Happy First Week of Classes!

From the Registrar

Fall 2020 Enrollment & Important Dates

• September 2: Classes begin
• September 16: Add deadline
• September 18: Last day to register without a late registration fee

Course Enrollment Reminder

All research master’s and Ph.D. students are automatically enrolled for 12 credits in a research course by the Graduate School each academic semester. Below are the GRAD courses and the population each is used for.

• GRAD 9010 Graduate-Level Research – pre-candidacy Ph.D. students
• GRAD 9011 Doctoral Dissertation Research – post-candidacy Ph.D. students
• GRAD 9012 Master’s Thesis Research – research master’s students
• GRAD 9000 Non-Degree Study – non-degree students
• GRAD 8000 In Absentia – in absentia students

Students should enroll in field-specific research course offerings with their faculty during the Add period in addition to the GRAD course. At the end of the Drop period the Graduate School will adjust the number of credits in the GRAD course to balance to a minimum of 12 credits. The credit hours for the GRAD course cannot be adjusted prior to this and the course cannot be dropped.

If you have not completed the Re-entry Checklist, please complete these steps immediately or you will be prevented from enrolling and registering for the fall term. In order to complete the enrollment section of the Checklist, you must review and complete all nine steps of the Re-entry Checklist.

Online Form to Report Behavioral Compact Concerns Live!

The Cornell Compact Compliance Team (C3T) is asking all members of the Cornell community who observe violations of the Compact and want to report them to the C3T to do so using the recently launched online reporting tool.

Severe, pervasive, and/or repeated violations that could have long-term consequences for a student are forwarded to the Office of the Judicial Administrator (OJA). The OJA uses a highly structured process that includes a full right of appeals.

Teaching International and Multilingual Students: Tips for Online Instruction

Global Cornell offers Tips for Online Instruction for working with international students, including insights about how masks and physical distance may affect communication in learning contexts.
 
Tips include being aware of time zone differences, considering international students may be in countries where governments have access to and surveil online activity, using and including pedagogies, grading essays and exams without looking at the student’s name, being aware that learning of an additional language is a lifelong process and clear communication (not unaccented English) is the goal, and that international and multilingual writers benefit from seeing examples.
 
The post includes numerous references that may be helpful for those wishing to delve deeper into multilingually-inclusive teaching and learning strategies.

Fall 2020 Resources for Teaching Assistants

• Fall ’20 Checklist – Important considerations for the start of the semester as a TA (in partnership with your faculty supervisor as appropriate).
• Fall ’20 Guide for Instructors – Practical tips on the Behavioral Compact for students, academic integrity, assessment, and effective online instruction.
• Preparing for Fall Instruction page – Updated with guidance, best practices, and frequently asked questions.
• The Cornell University Health and Safety Considerations Subcommittee developed a resource page to inform decision-making for fall semester academic experiences.

Attention Incoming Graduate and Professional Students

Upcoming Transitions workshops – Learn about developing a strategic plan, mentoring, funding, time management, responsible conduct of research, and navigating relationships.

• Understanding and Overcoming the Imposter Experience: Tuesday, September 1 at 4:00 p.m.
• Develop Your Strategic Plan for Graduate School Success: Wednesday, September 2 at 10:00 a.m.
• Getting the Mentoring You Need and Want in Graduate School: Wednesday, September 9 at 10:00 a.m.
• Maximizing Your Every Minute: Thursday, September 10 at 4:00 p.m.
• Understanding Doctoral Funding at Cornell: Monday, September 14 at 4:00 p.m.
• Serious Scholarship and Responsible Conduct of Research: Thursday, September 17 at 10:00 a.m.
• Navigating Relationships and the Environment as a Graduate or Professional Student: Monday, September 21 at 4:00 p.m.

Upcoming Big Red Barn Graduate and Professional Student Center events – Attend a social mixer and take part in icebreaker activities to meet new and current students. All events will be online.

• Virtual Game Nights: Tuesday, September 8 at 5:00 p.m.
• Virtual Crafts: DIY T-Shirt Bags: Thursday, September 10 at 9:00 a.m.
• Virtual Origami Night: Wednesday, September 16 at 8:00 p.m.

New information in the Orientation Hub

• Not Anymore Program – Interpersonal violence prevention program. Required for all students.
  • Note: On the Account Set Up page, you should see your name and NetID. To verify, click “Create Account”. Then, begin the program.

Additional Resources

• Graduate School Orientation Hub
• Cornell Library’s Orientation Website
• Cornell Health Fall 2020 Programming
• CTI Teaching Assistant Online Orientation

Please note: To view Orientation materials on Canvas, you must first activate your NetID.

2020 Essential Guide to Academic Integrity at Cornell

The Essential Guide to Academic Integrity at Cornell is a print-friendly document that includes the actual Code of Academic Integrity together with advice about acknowledging the work of others, dealing with online sources, etc.

New Religious Accommodation Website

The Office of Spirituality and Meaning Making has created a new religious accommodation website that offers responses to common questions about religious observance accommodations and provides information for additional support or guidance.

Cornell Community Conversation on Race and Labor in America – Discussion of “13th”, the Documentary

September 10, 2020, from 1:00 – 2:00 p.m.

The Cornell University community is invited to a discussion of director Ava DuVernay’s award-winning documentary, “13th”. All community members are invited to watch the film (available for free streaming on Netflix and Youtube) prior to the discussion. There will be closed captioning for this event.

The conversation will discuss the film along with the following articles: 

• Michele Goodwin: The Thirteenth Amendment: Modern Slavery, Capitalism, and Mass Incarceration
• Ifeoma Ajunwa and Angela Onwuachi-Willig: Combating Discrimination Against the Formerly Incarcerated on the Labor Market

Summer in Ithaca

“If you truly love nature, you will find beauty everywhere.” -Vincent Van Gogh
 
It has been an especially bountiful and beautiful summer in Ithaca, and one of our staff members has been looking for beauty in nature along roadsides. What are you finding on your forays by foot or bike around Ithaca?
 
Photo by Associate Dean Jan Allen.

Alumni-fueled Startups Pitch Clean-energy Solutions

New York’s Southern Tier is getting a jolt of clean-energy innovation, fueled by Cornell alumni.
 
The fifth annual 76West Clean Energy Competition, held virtually Aug. 18-19, featured three Cornellian-led teams. The pitch competition, supported by Empire State Development and the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), aims to generate economic development in the Southern Tier by attracting cutting-edge startup companies from around the globe that specialize in clean-energy technology.

Read the Chronicle story

PhDivas Podcast: Imposter Syndrome and Other Anxieties

Do you ever feel like you don’t belong? Imposter syndrome names the feeling of being out of place that even successful people can experience — and this is widespread in all levels of the academy.

Liz Wayne, Ph.D. ’16, and Christine “Xine” Yao, Ph.D. ’17, talk about vulnerability, self-doubt, coping strategies, and infiltrating the system to change it from within in their PhDivas podcast. Listen to the episode.

Free and Discounted Academic Resources and Services

• Computing and Data Workshops (Free for students, faculty, and staff)
• IT Training workshops and classes (Free for students, faculty, and staff)
• Cornell University Library workshops (Free for students, faculty, and staff)
• Professional development workshops (Free for all graduate students)
• The Cornell Store (Discounts on technology and cell products)
• Writing from A to B (Free PDF guidebook on thesis/dissertation writing)

Student Spotlight: Macy Castaneda

Macy Castaneda is a doctoral student in mechanical engineering from Chico, California. After earning a bachelor’s degree from the University of California, San Diego, she chose to pursue further study at Cornell due to opportunities for contribution, the balance students find between scholarship and life, and the surrounding area.

Read the full student spotlight

Interested in what other graduate students are doing both on and off campus?

Check out our student spotlights, Q&As with current students about their research, hobbies, and experiences at Cornell.

Kudos!

Doctoral Alumnus Discusses Tech Pitch Competition Win in Interview

Luis Estevez, Ph.D. ’13, a doctoral alumnus in materials science and engineering and a Cornell Sloan scholar, was interviewed by Converge Ventures about his experience winning a tech pitch competition. The company he founded, Advanced & Innovative Multifunctional Materials (AIMM), LLC, won the competition with their self-disinfecting N95 respirator mask.

In addition to being AIMM’s founder, Estevez is a host of the “What’s the PhDeal” podcast. On the podcast, he and three other Ph.D.s from varying fields and schools discuss different points of view on topics of interest to doctoral students, including the imposter syndrome.

Read the Converge Ventures interview or listen to “What’s the PhDeal“.

Entomology Doctoral Candidate Featured with JEZ-B Spotlight

Anyi Mazo-Vargas, a doctoral candidate in entomology, was featured in an “In the Spotlight — Graduate Student” profile in the Journal of Experimental Zoology Part B Molecular and Developmental Evolution. Read the spotlight.