Grad Students Just Wanna Have Fun: Great Sociability Makes A Great Graduate Program
- Conference
- Location
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Austin, Texas
- Publication Date
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June 14, 2009
- Start Date
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June 14, 2009
- End Date
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June 17, 2009
- ISSN
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2153-5965
- Conference Session
- Tagged Division
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Graduate Studies
- Page Count
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11
- Page Numbers
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14.652.1 - 14.652.11
- DOI
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10.18260/1-2--5409
- Permanent URL
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https://peer.asee.org/5409
- Download Count
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497
Paper Authors
Catherine Hovell University of Texas, Austin
CATHERINE G. HOVELL is a PhD student at the University of Texas at Austin. Her research focuses on improving design in a Texas standard concrete bridge beam. She received her MS from UT-Austin in 2007, having performed finite element analyses of a steel bridge girder system. She is also a graduate of the University of Virginia. Contact: cghovell@gmail.com
Kimberly Talley
University of Texas, Austin
orcid.org/0000-0002-6235-0706
KIMBERLY G. TALLEY is a Ph.D. student at the University of Texas at Austin. Her research focus is on the assessment and rehabilitation of deteriorated concrete. She received two B.S. degrees from North Carolina State University and her M.S. from the University of Texas at Austin. Contact: kim@talleyweb.com
Kathy Schmidt University of Texas, Austin
KATHY J. SCHMIDT is the Director of the Faculty Innovation Center for the College of Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin. In this position, she promotes the College of Engineering's commitment to finding ways to enrich teaching and learning. She works in all aspects of education including design and development, faculty training, learner support, and evaluation. Contact k.schmidt@mail.utexas.edu
Abstract
NOTE: The first page of text has been automatically extracted and included below in lieu of an abstract
Grad Students Just Wanna Have Fun: Great Sociability Makes a Great Graduate Program
Abstract
The Ferguson Structural Engineering Laboratory at the University of Texas at Austin combines unique research and social aspects of graduate work for structural engineering students. The result is an education and experience that aids in the development of students who surpass their peers from other universities, as evidenced by consistently high rankings of the graduate program. In research, the students are responsible for producing top-quality results in an extensively equipped, hands-on laboratory. Socially, the lab employees, graduate researchers, and faculty gather for barbeques, softball games, intramural sports teams, golf tournaments, potlucks, and football tailgates. Lessons learned in class are reinforced when students help others who are falling behind, and when homework becomes a collaborative effort that is encouraged by providing plenty of space to work as a team. The result is an atmosphere of camaraderie that encourages teamwork, networking, and fun rather than cut-throat competition. This atmosphere helps with recruiting the best new graduate students and also assists graduating students to land jobs with their top choice employers. This paper describes the elements that make up this successful social environment in hopes that other programs will be able to adapt some of these ideas to suit their situations.
Introduction
Within any professional community, certain schools maintain a reputation well above their peers. In the structural engineering culture, the University of Texas at Austin (UT-Austin) is one of these schools, joining only a handful of others as producers of the most top-level research and also the most top-level students. T n -Austin, especially when accompanied by a research position at the Ferguson Structural Engineering Laboratory (FSEL), says a lot about the caliber of student.
Hovell, C., & Talley, K., & Schmidt, K. (2009, June), Grad Students Just Wanna Have Fun: Great Sociability Makes A Great Graduate Program Paper presented at 2009 Annual Conference & Exposition, Austin, Texas. 10.18260/1-2--5409
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