Develop Professional Skills

Campus organizations provide opportunities and resources for graduate students and postdocs to increase self-awareness and efficacy and learn how to prepare for, manage, and overcome challenges presented during and after graduate school.

Resilience support and resources at UT help graduate students:

• Increase self-awareness and agency
• Develop and articulate their personal, academic, and professional ethical frameworks
• Advance their financial, physical, and emotional health and wellness
• Navigate life decisions/changes
• Learn about growth mindset, grit, and failing up

Workshops & Programs

• Mental Health Guide for Graduate Students and Graduate Programs at UT Austin
• Emotional Wellness Workshops are offered every semester through CMHC
• Gender and Sexuality Ally Workshops are offered through the Gender and Sexuality Center
• Words Matter at UT is an online training program offered by the Employee Assistance Program
• TeXercise Programs are University recreational programs that offer a range of exercise and fitness classes

Courses

• Transforming Lives Through Resilience Education consists of four mini-lectures, or modules, prepared by Dr. Mary Steinhardt, Professor of Health Education at the University of Texas at Austin.

Individualized Consultations

• Short-term individual counseling appointments are offered through the Counseling and Mental Health Center (CMHC) to all currently enrolled UT students.
• Confidential counseling and assertiveness coaching is a service for graduate students who are eligible teaching assistants, assistant instructors, and graduate research assistants offered by the Employee Assistance Program.
• Student Ombuds Office is available to meet individually with graduate students to listen to concerns in a safe setting about life at the university and confidentially discuss interpersonal difficulties, university policies, university bureaucracy, and conflict resolution techniques.
• Graduate career advising consultations are confidential one-hour appointments in which graduate students can self-assess skills, interests, and values, discuss career options, and help design individual development plans.
• Personal training sessions are available for purchase through UT Recreation.

Communities & Activities

• Self-care resource is an overview and list of activities to increase your overall well-being offered by CMHC.
• University of Texas Recreation Facilities offers health and wellness opportunities such as exercise classes.

Resources

• Financial Wellness Office in the Office of Financial Aid
• Personal Finance for PhDs (off campus)

Campus organizations provide opportunities for graduate students and postdocs to develop and hone oral and written communication skills, increasing their impact by learning how to tell the story of their research, teaching, and experiences to different audiences.

Graduate student storytelling development at UT prepares graduate students to:

• Translate experiences in and beyond graduate school in context-specific ways
• Effectively communicate complexity and relevance to general, diverse, and expert audiences
• Enhance public speaking and writing skills
• Demonstrate knowledge and experiences in digital and multimedia tools
• Overcome barriers to effective interpersonal, public, and group communication

Workshops & Programs

• Crafting a Research Story, Dissertation Writing Workshops and Professional Communication Writing Workshops offered by The University Writing Center
• The Three Minute Thesis (3MT®) competition cultivates students’ academic, presentation, and research communication skills. The competition supports their capacity to effectively explain their research in three minutes, in a language appropriate to a non-specialist audience. The competition was originally developed by The University of Queensland (UQ)
• Present your PhD Thesis to a 12-year-old Project Science Doctoral students at UT Austin have conducted this new outreach program in which they present a simplified version of their Ph.D. thesis in kindergarten through 12th-grade classrooms
• CV, Resume, Cover Letter, Networking, Interviewing and Negotiation workshops offered by Texas Career Engagement
• Public Speaking Workshops and Programs offered through the Sanger Learning Center
• Humanities Institute Difficult Dialogues Public Forum

Individualized Consultations

• Graduate Writing Consultations for non-evaluative feedback on writing projects with the University Writing Center
• Public speaking consultations with the Sanger Learning Center
• Career Advising Consultations with Graduate Career Advisors
• Teaching Statement & Equity, Inclusion and Diversity Statement Consultations with Faculty Innovation Center Consultants

Communities & Activities

• Graduate Student Teaching Showcase: Each spring semester, graduate students compete for the chance to present quick, compelling talks about teaching at the Graduate Teaching Showcase. This event brings together graduate students, faculty, and staff to hear exciting approaches on teaching and learning that graduate students are grappling with and solving in their own teaching contexts.
• Sustainability on Tap: Have a passion for environmental and social sustainability? Interested in what UT grad students are working on?  You’re invited to a grad student social featuring craft beer and a speed session of sustainability presentations! All grad students, faculty, and staff are invited to this social and informal community-building event.

Resources

• Graduate Writing Resources: https://uwc.utexas.edu/grad/resources/
• Link to Resource

The majority of academic development takes place under the guidance of your major professor. However, UT Austin is a large institution with a diverse suite of professional development opportunities, many of which may be outside your program and unknown to your mentor(s). To ensure trainees are aware of all available opportunities to develop transferable skills, we have collected many here.

Graduate student academic development at UT prepares graduate students and postdocs to:

• Efficiently conduct research within their discipline
• Efficiently analyze data
• Write effectively within their discipline
• Identify and navigate funding support structures within their field
• Be familiar with and practice responsible conduct in research
• Understand intellectual property
• Work productively within an interdisciplinary team
• Understand the industry of higher education and possible academic career paths
• Develop a professional academic brand
• Be familiar with academic career resources available to them

Workshops & Programs

• LibGuides (PCL)
• Data Science Workshops (CNS)
• Statistics and Data Science Short Courses (SDS)
• Summer Statistics Institute (SDS)
• The University Writing Center offers writing retreats, writing groups, and a variety of workshops that support academic development, including: The Home Stretch: Workshop for Doctoral Candidates, Framing Interventions: Making Your Work Matter,  Organizing Your Research with Zotero,  How to Write Effective Emails,  Writing Introductions, Writing Conclusions,  Reading for Moves: Understanding Abstracts and Proposals, Publishing in Grad School, Crafting Standout Presentations, Time Management for Academics, Writing a Dissertation, Spring into Summer Writing, and Revision and Editing Workshop
• NIH NRSA F31 & F32 Fellowship Workshop Offered through the College of Natural Sciences (CNS)
• Responsible Conduct in Research (ORSC, Research Integrity Program)

Individualized Consultations

• Individual Statistics Consultations with the Department of Statistics and Data Science
• Individual Writing Consultations with the Graduate Writing Center
• Career Advising Consultations with Graduate Career Advisors to create an individual development plan (IDP)

Communities & Activities

• Graduate Writing Retreats offered by the University Writing Center

Resources

• Scholar Commons: reserve study space, available to graduate students only
• Data Lab in Scholars Commons: Located in Scholars Commons, the Data Lab has 15 imacs. Software programs specific to this lab include Stata MP, NVivo, and OpenRefine
• Writing a Literature Review Resource from the University Writing Center
• Mathematical and Statistical Software Tutorials from the Department of Statistics and Data Science
• List of all UT Austin Research Units and Centers

Campus organizations provide opportunities for graduate students to develop their teaching, learn how to intentionally design learning experiences, and promote students’ learning.

Graduate student teaching development at UT prepares graduate students to:

• Lead in a variety of career contexts
• Design learning experiences
• Advance a culture of teaching and learning at UT
• Build a growth mindset on a path of lifelong learning

Workshops & Programs

• Teaching Preparation Series (FIC)
• Supplemental Instruction Leaders (Sanger)
• CNS Concentration in Teaching and Mentoring
• Graduate Certificate in Engineering Education
• Intro to OER (Libraries)

Courses

• 398T: College Methodology
• GRS 097: Fundamentals for Teaching Assistants (COLA, UGS, CNS)
• Concentration in Teaching and Mentoring (CNS)

Individualized Consultations

• Faculty Innovation Center
• Graduate Student Development Program
• Texas Institute for Discovery Education in Science (CNS)

Communities & Activities

• Graduate Teaching Showcase
• Eyes on Teaching

Resources

• Information literacy toolkit (Libraries)
• Deeper Dive Instructional Guides (FIC)
• Architecting Online Courses
• QuickFic Solutions (FIC)
• Well-Being in Learning Environments (CMHC)
• Trauma-Informed Pedagogy
• Canvas Support (LAITS)

Cultivate relationships to advance your academic, personal, and career goals. Recognize and value the unique perspectives of people, identities, and points of view in an effort to address and eliminate barriers to systems and services.

Graduate Students will be able to:

• Understand the importance of identifying a mentor
• Acquire tools for establishing a supportive mentoring relationship
• Learn strategies for identifying multiple mentors for academic and career development
• Develop the competency to mentor others
• Cultivate self-advocacy skills
• Enhance communication, conflict management, and boundary setting skills
• Demonstrate inclusive practices for mentoring, such as culturally aware mentoring
• Incorporate self-assessment strategies for growth
• Build mentoring networks

Courses

• CNS Concentration in Leadership and Project Management
• CNS Concentration in Teaching and Mentoring
• Intellectual Entrepreneurship Program

Individualized Consultations

Communities & Activities

• Texas Global LinkedIn Group
• Texas Global Hookedin Group
• UT regional and culturally focused student organizations

Resources

• Imagine PhD
• Versatile PhD
• Interstride

Campus organizations provide opportunities for graduate students to develop professionally and explore their career interests as well as problem-solving and ethical decision-making frameworks.

Graduate Students will learn how to effectively:

• Develop self-awareness and engage in self-assessment of career-related skills, interests, and values
• Develop habits, behaviors, and an understanding of the norms, industry best practices, and standards that contribute to workplace success
• Identify, discuss, and address ethical concerns within their industry
• Manage and address workplace conflicts
• Create a professional brand, identify professional goals, and network successfully

Workshops & Programs

• Texas Career Engagement offers graduate-specific workshops on career-related topics including professional networking, developing an individual development plan, writing a resume and CV, interviewing, and navigating the job search as well as employer events
• Ethics Unwrapped – a series of videos related to behavioral ethics and their practical application in the workplace
• Honor Texas – University-wide programming related to the University’s commitment to ethical behavior and an ethical environment.
• Workshops from the Ombuds Office and the University’s Dispute Resolution Officer focus on restorative justice, navigating conflict, and having difficult conversations. The Dispute Resolution Officer offers a 8-week workshop on effective communication and conflict three times a year.
• Title IX Office offers training related to an employee’s responsibilities as a responsible employee as well as how to communicate boundaries in the workplace

Courses

•     Responsible Conduct of Research

Individualized Consultations

• Texas Career Engagement Graduate Career Advising
• College or School Career Center
• Faculty Innovation Center
• Ombuds Office

Communities & Activities

• Graduate Etiquette Dinner
• Interstride International Student Communities

Resources

• ImaginePhD: A Confidential and Free Career Exploration and Planning Tool for Humanities & Social Science PhDs
• MyIDP: A Confidential and Free Career Exploration and Planning Tool for Biomedical and Life Scientists
• VersatilePhD: An online platform with more than 30,000+ PhDs working in a range of careers outside of the academy, sample application documents, and PhD career pathfinder
• Research Misconduct
• Big Interview