Upcoming Academic and Post-Academic Programming at CAPS

CAPS Graduate Services staff seeks to support graduate students at every stage of their professional development, regardless of their program or goals. We will continue to work closely with graduate divisional and Divinity School deans and deans of students, program directors and coordinators of the MA programs and faculty; University partners such as the Center for Teaching and Learning, Office of Graduate Affairs, and the Office of Multicultural Student Affairs; and our counterparts at peer institutions to address graduate student, post-doc, and alumni needs.

In addition to department specific programming, here is a taste of what is coming up for grads and post-docs this spring:

Career Exploration
Career Exploration Seminars for MAs (Session 1 begins April 6, Session 2 begins in May)
&
Career Exploration Seminars PhDs and Postdocs (begins April 28) 5 week seminars include self-assessment of skills, interests, and values, methods for crafting a resume and cover letter, and interview preparation. Registration begins March 16- Call 773-702-7040.

Academic Job Market

May 20
Your First Year as a Professor is an annual event that is part of our yearlong Navigating the Academic Job Market Series, and is an opportunity for PhD students to hear more about life as a new faculty member. Topics include balancing research and teaching, how to be a good colleague, and working towards tenure

May/June (TBD)

Academic Networking, is a workshop featuring faculty and advanced doctoral student speakers on the topic of networking at academic conferences and making a good impression on campus visits. Following the presentations, students will participate in general networking exercises in a cocktail reception setting.

Faculty Forum on the Economy and Academic Jobs is a Spring Quarter forum for faculty from across the divisions and Divinity School to address how the current economic climate is affecting the academic job market and to offer advice for students planning on entering the market during the 2009-2010 job cycle.

Diversity in Academe (co-sponsored by Office of Multicultural Student Affairs)

Post-Academic Job Market

March 13
Science Career Forum, a career fair for graduate students and postdoctoral fellows in the sciences, will also include a panel on Diverse Careers in the Sciences where PhD scientists will talk about their transitions to post-academic paths that took advantage of their graduate training.

April 13
PhDs Careers in Consulting is a panel of PhDs working at McKinsey and Boston Consulting Group.

May 14
Demystifying Post-Academic Careers will feature graduate alumni who have pursued careers outside of academia.

We continue our work with a member of the Employer Development team, Dillan Siegler, in doing targeted outreach to employers on opening new job and internship opportunities to graduate students. We’d also like to encourage graduate students to make use of all CAPS resources, including Career Fairs, industry-specific programming, employer information sessions, one-on-one counseling, and our myriad web resources. If you are looking for answers, why not email? Grad staff members are available for your area of study:
Heather Sevener—Biological and Physical Sciences, hsevener@uchicago.edu
Lesley Lundeen—Humanities and Divinity School, llundeen@uchicago.edu
Johanna Schoss—Social Sciences, jschoss@uchicago.edu

Ideas, suggestions or questions about graduate student programming at CAPS? Post them here.