This is nearly my last message to you. Following seven years as Dean of the Graduate Division, I will be stepping down on July 1 and returning to the faculty.
It has been a privilege and an honor to serve in this position. I have had the opportunity to observe closely the incredible richness of our 105 graduate programs. In terms of depth and breadth, there is no university in the world that can match us. On all rankings and ratings, from the National Research Council to Newsweek, nearly all our graduate programs are rated at or near the top. But we do not need outside rankings to tell us how exceptional Berkeley is. Each of us experiences it in our own way.
These last seven years have not been easy ones for the University. The several years of state budget cuts have provided a real challenge, but I believe we have come through stronger than ever. My goals as Graduate Dean have included raising student support levels, increasing diversity among the student body, adding housing stock, and promoting the welfare of student parents. I hope I have made lasting contributions in these areas; I have always tried my best.
Congratulations to all of you who are graduating, I feel as if I am graduating with you. Remember that your degree carries great weight in this world — it is the gold standard for graduate education.
Mary Ann Mason
Dean of the Graduate Division
Graduate Degrees
- Tips from the Graduate Services: Degrees Office
Graduate Policy Updates
- Updates to the Guide for Graduate Policy
Graduate Resources
- What's GROW?
Graduate Support
- How are Berkeley alumni and friends helping you?
University Health Services
- New waiver deadline for Student Health Insurance Plan
- What do you do if you're depressed and you don't know how to get help?
Career Center
- Academic job search workshops
Graduate Assembly
- Three professors win the Graduate Assembly’s 2007 Mentoring Award
- Paid positions for 2007-2008 are available
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Graduate Social Club needs chairpeople
California Alumni Association
- Alumni award nominations are due May 31
Honors
- Research Mentor Awards
- Outstanding GSI Award winners
- Berkeley Engineering is #3 nationally in USN&WR rankings
- First-year Ph.D. student wins a $2,500 prize for meaningful social change
Newslinks
- NRC has what it needs for academic ranking; Berkeley and the rest have hope and patience
- Making grad school "family friendly" — Berkeley's research gets noticed nationally
- A Ph.D. student tells the public about the importance of wild bees
- Former doctoral student and geek is now a worldwide dating coach
- Ethsix, a two-school grad student publication, grabs a journalism award
- Two Haas MBAs launch a new sports website in Emeryville
- You're a bird, you're a plane, you're a super-antihero
Deadline for June eGrad
- Submissions are due May 15
Tips from the Graduate Services: Degrees Office
Whether you are just starting to write your dissertation or thesis or are in the final stages and preparing to file for your degree this spring, we've got something you need. Check out the Instructions for Preparing and Filing Your Thesis or Dissertation (PDF). This document will answer all of those picky little questions you may have about margins, page numbers, what paper you can use, and how many copies of the title page you need to make.
The two surveys that are required from doctoral students before they can file are available at the Degrees Office homepage under the Policies and Procedures for Doctoral Students section. Please take the time to complete the Survey of Earned Doctorates (SED) and the UC Berkeley Survey of Doctoral Students' Opinion (PDF). You can also access the ProQuest publishing agreement form from our website.
We encourage you to bring by a sample of your manuscript for a preliminary review before you do a final printing and copying and well before the final week of the semester. We are happy to review your title page, abstract and basic document format and alert you to any problems. You can also call us at 510-642-7330 with any questions. Remember that May 18, 2007, is the final day to file in 318 Sproul Hall to be eligible to have your degree awarded in spring 2007.
Note: the Degrees Office will be closed June 5
On Tuesday, June 5, the Graduate Services: Degrees unit will be closed for a staff retreat. Staff will be back in the office again on Wednesday, June 6, at 9 a.m. If you have an urgent problem on June 5, please contact Carolyn Chee, Director of Graduate Services.
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The short section that follows consists of recent updates to the Guide to Graduate Policy, an online publication of the Graduate Division. The changes are important, hence this early placement in eGrad, and are primarily of interest to Graduate Advisers, the faculty members who are responsible for the academic advising of graduate students. However, graduate assistants and graduate student affairs officers, and graduate students may also find the guide useful.
The list below contains the most recent updates to the guide. A complete list of updates is available in Chapter N of the online guide.
April 25, 2007 Chapter F. Degrees. Replace page F17. Eligibility requirements for the Filing Fee. Summer Session enrollment must be for a minimum of three units.....However, students are permitted to file a thesis or dissertation while registered for Summer Sessions with the degree awarded for the end of the following fall term.
TopWhat's GROW?
GROW, which stands for Graduate Resources, Opportunities, and Workshops, is a collection of everything in those categories, published as a quick guide for graduate students — online, and updated periodically on paper as well.
It's a compendium of vital Graduate Division and campus phone numbers, email addresses, and locations. It tells you the seven major services offered by the GSI Center, where to find assistance with writing, funding, and becoming a future faculty member. Were you aware we have programs for grad students who are educationally disadvantaged or members of historically underrepresented groups, and resources for American Indian and Alaska Native students in graduate education? Did you know that the campus Disabled Students' Program not only offers a wide range of services, it also establishes whether individual graduate students are eligible for the accommodations that are implemented at the departmental level. Have you heard of the Berkeley Parents Network, an independent online community for campus parents (started by Berkeley graduate students)?
All that and more is at your fingertips through GROW. Take a quick look!
The Graduate Division website also carries a separate GROW calendar as part of the Academic Services web page.
TopHow are Berkeley alumni and friends helping you?
Most graduate students — nearly three quarters — benefit from private funding at some point during their time at Berkeley.
Some of it’s obvious, in the form of a fellowship named for the donor. Some of it’s much less evident, deriving from pooled donations from many people over many years, earning interest which can be used to help graduate students. Even the money paid to GSIs and GSRs (as full or partial fee remission) comes, in part, from private sources.
Who are these sources? Some are big foundations you may have heard of, like the Ford Foundation. More are smaller foundations, often set up by individuals or families, for many reasons but sharing a common purpose: to help graduate students — not graduate education in the abstract, but specific people seeking learning. Like you.
The donors, or the trustees of their foundations, tend to be quite interested in exactly how what they've given is helping people. They like to keep track, to hear progress, to connect. Sometimes a conversation or exchange of notes between a student and a donor can shed light on changes or new realities and result in increased support for graduate students at Berkeley.
In recent years, the Graduate Division has been increasing opportunities for donors and students to meet face to face, at receptions and other events.
And there's now an online method by which you can let donors know who you are, what you're studying, and what their support has meant to you.
If you've received a request to submit your profile, the donors of your specific award have asked the Graduate Division to let them know about your progress. Please visit the new graduate support recipients' website and fill out the short survey you'll find there. This information is a vital part in completing the Graduate Division’s financial aid process — and your response will also go to the donors who made your funding possible.
TopNote: check other headings for category-specific dates, such as career workshops.
MAY 18 (Friday)
Deadline for dissertations and theses
Final exams end
Spring semester ends
MAY 21 (Monday)
Summer Session begins
MAY 28 (Monday)
Memorial Day holiday
New waiver deadline for Student Health Insurance Plan
July 15, 2007 is the deadline for continuing graduate students to submit a request to waive enrollment in the Student Health Insurance Plan for Fall 2007.
The University requires all students to have major medical insurance. Most students enroll in the University-sponsored Student Health Insurance Plan (SHIP), which covers services at the Tang Center, hospitalization, off-campus medical and mental health care and specialty services. SHIP also includes dental coverage. The SHIP fee for 2007-08 will be $805 per semester, or $1,610 for 12 months of coverage.
You will be enrolled automatically in SHIP and charged the health insurance fee on your campus e-Bill. You can choose to waive enrollment in SHIP by completing an on-line waiver application form.
The waiver form must be completed by July 15, 2007. Continuing students submitting waivers between July 16 and September 14 will be charged a $50 late waiver service fee on their e-Bill. New graduate students may submit waiver applications without a late waiver service fee only until August 31, 2007. No waivers will be accepted after September 14, 2007. If you have not submitted a waiver application by that date, you will be enrolled in SHIP for the semester and responsible for the $805 SHIP fee.
Graduate Student Instructors and Researchers may be eligible for remission of the health insurance fee. Please check with your hiring department.
Do you need health insurance for your spouse, children or other dependents? The Student Health Insurance Office can assist you in selecting a plan that best meets your family's needs. Please contact Kathy Gage, Dependent Insurance Advisor, at (510) 642-5742 for assistance.
For more information about UHS and SHIP, visit the UHS website. If you would like to speak with someone about SHIP, call the Student Health Insurance Office at (510) 642-5700.
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Look for this symbol on campus.
What do you do if you're depressed and you don't know how to get help?
Over 500 Berkeley staff (including those in the Graduate Division) and students have been trained since last year to recognize the warning signs of depression and suicide and to be familiar with mental health resources for students. The "I look for the signs...I can help" symbol signifies such a person. If you're looking for a safe person to talk to or need help getting help, there are people on campus who care and want to help. Stress and mental health information are also available here.
TopWorkshop: "The Academic Job Search — Social Sciences and Humanities"
May 17 and 24 — Thursday evenings 5 to 6:30 p.m., 88 Dwinelle Hall
Amherst and Occidental (small liberal arts colleges) don't hire on the same basis as large research universities such as Michigan and Purdue. Get a head start on preparing to go on the market next fall. This three-part workshop is designed to provide an overview of the academic job search process from the perspective of the search committee and to help you figure out how to present your credentials, on paper and in person, in the strongest possible manner. More information is available from Ph.D. counselor Andrew Green by phone (642-1714) or email.
TopThree professors win the Graduate Assembly's 2007 Distinguished Faculty Mentoring Award
See names, departments and other details below.
Anthony Hall, headquarters of the
Graduate Assemby
(Photo by Patrick McMahon)
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Several paid positions are available at the Graduate Assembly for 2007-2008
Applications for the following stipend positions are being accepted: Women of Color Initiative (WOCI) Project Coordinator, Graduate Minority, Outreach, Recruitment and Retention (GMORR) Project Coordinator, and the editor position for The Berkeley Graduate (TBG). $840 bimonthly stipend. Open until filled. Job descriptions are available on the GA website and at the Graduate Assembly office in Anthony Hall (just north of Barrows Hall). More information is available by email or phone (643-0394).
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Graduate Social Club needs chairpeople
Sociable, creative, committed, and organized? The Graduate Social Club is looking for at least one new co-chair for fall 2007 and two new co-chairs for Spring 2008. The positions pay a $250 stipend per semester. What you'll do is facilitate social interaction among members of the graduate student population by organizing a variety of events — two major events each semester and several smaller outings and activities. For more information on the positions, inquire by email. To learn more about the Graduate Social Club, see the club's website.
TopNominate outstanding UC Berkeley alumni for high honors
Natalie Coughlin ‘05
Olympic Gold Medalist
Mark Bingham Award for
Excellence in
Achievement
By a Young Alumnus or
Alumna
(Photo by Peg Skorpinski)
Every year the California Alumni Association singles out UC Berkeley alumni — with either undergraduate and/or graduate degrees — for the honor their lives and achievements have brought to the University.
Recent CAA award recipients with Berkeley graduate degrees include C.D. "Dan" Mote B.S. '59, M.S. '60, Ph.D. '63, President of the University of Maryland at College Park (a former Berkeley engineering professor who also served as vice chancellor for university relations); Julie Gerberding M.P.H. '90, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, Stephen Chu Ph.D. '76, Nobel Prize-winning physicist and current director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory; Congresswoman Barbara Lee M.S.W. '75; and film producer James Schamus B.A. '82, M.A. '87, Ph.D. '03 (whose films include Brokeback Mountain; Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Sense and Sensibility, and The Brothers McMullen). Recipients with undergrad degrees include Natalie Coughlin B.A. '05, Olympic gold medalist; Leroy Chiao B.S. '83, NASA Mission Commander; novelist Joan Didion B.A. '56,;and Gordon Moore B.S. '50, co-founder of Intel Corporation and author of Moore's Law (which predicted that the number of components the semiconductor industry would be able to place on a computer chip would double every year or two, enabling the industry to deliver ever-more-powerful chips while decreasing the cost of electronics).
Dan Mote B.S. '59, M.S. '60, Ph.D. '63
President of the University of Maryland, College
Park (shown at the 2007 CAA Charter Gala with
members of his former University Relations support
team) Excellence in Achievement Award
(Photo by Peg Skorpinski)
Who should be honored next? That could depend on you. Do you know about any great alumni achievers? They could be in any field, anywhere on the planet. Share your nominees with CAA by emailing Cindy Leung. Nomination forms and more information are available online.
Nominations are due May 31, 2007.
Related Links:
California Magazine: 100 Years
Charter Gala 2007
Natalie Coughlin
C.D. "Dan" Mote
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Research mentors of graduate students are celebrated
A first-ever joint awards ceremony sponsored by the Graduate Division and the Graduate Assembly was held April 26 in the Tilden Room, atop the Martin Luther King Jr. Student Union. Its purpose was to honor faculty members who give of themselves by mentoring graduate students as researchers. Both organizations gave their own awards, three each.
On the Graduate Division side, the occasion marked the first presentations of the Sarlo Distinguished Graduate Student Mentoring Awards, made possible by recent funding from the Sarlo Foundation. The inaugural awards went to:
The Graduate Assembly, for its Distinguished Faculty Mentoring Awards, singled out:
Two awards, six winners: from left, Sarlo Award recipients Maximilian Aufhammer, Sofia Berto Villas-Boas, and José David Saldívar, then the three Graduate Assembly honorees, Christine Wildsoet, Richard Norgaard, and William Taylor.
(Photo by Dick Cortén)
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A preview of the top Graduate Student Instructors of 2007
Just honored May 7 at an event in Alumni House, the names and departments of all 268 Outstanding Graduate Student Instructor Award winners will run in the June eGrad and on the web — with the winners of the teaching-related Faculty Award for Outstanding Mentorship of GSIs and the Teaching Effectiveness Award as well.
Outstanding GSIs honored en masse by the Graduate Division's GSI Teaching and Resource Center.
(Photo by Peg Skorpinski)
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Berkeley Engineering is #3 nationally in USN&WR rankings
In the 2008 U.S. News and World Report assessment of top schools nationwide, UC Berkeley's College of Engineering placed third, following Stanford and MIT. The full top 10 and a link to the rankings are here.
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Alvaro Huerta and family
(photo by Christine Trost)
First-year Ph.D. student wins a $2,500 prize for meaningful social change
Alvaro Huerta is the first-ever winner of the Thomas Yamashita Prize, presented earlier this month by the Institute for the Study of Social Change. Huerta, who is studying city and regional planning, received the honor for his exceptional contributions in bridging scholarship and community work. He has been an activist and community organizer since the mid-1980s. One of his nominators remarked that "as someone who came from very humble beginnings — his father was a farm worker through the Bracero Program and his mother worked as a domestic worker for over 40 years — Alvaro has demonstrated that change can also come from those on the bottom." Honorable mention and a $1,000 award went to Darren Noy, a graduate student in sociology.
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NRC has what it needs for academic ranking; Berkeley and the rest have hope and patience
We have no idea how we'll fare in the new National Research Council assessment of graduate programs in the U.S., but Berkeley more than passed muster on the first step: getting the data in on time. Now we keep our fingers crossed.
Berkeleyan article
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Making grad school "family friendly" — Berkeley's research gets noticed nationally
Princeton and other institutions are making policy based in part on analytical work done here.
Chronicle of Higher Education article
Inside Higher Ed article
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A Ph.D. student tells the public about the importance of wild bees
Alex Harmon-Threatt took her knowledge — and a bee collection — on the road to a wilderness wildflower festival last month, answering questions from all ages. Do you know about mining bees, leaf-cutter bees, and the ones that "land on you lightly and drink your sweat?"
UC Berkeley NewsCenter article
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Former doctoral student and geek is now a worldwide dating coach
Niels Hoven is taking a break from pursuing a Ph.D. in electrical engineering. He appeared on the third season of the CW network's Beauty and the Geek ("I prefer 'dork,' really; a dork is academically capable, maybe socially awkward, but funny). Since the end of the show's taping in mid-2006, Hoven has been globetrotting, helping men become more outgoing and sociable, via workshops and his blog.
Daily Californian article
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Shown here by the shingles of North Gate Hall are
Ethsix's award-winning 2006 student co-editors,
Eve Ekman of social welfare and Sachiko
Fujimori of journalism, with volume 1, number 1
of Ethsix. (Photo by Dick Cortén) The name comes
from Ethic Six of the code of the National
Association of Social Workers, the responsibility to
advocate for social justice.
Ethsix, a two-school grad student publication, grabs a journalism award
A collaboration of grad students in the School of Social Welfare and the Graduate School of Journalism just a year ago produced a trailblazing interdisciplinary magazine called Ethsix. Colorful and graphically experimental, it told, in narratives from the front lines of social work, of persistent and malignant social problems that "otherwise remain invisible to the public eye." Ethsix and its creators recently received good news: they've won a Mark of Excellence Award from the tri-state District 11 of the Society of Professional Journalists. Under the "best student journalism of 2006" heading, it was chosen as best student magazine. With this win under its belt, Ethsix qualifies to compete for the Society's nationwide awards, which will be presented in October.
Ethsix website
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Two Haas MBAs launch a new sports website in Emeryville
A yardbarker is somebody in the front row who yells out unsolicited advice to players on the field. In that spirit, sports fans and Cal alums Pete Vlastelica and Jack Kloster, who met and hatched their idea at the Haas School have started Yardbarker.com, a user-customizable blogging and sports news tagging site. Their financing comes from early-stage investors, including former San Francisco 49ers Ronnie Lott and Harris Barton.
Yardbarker website
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You're a bird, you're a plane, you're a super-antihero
Ever wanted to fly near, around, and above the Campanile like a swallow (or even more like Neo in The Matrix)? You can come pretty close by watching The Campanile Movie. It's a fairly popular view at YouTube, even though it dates back to 1997, when Paul Debevec (Ph.D. '96), George Borshukov (M.S. '97), postdoc Camillo Taylor (now an associate professor at the University of Pennsylvania), and Yizhou Yu (who received his Ph.D. in 2000) developed a "virtual cinematography" technology. Their Campanile swoop-around screened at a key conference for computer graphics professionals. The Matrix's John Gaeta saw it there, and hired Borsukov to help make it so we could see Keanu Reeves dodge bullets in the movie — which won the Oscar for best visual effects in 1999. The Campanile Movie’s creators have all gone on to separate interesting lives, but meanwhile their joint effort still gets click-traffic on both pop video and technical websites. Watch the video (Quicktime).
News and other items for the June 2007 issue of eGrad are due Tuesday, May 15. Please send your information to gradpub@berkeley.edu. Submissions may be edited for length, clarity, and accuracy.
eGrad is produced by Graduate Communications & Events, distributed by email, and archived online. Graduate students, alumni, faculty, and staff are invited to send timely news and announcements of interest to or utility of graduate students and the graduate community. Please submit items to Dick Cortén, editor, at gradpub@berkeley.edu.
