The agenda featured insightful remarks by a number of students, faculty and staff.

The discussion during student and faculty panels was lively, and the new graduate students in the audience were able to ask questions and receive helpful feedback from the panel members.

Between panels, there were ice breakers to allow new graduate students to mingle and network with students outside their department, a valuable opportunity for those new to Berkeley.

Thank you to all who attended and to everyone who made this event such a success. On behalf of the Graduate Assembly, we wish you an outstanding first semester at UC Berkeley.

On August 23 the Graduate Division and the Graduate Assembly (led by Tierra Bills, the Graduate Support Services Project Coordinator, and President Bahar Navab) combined efforts to host the New Graduate Student Orientation, providing new graduate and professional students essential information to help them make a smooth transition to their life at Cal.

After welcoming remarks by Graduate Assembly President Bahar Navab and Graduate Division Dean Andrew Szeri, students were treated to an entertaining keynote lecture by Rosemary Joyce, a professor of Archaeology at UC Berkeley.

Sessions throughout the day covered a variety of topics to help students orient themselves to campus life and university resources. Topics included:

• Student Health Services
• Establishing Residency for Tuition Purposes
• What’s in the Library for You?
• Surviving and Thriving at Berkeley
• Academic Services
• Career Center Resources
• Need-based Funding and Fellowships
• Resources for International Students
• Gender Equity Resource Center
• Graduate Student Organizing
• Campus Resources: The Disabled Students’ Program Services & Resources, the Ombuds Office, the Cal Bookstore, and Cal Dining
• Childcare Resources

An important change this year is the addition of the “Empower U” program. This is a new mandatory program for all incoming graduate students designed to curb sexual harassment and other threats to a safe, comfortable campus environment. Students attending the orientation were able to attend an “Empower U” session, or they could attend a session another day elsewhere on campus.

On behalf of everyone who helped make this event possible, thank you for attending, and have an excellent first year at Berkeley.

Some say that there are two UC Berkeley’s. The first is composed of 9,934 graduate students working towards their graduate and professional degrees in a world of small seminars, specific research, and close work with faculty; the second of 22,880 undergraduates (2004 enrollment data) with larger classes and a different social and academic environment. Interaction between graduate students and undergraduates is an essential part of the instruction at Berkeley; the many graduate students that work as Graduate Student Instructors provide a quality educational experience to undergrads as they themselves acquire valuable experience as teachers.

Outside of the classroom, however, these two worlds rarely intersect. In order to encourage a more constructive and informal interaction between graduate students and undergrads, the ASUC Academic Affairs Office sponsors a Graduate-Undergraduate Mentorship Program. The goals are simple: first, to recruit and match undergraduates with graduate students based on field of study or interest; second, to provide undergraduates with information that will enhance their university experience and broaden their post-university possibilities, such as graduate programs and internships; and finally, the program aims to facilitate mentoring by organizing activities, while at the same time avoiding any extra burden to the students’ workload.

The mentoring program was part of an idea proposed by Rocky Gade, a former vice president of the Office of Academic  Affairs, as part of a larger goal to address the need for more mentorship on campus. “It seems very easy for undergrads to get lost at Berkeley,” Gade comments.

“There have been a lot of other attempts to match faculty with undergrads, but we felt that matching graduate students with undergrads was a way undergrads could develop a relationship with their mentor over their four years at Cal, from which both sides could benefit.”

Since its proposal, Amanda Lynne Garrett, a former director of mentorship of the Academic Affairs Office, initially had the responsibility of publicizing and organizing the program as well as refining its objectives. As director, she observed that the relationships formed between participants can add much to the campus community. The benefit to the undergraduates is fairly clear, she explains. When an undergraduate gets a chance to speak with a graduate student from the same field of study, it can be instrumental in obtaining information about graduate school o job and internship opportunities that are specific to that field, and also in helping to better plan coursework or even deciding which professors to work with and what research projects are available. She notes, however, that the perceived personal benefits might not be as clear to individual graduate students. The problem with recruiting graduate students, she says, is that there is probably no clear incentive to participate in this program, and they rely heavily on the altruism of our participants. However, for students with specific interests in teaching or working closely with undergraduates, the program certainly tries to give them the framework within which they might establish such a working relationship.

Mentoring in itself, however, is an essential part of the university experience and its educational goals. As mentors, numerous graduate students have not only reaped the satisfaction of guiding undergraduates, but have also gained practical experience that could be important in their later academic and professional careers. Rebekah Ahrendt, a graduate student in Musicology, decided to participate in the program partly because of the positive mentoring experience she had as an undergrad and partly because she saw mentoring as an important part of her professional development. As a graduate student who hopes to someday become a professor, she says, “I need to acquire the advising and mentoring skills that will ensure my future students’ success.” Rebekah believes that programs such as this are especially important to the large under-grad student body. “On such a populous campus,” she notes, “it is often difficult for undergrads to get the attention they need in order to succeed. A program such as this one lets undergrads know that they are not alone, and demonstrates the commitment of the Berkeley community to its members.”

Hopefully, the ASUC Graduate-Undergraduate Mentorship program and others on campus with similar goals will continue to receive the support of the campus community as a whole, as their growth is essential to improving the world-class academic experience for which Berkeley is known.

Want to learn more or get involved? Visit the ASUC Mentoring website.

Written by Jonathan Banda and Matt Hoberg.

Editor’s Note: This is a continuation of The Berkeley Graduate’s new graduate student orientation edition.

First things first: don’t panic! Instead, walk uphill on Bancroft Avenue (your back to San Francisco) to the International House (I-House), located at 2299 Piedmont Avenue at the corner of Bancroft and Piedmont Avenue. The International House is your home away from home, or the closest thing to it. International House, a dormitory building that houses nearly 600 Berkeley international and domestic graduate and undergraduate students and scholars, has helped international visitors transition to life in America since it first opened its doors in 1930.

Besides the I-House, the following resources for international students are available:

The Office of the Services for International Students and Scholars (SISS)

Located inside the I-House, SISS is the place to go with questions about immigration or visa documents. SISS assists international graduate students with questions about work permission, programs and services for international students at UC Berkeley, government information and general advising for international students. It also files H1 visa petitions for UC Berkeley employees.

To find the SISS office, upon entering the main lobby of the International House, turn right (not left, which leads to surprisingly good cheap eats and generous portions at the International House Café). Then make your first left, followed by a right into the mailroom opposite the Great Hall (a big living room). From the mailroom, turn left and follow the hallway corridor. Services for International Students and Scholars is located in this hallway on the right side.

The International House Program Office

Want to meet new people? Become a member of the International House. For one low fee, members receive International House Program News (5 issues/yr) and reduced admission to tons of events, including fitness and dance classes, Ethnic Heritage Dinners, performances, lectures, and group trips. Detailed monthly program information is available at the International House Program Office.

International students and scholars can also participate in the International Friendship Program, which pairs individuals with American families. For more information about the International Friendship Program, email ihprogra@uclink4.berkeley.edu (Attention: International FriendshipProgram Coordinator).

International House Meal Plans

Tired of cooking spaghetti in your kitchen? The International House’s cafeteria offers meal plans for students and non-students. Meal plans include access to ethnic theme dinners, barbecues, chef series dinners, the annual beach party and more.

Editor’s Note: This is a continuation of The Berkeley Graduate’s new graduate student orientation edition.

Graduate students are an integral part of the academic core of the University, conducting research and instructing undergraduates, with a personal interest in the success of this institution. The relationship between faculty and graduate students is at the heart of the discoveries and productions that are generated by any research institution, and at UC Berkeley, a university that in the recent years has been recognized as the best overall graduate institution in the nation, successful relationships between faculty and graduate students are integral to the overall graduate experience.

Oftentimes, a close academic relationship with a mentoring professor can become the pivotal factor in a student’s success and completion of his or her graduate degree. While such relationships do not always occur instantly or remain sustained, success in mentoring is something that requires the cooperation and efforts of both the professor and the graduate student.

One of the main aids to faculty-graduate student mentoring is the Graduate Student Instructor (GSI) Teaching and Resource Center, which provides teaching support and guidance to GSIs as well as mentoring seminars and workshops for faculty to help them become better mentors. Berkeley is one of the only universities to incorporate faculty mentoring of GSIs into university policy. The policy outlines the guidelines concerning recruitment, workload, preparation, and assessment of GSIs, as well as highlights the central role that faculty play in mentoring graduate students as teachers.

At any given time, there are over a thousand GSIs working in the university and the goal of the GSI Teaching and Resource Center is to great an ongoing feedback loop between GSIs and faculty so that the quality of the courses is enhanced. The results not only make for a better teaching experience, but also improve the quality of undergraduate education.

Among the numerous endeavors of the Center is to make sure that the work that faculty are doing in relation to mentoring graduate students is acknowledged and included in the university reward system. To that end, each year a few select faculty, from both within the Academic Senate and without, are recognized with the Faculty Award for Outstanding Mentorship of GSIs. In addition, a similar award, the Distinguished Faculty Mentors Award, is given annually by the Graduate Assembly to honor faculty research mentoring.

Photo from Flickr user John-Morgan

6. Many students find it relaxing and fun to use the studio space for ceramics and the darkroom for photography provided by the ASUC (The Associated Students of the University of California) in Lower Sproul Plaza. The ASUC art studio also offers courses in ceramics, creative writing, digital imaging, drawing & painting, jewelry, knitting/textiles/sweing, photography, printmaking/book arts, sculpture and video. To see the classes being offered this fall visit http://artstudio.berkeley.edu. The Fall session begins in early September, so sign up for a class soon if you’re interested.

7. The Campanile – also called Sather Tower – is certainly the most visible symbol of Berkeley’s campus and also one of the most famous. Berkeley students are accustomed to seeing this landmark from the ground, but did you know that you can also view the campus and surrounding area from the Campanile’s observation deck? Open daily and admission is free to UC Berkeley students.

8. Finally, whether it’s for getting to campus or getting away from it, don’t forget to pick up your Class Pass, which enables students to ride free on AC Transit and campus shuttle buses. The line is usually long in the first few weeks of school, but you’ll be glad you have it on the first rainy day or sooner if you are a regular bus commuter.

Berkeley Botanical Garden. Photo by Flickr user theMaykazine

In addition to world-class research facilities, Berkeley offers a variety of fun cultural and recreational activities. So next time you’re looking for something to do, start your search close to home. As a student, there’s more much more than academics available to you on campus.

1. Enjoy an event at Cal Performances at half price with the 50%-off discount available to Berkeley students. As the campus center for the performing arts, Cal Performances features dance, music, and theater, in addition to occasional speakers. To view the schedule of events or to purchase tickets online, visit www.calperfs.berkeley.edu

2. Watch a movie at the Pacific Film Archive (PFA). The PFA is the place to view rare, historic, and new movies from around the world. With tickets at just $5.50 for Berkeley students and more than 600 programs offered each school year, you can experience the world of cinema without leaving campus. For current and upcoming film series, see www.bampfa.berkeley.edu/filmseries/

3. Take a stroll through the University of California Botanical Garden. With plants from around the world, the gardens are both beautiful and educational. The Botanical Garden specializes in plants from Mediterranean climates, making it a great place to learn about the flora of your new home. The gardens are open daily from 9 am to 5 pm and are free for Berkeley students. (Everyone gets in for free on the first Thursday of the month.) For more information and directions to the garden, located in Strawberry Canyon, visit botanicalgarden.berkeley.edu/

4. Get access to all that Cal’s Recreational Sports Facility (RSF) has to offer for $10 per semester. Your membership lets you use the exercise equipment, pools, tennis courts (along with courts for handball, squash, racquet ball, and table tennis), tracks, and more. Go online for the complete list. The RSF is also your home for group exercise classes, such as spinning, yoga, pilates, step classes, and cardio kickboxing. For an additional fee, the RSF offers instructional classes in swimming, tennis, capoeira, and strength training among others. And the RSF is your starting point for intramural and club sports at Cal. Finally, the RSF houses Cal Adventures, where you can learn to sail, sea kayak, or windsurf at the Berkeley Marina.

5. The Berkeley campus is home to several museums. Curious about their exhibits? Begin with a trip to the art museum, which is open Wednesday through Sunday, 11 am to 5 pm. Close by you’ll find the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology, where there are currently exhibits on Native Californian Cultures and Preserving Egypt’s Past as well as a display of artifacts from the permanent collection. Several other campus museums, such as the University of California Museum of Paleontology, are primarily for research, so they are not routinely open to the public. Nevertheless, a trip to the Valley Life Sciences Building will be rewarded with a sighting of a Tyrannosaurus Rex and other dinosaur fossils.

Photo by Flickr user Lydia Chow

6. As Berkeley students, we are fortunate to have a fantastic regional park right in our backyard. Tilden Park offers great opportunities for hiking, grilling, and hanging out with friends. There’s even a petting zoo, a perennial favorite with young and old alike. Getting up to the hills offers great views of your new home, vistas that are sure to please long-time residents and out-of-town guests. At times the weekends can be a bit crowded, so take advantage of the graduate student’s flexible schedule and visit on a weekday. If you don’t have a car and the walk or bike ride seems daunting, AC Transit provides bus service to the park. Finally, a little further afield, the rest of the East Bay Regional Park system is well worth visiting for an introduction to the ecosystems and history of the area as well as recreation and relaxation.

7. The East Bay has excellent places to get food and drink, many of them relatively inexpensive. While the areas around campus have much to offer culinarily – the Gourmet Ghetto is a case in point – if you take the time to get to know neighborhoods slightly further afield you won’t be disappointed. You can begin with the places along San Pablo, University, and the northern end of College Ave. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Oakland’s neighborhoods (e.g., Piedmont, Temescal, Grand Lake, and Fruitvale), many of which specialize in a regional cuisine, await you. Local newspapers’ “Best of Berkeley/Bay Area” issues are another good place to begin your explorations. Bakesale Betty’s, Vik’s, and Lanesplitter are a must.

8. Plan ahead. Whether your program takes two years or seven, time will fly by. What are your goals for getting outside funding, for doing an internship, for funding? At what stage in your graduate career do you want to accomplish these things? What do you need to do to position yourself for either an academic or non-academic career? The more you can anticipate and plan now, the more likely it is that you’ll have those applications completed on time or the data on hand to start drafting that manuscript.

9. Start early. You don’t need to have everything read and all your data collected to begin writing your dissertation or master’s thesis. As you’re working, you can begin the background, methods, or theory sections. You’ll be much happier revising sections you wrote earlier than staring at the computer screen wondering why you didn’t write something up two years ago when you did all that background reading in the first place. In many departments, enterprising students have written guides for everything from coming back from the field ready to write to studying for your qualifying exams. Seek these out and benefit from the collective wisdom of others in your field.

10. Berkeley permits you to take classes in any school and department on campus. Take advantage of this opportunity if you can. The course you take outside your department is likely to end up being one of the most memorable of your graduate career. (Just remember, the law school starts its semester a week before the rest of campus.)

Once they’ve learned the ropes, fellow graduate and professional students invariably have formed opinions about how to survive and thrive at Cal. We asked senior graduate students to reflect on what they’ve learned. Here are a few of their tips for starters. Students in your program will have more specific advice. Find out what they have to say and incorporate whatever will work for you.

Photo by Flickr user Estoy Cansado

1. The administrative staff and graduate advisors in your department are invaluable. They oversee the day-to-day workings of graduate life, from copy machine access to payroll. When you’re teaching, the undergraduate advisors are great resources, able to answer all your questions about grading, requirements, and so forth. Departmental staff are often overworked, particularly in light of current staff and budget cuts. Get to know these members of your department; they will be the ones to help you navigate the University bureaucracy, from dropping a class to submitting fellowship applications to scheduling a room for your qualifying exams.

2. Fellow graduate students – your friends and colleagues – can be the key to thriving at Berkeley. Better than anyone else, they understand the unique situation of being a graduate student. Friends in your program will understand the inner workings and particular stress of your department, while friends in other departments can provide some perspective. Together, they will be the people you turn to to celebrate, to unwind, to vent, and to get support. As one student writes, “In most ways, I have learned more and been helped more by my graduate student friends than anyone else on campus in the last six years.”

3. Even though Berkeley has a wealth of academic resources, it is important to build relationships and networks off campus. These can be key to making your research happen, say, if you need access to a particular community, area, set of samples, or specialized equipment. These off-campus connections are also part of your professional development and will serve you well as a student and afterwards, leading to invitations to participate in conference sessions, special issues of journals in your field, and more.

4. Know now that things will not turn out precisely as you expected. Almost no one’s research goes exactly as planned for a nearly endless number of reasons: your topic may change completely (more than once), you may not get the permit you were counting on, the analysis you’re doing may be harder to master than you thought, funding may fall through, and so on. These roadblocks and detours will be disappointing, but try not to think of them as failures, recognizing instead that coping with these setbacks is part of the process.

5. No one regrets learning a new method or honing a skill. Think early about what methods you would like to use for your research or in your career. Then take advantage of opportunities, whether a class, workshop, or field experience, to learn or practice that skill. If you think you want to learn GIS, for instance, sign up for a class early on. Even if you don’t end up applying it in your research, chances are you’ll be glad you know how to use it.

Stay tuned for tips 6 through 10….

No appointment is needed; just stop by during clinic hours. The system appears well-organized and efficient, so you should be in and out quickly.

The next clinic is tomorrow, Tuesday, November 9, from 12 – 6 pm.  The final two clinics of the semester will be held Friday, November 19, and Wednesday, December 8.

In other flu-related news, new studies on the common cold suggest that regular exercise and getting enough sleep can help people avoid coming down with a cold after they’ve been exposed to the virus.