Workshops and Development Series

Mondays 1-3 p.m., Aug. 24 – Nov. 16 | Zoom Webinar

Facilitator: Vanessa Doriott Anderson

This blended synchronous and asynchronous online development series aims to provide graduate students and postdoctoral scholars with an introduction to “backward course design,” a method that involves structuring course content according to desired results rather than “coverage.” We will practice writing learning outcomes that can be used for purposes of design and assessment, refine a discipline-specific syllabus through multiple peer-reviewed drafts, and consider the syllabus as a starting point for the creation of individual lesson plans as well as full-scale curricula.

Participants may apply up to 44 hours from this development series toward the Teaching and Communication Certificate.

Tuesdays 10 a.m.-noon, Aug. 25 – Sept. 22 | Zoom Webinar

Facilitator: Katie Homar

Do you want to learn the basics of publishing journal articles and key parts of academic writing?

This Early Stage workshop series is for you if:

• You want to get a head start writing a journal article or academic paper
• You are in the earlier stages of writing your article or paper
• You want to understand and implement some best practices for organizing information in academic writing

Participants in the early stage workshop series will practice strategies for:

• Selecting appropriate journals for their project and goals
• Managing time when planning an article project
• Crafting compelling introductions and abstracts
• Synthesizing literature (or sources)
• Composing results & discussion sections

Participants in the Early Stage Workshop Series can apply 10 hours towards the Graduate Writing Certificate.

Tuesdays 10 a.m.-noon, Oct. 6 – Oct. 27 | Zoom Webinar

Facilitator: Katie Homar

Do you want to make substantial progress toward submitting an article manuscript you are already writing?

This Late Stage workshop series is for you if:

• You are in the middle of a journal article or academic paper project
• You want to submit or revise-and-resubmit an article draft
• You are seeking feedback on a draft in progress
• You are looking for extra motivation to finish or keep working on a draft in progress

Participants in the Late Stage workshop series will practice:

• Strategies for time management and productivity
• How to give feedback as a reviewer of a peer’s writing
• Strategies for responding to journal reviewers
• Tips for self-proofreading and editing drafts

Participants in the Late Stage Workshop Series can apply up to 8 hours towards the Graduate Writing Certificate. 

Tuesdays 1-3 p.m., Aug. 25 – Nov. 17 | Zoom Webinar

Facilitator: Vanessa Doriott Anderson

In this blended synchronous and asynchronous online development series, you will read and interpret job ads; draft and/or refine a variety of application materials (CV/resume, cover letter) and personal statements (e.g. teaching, research, diversity); practice interview techniques; identify and gather evidence of effectiveness in teaching, research, service, and/or other areas of professional activity; and use basic design principles to create an engaging online portfolio of your work.

Participants may apply up to 44 hours from this development series toward the Teaching and Communication Certificate.

Fridays noon-1 p.m., Sept. 11 – Oct. 16 | Zoom Webinar

Facilitators: Chris Smith and Laura Demarse

Living a meaningful life requires the alignment of one’s skills, interests, and values to perform work of benefit to the world. This development series will serve to introduce and familiarize graduate students and postdocs to the career exploration and life design process. 

We’ll cover topics around self-reflection as a means of identifying career paths of potential interest. We will also discuss how to use informational interviews to explore various careers and build your professional network. In addition, you will learn how to assess your current competencies, identify gaps in your training, especially as they align with potential career goals, and develop a plan to obtain the skills you need to succeed in your chosen career area(s). 

You will leave this development series with a better sense of your career options and a plan of action for building toward them through: 

• continued skill development,
• effective presentation of your expertise and experience, and 
• networking with others in careers of interest

Wednesdays noon-1 p.m., Sept. 2 – Sept. 30 | Zoom Access

Facilitator: Joe Aldinger

This module of A2i provides masters, PhD students, and postdocs with an introduction to application materials and career pathways available in industry. Our four presenters from industry will cover topics such as: entrepreneurship, career paths, best application practices, and developing a network of mentors.

Fridays 1-2 p.m., Sept. 4 – Oct. 2 | Zoom Access

Facilitator: Joe Aldinger

In conjunction with the industry talks on Wednesday, A2i Job Search Strategies also offers small interactive workshops. Topics covered in the 4 four workshops include: resume design including scannable resume design, career exploration, Clifton Strengths Assessment, and key documents for project management (i.e. project scope and project timeline).

Fridays 1-3 p.m., Aug. 28 – Nov. 13 | Zoom Webinar

Facilitator: Stella Jackman-Ryan

The Ahead of the Pack development series for first-year graduate students will be done virtually this semester! Ahead of the Pack is a comprehensive development series that supports adjustment to grad school. It provides sustained support, practice, and feedback on key aspects of graduate school and sets you on a path for success. Weekly sessions will cover strategies for wellness, time management, communication, writing, and career management, among other topics.

Tuesday, Sept. 1 | 10 a.m.-noon | Zoom Webinar

Facilitator: Katie Homar

Get a head start on your journal article! Participants in this workshop will practice strategies for time managing a writing project and choosing a journal to publish their work. Specifically, participants will practice how to:

• Search for journals that are a good “fit” with their discipline and project
• Critically and navigate interpret journal websites to identify the journal’s scope, mission, and audiences
• Plan and manage a journal article or other large writing project
• Set writing-related goals

Open to all graduate and postdoc trainees.

​Participants may apply up to 2 hours of credit toward the Graduate Writing Certificate.

Wednesday, Sept. 2 | 2-4 p.m. | Zoom Webinar

Facilitator: Katie Homar

In this workshop, we’ll focus on strategies for planning and managing a writing project, as well as tips to make engineering writing more “user-friendly”.  Participants will clarify their  writing goals and leave with strategies to implement on current and future writing projects. We will also use the critique paper genre as a case study, so participants will also gain tips for summarizing, critiquing, and synthesizing research articles. 

​Participants may apply up to 2 hours of credit toward the Graduate Writing Certificate.

Monday, Sept. 7 | 10-11 a.m. | Zoom Webinar

AND

Monday, Sept. 14 | 10 a.m.-noon | Zoom Webinar

Facilitator: Vanessa Doriott Anderson

In this two-part workshop, we will explore how universal design for learning can be used to engage diverse learners. In the first session, we will conduct an assessment of a task that has multiple solutions and discuss concrete strategies to motivate students that approach tasks in different ways. In the second session, you will receive feedback on an activity that you designed based on what you learned in the first session. Open to ALL graduate students and postdocs regardless of your teaching experience. 

Attendance at both sessions is mandatory.

Participants may apply up to 3 hours of credit toward the Teaching and Communication Certificate.

Tuesday, Sept. 8 | 10 a.m.-noon | Zoom Webinar

Facilitator: Katie Homar

Where to start? In this workshop, we tackle the challenge of composing two key components of a research article: Abstracts and introductions.

Participants will specifically practice strategies for: 

• Adapting common abstract structures to their own article projects 
• Effectively organizing introductions using the “Create A Research Space” (CARS) model 
• Using appropriate verb tenses in introductions and abstracts
• Starting or revising their own abstracts and intros

Open to all graduate and postdoc trainees.

​Participants may apply up to 2 hours of credit toward the Graduate Writing Certificate.

Wednesday, Sept. 9 | 9-11 a.m. | Zoom Webinar

Facilitators: Krista Morris-Lehman and Sarah Furman

QPR is intended to teach individuals how to recognize the warning signs of suicide including verbal, behavioral, and situational clues. It provides guidelines on how to question a person about suicidal thoughts, persuade them to get help, and refer the person for help. The QPR training is both educational and experiential, and includes:

• An overview of statistics regarding suicide
• Myths versus facts
• Identifying behavioral, verbal, and situational warning signs
• Practicing concrete tools for helping someone in distress

​Please note, this Faculty/Staff QPR training session would be more appropriate for Postdoctoral trainees.

Participants may receive credit toward the Teaching and Communication Certificate upon submission of the Reporter course completion certificate.

Wednesday, Sept. 9 | 2-4 p.m. | Zoom Webinar

Facilitator: Katie Homar

Contact colleagues at NC State and beyond with tact and ease! In this workshop, you will gain strategies for crafting effective professional emails. Specifically, participants will practice and discuss strategies for: 

• Organizing a professional email message
• Making inquiries and requests
• Creating a professional tone or voice in email

​Participants may apply up to 2 hours of credit toward the Graduate Writing Certificate.

Tuesday, Sept. 15 | 10 a.m.-noon. | Zoom Webinar

Facilitator: Katie Homar

You’ve gathered lots of articles and other sources.  What next? In this workshop, we address tips for effectively structuring and synthesizing sources (“literature”) in journal articles and research papers.

Participants will specifically practice strategies for: 

• Summarizing sources and organizing summaries
• Integrating sources into their article of research paper using common “lit review” structures
• Paraphrasing sources
• Using appropriate reporting verbs and transitions to synthesize sources
• Starting/revising their own selective  “lit review” section for an article or research paper

Open to all graduate and postdoc trainees.

​Participants may apply up to 2 hours of credit toward the Graduate Writing Certificate.

Wednesday, Sept. 16 | 2-4 p.m. | Zoom Webinar

Facilitator: Katie Homar

Do people say that your writing is wordy? In this interactive workshop, we’ll address the challenge of building clear, concise sentences that represent your science to diverse stakeholders. Using Richard Lanham’s famous “Paramedic Method” and other approaches, participants will leave the session with strategies for “user-friendly” sentences in reports and other workplace documents. Open to all grad students and postdocs.

​Participants may apply up to 2 hours of credit toward the Graduate Writing Certificate.

Monday, Sept. 21 | 10-11 a.m. | Zoom Webinar

AND

Monday, Sept. 28 | 10 a.m.-noon | Zoom Webinar

Facilitator: Vanessa Doriott Anderson

In this two-part workshop, we will explore strategies to make PowerPoint slides more visually engaging and interactive. In the first session, we will analyze effective and ineffective forms of visual communication. In the second session, you will present your own slide(s) for peer review. Slides can be course- or research-based. Open to ALL graduate students and postdocs regardless of your teaching experience.

Attendance at both sessions is mandatory.

Participants may apply up to 3 hours of credit toward the Teaching and Communication Certificate.

Tuesday, Sept. 22 | 10 a.m.-noon | Zoom Webinar

Facilitator: Katie Homar

Write up the results! There’s more to it! In this workshop, we explore how to create strong results, discussion, and conclusion sections. 

Specifically, participants will practice and discuss strategies for:

• Choosing an appropriate structure for results/discussion sections in their field
• Effectively organizing data commentaries 
• Linking discussion section to literature/past findings
• Answering the “so what question” (impact) about their research in discussion and conclusion section
• Starting and/or revising their own results/discussion section

Open to all graduate and postdoc trainees.

​Participants may apply up to 2 hours of credit toward the Graduate Writing Certificate.

Wednesday, Sept. 23 | 2-4 p.m. | Zoom Webinar

Facilitator: Katie Homar

In this workshop, we tackle the challenge of composing two key components of a research article: abstracts and introductions.

Participants will specifically practice strategies for: 

• Adapting common engineering abstract types to their own research projects 
• Effectively organizing introductions using the famous “Create A Research Space” (CARS) model 
• Choosing appropriate intro and abstract structures for their research goals
• Using appropriate verb tenses in introductions and abstracts
• Starting or revising their own abstracts and intros

​Participants may apply up to 2 hours of credit toward the Graduate Writing Certificate.

Wednesday, Sept. 30 | 9-11 a.m. | Zoom Webinar

Facilitator: Emily Anderson

QPR is intended to teach individuals how to recognize the warning signs of suicide including verbal, behavioral, and situational clues. It provides guidelines on how to question a person about suicidal thoughts, persuade them to get help, and refer the person for help. The QPR training is both educational and experiential, and includes:

• An overview of statistics regarding suicide
• Myths versus facts
• Identifying behavioral, verbal, and situational warning signs
• Practicing concrete tools for helping someone in distress

Participants may receive credit toward the Teaching and Communication Certificate upon submission of the Reporter course completion certificate.

Wednesday, Sept. 30 | 2-4 p.m. | Zoom Webinar

AND

Wednesday, October 7 | 2-4 p.m. | Zoom Webinar

Facilitator: Katie Homar

In this two-part workshop, we address the challenge of creating lit reviews that situate your research in the state-of-the-art. Participants will leave these sessions with both tips on finding literature from NC State’s library team as well as a refined draft of a lit review.

Specifically, participants will practice and discuss strategies for: 

• Locating and managing relevant sources (“literature”) 
• Synthesizing literature 
• Choosing an appropriate structure of lit reviews for their engineering field or goals
• Paraphrasing and introducing sources 
• Starting and/or revising their own lit review paper, section, or chapter

Participants may apply up to 4 hours of credit toward the Graduate Writing Certificate. Attendance at both sessions is mandatory for certificate hours.

Monday, Oct. 5 | 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. | Zoom Webinar

Facilitator: Emily Anderson

QPR is intended to teach individuals how to recognize the warning signs of suicide including verbal, behavioral, and situational clues. It provides guidelines on how to question a person about suicidal thoughts, persuade them to get help, and refer the person for help. The QPR training is both educational and experiential, and includes:

• An overview of statistics regarding suicide
• Myths versus facts
• Identifying behavioral, verbal, and situational warning signs
• Practicing concrete tools for helping someone in distress

Participants may receive credit toward the Teaching and Communication Certificate upon submission of the Reporter course completion certificate.

Self-Paced, Oct. 5 – Nov. 13 | Online Course

This online course is available to all faculty and staff within the UNC system. This program will provide the audience with an introduction to accessibility and will offer practical methods for incorporating multiple accessibility techniques into face-to-face, blended, and online classrooms.

The course is formatted as a self-paced, asynchronous, online class delivered via Moodle and is scheduled to run for 6 weeks.

Participants may apply up to 12 hours of credit toward the Teaching and Communication Certificate.

Monday, Oct. 5 | 10-11 a.m. | Zoom Webinar

AND

Monday, Oct. 12 | 10 a.m.-noon | Zoom Webinar

Facilitator: Vanessa Doriott Anderson

In this two-part workshop, we will explore strategies for writing a teaching statement that is professional yet personalized. In the first session, we will look at models of effective and ineffective teaching statements and hone our ability to critique and revise them. In the second session, participants will present their own draft teaching statements for peer review. Open to ALL graduate students and postdocs regardless of your teaching experience.

Attendance at both sessions is mandatory.

Participants may apply up to 3 hours of credit toward the Teaching and Communication Certificate.

Tuesday, Oct. 6 | 1-3 p.m. | Zoom Webinar

Facilitators: Krista Morris-Lehman and Sarah Furman

QPR is intended to teach individuals how to recognize the warning signs of suicide including verbal, behavioral, and situational clues. It provides guidelines on how to question a person about suicidal thoughts, persuade them to get help, and refer the person for help. The QPR training is both educational and experiential, and includes:

• An overview of statistics regarding suicide
• Myths versus facts
• Identifying behavioral, verbal, and situational warning signs
• Practicing concrete tools for helping someone in distress

​Please note, this Faculty/Staff QPR training session would be more appropriate for Postdoctoral trainees.

Participants may receive credit toward the Teaching and Communication Certificate upon submission of the Reporter course completion certificate.

Wednesday, Oct. 14 | 2-4 p.m. | Zoom Webinar

Facilitator: Katie Homar

In this workshop, we explore how to create solid results and discussion sections. We will focus on constructing a strong research story to organize and interpret results, with special attention to the different forms these sections can take across engineering disciplines. 

Specifically, participants will practice and discuss strategies for:

• Choosing an appropriate structure for results/discussion sections in their engineering field
• Choosing what to include in results versus discussion sections
• Effectively organizing data commentaries 
• Linking discussion section to literature/past findings
• Integrating figures and visuals in results/discussion sections
• Starting and/or revising their own results/discussion section

Participants may apply up to 2 hours of credit toward the Graduate Writing Certificate.

Thursday, Oct. 22 | 11 a.m. – Noon | Zoom Access

AND

Friday, Oct. 23 | 11 a.m. – Noon | Zoom Access

Facilitator: Joe Aldinger

In this two-day workshop, participants will complete a CliftonStrengths Assessment. Participants will learn about their talents and identify how they utilize these as strengths in everyday work and activities. Participants will learn how to utilize strengths language to create successful application materials such as cover letter, resume, and LinkedIn profile. Open to ALL graduate students and postdocs.

Attendance at both sessions is mandatory.

This workshop can be applied to IJSS to fulfill the 4 workshop requirement.

Monday, Oct. 19 | 10-11 a.m. | Zoom Webinar

AND

Monday, Oct. 26 | 10 a.m.-noon | Zoom Webinar

Facilitator: Vanessa Doriott Anderson

In this two-part workshop, we will explore strategies for delivering a compelling, accessible academic job talk. In the first session, participants will reflect on the purpose of their talk as well as its audience, and will engage in a number of exercises to help them pitch their research to an interdisciplinary audience. In the second session, 1-3 speakers will present their job talk for peer review. Open to ALL graduate students and postdocs regardless of your teaching experience.

Attendance at both sessions is mandatory.

Participants may apply up to 3 hours of credit toward the Teaching and Communication Certificate.

Monday, Nov. 2 | 10-11 a.m. | Zoom Webinar

AND

Monday, Nov. 9 | 10 a.m.-noon | Zoom Webinar

Facilitator: Vanessa Doriott Anderson

In this two-part workshop, we will explore strategies for managing conflict in the classroom. In the first session, we will examine various approaches to preventative and reactive conflict management, using real-life examples. In the second session, participants will role-play a variety of scenarios to practice assertive conflict management. Open to ALL graduate students and postdocs regardless of your teaching experience.

Attendance at both sessions is mandatory.

Participants may apply up to 3 hours of credit toward the Teaching and Communication Certificate.

Thursday, Nov. 5 | 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. | Zoom Webinar

Facilitators: Krista Morris-Lehman and Sarah Furman

QPR is intended to teach individuals how to recognize the warning signs of suicide including verbal, behavioral, and situational clues. It provides guidelines on how to question a person about suicidal thoughts, persuade them to get help, and refer the person for help. The QPR training is both educational and experiential, and includes:

• An overview of statistics regarding suicide
• Myths versus facts
• Identifying behavioral, verbal, and situational warning signs
• Practicing concrete tools for helping someone in distress

​Please note, this Faculty/Staff QPR training session would be more appropriate for Postdoctoral trainees.

Participants may receive credit toward the Teaching and Communication Certificate upon submission of the Reporter course completion certificate.

Monday, Nov. 9 | 9:30 – 11:30 a.m. | Zoom Webinar

Facilitator: Emily Anderson

QPR is intended to teach individuals how to recognize the warning signs of suicide including verbal, behavioral, and situational clues. It provides guidelines on how to question a person about suicidal thoughts, persuade them to get help, and refer the person for help. The QPR training is both educational and experiential, and includes:

• An overview of statistics regarding suicide
• Myths versus facts
• Identifying behavioral, verbal, and situational warning signs
• Practicing concrete tools for helping someone in distress

Participants may receive credit toward the Teaching and Communication Certificate upon submission of the Reporter course completion certificate.

Monday, Nov. 16 | 10-11 a.m. | Zoom Webinar

AND

Monday, Nov. 23 | 10 a.m.-noon | Zoom Webinar

Facilitator: Vanessa Doriott Anderson

In this two-part workshop, we will consider best practices for reading, analyzing, and using the data from your course evaluations. How can you make your evaluations work for you, so that they become part of a cycle of reflective teaching practice? How can you use them as evidence of effective teaching in your job materials? How can you separate constructive criticism from ad hominem attacks and excessive praise? And how can you supplement your standard course evaluations to get the information you really need to improve your teaching? 

Attendance at both sessions is mandatory.

Participants may apply up to 3 hours of credit toward the Teaching and Communication Certificate.

Thursday, Dec. 3 | 1 – 2 p.m. | Zoom Access

AND

Friday, Dec. 4 | 1 – 2 p.m. | Zoom Access

Facilitator: Joe Aldinger

In this two-day workshop, participants will complete a CliftonStrengths Assessment. Participants will learn about their talents and identify how they utilize these as strengths in everyday work and activities. Participants will learn how to utilize strengths to be more effective in interviewing and networking. Open to ALL graduate students and postdocs.

Attendance at both sessions is mandatory.

This workshop can be applied to IJSS to fulfill the 4 workshop requirement.

Friday, Dec. 11 | 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. | Zoom Webinar

Facilitators: Krista Morris-Lehman and Sarah Furman

QPR is intended to teach individuals how to recognize the warning signs of suicide including verbal, behavioral, and situational clues. It provides guidelines on how to question a person about suicidal thoughts, persuade them to get help, and refer the person for help. The QPR training is both educational and experiential, and includes:

• An overview of statistics regarding suicide
• Myths versus facts
• Identifying behavioral, verbal, and situational warning signs
• Practicing concrete tools for helping someone in distress

​Please note, this Faculty/Staff QPR training session would be more appropriate for Postdoctoral trainees.

Participants may receive credit toward the Teaching and Communication Certificate upon submission of the Reporter course completion certificate.

Tuesday, Jan. 19 | 1:30 – 3:30 p.m. | Zoom Webinar

Facilitator: Emily Anderson

QPR is intended to teach individuals how to recognize the warning signs of suicide including verbal, behavioral, and situational clues. It provides guidelines on how to question a person about suicidal thoughts, persuade them to get help, and refer the person for help. The QPR training is both educational and experiential, and includes:

• An overview of statistics regarding suicide
• Myths versus facts
• Identifying behavioral, verbal, and situational warning signs
• Practicing concrete tools for helping someone in distress

Participants may receive credit toward the Teaching and Communication Certificate upon submission of the Reporter course completion certificate.

Wednesday, Feb. 17 | 9:30 – 11:30 a.m. | Zoom Webinar

Facilitator: Emily Anderson

QPR is intended to teach individuals how to recognize the warning signs of suicide including verbal, behavioral, and situational clues. It provides guidelines on how to question a person about suicidal thoughts, persuade them to get help, and refer the person for help. The QPR training is both educational and experiential, and includes:

• An overview of statistics regarding suicide
• Myths versus facts
• Identifying behavioral, verbal, and situational warning signs
• Practicing concrete tools for helping someone in distress

Participants may receive credit toward the Teaching and Communication Certificate upon submission of the Reporter course completion certificate.

Monday, March 1 | 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. | Zoom Webinar

Facilitator: Emily Anderson

QPR is intended to teach individuals how to recognize the warning signs of suicide including verbal, behavioral, and situational clues. It provides guidelines on how to question a person about suicidal thoughts, persuade them to get help, and refer the person for help. The QPR training is both educational and experiential, and includes:

• An overview of statistics regarding suicide
• Myths versus facts
• Identifying behavioral, verbal, and situational warning signs
• Practicing concrete tools for helping someone in distress

Participants may receive credit toward the Teaching and Communication Certificate upon submission of the Reporter course completion certificate.

Thursday, April 8 | 10 a.m. – 12 p.m. | Zoom Webinar

Facilitator: Emily Anderson

QPR is intended to teach individuals how to recognize the warning signs of suicide including verbal, behavioral, and situational clues. It provides guidelines on how to question a person about suicidal thoughts, persuade them to get help, and refer the person for help. The QPR training is both educational and experiential, and includes:

• An overview of statistics regarding suicide
• Myths versus facts
• Identifying behavioral, verbal, and situational warning signs
• Practicing concrete tools for helping someone in distress

Participants may receive credit toward the Teaching and Communication Certificate upon submission of the Reporter course completion certificate.