Transcript No Slide Title

Group Projects
2006 – 07
Logistics
Bren School of Environmental Science & Management, UCSB
Information Sources
Group Project Handbook
http://www.services/students/index.html
(under handbooks)
Past Reports and Briefs
http://www.bren.ucsb.edu/research/group_projects.asp
Brief Template and Example
http://www.services/students/index.html
(under handbooks)
2nd year Presentations April 19, 3pm
Double Tree Resort
Bren School of Environmental Science & Management, UCSB
Registration
Are you sure you have registered?
Double check!!!
401A (spr) = 3 units
401B (fall) = 4 units
401C (win) = 4 units
401D (spr) = 1 unit
Bren School of Environmental Science & Management, UCSB
Meetings
Meet at least once/week
Students are responsible for scheduling meetings and
securing meeting space
Connie F. coordinates room scheduling as well as all media
including conference phone
Please use roomrequest@bren
Last minute scheduling requests often can’t be
accommodated; shoot for 48 hours minimum
Pine room can be used on weekends (check out key from
Connie F.)
Bren School of Environmental Science & Management, UCSB
Money Matters
Each group gets $1,100 plus up to $200 for printing costs
from the Bren School (except Big Sur); Big Sur funded
by donor gift
Includes all costs including poster and briefs
Printing allocations made to individual group members
Can “buy” more printing
Appoint a financial manager (FM) by tomorrow (Thur) and
inform Mike Best (mbest@bren) via email (group name
& manager name and email)
Mike will arrange meetings with each manager (perhaps
groups of managers) and educate them about financial
matters.
Bren School of Environmental Science & Management, UCSB
$$$
FMs should study information about finances in handbook
Get to know the Bren School’s Financial Staff
Connie Meza (cmeza) = purchasing
Brooke Farrell (brooke) = travel and payroll
Mike (mbest) = extramural and gift funds, proposals,
financial statements, questions, problems, training
Each group gets a copy code and a phone authorization
code
Optional voice mail available for monthly fee
Purchase orders must be used if they are acceptable by
vendor
Otherwise payment is made up front by group member
and then original receipt submitted for reimbursement
Bren School of Environmental Science & Management, UCSB
External Funds
While obtaining additional funding may be
desirable, we generally don’t pick projects that
can’t be done on the base budget provided by
the School of funding promised by client. You
are not encouraged to spend a lot of time
trying to raise funds at the expense of doing
the project!
Bren School of Environmental Science & Management, UCSB
Contracts/Grants
Contract/grant = money give to University for a specific
deliverable(s)
Proposal to funding organization is written (with Mike
Best’s coordination)
Must be faculty principle investigator (PI); PI ultimately
responsible
Proposal must have budget, budget justification, clearly
articulated deliverables, start and end date
Must be approved by the Office of Research before
submission (takes at least 1 week)
ONLY the Office or Research can accept contract and grant
money; you can’t do this on your own!
OVERHEAD RATE = 47%!!!!
i.e. $100 yields only $53 of real capital
Bren School of Environmental Science & Management, UCSB
Gifts are Best!!!
Donor writes check to UC Regents stating that it is a gift
Can be no deliverables; no signed paperwork; can be
general stipulations… “to support research about alien
life on Mars”
All gifts coordinated by Jennifer Deacon (jennifer@bren)
Most federal agencies and many other public agencies can
not make gifts
Bren School of Environmental Science & Management, UCSB
The Golden Rule
If you want the gold, you have to speak
with Jennifer first
Do not under any circumstances, even if faculty
tell you to, talk to anyone about a giving a gift
without first talking with Jennifer Deacon!!!
Active fundraising by students without Jennifer’s
guidance is not appropriate
Bren School of Environmental Science & Management, UCSB
Summer Internships
If internships promised, identify one group member to be
the summer internship coordinator (IC)
Decide EARLY who is going to do the internships
IC works with Dave Parker for help coordinating
internships
“Hiring” should be done through the external organization
if at all possible
If this is not possible, we need to try to get a gift from the
organization and dispense to students as a fellowship
“Who ya’ gonna call?”
Bren School of Environmental Science & Management, UCSB
Computer Resources
Nicknames
EnergyWater
ChiapasII
VolvoII
SantaMonica
Nanotech
Campus
Greenhouse
CCNII
BlueOaks
Pharms
Climate
Stormwater
Big Sur
Bren School of Environmental Science & Management, UCSB
Computer Resources
1 computer for each group in commons
Not available until May 1 after 2nd years wrap up
Exception: Nanotech will be in BH 3308 until next fall
Obtain keys from Connie
Each group must appoint an Information Manager (IM)
and Data Manager (DM) (or one person to serve both
functions) by Thursday and inform compute team
(request@bren) via email (group name & manager
name and email)
Mandatory training meeting for DMs and IMs Monday
4/17 @ 11:30 in SCF
A lot of things to know and learn about computing related
to group projects
Bren School of Environmental Science & Management, UCSB
Website
Each group must create (by end of spring quarter) and
maintain a web site:
At a minimum the following is required:
Names and email of all group members
Group email address
Names and email of advisor(s)
Final project proposal (completed at the end of spring)
bj wants pictures!!!
Bren School of Environmental Science & Management, UCSB
Grading
Grades
IP (In Progress) grade at end of S, F, W
Letter grade at end of project (S 2007)
Letter grade replaces previous IP grades
B or better required
Separate grades
often the whole group gets the same grade but this is not
required
Written Evaluation(s)
Advisor is supposed to provide these at the end of the
first spring and fall
Demand this!
Bren School of Environmental Science & Management, UCSB
Evaluation Criteria
Understanding of relevant published literature
Critical perspective on quality and shortcomings of prior
work
Understanding of both social and natural science dimensions
of the issues
Originality of analysis, problem formulation and scope of
work
Relationships with outside advisors and stakeholders
Resourcefulness
Punctuality
Communication skills
Participation
Bren School of Environmental Science & Management, UCSB
Final Approval
Approval Signature
Advisor must approve final report with signature or you
can’t be recommended for a MESM degree
Signature and grade may be withheld until report is
acceptable even if grade assigned
Bren School of Environmental Science & Management, UCSB
Evaluations
Peer Evaluations
Evaluations of group members submitted to advisor at
the end of S (06), F, W quarters
If you don’t identify probs., they can’t be solved
Advisor may take these into account in assigning grades
Advisor(s) Evaluations
End of S (06), F, W quarters
Not distributed to faculty until end of project except from
question: “is there any feedback that you would like
shared with your advisor now”
Bren School of Environmental Science & Management, UCSB
Faculty Advisors
Monitor progress, provide technical assistance/expertise,
and evaluate project and assign grades
Project leadership and mgmt and the quality of the final
products is YOUR responsibility
NOT project managers, more like a consultant
Attend a regular meeting
Provide advice but generally reactive
No two advisors alike
Expect variability in engagement, expectations,
responsiveness, and feedback
May be quite hands off
All expect you to take charge
Bren School of Environmental Science & Management, UCSB
Faculty Advisors
Use them.. but you need to ask…don’t wait for them to
come to you
Turn around time needs vary but you should NEVER expect
under 1 week
Schedule initial meeting with advisor NOW and explore
how they will interact with you
Think about putting it in writing
Bren School of Environmental Science & Management, UCSB
External Advisors
Groups are expected to obtain the counsel of outside advisors
who may have interest in the projects, data, or deliverables
You are responsible for identifying them, developing professional
relationships with them and maintaining professional contact
Interact with them with absolutely the highest standards of
professionalism
Don’t have a meeting without an agenda
Prepare minutes
Send thank you notes
Meet deadlines and keep promises
Never share negativity
ACKNOWEDLEGE them frequently, privately and publicly (if they
welcome this)
Bren School of Environmental Science & Management, UCSB
Structure of the Group
Democracy vs. efficient organization
This is a situation where democracy is overrated
Someone needs to be in charge or chaos will rule
My advice: designate a project manager!!!
Give manager authority to be the ultimate decisionmaker (not tyrant)
Rotate role?
Must designate a financial manager, data manager, and
web manager
May want to create other roles as well (get advise from
2nd years)
Bren School of Environmental Science & Management, UCSB
Problems
Primary responsibility for problem solving lies with
students
Avoid complaining; propose solutions
It’s possible you’ll have slackers or pseudo-slackers
Implement learning from 208
Involve advisor after thorough efforts by the group to
solve problems
If serious unresolvable problems (this is rare), come to me
and I will involve the MESM Committee
Written documentation essential if administrative solution
ultimately required
PS There is an campus ombuds office:
http://www.ombuds.ucsb.edu/index.html
Bren School of Environmental Science & Management, UCSB
Deliverables
Spring Quarter 2006
Formal Project Proposal (draft by mid-May)
Faculty will discuss in detail next week
Thorough literature review (ideally a draft of the
background section of final report)
Proposal Review Meeting (late May/early June)
Bren School of Environmental Science & Management, UCSB
Proposal Review
Purpose: to gain critical feedback and use this to finalize
proposal
Groups are responsible for scheduling, organizing,
conducting, and documenting
Meeting must includes:
All group members
Faculty advisor
At least one other Bren faculty member (two is even better)
At least two external (i.e. non-Bren) advisors from on or off campus
Schedule well in advance
Provide proposal at least one week in advance
Run as a formal meeting
Probably a good idea to submit a memo to advisors and
reviewers about how proposal will be changed to take into
account their feedback
Bren School of Environmental Science & Management, UCSB
Deliverables
Fall Quarter 2006
Progress review meeting
Mid-quarter
Ideally the same group as in spring
Written Progress Report
Submitted to advisor
NOT a revised version of the spring proposal!
Focus on progress and changes since spring quarter and a
plan for finalization
Bren School of Environmental Science & Management, UCSB
Deliverables
Winter Quarter 2005
Project Defense
Week 6 and/or 7
Scheduled by GPC; everyone invited to come
Two independent reviewers arranged to attend
20 minute presentation; 15-20 minutes questions
Expect probing questions and criticism which will likely result in
some revisions to draft report
Final report
Due at end of quarter
Deadline is FIRM; grade compromised if not met
Provide high quality draft to advisor by the middle of the quarter;
expect multiple iterations
Bren School of Environmental Science & Management, UCSB
Deliverables
Spring Quarter, April 2007
200 word abstract and acknowledgements for program
Final Report
Electronic & hard copy with original signature page to GPC
Strict formatting requirements detailed in guidelines
Brief
4 page summary of highlights with graphics
Electronic copy to GPC & several (50-100) hard copies for
distribution
Must use header template on web
Poster (4x3 – 4x6)
Public Presentation
Bren School of Environmental Science & Management, UCSB
Public Presentation
Not the same as defense talk because different audience
Don’t “dumb down” but tailor it to a diverse audience more
interested in substance and findings and less in details of
methods
We offer opportunity to videotaped practice session in
advance
One presenter (recommended) not no more than two
All members seated up front as part of panel for questions
Everyone wears formal business dress
Hint: This does not = flipflops; Dr Suess ties, etc.
Approximately 25 minutes including 7 minutes for questions
Poster session & reception follows
Bren School of Environmental Science & Management, UCSB
What you need to start doing
IMMEDIATELY
Educate yourself about your project
Collect papers and reports and read about your project
You can’t get started and you can’t do a good job if you don’t
know the current state of knowledge
Don’t have good literature search skills?
Review Kendall document
http://www2.bren.ucsb.edu/%7Ekendall/finding_articles.htm
Contact our librarian, Janet Martorana
(martoran@library)
She holds office hours every week here at Bren
She is REALLY good and helpful
Bren School of Environmental Science & Management, UCSB
What’s to be avoided?
Vague objectives
Scope too broad… or too narrow
More often than not this thing gets too big
Procrastination and/or uneven work distribution
Expect at least 12 hours/week of work
Don’t waste spring quarter; BIG MISTAKE
No one in charge
Poor understanding of “state of knowledge”
Unfocused or biased recommendations
Bren School of Environmental Science & Management, UCSB
Use of Human Subjects
MUST follow very strict procedures and may need to obtain approval from
the human subjects committee if human subjects will be used in
research
This even applies to CONDUCTING SURVEYS!!!
Please review the Office of Research site about this:
http://www.research.ucsb.edu/compliance/index.sht
Process can take a bit of time so don't wait till the last minute to tackle
It's potentially a very big deal not to be in compliance
Bren School of Environmental Science & Management, UCSB
Cautions
The work belongs to ALL group members
Everyone must be listed as authors in all presentations and
publications even if you’ve adapted it
Make sure references to others work/data/models are
thoroughly referenced
There may be problems sharing datasets or products with
outside clients because of licensing agreements; explore
this well in advance with Jason
Sometimes the client does not like the results because it is
not the answer they wanted
Bren School of Environmental Science & Management, UCSB