Wednesdays 12-2 p.m., Jan. 15 – April 8 | Tompkins Hall G125
Instructor:  Stella Jackman-Ryan

Ahead Of The Pack is a comprehensive development series that supports first-year graduate students in their adjustment to graduate school. The series will include weekly sessions that provide sustained support, practice, and feedback on key aspects of graduate school inclusive of wellness, time-management, communication, writing, and career management. Get the tools you need to navigate your experiences and requirements of grad school and set yourself on a path for success.

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Mondays 1-4 p.m., Jan. 6 – April 20 | Kilgore Hall 125
Instructor: Vanessa Doriott Anderson

Communicating about your area of specialization involves so much more than content expertise and a captive audience. In this development series, we will explore tools and strategies to help you communicate more effectively with students, specialists, and the public alike. Topics will include motivation and development models, inclusive learning environments, the debate around teaching and learning styles, visual communication and multimodality, and more.

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

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From video abstracts that “advertise” a published article to engaging videos that make science accessible to broad audiences online, participants in this “hands-on” workshop will create their own video project from start to finish. In addition to composing a script, participants will learn best practices for gathering footage, organizing video assets, and editing through collaboration with NC State’s Library Media Team. This is a hands-on workshop series where participants will have opportunities to experiment with techniques for telling a research story on screen and get feedback at every stage from the instructor and peers. They will leave the session not only with a usable video project but also with strategies for managing a video project and communicating their research to diverse stakeholders. Open to all grad students and postdocs.

You may apply up to 24 hours of credit from this development series toward the Teaching & Communication and Writing Certificates.

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This module of A2i provides masters, PhDs, and postdocs with an introduction to application materials and career pathways available in industry. Topics covered in the workshop include: resume design, cover letters, creating and marketing your personal brand, navigating the hiring process, as well as leveraging social media for networking and recognition. While practicing both close and distant reading on jobs ads, participants will learn how to create compelling narratives and tailor application materials in order to be successful on the job market. For their final project, participants will create resumes, application letters, and LinkedIn profiles that will be used in future A2i modules.

The Industry Job Search Strategies series will be offered twice during the Spring 2020 semester:

Section 1 | Tuesdays 1:15 – 3:15 p.m., Jan. 7 – Feb. 4 | Engineering Building III 2232

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Section 2 | Thursdays 1:15 – 3:15 p.m., Jan. 9 – Feb. 6 | Engineering Building III 2232

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Tuesdays 3-5 p.m., Jan. 7 – April 21 | Tompkins Hall G117
Instructor: Vanessa Doriott Anderson

In this blended in-person and 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.

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

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This course will equip you with the skills and documents to navigate American industry job searches: From networking with colleagues to interpreting industry job ads, crafting your professional resume and speaking during interviews. You will leave the workshop with usable drafts of a resume, industry cover letter, LinkedIn portfolio, and professional email correspondence that you can use in future job searches and networking. The course is small to maximize time for interactive discussions, workshop drafts of your writing, and individualized feedback on your job search materials.

You may apply up to 21 hours of credit from this development series toward the Teaching & Communication and Writing Certificates.

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Do you want to learn the basics of publishing journal articles or make substantial progress toward submitting your own article manuscript to a journal this semester? Writing for Journal Article Publication (WJAP) is designed to support graduate student and postdoc researchers in learning and utilizing strategies for publishing research articles in disciplinary journals. New in Spring 2020, the workshop series will be offered in two formats, one for early career researchers who want more information about manuscript structure and strategy, and another for researchers in the later stages of their programs who are planning to submit a manuscript this semester and want more feedback and time polishing their article for submission.

You may apply up to 24 hours from either WJAP development series toward the Writing Certificate.

Section 1: Early Career | Thursdays 3:30-5:30 p.m., Jan. 16 – Mar. 5 | Kilgore Hall 125
If you are early in your graduate training and want to develop a strategy for writing article manuscripts as well as a deeper understanding of how to compose them, section 1 of WJAP, designed for graduate students in the early stages of their programs or dissertation writing process, is for you! Section 1 will include training and class discussion on the sections of an IMRaD (intro, methods, results, and discussion) style article and will provide a firm foundation in the “nuts and bolts” of writing for academic publication.

Register Now for Section 1

Section 2: Late Stage | Wednesdays 9 – 11 a.m., Jan. 15 – Mar. 4 | Tompkins Hall G125
If you already have some research writing experience are currently preparing to submit your article to a journal in your field, consider joining section 2 of WJAP, designed for late stage graduate students and postdocs. Participants in WJAP section 2 will do more writing outside of class and will devote more in-class time to peer review and discussion, with ample time to receive feedback and revise your manuscript. Ideal for those who have already started the research and collected data, and are planning to submit an article this semester.

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Monday, November 4 / 10 AM–11 AM / Fox Labs

AND

Monday, November 11 / 10 AM–12 PM / Fox Labs

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.

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Wednesday, November 6  / 3:30PM-5:00PM / EBIII Room 2240

AND

Wednesday, November 13 / 3:30PM-5:00PM / EBIII Room 2240

In this two-part workshop, we address the challenge of creating discussion and conclusion sections. While these sections have many names in engineering writing, our workshops will focus on interpreting and evaluating results and answering the “big questions”  about the applications or downstream impact of your work. For the first part, we’ll examine how discussions and conclusions are constructed across engineering fields. In the second session, participants will implement these strategies to workshop their own discussion/conclusion section, leaving the session with stronger drafts of an article or chapter.

Attendance at both sessions is mandatory. This workshop satisfies credit toward the Graduate School Writing Certificate.

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Wednesday, November 13 / 10:00 – 11:30 a.m. / D.H. Hill Library 2112A

Are you looking to use a flipped approach to enhance engagement in your face-to-face or blended course? The flipped learning model is an instructional strategy where the more passive learning activities happen outside of the classroom, allowing more time for interactive activities during class time. Join Faculty Fellow Justin Post as he shares tips and strategies from his own course experiences.

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Wednesday, November 13 / 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. /  DH Hill Jr. Library, Multimedia Seminar Center

Are you interested in using open educational resources in your courses? Join the NC State University Libraries for a discussion led by Nicole Finkbeiner, a national leader in open education. Finkbeiner is the director of institutional relations for Rice University’s free textbook initiative, OpenStax. She founded and runs the nationally recognized Institutional Partner Program.

Finkbeiner is a national keynote speaker on open education, equity and access. She also coaches colleges and universities to effectively encourage faculty adoption of open educational resources to promote student success and faculty academic freedom.

For more information, contact David Tully via dltully@ncsu.edu or 919-515-2525.

Thursday, November 14 / 2:30 – 4:30 p.m. / Fox 206

Facilitators: Joe Aldinger and Katie Homar

As the job market becomes more competitive and the job advertisements more diverse, candidates need more than ever to showcase their skills in usable, well-designed application documents. Participants in this workshop will learn the differences between curriculum vitae (CVs) and résumés, the components of effective CVs/résumés, and practice implementing the writing and visual design skills that will set your CV and résumé apart from the stack.

This workshop satisfies credit toward the Graduate School Writing Certificate.

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Thursday, November 14 / 1:00 – 3:00 p.m. / Tompkins G125

In this workshop, Dr. Anne Ellen Geller, of St. John’s University will share findings from the Meaningful Writing Project—a study of the writing experiences over seven hundred seniors at three universities. Geller will suggest ways faculty teaching at all levels in all disciplines and professional programs can shape writing assignments to offer students opportunities for agency; for engagement with instructors, peers, and materials; and for learning that connects students to previous experiences and passions and to future aspirations and identities.

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Monday, November 18 / 10 AM–11 AM / ONLINE

AND

Monday, November 25 / 10 AM–12 PM / ONLINE

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. This workshop satisfies credit toward the Graduate School Writing Certificate.

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Thursday, November 21 / 2:30 – 4:30 p.m. / Fox 206

Facilitators: Shannon Madden and Chris Smith

Your personal brand or professional identity exists whether you are consciously shaping it or not. In today’s competitive hiring climate, it is essential to differentiate yourself and control the image that potential colleagues and prospective employers have of you through personal/professional branding. Participants in this workshop will learn the qualities of building a strong professional brand that enables you to project through your online presence and job documents the qualities that make you unique and recognizable in your field.

This workshop satisfies credit toward the Graduate School Writing Certificate.

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Monday, December 2 / 10 AM–11 AM / Fox Labs

AND

Monday, December 9 / 10 AM–12 PM / Fox Labs

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.

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Wednesday, January 22 | 3-5 p.m. | Engineering Building II – 1228

This workshop introduces and gives context to the Engineering Cafe writing series. We will practice and discuss tips for:

• Getting started on writing projects
• Managing writing projects
• Effective summarizing and paraphrasing
• Making engineering writing more “user-friendly”

Through this session, you will clarify your writing goals for the semester and leave with strategies to implement on current and future writing projects.

Students may apply up to 3 hours of credit toward the Graduate Writing Certificate.

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Wednesday, January 29 | 3-5 p.m. | Engineering Building II – 1228

In this workshop, we’ll explore how to make a compelling article introduction by examining how intros are constructed.
Specifically, participants will practice and discuss strategies for:

• Effectively organizing introductions using the famous using “Create A Research Space” (CARS) model
• Choosing an appropriate intro structure for their engineering field or goals
• Using appropriate verb tenses in introductions
• Starting or revising their own introduction section

Students may apply up to 3 hours of credit toward the Graduate Writing Certificate.

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Wednesday, February 12 | 3-5 p.m. | Engineering Building II – 1228

AND

Wednesday, February 19 | 3-5 p.m. | Engineering Building II – 1228

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
• Effectively organizing data commentaries 
• 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

Attendance at both sessions is mandatory. Students may apply up to 6 hours of credit toward the Graduate Writing Certificate.

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Wednesday, March 4 | 3-5 p.m. | Engineering Building II – 1228

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

Students may apply up to 3 hours of credit toward the Graduate Writing Certificate.

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Wednesday, March 18 | 3-5 p.m. | Engineering Building II – 1228

In this workshop, we tackle key “last steps” in research writing: effective abstracts to draw readers into your work and conclusions that articulate the impact of your work.

Specifically, participants will practice and discuss strategies for:

• Choosing what to include in an abstract
• Effectively organizing an abstract for their engineering field or goals
• Using appropriate verb tenses in an abstract
• Effectively structuring a conclusion section for their field or goals
• Answering the “so what question” in a conclusion section
• Starting and/or revising their own abstract and/or conclusion

Students may apply up to 3 hours of credit toward the Graduate Writing Certificate.

Register Now