Webinars – Center for Academic & Faculty Excellence

Back to School Tune Up Sessions:
August 14 & 15, 2024

Introduction to Graduate Student Well Being

Wednesday, August 14 from 10:00 am to 11:00 am PST on Zoom
Host: Aisha Iqbal-Ruiz, Visiting Researcher from Maastricht University
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As Ph.D. students, you’re not strangers to balancing conflicting responsibilities such as coursework and research. If you, at times, feel that your course load is unsustainable, that you enjoy your studies less than you’d want to, or that you feel less connected or engaged with your course content or research, you might be interested in working on your well being. We are offering a coaching trajectory, starting in late August, to help you gain agency over your well being and recovery.

We have designed a coaching trajectory with the following elements:

1. 1. 1. Assist you in reflecting on your current state of well being.
    2. Help you identify your coping strategies.
    3. Exploring necessary steps to achieve your desired state of well being and identifying contextual elements that support or hinder well being.
    4. Understanding strategies for resilience and the triggers for these strategies.
    5. Understanding the best ways to recover from work fatigue and strain at work.

This workshop involves several individual and group coaching sessions. You will develop your own vision of well being and set goals to achieve it. Our approach is broad; you will be free to work on any area of your life that you find relevant to being well in your PhD.

Join this 1-hour pre-workshop to get a feeling for the activities in the coaching journey. It will be hosted by Aisha Iqbal-Ruiz, a visiting researcher and PhD candidate in Educational Research from Maastricht University.

Using ChatGPT-4o in Research

Wednesday, August 14 from 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm PST on Zoom
Host: Robert Klitgaard, CGU Professor
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This hands-on, half-day workshop provides examples and inspiration for using ChatGPT-4o in your research. Topics include thinking through research questions, doing data analysis, anticipating biases in ourselves and our audiences, inclusive research, and presenting results including various kinds of publications and presentations. Participants should enroll in advance in ChatGPT Plus.

Using AI in Graduate School

Thursday, August 15 from 10:00 to 11:00 am PST on Zoom
Host: Shelby D. Lamar, Associate Director of CAFE
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Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools have gained massive traction in the last few years, yet there are still a lot of questions around using AI in higher education. Join us to learn more about types of AI, what tools might be useful in graduate school, and how to maintain academic integrity in your educational journey.

Learn to Use Zotero for Your Research & Writing

Thursday, August 15 from 1:00 to 2:00 pm PST on Zoom
Host: Jonathan Aragon, CAFE Fellow
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Reference management software is a scholar’s best friend! This workshop gives you tools to thrive during graduate school by showing how the free reference management software Zotero can save time and prevent citation frustrations. Organizing all your sources, reading notes, and entering citations manually can be overwhelming and cost precious time, especially when working on a long-term project like a thesis or dissertation. When working on a project, you may find that you forget what you have read, don’t remember where your notes are located, or can’t find the source of that amazing quote! The earlier you start using a reference management system, the easier it will be to take notes, write papers, make bibliographies, and organize your research. Come learn how to use Zotero and make grad life easier!

Every Semester Needs a Plan

Thursday, August 15 from 3:00 to 4:00 pm PST on Zoom
Host: Eric Thomas, CAFE Fellow
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