Fall 2007 Newsletter

IN THIS EDITION
• Present Like A Pro
• Catching the "Research Bug"
• Seeing the Fine Line
• Mandatory English Assessments for International Students
• Lori Naramore has joined the UAB Graduate School
• Student Spotlight
• Graduate Student Research Days 2008

Present Like A Pro
Many a brilliant scientist – unrivaled in the laboratory --- has been reduced to weak-knees, a sweaty brow and nervous stomach on the eve of his first major professional presentation. What if the laptop crashes? Or, the microphone squeals? Or a guy on the front row falls asleep? Read more.

Catching the "Research Bug"
Seventeen UAB graduate students have been selected to receive a new series of research travel and tuition awards from the Graduate School, according to Dean Bryan Noe. The idea for these new programs grew out of a brainstorming session with Dr. Susan Rich, associate dean of life sciences, and Dr. Jeffrey Engler, associate dean of academic affairs. Read more.

Seeing the Fine Line
There can be a fine line between a scientific case study and invasion of privacy, an experiment on a human subject and an abuse of trust, a collaboration and plagiarism. This fall, these provocative issues will be explored at the UAB Graduate School with a popular course on scientific integrity. Read more.

Mandatory English Assessments for International Students
Beginning this fall, international students (those who submitted TOEFL scores for admission to UAB) are required by a new Graduate School policy to complete academic English assessments between August 13 and August 24, 2007, according to Dr. Jeffrey Engler, associate dean of academic affairs. Read more.

Lori Naramore has joined the UAB Graduate School
Lori Naramore has joined the UAB Graduate School’s Professional Development Program as an Office Associate II. Read more.

Student Spotlight
Each month, 2 students from one discipline are chosen to be “spotlighted” on the Graduate School homepage. This month, our Student Spotlight features Melissa Talbert and Saman Khaled, two students from the Pathology program. Read more.

Graduate Student Research Days 2008
Mark your calendar! Dates have been chosen for the 2008 Graduate Student Research Days (GSRD) competition. Read more.

Many a brilliant scientist – unrivaled in the laboratory --- has been reduced to weak-knees, a sweaty brow and nervous stomach on the eve of his first major professional presentation. What if the laptop crashes? Or, the microphone squeals? Or a guy on the front row falls asleep?

Giving a successful presentation – at a conference, at a committee meeting, in a classroom – involves more than just “knowing your stuff,” says Dr. Julia Austin, director of educational services at the UAB Graduate School.

Austin says it’s not difficult to present like a professional but “it does take preparation, awareness of some basic principles, and a chance to practice some of the techniques that professional presenters use. For best results, you also need a safe environment for learning, so you can make mistakes and get them out of the way.”

UAB offers graduate students and post-doctoral fellows an opportunity to do just that in a one-day workshop, Saturday, Nov. 10, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. New in the fall, GRD 707, “Presenting Effectively,” is a quick, easy way to acquire the basics of planning and giving effective professional presentations.

The workshop examines essential skills and strategies that include sizing up your audience, analyzing your purpose, assessing the environment, making language choices, understanding the differences between speaking and writing, reading nonverbal communication, modeling effective delivery, giving poster presentations, controlling nervousness, handling questions, plus selecting visual aids.

GRD 707, a 1-credit hour course, is limited to 40 students. For information, contact Dr. Austin at jaustin@uab.edu.

Seventeen UAB graduate students have been selected to receive a new series of research travel and tuition awards from the Graduate School, according to Dean Bryan Noe. The idea for these new programs grew out of a brainstorming session with Dr. Susan Rich, associate dean of life sciences, and Dr. Jeffrey Engler, associate dean of academic affairs.

“The Ireland Research Scholar Awards for Plan I Masters emerged from a discussion about how much of the school’s financial support was going to Ph.D. students, and only a small amount to Masters degree students,” explains Noe. “We wanted to provide incentives for Masters students to pursue a research track (Plan I) instead of just doing coursework to obtain their degree (Plan II). We hope they catch ‘the research bug.’”

The funds for the awards are provided by an endowment established at UAB by Caroline Ireland and the late Charles W. Ireland, and by some new resources allocated to the Graduate School from the Provost’s office. “Mrs. Ireland was particularly forward-thinking to stipulate establishment of the research travel award, which provides a novel resource for Ph.D. and MS students,” comments Rich.

The Ireland travel awards are strategically targeted to provide students with unique and valuable opportunities, according to Engler. “The research travel scholarship, which awards a maximum of $1,000, is not designed to send someone to a professional meeting; it’s designed to enable a student to capture an educational opportunity that doesn’t exist here at UAB. These travel scholarships are highly competitive, and students applied for everything from a trip to the Library of Congress to study historic documents to targeted laboratory training at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution to acquire new techniques. These travel awards provide elite educational experiences that enrich not only our students, but UAB as a whole.”

Students were nominated by their advisors and program directors, says Engler. “We expect to hold another competition in 2008.”

The students awarded the 2007 Ireland Tuition Scholarships (covering three semesters of tuition and fees) for Plan I Master’s degree seekers are: Donna Hill, biology; Andrew Stephen Mobley, biology; Christopher Null, history; Amber Henson, art and art history; Emma Fox, art and art history; Brian Steinert, materials science and engineering; Dana A. Lackey, civil, construction, and environmental engineering; and Meenakshi Kushwaha, biomedical engineering.

The students awarded the 2007 Ireland Research Travel Scholarships include: Scott W. Keith, biostatistics; Christopher Null, history; Riley Myers, microbiology; Laura Williams, nursing; Phillip J. Dolan, cell biology; Julia Schmitz, microbiology; Christopher Yuskaitis, MD/PhD, cell biology; Matthew M. Hewitt, biophysics and physiology; and Nathaniel Lawson, biomedical engineering.

There can be a fine line between a scientific case study and invasion of privacy, an experiment on a human subject and an abuse of trust, a collaboration and plagiarism. This fall, these provocative issues will be explored at the UAB Graduate School with a popular course on scientific integrity.

A second section of GRD 717, Principles of Scientific Integrity, will be offered on Tuesday afternoons (the Friday course is full) to accommodate growing demand, says Julia Austin, director of educational services. “This course fills up quickly, in part, because it helps students on training grants fulfill a federal requirement for ethics training, and in part, because many departments require it to ensure that students are aware of these important ethical issues.”

While they may take the course as a requirement, students are intrigued by the depth and breadth of ethical challenges confronting scientists today, says Austin. “An ethics course may not sound exciting, but many students are often surprised by the range of issues and are intellectually challenged by the presentations, which include timely and current questions in science.”

Among the topics discussed in GRD 717 are the nature, extent, and causes of fraud in the sciences; UAB policies on fraud; the ideals of good science; the responsibilities of authorship and peer review; potential problems raised by the commercialization of research; scientists as public policy advisors; and ethical issues involved in animal experimentation and in clinical trials.

For more information, contact the instructor, Dr. Harold A. Kincaid, at kincaid@uab.edu or visit the Center for Ethics & Values in the Sciences at http://www.uab.edu/philosophy/ethics_center.html

Beginning this fall, international students (those who submitted TOEFL scores for admission to UAB) are required by a new Graduate School policy to complete academic English assessments between August 13 and August 24, 2007, according to Dr. Jeffrey Engler, associate dean of academic affairs.

“Many talented international students enroll at UAB, and we want these students to be on a level playing field with their communication skills. We don’t want them to find themselves in situations – in labs, lectures or on writing assignments – where they are at a disadvantage just because of their English abilities. Ideally, these assessments, and the accompanying instructional support that we offer, will help them succeed.”

Free for graduate students, post-doctoral fellows and UAB employees, the assessments are administered by the Professional Development Program’s instructors in English as a Second Language (ESL), explains the director of educational services, Dr. Julia Austin, who is a veteran instructor of English, ESL and writing/composition.

“Students come to us with varying levels of English, ranging from basic conversational to superior,” she says. “Our assessments give them a fairly quick, accurate baseline measure of their academic English proficiency. For some, it’s a relief to have that proficiency confirmed. For others, it’s an opportunity to obtain the support they need to perform in an academic English environment.”

The Graduate School’s ESL assessment package consists of two parts:1) A 20-minute structured, recorded interview;2) A 1-hour persuasive essay-writing sample.

“Students must take both oral and written components,” Dr. Austin adds. “If you are a graduate student, your ESL assessment scores will be sent to you and your department for advising purposes only. Based on these scores, one or more ESL courses may be recommended or required by your departmental program to assist you in your graduate training and professional development.”

For information or to schedule an assessment, contact Lori Naramore in the PDP office at (naramor3@uab.edu). International students must take the assessments prior to registering for ESL courses, which run from Sept. 10 to Nov. 17.

Lori Naramore has joined the UAB Graduate School’s Professional Development Program as an Office Associate II. Mrs. Naramore, whose email is naramor3@uab.edu, serves as the point person for students who have questions about GRD courses or who wish to sign up to take the new mandatory assessments, in addition to other duties.

A native of Kentucky, she has more than 12 years of experience in human resources, customer service, sales support, secretarial duties, events coordination and newsletter editing. “I like variety. I love my job at the Grad School because I do something different every day.”

Mrs. Naramore and her husband, Tim, a manufacturing specialist, have one daughter, Elisabeth, who is in the ninth grade. The family lives in Mt. Olive.

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Each month, 2 students from one discipline are chosen to be “spotlighted” on the Graduate School homepage. This month, our Student Spotlight features Melissa Talbert and Saman Khaled, two students from the Pathology program. Our Spotlight has been in effect since Fall 2006, highlighting the amazing achievements of students in Biology, Biostatistics, Health Informatics, Physics, Microbiology, and Mathematics.

To read our current Student Spotlight as well as previous Spotlights, visit the homepage at www.uab.edu/graduate.

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Mark your calendar! Dates have been chosen for the 2008 Graduate Student Research Days (GSRD) competition.

February 1, 2008, 12:00 Noon: Deadline for Abstracts

February 28 & 29, 2008: GSRD Competition

March 7, 2008: Awards Luncheon

Look for the Call for Abstracts begining in January 2008. To ensure a diverse judging panel, graduate students are asked to encourage the faculty from their departments to serve as judges in the competition.

For more information, visit www.uab.edu/graduate/researchday.