Schedule - BC/CU Senior Seminar - Spring 2009

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.

Attendance of seminar session and participation in group discussions
One oral presentations about your research (12 minutes, incl. discussion)
One poster (2nd semester students only), attendance of poster session
Delivery of documents due, often in paper and electronic form on time, as detailed below. See grading policy for details.

Date	spring/fall seq. (1^st sem)	fall/spring seq. (2^nd sem)
Jan. 22, 4:10-6:00	Introduction, goals of Senior Seminar, scientific writing (MP)
Jan. 22, 4:10-6:00	What makes a good thesis project (MN), Advisor/mentor/student relationship (MN), Differences between departments (MN)	Statistics/data analyses questions (MP)
Jan.29, no class	Individual meetings with advisors and mentors to discuss thesis topic	Individual meetings with advisors and mentors discussion of thesis proposal
Feb. 5, 4:10-6:00	Methods of library research, ISI Web of Knowledge (BM), Elements of a thesis proposal, Outline; (MN), How to write an introduction?(MN/BM) Individual meetings with advisors and mentors to discuss thesis topic	Data Analysis and Statistics(MP) How to separate results and discussion? (SP) What goes into an abstract? Individual meetings with advisors and mentors discussion of thesis proposal
Feb. 12, 4:10-6:00	Careers
Feb. 12, 4:10-6:00	Individual meetings with advisors and mentors to discuss outline	Individual meetings with advisors and mentors to discuss another thesis
Feb. 19, no class	Individual meetings with advisors and mentors to discuss thesis topic	Individual meetings with advisors and mentors discussion of thesis proposal
Feb. 26, 4:10-6:00	PPT & other tech. issues (BM) peer review process (BM)
Feb. 26, 4:10-6:00	Figures & captions (MN/MP); Individual meetings with advisors and mentors discussion of thesis proposal outline Due: Outline of thesis proposal (1 copy)	How to make a poster (BM/SP) One minute slides Due: 1st draft of thesis (1 copy)
Mar. 5, 4:10-6:00 404 & 530 Altschul	Careers
Mar. 5, 4:10-6:00 404 & 530 Altschul
Mar. 12, 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. 19, no class	SPRING BREAK!
Mar. 26, 4:10-6:00	Mini-conference 1, 10min presentations plus 3min discussion (see student list for time assignment)
Apr. 2, 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. 2, 4:10-6:00	Due: thesis proposal draft, 2 copies, begin of peer review process	Due: 2nd draft of thesis, 3 copies, begin of peer review process
Apr. 9, 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
Apr. 16 , 4:10-6:00	Individual meetings with seminar faculty and mentors, discuss final thesis/proposal You are welcome to attend the critique of the one minute slides to prepare for next semeser. Due: copy of review sheet for your peer, 404 Altschul	Present one minute summary slides in class/discussion of poster drafts Due: poster drafts, discussion in class, copy of review sheet for your peer, sign up for poster printing time slot
by Wed Apr 22, 5pm; no class		Due: deposit one-page summary ppt slide on courseworks
Apr. 23, 4pm-7pm James Room?, 4th fl., Barnard Hall	Poster session
Apr. 30, 4:10-6:00	Careers: How to get ahead in Professional organizational environments (S. Cohen)
Tu 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 the BC Env. Science department's office (before 5pm)

put them on big table in the department and check off your name on the list
text needs to be double-spaced
please print double-sided if you can
if you are handing in your thesis, these two copies must be bound

please also give another copy to your research mentor (we will ask for feedback from your mentor for the final grade)
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 3 minutes for discussion
please practice the talk so that you will stay within the time limit, we will have to cut you off after 12 min
you'll be using a remote control to flip the slides
upload tour presentation 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.)

Present one minute summary slides in class/discussion of poster drafts

please deposit a one-minute slide and a draft of your poster on Courseworks (EESC X3800, look for folders under 'shared files') before noon on Thursday
we are going to print the posters on 11.5x14 paper in black & white and bring them to class
in class, you'll be asked to present your one minute slide in front of the class and we'll discuss your poster drafts in small groups
We have discussed one minute slides, but you can look at them on-line in the thesis data base again. Instructions for the poster making are posted below

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:

How to make a poster ppt
How to make a poster
One minute slides
Poster session invitation
Poster session program
The one-minute slides presenttaions are usually videotaped, see videos of previious years:

2009, 2008

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: