective and think more deeply about the research you are doing. Whereas in a policy environment you’re expected to respond more quickly to the events around you.”  Find out more

Out in the Real World

Bilingual elementary education teacher program

The Austin Independent School District (AISD) in collaboration with UT’s Department of Curriculum and Instruction (C&I) has initiated an academic program for elementary bilingual education teachers called Proyecto Maestría (Master’s Degree Project). In this program AISD bilingual education teachers work toward a master’s degree in C&I with a specialization in Bilingual Education. Teachers selected for the program will have tuition and required fees paid for by a grant from Title III of the No Child Left Behind Act and will be expected to maintain employment with AISD for three years after completing their master’s degree. The grant will also fund a summer institute to encourage practicing elementary teachers to enter the field of bilingual/ESL teaching and to support them as they do so. Assistant Professor Deb Palmer wrote the grant in collaboration with the AISD, and will be coordinating the program. More information is available at the department's research grants page.

Getting a Life

The Blanton Museum of Art

Take a break between classes and spend an hour in the Blanton Museum of Art, located on campus at the corner of MLK and Congress. The museum and many of its events are free for students with University of Texas IDs. If you wish to visit the museum with a non-UT friend, consider going on a Thursday, when the museum is free and open until 8:00 p.m.  In addition to an impressive home collection and a series of changing exhibitions, the Blanton offers yoga in the gallery, tours by art historians, talks by the artists, and many other events. Or, consider attending B scene, the Blanton’s monthly art party. Held on the first Friday of the month, this event invites visitors to experience live music by Austin performers, gallery tours, art-making activities, light snacks, and a cash bar featuring Blantinis. Cost for B scene is $5 for members/$10 for non-members (UT students are granted free admission to the museum, but they are not automatically considered members.)
http://blantonmuseum.org/experience_the_blanton/featured_evnts.cfm

Tips and Tools for Success and Survival

Health Workshops and Intramural Sports

Graduate research distinguishes itself from most other jobs by its uncontained nature. Instead of separate tasks that end neatly at 5:00 p.m., this abstract intellectual work seeps into all corners of the day, feeling, at times, endless. Next time you crave something finite and easily completed, but still useful, consider signing up for a class through University Health Services to learn how to perform CPR, how to plan healthy meals, or how to maintain good health while traveling. http://healthyhorns.utexas.edu/general/classesworkshops.html

If you find your days getting too sedentary for your taste, consider signing up to play an intramural sport. This fall, the UT intramural program offers a great variety of teams and competitions—from tennis to soccer to billiards—that graduate students are welcome to join. http://www.utrecsports.org/intramurals/schedule/fall07/fall07_schedule.php