June 17-23, 2013

1. WEEKLY SERVICES IN THE GLC

  • GLC Café: 3:30-5:00 every Thursdays, Reading Room – year round!
  • Other regular GLC services are on hiatus for the summer. Please contact Career Services and the Writing Center if you need assistance.

2. STATS SHORT COURSE: DESIGNING EXPERIMENTS AND COLLECTING USEFUL DATA
Monday, Jun 17, 4:00-6:00pm, 3060 Torg
LISA (Laboratory for Interdisciplinary Statistical Analysis) provides a series of evening short courses to help graduate students use statistics in their research. The focus of these two-hour courses is on teaching practical statistical techniques for analyzing or collecting data. Instructions on how to register and to learn more>>.

3. SUMMER YOGA SERIES IN THE GLC
Tuesdays and Thursdays, starting May 30, 12:45-1:45pm, GLC Multipurpose Room
Taught by graduate student Susan Beck, yoga sessions will be offered in the GLC twice a week. Bring your own yoga mat (there are some at the Information Desk for check out while supplies last) and wear comfortable clothes. Sessions have been scheduled for 6/4, 6, 13, 20, 25, 27. Further sessions may be scheduled based on participant interest and instructor availability.

4. GLC CAFÉ
Thursday, June 20, 3:30-5:00pm, GLC Reading Room
The GLC Café is offered throughout the year with free coffee, tea, and cookies in the company of your graduate-student and Grad-School colleagues. If the weather is nice (=not raining), the café may move out to the side patio on the Bookstore side of the GLC, behind the hedges. Lemonade and a game of cornhole? Email to grads@vt.edu if you want that to happen.

5. WRITING CENTER SUMMER HOURS
The Writing Center is located in the Learning Commons (2nd floor of Newman Library). Summer hours are: Summer I May 28-Jul 3, 12:30-1:30 and 5:00-8:00pm Mondays-Thursdays. Summer II Jul 9- Aug 15, 6:00-8:00pm Mondays-Thursdays. To make an appointment stop by, or call 231-5436.

6. STATS SHORT COURSES THIS SUMMER

LISA (Laboratory for Interdisciplinary Statistical Analysis) is providing a series of evening short courses to help graduate students use statistics in their research. The focus of these two-hour courses is on teaching practical statistical techniques for analyzing or collecting data. See www.lisa.stat.vt.edu/?q=short_courses for instructions on how to register and to learn more. Summer 2013 Schedule:

  • Monday, Jun 24 & Tuesday, June 25: Basics of R;
  • Monday, Jul 1 & Tuesday, July 2: Statistical Analysis in R;
  • Monday, Jul 8 & Tuesday, July 9: Graphing with R;
  • Monday, Jul 15: SAS Programming I;
  • Tuesday, Jul 16: SAS Programming II;
  • Monday, Jul 22: Model selection in R featuring the lasso;

A schedule of available LISA short courses may be found here. Follow LISA on Facebook.

7. ON-CAMPUS GRAD HOUSING STILL AVAILABLE FOR 2013-14
If you haven’t made plans for housing accommodations for the 2013-14 year yet,  consider  on-campus housing and dining services. Limited space is available for graduate students on campus. Visit http://www.housing.vt.edu/contracts/apply/graduate.php to learn more about grad communities and options. If you are interested in signing up for graduate housing, visit https://systems.housing.vt.edu/grad/ to put your name on the waitlist. Graduate housing offers are made from the waitlist on a first-come, first-served basis until spaces are filled. Please contact the Housing and Residence Life office at (540)231-6205 or housing@vt.edu for any questions.

8. FULBRIGHT APPLICATIONS NOW OPEN

The Fulbright U.S. Student Program provides grants for individually designed study/research projects or for English Teaching Assistantships.  A candidate will submit a Statement of Grant Purpose defining activities to take place during one academic year in a participating country outside the U.S. The program facilitates cultural exchange through direct interaction on an individual basis in the classroom, field, home, and in routine tasks, allowing the grantee to gain an appreciation of others’ viewpoints and beliefs, the way they do things, and the way they think. Grant lengths and dates vary by country. Please consult the specific country summary for details. The application is open at http://us.fulbrightonline.org/. VT deadlines: Jul 1 – Priority candidates; Sep 14 – Regular candidates. You will not need letters of recommendation, transcripts or affiliation letter(s) for the priority deadline. Priority candidates will be matched with a Fulbrighter (VT faculty or alumnus) mentor to help them continue to develop their content and prepare for the campus interview,  and will be interviewed before fall semester or during the first week of classes. Regular candidates will be interviewed the last week in September and will have less time to respond to feedback.

9. FOUR-YEAR-OLD CHILDREN SOUGHT FOR STUDY – 1st posting
The VT C.A.P. Lab in the Psychology Department is conducting a new study focusing on children’s developing ability to control their actions during games like Simon Says. Researchers are looking for 4-year-old children to visit the lab for about two hours. During this visit, researchers will play some fun word and movement games with participants. In addition to the games, they are interested in collecting information about the physiological components of the children’s abilities to control their actions.  If you are interested in this study, please contact Amanda Watson by phone (research lab—231-2320) or by e-mail (watsonaj@vt.edu). This study was approved by VT IRB, #13-440.

10. GRAD HOUSING SURVEY STILL OPEN
If you haven’t filled out the housing preferences survey yet, the Graduate School invites you to do it this week. Recently, the Graduate School was contacted by local developers for our thoughts and suggestions about ways to improve the variety and availability of graduate housing within the Town of Blacksburg. A site has already been identified and the local developers intend to begin construction of new housing in the South Main Kroger vicinity within the next 18-24 months. The survey will take approximately 10-12 minutes. The information you provide will help us better understand the housing needs of our current and future graduate student community. Access the survey>>.