Schedule - BC/CU Senior Seminar - Spring 2008

Seminar Requirements

Students can take the senior seminar in the spring/fall or fall/spring sequence. We somtimes meet with the entire class, sometimes in separate sections with the two groups. We do not meet every week, please do not miss any sessions! Class meetings are highlighted in bold face.

Items below in purple are for all students,
items in red are for students taking the senior seminar in the spring/fall sequence,
items in blue are for students taking the senior seminar in the fall/spring sequence.

Participation in group discussions
Discussion of your thesis (proposal) with the BC Writing Center
One oral presentations about your research (12 minutes, incl. discussion)
One poster, attendance of poster session
Delivery of thesis outline, abstract (in electronic form), draft, and final thesis as detailed below (on time!). See grading policy for details.

Date	spring/fall seq. (1^st sem)	fall/spring seq. (2^nd sem)
Jan. 24, 4:10-6:00	Introduction, goals of Senior Seminar, scientific writing (MS) Solicitation of Statistics Question/data sets (MP)
Jan. 24, 4:10-6:00	What makes a good thesis project (SP), Advisor/mentor/student relationship (SP), differences between departments (MP)
Jan.31, no class	Individual meetings with advisors and mentors to discuss thesis topic	Individual meetings with advisors and mentors discussion of thesis proposal
Feb. 7, 4:10-6:00	Elements of a thesis proposal; Outline; (MN/MS), How to write an introduction?(MN/MS), Endnote (MS) Methods of library research, Science Citation index (MS) Individual meetings with advisors and mentors to discuss thesis topic	Data Analysis and Statistics(MP) How to separate results and discussion? (SP)
Feb. 14, 4:10-6:00	Careers
Feb. 14, 4:10-6:00	Individual meetings with advisors and mentors to discuss outline	Individual meetings with advisors and mentors to discuss another thesis
Feb. 21, no class	Individual meetings with advisors and mentors to discuss thesis topic	Individual meetings with advisors and mentors discussion of thesis proposal
Feb. 28, 4:10-6:00	Careers
Feb. 28, 4:10-6:00	Due: Outline of thesis proposal (1 copy)	Due: 1st draft of thesis (1 copy)
Mar. 6, 4:10-6:00 404 & 530 Altschul	PPT & other tech. issues (MS)
Mar. 6, 4:10-6:00 404 & 530 Altschul	Figures & captions (MN/MP); Individual meetings with advisors and mentors discussion of thesis proposal outline	How to make a poster (MS), peer review process, One minute slides
Mar. 13, 4:10-6:00	How to give a scientific talk (SP) Data Analysis (MP), Experimental Design (MP)	Individual meetings with advisors and mentors discussion of thesis draft
Mar. 20, no class	SPRING BREAK!
Mar. 27, 4:10-6:00	Mini-conference 1, 10min presentations plus 3min discussion (see student list for time assignment) Due: Draft of thesis proposal/2nd draft of thesis, begin of peer review process,
	bring 2 copies to class	bring 3 copies to class
Apr. 3, 4:10-6:00	Mini-conference 2, 10min presentations plus 3min discussion (see student list for time assignment) Individual meetings with seminar faculty and mentors, discuss poster, final thesis/proposal, look at examples of thesis proposals and theses
Apr. 10, 4:10-6:00	Mini-conference 3, 10min presentations plus 3min discussion (see student list for time assignment) Individual meetings with seminar faculty and mentors, discuss poster, final thesis/proposal Due: review sheet for your peer
Apr. 17 , 4:10-6:00
Apr. 17 , 4:10-6:00		Present one-minute summary slides in class, discussion of poster drafts in class, How to present a poster. Due: poster drafts, one-minute slide drafts
by Tu Apr 22, 5pm; no class		Due: deposit one-page summary ppt slide on courseworks - poster printing, 404 Altschul, sign up for time slot
Apr. 24, 4pm-7pm Sulzberger Parlor, 3rd fl., Barnard Hall	Poster session
May 1, 4:10-6:00	Careers: How to get ahead in Professional organizational environments (S. Cohen)
Mo May 5, 5pm, 404 Altschul; no class	Due: Final thesis (proposal) (paper and electronic copy on courseworks) - course evaluations

Draft due means you should hand in:

the entire document as complete as possible following the structure outlines in thesis organisation
note what is missing
note how you intend to fill gaps
make sure that you give a copy of your docment to your reserach mentor at the same time

Final thesis/proposal due means you should hand in:

final version of your thesis/proposal for file and grade, please hand in two copies in Catherine Cook's office (before 5pm)

proposals need to be double-spaced, theses can be single or double-spaced
please print double-sided if you can
if you are handing in your thesis, these two copies should be bound

please also give another copy to your research mentor
deposit an electronic copy of your thesis on courseworks, use LastnameF.doc (or .pdf) as filename

please make sure the latest versions of your poster and mini conference talk are also on-line

fill out the evaluation form in courseworks

Presentations about your thesis/proposal

in the middle of the semester, you will give a presentation about your thesis/proposal
the talk should be <10 min long plus 2 minutes for discussion
you'll be using a remote control for flipping the slides
please practice the talk so that you will stay within the time limit, we will have to cut you off after 12 min
upload tour presenttaion before class on our courseworks web site, use 'LastnameF.ppt' as file name (e.g. StuteM.ppt)
we will ask your audience to make suggestions on how to improve your presentation on paper and send them to you by e-mail
comments on oral presentations

thesis/proposal

Individual meetings with advisors (seminar faculty), mentors, peers

the purpose of these meetings is to give you one on one feedback on your thesis project
during the semester, please discuss one senior thesis/proposal with your seminar advisor
you should meet with your advisor at least 3 times during the semester - however, feel free to schedule an appointment whenever you feel it is necessary
please act responsibly in scheduling and keeping appointments made with mentors, advisors, peers and writing fellows (i.a.)

Poster session

the poster session will begin with a one-slide, less than 1 minute summary of your thesis at the beginning
we then like you to stand next to your poster and discuss your work with attendees and other students
Relevant links:

Where to find theses, proposals, ppt talks and posters from previous years

Go to the following link, login with your UNI and browse by year
If this does not work, go to: https://sakaipilot.cc.columbia.edu/portal
login with your UNI
click on 'Env. Sci. Theses', then on 'files & resources', and finally on the file 'start.html'
a new browser window will pop up and you'll be able to browse documents produced by previous generations of students.
for thesis proposals, please visit the appropriate folder on courseworks (EESC BC 3800).

How to get ahead in prefessional orgnizational environments (by Steve Cohen & Jackie Marineese, SIPA)

topic to be discussed by our guests:

developing and maintaining a professional network
planning your first post - Barnard/Columbia professional move.
successding on the job.
building skills and competences
developing a professional reputation
overcoming prfessional adversity
moving up, over, and around
keeping your career in perspective

handouts: