Summary of Departmental Plan
Departmental plan led by Associate Professor Olya Keen focuses on ongoing support, future success, outreach, and welcome initiatives for graduate students. Activities include establishing recruiting relationships, creating a welcome package, implementing Individualized Development Plans, encouraging mentor training, and fostering a sense of community through seminars and symposiums. The plan also emphasizes setting up students for future success by helping them build professional networks and mentoring relationships.
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Summary of Departmental Plan UNC Charlotte, Civil and Environmental Engineering Olya Keen, Associate Professor and Graduate Program Director
Broad overview Ongoing Support Future Success Outreach Welcome
Specific tasks - Outreach Establishing recruiting relationship with local HBSUs, e.g. Johnson C. Smith College and NC A&T, and institutions serving Native American populations, e.g. UNC Pembroke Programs have been identified, first round of contact initiated Asian South Asian Black White Male Female Domestic International Race Gender Status 11% 25% 32% 18% 46% 68% 75% 25%
Specific tasks - Welcome Creating a welcome package/handbook for incoming students to standardize the expectations for the students and their mentors. Minimize the fear of asking an obvious question. Give students agency to know when they are ready to graduate. First draft is in preparation for roll-out in the Fall semester Includes sections such as Advisor vs. Mentor. Finding mentors beyond your advisor , Paper writing process and benefit and Responsibilities of a PhD student, a mentor and an advisor Peer-mentor matching. Assigning a senior PhD students as mentors to incoming students Has been a successful model without a formal structure. Will be formalized.
Specific tasks Ongoing support Individualized Development Plans Has been rolled out in Spring 2022 Need to develop an enforcement mechanism Encouraging faculty to participate in mentor training workshops The department has a fairly good percent of participation: of 16 faculty who advise graduate students as part of their regular job responsibilities, 8 have completed the training (50%) Annual feedback meetings with PhD students Rolled out in Fall 2021. Did a survey. Received some actionable feedback. Activities to build a sense of community Monthly seminars to discuss graduate life topics with coffee and cookies. Started in Fall 2021. Topics such as university resources for graduate students, developing your IDP, professional licensure process and a career advice panel with former graduates. Departmental Research Symposium. Started in the Fall 2019.
Specific tasks Setting up for future success Helping students to build a professional network and to develop new mentoring relationships by surveying students on their mentor preferences (e.g. type of job, age, race, family status, veteran status, etc.). Drawing from existing contacts to find suitable mentors for interested students. Still in development Graduate student handbook lists as one of the expectations for the advisor to assist their PhD students with network building: e.g. cover conference travel and accompany students to conferences.
