December 21-27, 2020

This Week’s Events:  

0. Ongoing Services – updated 9/21/20  
1. WINTER BREAK HANGOUTS FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS
2. DECEMBER CHRISTMAS ENGLISH CONVERSATION CLASSES

Administrative Announcements:  
3. GLC CLOSED FOR POWER OUTAGE – 1st posting 
4. HOLIDAY TIPS OF SUPPORT – 1st posting
5. FINANCIAL WELLNESS COACHING – 1st posting
6. SAIG SPRING 2021 NEW SHORT COURSE OFFERINGS – 2nd posting     
7. “THE MARKET” SIGN UP OPEN FOR SPRING SEMESTER – 2nd posting
8. CONTRIBUTIONS NEEDED FOR SYMPOSIUM ON MASS INCARCERATION – 2nd posting
9. ALCE 5224 “TEAM SCIENCE, COOPERATION, AND INTERDISCIPLINARY WORK” (SPRING 2021, CRN 10282) –3rd posting   
10. INTERDISCIPLINARY COMMUNITY CHANGE JOURNAL SEEKING GRADUATE STUDENT EDITORS – 3rd posting

Jobs:  
11. FULL-TIME GRA OPENING FOR SPRING 2021 – 1st posting
12. PART-TIME GRA OPENING FOR SPRING 2021 – 1st posting

Volunteers and research participants sought:  
13. CHINESE PARTICIPANTS NEEDED FOR AN ENGLISH LISTENING COMPREHENSION STUDY – 1st posting
14. PARENTS AND THEIR 7-11-YEAR-OLD CHILDREN NEEDED FOR RESEARCH STUDY – 3rd posting
15. PARTICIPANTS NEEDED FOR STUDY EXAMINING HOW CHOLINE INTAKE INFLUENCES HEALTH – 3rd posting
16. PARTICIPANTS NEEDED FOR A COMPUTATIONAL THINKING PRACTICE STUDY – 3rd posting

Upcoming Events:  
17. SCIENCE POLICY BOOTCAMP – Register by January 6!

0. Ongoing Services – updated 9/21/20  
· GRADUATE SCHOOL ADVISING: No walk-in advising during Fall 2020. Request one-on-one assistantship or academic advising by using our online request form to set-up a Zoom session. 

· CAREER ADVISING: schedule virtual career advising appointment via https://career.vt.edu/job-search/Handshake.html   
· COOK COUNSELING: Drop-in Zoom hours, 1-5pm Thursdays and Fridays, Zoom links found here.  
· WRITING CENTER SERVICES: Schedule an appointment at https://vt.mywconline.com/    
· GRADUATE OMBUDSPERSON: contact for appointment at gradstudentombud@vt.edu, 540-231-9573   

1.WINTER BREAK HANGOUTS FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS
Wednesday, December 23 and Tuesday, January 5, 1:30-3:30pm, Harper Hall
Come hangout with other international students and Cranwell staff over board games and snacks. pace is limited and registration is required. All COVID safety protocols will be enforced during the event. Sign up  https://tinyurl.com/yd2posn5 Sponsored by Cranwell International Center.

2. DECEMBER CHRISTMAS ENGLISH CONVERSATION CLASSES

Wednesdays and Fridays in December, 2:30-3:30pm, ZoomYou are invited to join the December Christmas English conversation classes on Wednesday and Fridays. Contact Fred and Mary Kay. (friends@fredandmarykay.org) Post submitted by Jennifer Lawrence of the Virginia Tech Writing Center.

3. GLC CLOSED FOR POWER OUTAGE – 1st posting          
Wednesday, Dec 23, 1:00pm-5:00pm
The GLC will be closed Wednesday afternoon due to a building-wide planned power outage so that electrical work can be completed.

4. HOLIDAY TIPS OF SUPPORT – 1st posting
Check out Cook Counseling Center’s holiday care package for tips of support through the holiday season https://ucc.vt.edu/content/dam/ucc_vt_edu/self_help_support_stategies/HolidayCarePackage.pdf

5. FINANCIAL WELLNESS COACHING – 1st posting
Financial questions or stress? Set up an appointment to discuss your financial wellness. Kevin Sutton, the Assistant Director of Financial Wellness on the Hokie Wellness team, presents and meets with both graduate and undergraduate students to discuss topics such as budgeting, credit scores, debt management strategies, financial stress, and short-term financial planning. Some potential topics for discussion during this time include how to maximize your credit score without carrying a credit card balance as well as making a financial plan for experiences you want to have in 2021 and beyond. You can contact Kevin @SuttonKL@vt.edu to schedule an appointment around your schedule.

6. SAIG SPRING 2021 NEW SHORT COURSE OFFERINGS – 2nd posting
The Statistical Applications and Innovations Group (SAIG) is offering 2 new short courses during the spring 2021 semester. Machine Learning (8-week course) and Introduction to Text Analytics in R (2-day course).  For more information and to enroll, visit: https://profdev.tlos.vt.edu/?query=saig. SAIG provides free courses to members of participating VT Colleges to make you a more effective researcher. Do you need to analyze your data and aren’t sure where to start? Switching to R from another software package? Using JMP® for the first time? Need a refresher on a particular topic? Attend one of our hands on, practical course offerings to improve your skills. SAIG short courses will be offered via Zoom. For assistance contact: Katemiller@vt.edu.

7. “THE MARKET” SIGN UP OPEN FOR SPRING SEMESTER – 2nd posting
The Market is designed to provide food assistance to students who, for whatever reason, have a hard time obtaining regular, healthy meals. The program offers bags of seasonal produce and fruits; options for beef, poultry, and vegetarian protein; dairy items; dry-goods pantry stock items; and bonus treats. Each weekly bag will be enough for roughly seven days’ worth of meals. The web site will open for orders on Jan. 11 and the first pick-up will be Jan. 19. The program will run 16 weeks. For more information visit https://dos.vt.edu/food.html

8. CONTRIBUTIONS NEEDED FOR SYMPOSIUM ON MASS INCARCERATION – 2nd posting
2020 has been marked by COVID-19, racial injustice and inequality, and numerous challenges for those in our nation’s prisons and jails as well as family and friends of the incarcerated. The symposium is an opportunity to have your voice heard and express how you have been impacted by incarceration in the midst of this tumultuous year. Please contact Shawnice Johnson (shawnicej@vt.edu or 252.481.4345) about submitting your art, reading your poetry or essay, or participating in a brief interview for the Lives at Risk video to be shown at the Symposium! This is a virtual event that will be held on April 16, 2021, 8:30am-4:30pm.

9. ALCE 5224 “TEAM SCIENCE, COOPERAION, AND INTERDISCIPLINARY WORK” (SPRING 2021, CRN 10282) – 3rd posting   
Theoretical and conceptual basis for thinking about, guiding, and supporting team science and cooperative processes for interdisciplinary research, programming, and outreach. Current scholarship and concepts of individual and team readiness, effectiveness, protocols, training, and outcomes in team science and cooperative process contexts.  For additional information, please contact the instructor, Eric K. Kaufman (ekaufman@vt.edu).

10. INTERDISCIPLINARY COMMUNITY CHANGE JOURNAL SEEKING GRADUATE STUDENT EDITORS – 3rd posting
Community Change journal (https://www.communitychange.ipg.vt.edu/) is an online, peer-reviewed, interdisciplinary graduate student journal that seeks to explore multiple approaches to democratic community development and change. Community Change aims to provide opportunities for graduate students from all related disciplines to become acquainted with academic publication processes, including crafting calls for papers, soliciting manuscripts, and reviewing submissions through a peer-review process. Accepted submissions are published open access on the journal’s website. Students with editing and publishing experience are preferred, and/or those who can commit a minimum of two academic years. If you have questions or are interested to attend an informational meeting in early spring 2021, please contact Lara Nagle: lkn4187@vt.edu.

11. FULL-TIME GRA OPENING FOR SPRING 2021 – 1st posting
A research team is looking for a full-time GRA with competencies in statistical analysis, particularly in regression and mediation analysis. Students from any program will be considered; ideal candidates will be at least two years into their studies and have knowledge of quantitative research methods, statistical analysis, and learning science analytics. Key tasks: organize and clean data; evaluate research hypotheses; make predictions; visualize data using R, or SAS or SPSS; disseminate findings. This is a 20 hrs/wk assistantship for the spring academic semester, with possible continuation in subsequent semesters. To apply, send 1) cover letter describing how you met key tasks in previous work; background relevant to the skills and tasks listed above; and how your research would be helped along by working with this research team, and 2) their CV to: dibairak@vt.edu by Friday, Jan 4, 2021 at 5pm. For more information see: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1763477&HistoricalAwards=false

12. PART-TIME GRA OPENING FOR SPRING 2021 – 1st posting
A research team is looking for a part-time GRA with competencies in statistical analysis, particularly in usability study analysis. Students from any program will be considered; ideal candidates will be at least two years into their studies and have knowledge of quantitative research methods, usability study, learning analytics. Competency in energy science is a plus. Key tasks: organize and clean data; usability test analysis, regression; visualize data using R, or SAS or SPSS. This is a 10 hrs/wk assistantship for the spring academic semester, with possible continuation in subsequent semesters. To apply, send 1) cover letter describing how you met key tasks in previous work; background relevant to the skills and tasks listed above; and how your research would be helped along by working with this research team, and 2) their CV to: dibairak@vt.edu by Friday, Jan 4, 2021 at 5pm. For more information see:https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1712210&HistoricalAwards=false

13. CHINESE PARTICIPANTS NEEDED FOR AN ENGLISH LISTENING COMPREHENSION STUDY – 1st posting
Native Chinese speakers who are 18 years of age and older are needed to participate in this online 40 – 60-minute study. During the session, you will be asked to complete a brief survey, to listen to several English lectures, and to answer listening comprehension questions. You will need a computer with a web browser and speakers/headphones. Participation is confidential and completely voluntary. There is no compensation for completing the survey. The study contact is Jingjing Huang (hjingjing@vt.edu). If you are interested in obtaining more information about this study, please visit: https://virginiatech.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_6g54HPnCiQKnR89

14. PARENTS AND THEIR 7-11-YEAR-OLD CHILDREN NEEDED FOR RESEARCH STUDY – 3rd posting
We are working with families both in the US and China to understand children’s social development and family interactions. To follow public health guidelines for social distancing, parents and children may complete this study in the comfort of your home, with no face-to-face contact with us. The study involves parents completing online questionnaires and uploading audio recordings of parent-child joint activities: A) talk with each other about events that made you or your child feel angry, proud, shame/guilt, and warmth; and B) read a wordless book together. Questionnaires will take about 30 minutes and parent-child activities will take about 45 minutes. Parents will be given a $20 e-giftcard and children will be given a wordless picture book and a sticker sheet. Interested? e-mail danhuaz@vt.edu.

15. PARTICIPANTS NEEDED FOR STUDY EXAMINING HOW CHOLINE INTAKE INFLUENCES HEALTH – 3rd posting
This study will require 5 visits to the lab, multiple finger sticks to measure glucose and wearing a continuous glucose monitor for several days, consumption of a supplement or placebo at 4 time points, and a time commitment of approximately 12 hours.  Participants must be 18-65 years of age, not taking medications that influence the study results, not have severe obesity, non-smokers, not pregnant, without any major medical problems, and without any known choline allergies. If you are on a diuretic or are taking medications such as aspirin, antibiotics, prebiotics, and probiotics, you are not eligible for this study. You will receive information on your blood pressure, cholesterol, and other health information.  You may receive up to $100 to compensate you for your time. You will receive $20 for completing session 2, session 3, and session 4. After completing session 5 you will receive $40. There is no compensation for completing the first session. If you meet the above requirements and are interested in participating in this research study, please contact the Human Integrative Physiology Laboratory at Virginia Tech by email: vthipl@gmail.com.

16. PARTICIPANTS NEEDED FOR A COMPUTATIONAL THINKING PRACTICE STUDY – 3rd posting
Participants must be 18 years of age and older to participate in this 5 to 50-minute study session online. During this session, you will be asked to complete a few brief surveys and to test a way of practicing computational thinking. You will need a computer with a web browser and speakers/headphones. Each participant who completes 90% or more of the research study will be eligible to receive a $10.00 digital gift card from www.amazon.com. Participation is confidential and completely voluntary. IRB #: 19-492 The Principal Investigator is DR. Ivica Ico Bukvic (ico@vt.edu) and the study contact is Kyriakos Tsoukalas (ktsoukalas@vt.edu) If you are interested in obtaining more information about this study, please visit: https://virginiatech.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_2os0HB7dqDVFGER

Upcoming Events:

17. SCIENCE POLICY BOOTCAMP – Register by January 6!
January 11-15, 9:00am-12pm, Zoom
UVA’s Office of Graduate and Postdoctoral Affairs is offering a “Science Policy Bootcamp,” designed to introduce trainees to science policy concepts and skills, as well as expose participants to career paths in science policy.  Topics will include the roles of local, state, federal, and international stakeholders, community advocacy, policy surrounding COVID-19 vaccines, science policy communication, and overcoming bias in policymaking.  Details of the planned daily sessions can be found under “Upcoming Events” here.  The deadline for registration is Wednesday, January 6, 2021, at 8:00AM.  Please share this information with your fellow trainees. For questions, please contact Marlit Hayslett at marlit@virginia.edu