Fridays, 9:30-11am, Atkins Room, 1st Floor SIN

January 9, 2009: Evaluating the Doctoral Development Seminar
First and second year students will reflect on the fall semester and discuss ideas for improving the DDS. PhD students only.

Food: Magia, Archer, Ben
Wiki notes: N/A

January 16, 2009: Consulting
Jeff Mackie-Mason will talk about consulting opportunities as an academic.

Food: Dharma, Ted
Wiki notes: Devan
Comments/Questions:

• How do you get started? Where did your first n consulting opportunities come from?
  

January 23, 2009: Funding Opportunities
Tom Finholt and Ann Verne-Henke will discuss opportunities for finding funding as a doctoral student and beyond.

Food: Daniel, Pae
Wiki notes: Daniel
Comments/Questions:

• What impacts might the new administration have on the funding situation?
• Does and will the economics and financial crisis of the country (and possible the university) impact the current SI PhD students' funding situation?
• Why do we care about funding?
• What is the difference between industry, NSF, and NIH funding?
• How much does a graduate student cost the University?
• Where does our funding come from?
  

January 30, 2009: History of the School of Information/ University of Michigan - CANCELED
What are the historical roots of the School of Information? How did it evolve into an Ischool? How does it fit into the context of the rest of the University and how does it compare to similar graduate programs across the country and world?

Food:
Wiki notes:
Comments/Questions: What was the transition to SI like? What were some of the organizational and cultural challenges in making the transition? How does that prehistory influence who we are today?

February 6, 2009: Grant Writing Workshop
Obtaining funding, for most, is a necessity. In this session, experts on how research funding works will provide training in how to prepare grant proposals, cover the basics of preparing a research budget, and talk about how the money is managed when it is found.

Food: Devan, Sean
Wiki notes: Sean
Comments/Questions:

February 13, 2009: Balancing Work and Personal Life
The rigor of academic life can consume a great deal of time. In this session, faculty and senior students share how they manage to create a balance between their work and their personal lives.

Food: Ayse
Wiki notes: Ayse
Comments/Questions:What's the fun part of being a faculty member? What keep you motivated to face all of the pressures?

February 20, 2009: SI Computing: Supporting the Technical Needs of Faculty, Staff and Students
The support that SI computing provides is a vital factor in the success of the school. In this session, we invite a couple of the individuals who run this operation to share how they view their role and talk about the kinds of support they offer. They will also discuss what doctoral students and junior faculty need to know about the services they provide and how they can effectively make use of them.

Food: Morgan
Wiki notes: Morgan
Comments/Questions: Thanks for your excellent support all the time.

March 6, 2009: Course Selection
In this session doctoral students will discuss courses offered both inside and outside SI. First and second year students will have a chance to ask about cognate courses others have taken, as well as the research methods and theories courses students have taken outside SI.

Food: Trevor
Wiki notes: Trevor
Comments/Questions: Here is a link to a public document that lists courses taken outside of SI by current students http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=pqPg4wuHKs3xou4w09bspQw

March 13, 2009: Second Life: Why Should We Care?
Second Life is an ever-growing virtual world full of entertainment and research possibilities. But why should folks at SI care? In this session we hear from individuals who are conducting research in and about Second Life.

Food:
Wiki notes: Pae
Comments/Questions:

March 20, 2009: Teaching in the life of the scholar
This course will no longer focus on teaching tips. Instead, speakers will focus on how they as scholars think about teaching, its benefits, and how it influences their research. We will also discuss how teaching impacts the job search and tenure processes.

Food: Ji Yeon, Grace
Wiki notes: Ji Yeon
Comments/Questions:

March 27, 2009: Project Planning
Project planning for academics (strategies for deciding what to work on and prioritizing all the interesting stuff you could do; balancing teaching and research, etc.)

Food: Xingxing
Wiki notes: Xingxing
Comments/Questions:

April 3, 2009: Statistical Help and Support at the University of Michigan
Lingling Zhang from the Center for Statistical Consultation and Research (CSCAR) will talk about the numerous services and workshops offered by the Center to support the research of graduate students, faculty, and staff.

Food: Pablo
Wiki notes: Grace
Comments/Questions:

April 10, 2009: No DDS this week!

April 17, 2009: Research Methodology Workshop
We are a diverse group at SI, pursuing a variety of research goals and using many methods. This session exposes students to some of these methods in a rotating workshop fashion.

Food:
Wiki notes: Dharma
Comments/Questions: