I hope you are all navigating these challenging times as well as possible. I am writing today with an update to my message of November 18, 2021, which outlined the process for requesting adjustments to in-person instruction for TAs in two categories:
Yesterday, the Provost and Chancellor announced an update on Winter Quarter instruction. I’m writing to provide information on how this will impact Graduate Center operations and Graduate Studies’ staff availability.
Jeffery Gibeling, Emeritus Professor and former dean of UC Davis Graduate Studies, returns to the commencement stage as the keynote speaker for the Fall 2021 Graduate Studies Commencement at 3:00 p.m. on Thursday, December 9, at the University Credit Union Center.
by Elizabeth Lambert, Senior Director of External Relations and Strategic Communications
As the graduate student population at the University of California, Davis, expands and becomes increasingly diverse, the University is committed to ensuring that its services and support strategies meet graduate students’ unique needs and goals. However, the graduate student experience is complex. In addition to managing their academic progress, graduate students often face challenges in balancing competing teaching, research, service, and family obligations. After gathering information about undergraduate student behaviors and attitudes for nearly a decade, the University of California (UC) set its sights on lifting the shroud of mystery from the graduate school experience. An inaugural UC Graduate Student Experience Survey (UCGSES) was distributed throughout the UC system in spring 2021 and solicited graduate and professional students’ opinions on a broad range of academic and co-curricular experiences, including instruction and training, advising, basic needs, and student services.
As was the case in fall 2021, the default mode of instruction for Winter 2022 will be in-person, with an exception for hybrid and virtual courses previously approved by the Committee on Courses of Instruction (COCI).
As a Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Fellow, Connie Rojas joined the lab of Professor of Evolution and Ecology Jonathan Eisen, where she’s asking big questions about some of the smallest organisms on the planet: microbes. Specifically, Rojas is interested in understanding the evolution and function of scent gland microbial communities (also termed microbiomes) across the feline family. Felines use such scent glands to mark their territory and communicate with one another.
The University of California, Davis, named 19 Ph.D. students and postdoctoral scholars as fellows in the 2021-2022 Leaders for the Future (LFTF) program.
Supporting Graduate Student Success Through Mentorship
Having a strong mentor can be a life-changing experience. Positive mentor-mentee relationships have shown to increase academic persistence, productivity and satisfaction in graduate student mentees. Additionally, mentorship can help increase overall graduate student well-being. Students with mentors report feeling less imposter syndrome, anxiety, and depression.
Biomedical engineering Ph.D. student Hannah O'Toole was recently awarded a National Institutes of Health T32 Chemical Biology Program fellowship for her work in sensing biomarkers for cancerous tumors through biophotonics technology.
Graduate Studies is excited to introduce the graduate community to Daisy Hernandez, the 2021-2022 Graduate Student Advisor to the Dean and Chancellor (GSADC). Hernandez is a fourth year Ph.D. Candidate in plant pathology and will serve as the primary student representative for graduate students at UC Davis, serving as a voice for graduate student concerns, needs and perspectives.
As a UC Davis alumnus/a, you have probably heard of the UC Davis Internship and Career Center (ICC). But, what you may not know is that the ICC is not just for undergraduate students and alumni. It also serves master’s and doctoral degree students, postdoctoral scholars and advanced degree alumni. It’s not typical of a university to provide these services to the graduate community, but it is how things are done at UC Davis.
Ph.D. candidate Gwen Chodur is a three-time champion—not for a sports achievement, but rather, for advocating on behalf of graduate students locally, statewide and nationally.
Wade Zeno, Ph.D. ’16 always knew he wanted to be a professor — to have his own research lab and to teach. Ever since he was a child, Zeno has enjoyed the classroom setting and as an undergraduate student, he often worked as a tutor, which only solidified his desire to pursue a career in academia.
But then, as he progressed his academic career toward obtaining a Ph.D. in chemical engineering, Zeno began to realize something was missing from his academic career.
The American Association of University Women (AAUW) has awarded 2021-22 fellowships to four scholars at the University of California, Davis. Recipients will pursue academic work and lead innovative community projects to empower women and girls.
• Sarah Biscarra Dilley, an American Fellowship, is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in Native American and Indigenous Studies, Critical Gender Studies, Visual Arts, Geography, and History.
