Graduate Student Colloquium

1.5 hours

9:00 AM - 10:30 AM Pacific time (12:00 PM - 1:30 PM Eastern time)

Navigate, Establish, and Accomplish: A Graduate Student's Guide to Thriving as a Scholar

Breakout Sessions: Navigating the Doctoral Journey

Establishing Vision and Goals for Your Career

Accomplishing Your Research Agenda

We are excited to announce the sixth annual Graduate Student Colloquium. The colloquium's aim is for graduate students to nurture intercollegiate partnerships and mentorship opportunities with the purpose of advancing EQRC/AABSS/CARE graduate student scholarship and supporting the unique needs of graduate students. Past participants have found the colloquium to be interesting, informative, productive, and uplifting. Both new students and also those who have joined in the past are encouraged to attend.

Through facilitated breakout sessions, we will provide participants with practical knowledge about the following: (1) navigating the doctoral journey, (2) establishing vision and goals for your career, (3) accomplishing your research agenda. We will divide into groups based on where attendees are in their program. Discussion will be encouraged and opportunities for questions will be plentiful.

During the “Navigating the Doctoral Journey” breakout session, presenters encourage attendee collaboration on strategies, reflections, and resources that enhance the doctoral journey. Presenters will share practical tips that allow graduate students to navigate and take charge of their doctoral journey, including selecting well-matched mentors, cultivating faculty involvement, creating a support group, and developing personal habits that ensure success in this significant initiative. Graduate students will strive to improve their professional growth and exploratory learning by enabling themselves to identify effective strategies for personal and professional growth.

During the “Establishing Vision and Goals for Your Career” breakout session, presenters will exchange constructive ideas on the career development planning and implementation process. Attendees will support each other in exploring, identifying, pursuing, and integrating personal and professional career objectives. Emphasis will be placed on connecting students directly to career pathway opportunities, strengthening networking strategies, identifying resources for future employment, and developing feasible long-term goals.

During the “Accomplishing Your Research Agenda” breakout session, presenters will share practical tips tailored to graduate students, including preparing a publishable manuscript, selecting a suitable journal for your manuscript, submitting to your selected journal, communicating with editors, and responding to reviewer comments for your revision. Attendees will consider which types of publications will assist in the future faculty job search, how to identify these suitable journals in the search, and juggling the responsibilities of a student with the necessity to determine when a manuscript has been properly and adequately prepared for submission. Presenters will delve into the opportunities and challenges students may face when negotiating authorship with co-authors.

Participants are encouraged to bring their elevator pitch timeline for career and research goals, list of publishing ideas, and a draft manuscript. However, all are welcome to attend.

Among other valuable activities during your time at the upcoming research conference, we hope you will prioritize attendance at the colloquium. The workshop promises to be engaging and we look forward to making your acquaintance.

If you’re interested in attending and have suggestions on additional topics you would like the presenters to cover, please click here for the Graduate Student Colloquium questionnaire.

Facilitators’ Bios:

Jennifer Killham, Ph.D.

Jennifer is an Assistant Professor with the Child Development Program at University of La Verne's La Fetra College of Education. In addition to inspiring students in the classroom, she has written several successful mentoring grants aimed at introducing new authors to the academic publication process. Killham was the 2017 recipient of the McGraw Hill Award from the Conference in Academic Research in Education and the 2013 recipient for Exemplary Scholarship for the Social and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Cincinnati. She has several publications, including an October 2018 article on graduate student success which was featured in the Journal for Behavioral and Social Sciences. She also has five book chapters on social justice pedagogy, published works with international colleagues in the book Game-Based Learning and the Power of Play: Exploring Evidence, Challenges and Future Directions and the International Journal for Game-Based Learning, and an edited textbook with Pearson titled Real Life Issues of Tweens to Teen: A Human Development Perspective. She has served as a guest editor for the Journal of Education and Social Justice and, in 2019, will assume the role of principal contact for the journal Technology, Humanities, Education and Narrative. She enjoys reviewing manuscripts for the journal Diaspora, Indigenous, and Minority Education and has been a reviewer for a number of conferences, including the American Educational Research Association and the American Association for Teaching and Curriculum.

Pierre Lu, Ph.D.

Pierre is Associate Professor of Educational Research in the Department of Teaching and Learning at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. He received his MEd in Human Development and Psychology, MA in Human Cognition and Learning, MS in Applied Statistics, MPhil in Cognitive Studies in Education, MBA in general business administration and Ph.D. in Educational Psychology. He has extensive experience conducting educational research and evaluating programs and projects. His research interests include scholarship of teaching and learning, use of technology, experiential learning and student success, and HSI of higher education. He enjoys learning, watching movies, and being with family.

Leslie Ekpe

Leslie Uchenna Ekpe is a doctoral student in the Higher Educational Leadership program at Texas Christian University. She received her MBA from Sam Houston State University and her MA in Communication Management from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Her work aims to promote access, foster exposure, engagement, and inclusive opportunities for underrepresented post-secondary students. As a current Albert Schweitzer Fellow, Leslie is examining first-generation and at-risk student-athletes within the Fort Worth Independent School District (FWISD). Leslie’s most recent work is in partnership with Dr. Stella Smith of Prairie View A&M University, where they presented at the Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE) in November of 2019 on African American Female Administrators at Predominately White Institutions as Tempered Radicals. Her research interests include black women in leadership, racial disparities within standardized testing, Race in K-12 education, and fairness within intercollegiate athletics.