Welcome back to RPI to those students still with us, and a special welcome to the new graduate students. I mingled with a few of you during the graduate reception, but to those I missed or tuned me out completely, here’s the message (those who read my last column in the spring can skip ahead) : The Graduate Council is the organization of students that acts as a liaison between the administration and graduate students. If students have questions or problems that we can address, we would be glad to help out. To reach us collectively, you can send e-mail to grad-council@rpi.edu or if you want to reach me in particular, my address is goldm@rpi.edu . The other focus of our group is to host events that get people out of their labs for a little while to mingle, air their grievances, and eat free food. We have a number of positions open—especially in the senate—that we are interested in filling to share the work and better represent the graduate student body.
Now back to my rambling. Know your enemy. In my case, it’s procrastination. Certainly as a grad student I expect to work late hours, but after the reception I went back to work at my lab until midnight. As I am a night owl, I’m usually more productive then anyhow, but it struck me that I probably could have gotten a little further if I scheduled my time better. My recommendation to you is to keep a planner, write in your events, and set goals and check to see if you are meeting them. If you are not, find out if it’s because you set your goals too high or if you’re not using your time as effectively as you could. If you need help with this, the Counseling Center offers services that include helping people with time management and study skills. The Counseling Center is located in the Student Health Center and can be reached at 276-6479.
In actual graduate news, the search for a dean of graduate education is nearly finished and we’re just waiting an announcement of the selected candidate. This is important as it has been a long time since we’ve had a permanent dean in that position. Mary Kate Williams and I shared duty on that search committee, and I’d like to thank her for all her help.
On Thursday, September 6, at 7 pm the Graduate Council will be holding a get-together at the Union Clubhouse Pub. Grad students, please stop by for pizza and to meet the Council.
