The Graduate Student Assembly (GSA) held a meeting on Thursday, November 8. Caroline Coscia was appointed the GSA representative to the Parking Fee Increase Committee…The GSA website has been changed to www.GSA.umb.edu… The GSA appropriated $1,000 to support a series of “Olde Time Holiday” activities (scheduled for November 27 and December 5) being sponsored by the Alcohol and Addiction Resource Center…Reminder: The deadline for the Spayne and Bollinger Research Grants ($500) is November 30. Applications are available on the GSA website and in the Student Life Office…The next meeting of the GSA will be on Thursday, December 6 at 4:00pm in the Wheatley Student Lounge.
GRADUTE WRITING CENTER: Individual tutoring and workshops are being offered by the Graduate Writing Center located on the 3rd Floor of the Science Building, Room 001-03 ( call 287-5708). The purpose of the Graduate Writing Center is to provide tutorial assistance to students willing to make a commitment to work with a tutor over several weeks. Students who are in the process of completing graduate coursework at UMass Boston, and who wish to develop their best writing process, graduate-level research skills, and/or understanding of the general expectations associated with graduate study should consider signing up for tutoring. Students may do so by filling out a request form at the center. Generally, a student meets with his/her tutor for weekly one-hour appointments. (Professors who wish to schedule writing-workshop visits to their courses should contact Meesh McCarthy at [email protected] or Rita Nethersole at [email protected].
DOCTORAL DISSERTATION DEFENSE: Arthur L. Dirks, from the Higher Education Administration Doctoral Program, defended his dissertation titled “Implementing the Arts In an Urban Public College: A Case Study” on November 13. His committee included: Dr. Sandra Kanter, Dept. of Leadership in Education, UMass Boston; Dr. Linda Eisenmann, Dept. of Leadership in Education, UMass Boston; and Dr. Mark Schlesinger, Dept. of Community and Theatre Arts, UMass Boston.
INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS ASSOCIATION: The International Affairs Association, a new graduate student organization, was introduced this year by students in the new Masters in International Affairs P-rogram at the McCormack Institute at UMB. The purpose of the Association is to promote understanding of a broad range of international issues for members of the UMass community and other interested persons and groups.
The Association plans to realize its mission by organizing social and educational events, establishing a collection of research materials, and plans to visits to conferences or forums with an international focus, and other off-campus events and forums, as well.
A secondary objective of the organization is to promote awareness and interest in the aforementioned Masters in International Affairs program. Each of the IAA organization’s founding members are enrolled in this program and believe strongly in the benefits of its curriculum. For more information contact the IAA President, Kelly Tobin at kjtumb @yahoo.com .
ENGLISH MA COLLOQUIUM SERIES: Charles F. Meyer of the Applied Linquistics Program will present “Pseudo-Titles in Journalism: Calling World Leaders Names” on Friday, November 16 at 4:00pm in the English Seminar Room (W-6-047). Readings are available in the English Department Office. All students and faculty are welcome. On December 7, Professor Askold Melnyczuk will present “Fiction Reading.”
TALES FROM THE GRAD SCHOOL FRONT: Tips on grant writing from Kathleen Carmichael, Ph.D. “So you’ve got the grant. Congratulations! Your success is a testimony to your persuasive powers, organizational skills, and inherent quality of your project. You’ve taken an important step towards career success.
But your not past the finish line yet. While getting the grant is important, it is equally important to remember that this award – with luck and some work – will be only one among many. You will need more funding in the future, won’t you? Well, how you use this award may be crucial in determining how successful your future applications are.
In short, part of the challenge of receiving a grant is schooling yourself into using the monies responsibly. That doesn’t mean just the obvious – don’t blow your M.J. Hoffstettler Grant for Material Science on a ski trip. It also means that you should be fully prepared, at any stage during or after grant time, to give a full account of how you used it.
This level of accounting is not second nature to all of us. It may seem like an irritating hindrance to your real work; after all, they gave you the grant – shouldn’t your sponsor be willing to trust you from there?
Sure, that would be nice. But he fact of the matter is that, even philanthropic organizations like to see some return on their money. Moreover, if you discipline yourself into accounting for all your expenditures early in your life as a scholar and researcher, you will be better prepared than most to shoulder the administrative responsibilities that inevitably accompany success in any field.”
GRADUATE FELLOWSHIPS FOR NEW AMERICANS: The purpose of The Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans is to provide opportunities for continuing generations of able and accomplished “New Americans” to achieve leadership in their chosen fields. The program is established in recognition of the contributions “New Americans” have made to American life and in gratitude for the opportunities the United States has afforded the donors and their family. Each year, thirty fellowships are awarded to students pursuing a graduate degree. Each fellow receives a grant of $20,000 plus one-half the tuition cost of the U. S. graduate program they are attending. A “New American” is an individual who is a resident alien: i.e. holds a green card (a green card holder must have had more than one year of IRS filings) or has been naturalized as a U.S. citizen or is the child of two parents who are both naturalized citizens. For more information and an application visit www.pdsoros.org. A limited number of applications are also available in the Office of Merit-Based Scholarships, Quinn Building, 2nd Floor. The deadline is November 30, 2001.