List of Meeting Minutes
- BGSA meeting, April 10th, 2009
- Department chair candidates meeting with graduate students,
December 9th, 2008 - Graduate student/faculty discussion, October 23rd,
2008 - Grad forum: Introduction to webdesign, October 17th,
2008 - Graduate Student Council minutes, October 16th,
2008 - Meeting with Grad coordinators, September 19th,
2008 - (Z/B)GSA Meeting, September 11th, 2008
BGSA meeting, 10 April 2009
Proposal to use BGSA funds
There were 12-15 students who applied for travel awards this summer. Five applications were forwarded to CLAS. The department cannot support student travel this summer, though they will match funds for one additional travel grant if the college approves one.
Currently, the balance in the BGSA fund is $3000. This is roughly twice as much as at the beginning of the year with deposits from the soda and candy stores.
We must use these funds for one $300 Riewald grant. Additionally, it is proposed that the BGSA fund 3-5 summer travel awards, depending on whether the college provides any. This would be a maximum expenditure of about $1550. The idea is that this is a short-term fix, rather than long-term solution. No one knows whether travel money will be available from the department in the fall or in the future. If these funds are not spent now, they will stay in the account until the BGSA proposes and approves another manner in which to spend the funds.
A hidden vote will be conducted with doodle. Votes are due by Wednesday, April 15 at 5:00pm.
BGSA elections
The following positions reflect the new merged departments and will be open for nominations until Wednesday at 5:00pm. Send nominations to hvz@ufl.edu. Some descriptions are available online. The nominees will then be able to remove their name from the list before voting occurs. Voting will be conducted by email.
- President (1)
- VP (1)
- Secretary (1)
- Treasurer (1) – new position
- Undergrad Rep (1)
- Grad Rep (1)
- URAP (2)
- Welcoming Committee (5)
- Greenhouse Committee (1)
- Computer Committee (1)
- Seminar Committee (4)
- Seminar Rep (1) grad speaker/faculty liason
- GSC Reps (2)
- Soda store (4)
- Candy store (4)
- “Zoo”cial (4)
- Grad Forum (4)
- Space Committee (1)
- T-shirt Committee (?)
- Awards Committee (3) – not elected, will be selected from five Olowo/Riewald grant recipients
News from Faculty
IP course will be two-year experiment, and department will reassess after two years. Minutes are being kept for faculty meetings by different person each week, posted on server, available to just us. Alice Harmon is interested in fundraising/PR committee, potential for student rep in the future.
Department chair candidates meeting with graduate students 9 December 2008
Starting date: July 1, 2009
Intro from Craig Osenberg: Likes the department, expects challenges will be fewer for grad students than faculty, believes grad program is heart of department, has seen huge transition in Zoology dept in 12 years between department reviews that he has been a part of (in terms publications, productivity, etc.)
Intro from Alice Harmon: Also believes graduate program is key to department, recognizes increased enrollment for undergrad classes and teaching burden, few changes for our degree programs
1) How can minor in opposite department be preserved? What happens to the outside
committee member?
C: Faculty have graduate status in a program and still separate in that sense. Outside members in opposite unit are still okay.
A: Believes outside member is purely political,
and thinks outside member still in department (although different degree program) doesn’t fulfill role. Students in department at time of change can get grandfathered into old rules or chose new rules.
2) New role will demand a lot of extra commitment on top of already full plates. What
gives?
A: RA helps to maintain research, but likely won’t be sufficient. Alice thinks
she’ll lose free time.
C: Thinks his own graduate students should be concerned but will
work to protect time with grad students and children. Will not be teaching.
3) What will happen to the future of Integrative Principles and other required courses?
How can you give credit to people teaching IP?
C: Helped developed IP. Would like to see it continue. Right now, believes it
provides a scholarly framework to introduce to students to department research and unite students. Students talk about ideas outside of comfort zone, it allows students to go to people outside lab, field, etc and engage in scholarly discussions. May change approach in terms of modules, and should be reoriented to bring in broader diversity of faculty. Regarding other requirements, grad students shouldn’t be saddled with more commitments, but rather coursework is up to grad student and committee. Believes credit can be given to people teaching. It depends upon college, and has in the past relied upon faculty who do it by good will. Karen granted sabbatical to Craig for 7 years of teaching.
A: Thinks it is an excellent course to prepare for rigors of academia, especially to start early in career. Would like to see content modified to include more molecular focus.
4) What is your specific vision for department to change grad or undergrad programs,
courses, etc?
A: For short term, focus is not to change much, but to establish
infrastructure. Right now, we need to work on new strategic plan, bylaws, meeting conduct, etc. Changes to courses and degrees can come later, would like input from current students. Does not have a clear vision now without good understanding of Zoology.
C: Department works more democratically, will have lots of faculty input. He will work to make the vision from the whole department happen.
5) A lot of faculty don’t want to be chair. Why do you want the position?
C: Would be happy not to be chair, as it will not be a fun task. May be more
rewarding in this term than last – hopes things are going up. Feels duty to provide service to department, and everyone thinks they already have done their service. Thinks job is important.
A: Agrees with Craig and points out it is better to have chair from within than have dean appoint.
6) Are there any threats to our department and what is important to protect?
A: Doesn’t know of any threats. Expects merged status will help us to throw our weight around like Chemistry and Physics. Administration is more positive about the department after the merge.
C: Part of impetus for merger was BSC that hung outside of the department and expects it will be in a better position now.
7) Is there pressure from dean to increase teaching load on faculty and how will you stand up for the department?
C: Unsure what the comment means. Do we have too many faculty on release, do we teach too many small classes, more students wanting classes and can’t graduate on time, etc? We need to figure out how to solve the problem, but that doesn’t necessarily mean we will teach more, but rather more effectively.
A: In comparison to English or History faculty, Biology faculty do not necessarily teach as much. Believes it’s more other issues.
8) No formal division in research interests for Zoology, but not the case for Botany?
Will those divisions be maintained?
A: At this point, everyone is looking to be fully merged. In Botany, had Ecology/Evolution, Systematics, and Molecular disciplines. Tried to maintain certain ratios of faculty. Worried about how we protect minority focused interests. Other models have dissolved individual degrees. More dialogue is necessary.
9) What is role of non-chair after the appointment? What about a co-chair?
A: The non-chair of the two candidates help the new chair in whatever capacity as with all other faculty.
C: Expects faculty from all units to contribute. Hope to have diverse representation from department when setting up committees, etc. Co-chair is not a good idea. Need a single person leading the group (many of problems now have stemmed from three current chairs).
10) Will there be faculty hires in the next three years? What are priorities?
C: Two ads are currently out. Animal physiologist seems more certain, though the university can pull back money at any point. Teaching needs of department matter a lot to the dean, and we want to have faculty to staff class demands.
11) Many majors are more interested in Zoology than Botany type classes? What will
you do to maintain plant courses? Can you change requirements?
A: Plant people can teach evolution, genetics, ecology, etc. In the short term, more hires may be of Zoology nature. Possibility of farming out teaching to IFAS.
C: We want undergrads in our department. Thought changing requirements to make program better is good idea, and undergrad education should not dictate what the department does.
12) What would be your role in making the merger happen without stepping on toes of
others?
A: Thinks we have gotten over much of that and faculty have already agreed on a lot, including all-encompassing mission statement. Now we’re getting into the nitty-gritty details.
C: What will this department look like in 15 years? Always thought Zoology should merge with Botany, but will we be too big to function integratively? So far, things have been going smoothly, voting similarly.
13) How would you characterize the differences between you?
A: Differences are probably in program idea. Two departments are coming closer together. Her vision of department differs depending whether viewing it as faculty member vs. chair. Molecular biologists in botany area are not ecologists and most don’t have evolutionary perspective. So Alice wants a more inclusionary vision.
C: Helped create Zoology mission statement, motivated by idea as department that program is different and defines us. No matter what level you worked on, all united by some interest in evolutionary principles or ecological ones. We have attracted faculty that could have gone to medical schools, but liked the program in which work is surrounded by people with other interests and try to link their work to greater context. What emerges is integrative approach, but would like students coming out of program to be far more integrated. Thinks Alice has a less exclusionary view. There is a tension between diversity and exclusivity and the two candidates separate a little differently. Zoology is missing molecular biology and theory and hired people to address those needs.
14) How do we deal with distances between buildings?
A: Would have office hours here. Students are also separated physically, but there hasn’t yet been a clear solution.
C: Also recognizes that faculty are not all in Bartram-Carr and he would not be
accessible to everyone either.
15) What is on table for increasing salary of TAs?
A: Probably nothing in next 2 years with another budget cut coming in near future.
C: Cuts will be more vertical than horizontal: smaller cuts in some areas, and bigger cuts in others. Optimistic hope is that we will be sheltered from cuts due to Biology program.
16) Where is your comfort zone in increasing or decreasing size of department?
A: Not smaller. Will probably have to grow. We will be at 39 with two new hires,
most Biology programs are 50.
C: Zoology has always wanted to add more faculty. Thought about how to do things more effectively and need to think in different ways in this type of period.
17) How will you handle recruitment with more budget cuts?
C: Didn’t affect most students this year and hopes it won’t affect this year’s
recruitment.
A: As far as TA numbers, undergraduate teaching is our gold mine, and this supports many of the incoming students.
18) Since the merge, there is more competition for funding and awards within department. Competition is double, resources cut in half. How will you try to increase funding?
A: There were a fewer numbers of travel awards this year and doesn’t know how it can be avoided. Wants to keep merit-based, avoid division.
C: Faculty, students, and staff lose out on awards in this situation. He will help
remind college of department size. Tiny departments should not get same number of awards. He will also encourages procuring funding internally, grant writing through IP course, committee to get endowment funds, etc.
Graduate student/faculty discussion minutes, held on October 23rd, 2008
Announcement from Lori Albergotti
HHMI Gator program is for graduate students to mentoring students. It involves ½ time RA and two undergraduates who get paid. The deadline is November 28.
Background
The background of this meeting came from several semesters back. Graduate students involved in faculty hiring process felt there was a discrepancy between graduate students of this department and new faculty, i.e. that we are not the same caliber. In particular a faculty member commented to student that 5% or less of Zoology students would be competitive applicants at a Research 1 institution.
Maybe a first question to ask is: do all students graduating from this department even want to be at a Research 1 institution? Perhaps we should begin to look at career trajectories of the students graduating from our department. For example, at UC Davis, Todd Palmer reported only a small handful went to Research 1, but many went other places and he thinks the proportion is similar to handful that has come out of UF.
What are our standards and how do students measure up?
Brian Silliman said one thing to consider is how long someone has been in grad school, master’s or not. The years of experience may add up quickly.
Colette St. Mary mentioned that many of the applicants in our job search often had 7-10 publications or more from grad school and post-docs. Students graduating from UF have 3 or so publications, which seems to be on track to continue up to 7-10, as did the applicants to this department.
Also you need to consider your goals from beginning—is your research on track to get to where you want to go? These goals may vary and the path to achieve them as well.
Where are grad student anxieties coming from?
Ben Bolker said part of this might be anxiety, but unfortunately, it doesn’t go
away.
Some ways to ease anxieties: Publication record is self-driven. One student pointed out ecology projects make it hard to publish early. She suggested that faculty members involve students in projects that can get done early. Though, Todd Palmer said students shouldn’t feel like it is their right to be on advisor’s publications. Think about what you want and what will put you in the right position when you finish, and if the advisor can’t provide that, you may need to reconsider. Diversify your publications, publish as you go. One review paper is a good idea, lots is a bad idea. Let advisor know you want papers. A lot of it comes back to personal responsibility.
Might it come from the challenge of knowing when it is time to publish?
Think about where papers may come in as you plan your research project(s): what can stand as individual papers, when do you expect to publish and where? Start with small papers, just get something out there.
Charlie Baer pointed out the people who get jobs have interesting research programs. You need to cultivate ambition and durable ego. Karen Bjorndal said perhaps any change we bring is not a program-wide phenomenon. It’s an individual by individual basis or with advisor. Also, she pointed out you don’t want to publish a lot of unrelated papers, you are working to build a body of knowledge. As a graduate student, you are putting together a mini-version of body of knowledge. Plan post-doc a year in advance. Is there a logical intellectual story that connects thesis and post-doc? Keep building the story. The best way to learn the writing process is to do it. Use your committee members. These are people who said they are interested in your project, so take advantage of them. Marta Wayne also suggested to look outside the department. Don’t be afraid to email people in your field. Go to meetings and email people you want to talk to in advance. Meet with visiting scientists and seminar speakers. A student suggested creating a publication seminar class in which graduate students working on publications would work together regularly to prepare a publication. Often, getting a job takes persistence and
stubbornness, plus 1-3 post-docs. Also, remember the number of people coming out with a PhD is greater than number of faculty openings. Some people want to (and need to) go
elsewhere.
Grad forum: Introduction to webdesign, held on October 17th, 2008
You can download the presentation from the workshop
Graduate Student Council minutes held on October 16th, 2008
Here’s a short report of announcements made at last weeks Graduate Student Council meeting:
- Julie Neubig of the Graduate Assistants Benefits Office spoke about some of the updates to the coverage by Gator Grad Care, such as the fact that vaccines are now covered by the plan. Contact Julie for more
info: gabenefits@admin.ufl.edu
The info is towards the bottom of the page. - There will soon be a web-based application form for GSC Travel Grants.
- There will be a GSC Spring Conference for anyone who wants to present a poster or talk. It will be at the Reitz Union on February 12, 2009 from 9:00 to 4:00. The deadline for abstract submission is December 10 and should be sent to gscspringforum@gmail.com Hannah sent an
email earlier today (October 27th, 2008) with the announcement. - GSC is in need of student representatives in Student Government. The GSC has meetings every Tues.
Meeting with graduate coordinators (Colette St. Mary and Kaoru Kitajima),
held on September 19th, 2008
Introduction
Colette expressed she wants the merger to affect us as little as possible but Colette and Kaoru also answered the questions of the graduate students present.
1) What will our degrees say?
It should have the title of the program (department) that we arrived in. Colette said the specific program is not really important in the long run—people never ask about the program she got her degree in, just which university.
2) How many votes will we have in the faculty meetings?
(The concern was our one student vote will count less in a larger faculty size.)
Faculty hope to get the same amount of input from the grad students, though the vote may still be one. Nothing is yet decided. Additionally, even each faculty member’s vote will count less in the larger department, but as a whole the faculty has a louder voice in the college/university. For example larger departments like chemistry and physics get paid more and have a stronger vote at the university level.
3) Rules and requirements for grad students in new department.
Already the Botany and Zoology graduate programs were very similar and operating under similar guidelines, but Colette and Kaoru are going to close any gaps and make more similarities between the two departments. Pay and teaching equivalents are the same. IP may be required for all Botany students but that is yet to be determined because it has not been discussed by the faculty.
4) Can we still choose an external committee member from the previously external department?
The students who have already selected their committee members will be
grandfathered in. However, the purpose of the outside member is to serve as an arbitrator from outside of the department if the student is affected by internal politics. So it is in your best interest to choose from outside our combined department if you have not selected an outside member. More specifically, if for example, you are a Zoology student and have been in conversation with a Botany faculty member to be on your committee, Colette would defend that selection at this point but would still encourage us to look outside because that person would not be fulfilling the role of the external member.
5) As of now, the graduate school recognizes two graduate faculties (the college sees only one) and we have two budgets (plus a BSC budget). Do you plan to make the Zoology and Botany grad programs something like two divisions within the new department?
No. As of now, the department is moving toward one budget and one chair next year. It takes 3-4 years to change a graduate program, so as of now Botany and Zoology will be different emphases, just as there are multiple other programs sponsored by this department such as SNRE, etc. We expect to treat all students coming into our program similarly while recognizing different degree requirements in different programs.
6) How will graduate admissions work for the next year?
Students will apply to two different programs, but the one department will sponsor two degrees, and faculty can sponsor students in either track. Thus the admissions process will be combined. There were worries that it would not be clear to prospective students how the department was working, but Colette thought the most important thing was contact with prospective advisors and the astute students would figure out the details even if the webpages were not current*. And in fact, if we have a smaller pool of applicants, that may be okay as we are making the transition. It was suggested that the university give us money to launch a new webpage, as this is our portal to communication with prospective students. *Kaoru, Colette and the graduate committees are making updates to the graduate pages to minimize confusion.
7) The proposed title of the department is Biology. How does that work with other departments that are subdivisions of biology?
Our role has not changed, and the faculty would like to emphasize the mission statement of the department. However, the name has not been approved at higher levels yet. No webpage is out because we don’t have an official name to put on it.
8) How do we ensure we don’t lose Botany applicants and that the ratio of Botany to Zoology students will stay the same?
There is always a balance of accepting students between multiple factors of funding, qualified applicants, number of students the advisor already has, etc. The diversity at the faculty level should play out at the grad level. For example, at LSU, 10 years post merger, there is still the same faculty balance as the point before the merger. Undergraduate majors will stay the same: Biology, Botany, Zoology.
9) Can graduate students still attend the faculty meetings?
Yes, they are still open, though space in the room may be the only limitation.
10) How will office space be handled for graduate students?
Zoology and Botany currently operate a little differently. Zoology guarantees an office space, and the graduate coordinator determines office assignments. In Botany, it is up to the advisor to find space for the students. Perhaps as things get ironed out in the new department, there will be a space chair and committee appointed for dealing with office space in both departments.
11) Can students in Botany teach Zoology courses and vice versa?
It is a possibility. Students who are qualified will be prioritized.
12) Do you expect to have some of the same difficulties with budgeting for teaching this spring and in the future as there were this fall?
Budgeting for teaching this fall was terrible, but Colette expects it to be better in the future once the two budgets are merged, as there will be more flexibility and transparency.
13) What will happen to the Integrative Principles course?
It will continue to be required for students in the Zoology track. Colette hopes it will be required for students in the Botany track as well and diversified by modules offered by Botany faculty. This is yet to be discussed but when it is Botany faculty will be especially interested in grad student feedback regarding IP.
14) Will the two graduate coordinator positions be merged?
As the plan is to have one chair next year, it will also be much simpler to have one graduate coordinator for official communication with the college, but there will likely be a committee with various aspects of the position being handled by different people, as it is a big job for just one person.
15) How will qualifying exams work in the new department?
That is based entirely on the committee, though the faculty can always reevaluate this in future (there are no plans to do so). The current handbooks will be slightly revised to minimize inconsistencies, but for now they should be separate with no major changes in the short term. There is one change regarding the three internal members on the committee. In the Zoology handbook, for example, it says three Zoology faculty are required for a PhD committee, but that will be changed to Biology faculty effective immediately.
Meeting held on September 11th, 2008
Introductions
Along with Zoology graduate students, two Botany Liasons (Jenny Schafer and Caitlin Hicks) were in attendance.
Budget update
The ZGSA currently has $970 in account. Ben says candy store has raised about $500 over the last year.
Botany budget: Botany student association earns money by selling cold sodas and would like to move refrigerator into new mailroom under candy basket, as it is often inaccessible now. They don’t know the status of their account, but they also had $200 donated from student silent auction last year.
There was a suggestion to merge both accounts, especially if the candy store and drinks are merged into one location. The ZGSA funds one student grant each year, if we merge both pots of money that would allow Botany students to be eligible for grants.
Website update
The ZGSA website now has a grant list and field trip list. Other updates can go to François.
Physiology hire
Lori Albergotti is graduate student representative, no Botany student grad rep. Botany faculty member on committee, though it will mainly be a Zoology hire committee because the line was designated before merger.
Merger questions
The Dean has offered to field any questions, bigger picture concerns, and smaller questions can be dealt with inside department. Anyone who entered as old department has been grandfathered in to prior department and can decide which name to put on degree.
Updates from Faculty Meeting:
- Outside consultant coming in to advise in merging process
- New Department name voted on by faculty: “BIOLOGY”, though it still needs to go through more steps before it is final
- Integrative Biology from grad student perspective was more popular
- Faculty perspectives on name:
- Need to distinguish from IFAS and Medical School in name
- More modifiers in front of biology make it more exclusive
- Mission statement is more important than name, sent out to department
- Bret will field our comments about how we feel about the mission statement
Grad student concerns:
- Grants from CLAS – Still uncertain whether we get same amount for combined grad population
- People donate for specific purposes, have lost donors in merger
- Riewald-Olowo grants
- ZGSA website should be changed to reflect changes within student association, how will we operate the new grad student association? How will banking and grad student awards work? (Working plan for committees has figured out.)
- Zoology and Botany websites are yet to be merged
- How will IP work?
- How will new applicants come in? Which department are they applying to? Funding?
- Funding will be combined, number of grants still up in the air
- Colette and Karou are in process of merging recruitment weekend
- May have separate tracks for each department
- How will TAships work for current students? Will all current students be eligible for teaching in Botany or Zoology course?
- Will there be a new graduate student handbook?
- Committee member size, how quals are administered
- What counts as an outside committee member? Doesn’t seem in line with getting a degree in Botany or Zoology.
- Students want their requirements in writing
- Bigger seminar room?
Open discussion with Colette on Friday, September 19 at 12:40 in Carr 222
Joint student/faculty meeting
typically the faculty have dedicated one meeting a semester to students to voice concerns. The next topic scheduled was scholarship (whether we producing caliber students, what it means to be a grad student in this department, approach to education/qualifying exams/etc.)
Grad forum ideas
Webpage workshop – it would be awesome if most of our students had webpages. Some people were interested in having a Endnote tutorial.