Grad Connections supports graduate students’
academic success • sense of community • professionalization
Fall 2020 Events
New Student Round Table
Wed Sept 23rd 1:00 -2:30
In this session, “seasoned” graduate students will share their tips and tricks for success in their first year and beyond. They will also answer your burning questions about navigating the first year.
Virtual Social Hour
Friday October 16th 5-6:30pm
Join us for a departmental social hour! Faculty and graduate students will get to know one another and engage in some fun activities!
Virtual Job Market Session
Wednesday November 4th 4-5:30
If you are on the job market or will be soon you won’t want to miss this! Get insight s from faculty members across areas and get answers to all things job related!
Virtual Trivia Night
Friday November 13th 5-7pm
Do you miss trivia nights? Graduate students and faculty members are invited for an evening of virtual trivia fun!
Monthly Virtual Writing Retreats Last Friday of Every Month
Join us for virtual writing retreats on the last Friday of every month. Get support, accountability, and reach goals!
September 25th 9am – 11am
October 30th 9am – 11am
November 20th 9am – 11am
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Ongoing Resources
Mock Interviews
If you would like feedback on your interviewing skills contact Associate DOGE Stacy Tye-Williams at styewill@iastate.edu to schedule a mock interview.
Lending Library
Grad Connections maintains a small library of both sample documents and books related to research, teaching, and job searches. These materials are available in 203 Ross for 3-week check out. <<Click here to see list of books>>
Our Partner Student Organizations
Phorum (RPC PhD and RCPC MA students)
Phorum is the student organization for students of Rhetoric and Professional Communication (RPC—our PhD program) and Rhetoric, Composition, and Professional Communication (RCPC—our MA program). We host a variety of events throughout the year, including our Speaker Series where we hear from scholars in the field, and fun social activities. Check out our news page to see what’s been happening recently!
ALT Brown Bag Sessions (ALT PhD and MA students)
Each semester, the ALT program hosts a series of informative brown bag sessions on a variety of topics related to applied linguistics and technology. Presentations may be works-in-progress or completed projects by students, faculty, and special guests. This is an opportunity for ALT researchers to present their ideas and get helpful suggestions for moving ahead.
PART (All Grad Students)
The English department’s peer advising resource team (PART) is a group of graduate students at various levels in each program within the department. These students are available to give advice to new and prospective students on a variety of topics, from getting started at the university to living in Ames. Feel free to contact PART if you have questions about student life in ISU’s English Department.
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Our Department & University Committee Student Representatives
English Department: Graduate Studies Committee (GSC)
GSC Student Representatives 2020-21
PhD Kimberly Becker (ALT); kpb@iastate.edu
MFA Aimee Burch (CWE); aeburch@iastate.edu
MA Aaron Cronk (RCPC); acronk@iastate.edu
ISU’s Larger Graduate Student Community: Graduate and Professional Student Senate (GPSS)
GPSS English Senator 2020-21
Allison Durazzi (PhD RPC); durazzi@iastate.edu
Caroliena Cabada (MA Engl); ccabada@iastate.edu
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Past Events
| Event Title | Additional Details |
|---|---|
| Department Social Hours | A couple of times each semester, snacks and appetizers will be provided at a local off-campus establishment. |
| CV Workshop | GC partnered with Phorum and the Center for Communication Excellence to offer a workshop where graduate students at any level to develop and/or spruce up their CV. |
| Academic Writing Workshop | Introduction to the Center for Communication Excellence (CCE) programs and how you can receive support as you develop as a scholar. Sharing common struggles graduate students face in their academic writing. |
| Graduate Student Writing Retreat | An all-day writing retreat for graduate students to join their peers for a productive day of writing. |
| Inclusion Workshop (for graduate students) | A diversity and inclusion event developed specifically for graduate students to explore the inclusion-related issues graduate students face in the classroom and beyond. GC partnered with the ISU Graduate College. |
| Inclusion Workshop I (for faculty) | Part I workshop on fostering the climate of inclusion in our department: This workshop provided opportunities to discuss both the issue of microaggressions and scenarios that have occurred on campus as ways to help identify concrete steps for fostering inclusive departmental culture and interactions. GC partnered with Phorum, GPSS, Multicultural Student Affairs, Sloss Women’s Center, and the Graduate College. |
| Inclusion Workshop II (for faculty) | Part II workshop on fostering the climate of inclusion in our department. This workshop provided opportunities to quickly review the last workshop before diving into a discussion of how to address microaggressions when we encounter them. GC partnered with Phorum, GPSS, Multicultural Student Affairs, Sloss Women’s Center, and the Graduate College. |
| Inclusion Workshop III (for faculty) | Part III workshop on fostering the climate of inclusion in our department. This workshop provided the opportunity to learn about creating an inclusive environment in a research group |
| Insiders' Advice: Success in the First Few Years of Grad School | Advanced graduate students will share advice they wish they would have been given (or the best advice they did get) early in their degree programs. This session will cover such topics as how to: choose a major professor and committee, adjust to the dual roles of being both a teacher and grad student, find even a semblance of work-life balance, and use coursework to develop topics for the thesis/dissertation/creative component. Coffee and snacks provided! |
| PhD Students Annual Review: Open Forum | GC partnered with the TESL Brown Bag series to host this open forum on the annual review process for PhD students. Faculty members Carol Chapelle and David Russell, DOGE John Levis, and Grad Studies Staff Teresa Smiley described the annual review process and requirements before opening the floor to questions from attendees. Responses on a survey indicated an interest in learning more about departmental and Graduate College policies; since annual reviews are required for all PhD students , we thought this policy-related panel would be especially useful! |
| Don’t Set Yourself on Fire to Keep Everyone Else Warm! Student Counseling Services | GC partnered with Student Counseling Services to host this discussion about the impact of burnout, strategies for coping, creating a culture of wellness and self-care in your life, and services available to students at ISU. |
| Navigating the Dissertation/Thesis Process | This session covered everything from forming a POS committee to understanding timelines via advice from faculty and current graduate students at the late stages of their writing. |
| Surviving the Academic Hiring Process | Recently hired faculty members in a variety of areas shared tips and advice for navigating the academic job market and presenters took questions from the audience. They discussed the entire process from developing your job materials to interviewing and everything in between. |
| The Academic Job Search I | Part I of a series on the academic job market, GC partnered with the TESL Brown Bag series to offer a panel of faculty members, graduate students, and alumni who talked about these topics related to the academic job search: finding job listings, writing the cover letter, assembling the dossier, and establishing a professional digital presence. |
| The Academic Job Search II | Part II of a series on the academic job market, GC partnered with the TESL Brown Bag series to offer a panel of faculty members, graduate students, and alumni who talked about how to generate these crucial job documents: CVs, research statements, and teaching philosophies. |
| The Academic Job Search III | Part III of a series on the academic job market, GC partnered with the TESL Brown Bag series to offer a panel of faculty members, graduate students, and alumni who talked about interviewing and negotiating such as what questions are typically asked at interviews; special strategies for Skype and telephone interviews; useful tips for answering questions well; preparing a teaching demonstration and research talk; and professional conduct with the department pre-, during, and post-interview. |
| The Academic Job Search IV | Part IV of a series on the academic job search focuses on the on-campus portion of the process. A panel of faculty and graduate students talked about preparing for not only the job talk, the teaching demonstration, and meetings with administration but also those other, less scripted moments such as meals with members of the department, walks around campus, etc. |
| The Non-Academic Job Search | GC partnered with the TESL Brown Bag series and Phorum to host this panel discussion about how a graduate degree in English can translate to jobs in industry. Survey responses showed an interest in discussions on getting jobs and hearing from alumni, so we first heard from recent alumni about their work in non-academic fields and then took time for attendees to ask questions. |