<div dir="ltr"><div><div><div><div>Dear colleagues,<br></div>Thank you to all who provided a perspective on journal clubs for students in our graduate majors.<br><br></div>Our poll reflected strong support for each point proposed by the Graduate Student Program Committee (respectively, 15-2, 14-3, 14-3). Comments from faculty regarding philosophical and logistical aspects of grad curriculum and how journal clubs fit with that have been recorded and are much appreciated.<br>
<br></div>As a result, the following memo has been sent to our incoming and current students. <br><br></div>Thank you all and best wishes,<br>Betsy<br><br><br><br>
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<p class="">Dear graduate students,</p>
<p class="">I hope that everyone has had a wonderful summer. <br></p>
<p class="">At the moment, I am writing at the moment to share some
information regarding journal club opportunities.</p>
<p class=""><b><i>1. Every spring, our faculty has committed to offer a
school-wide Plant Sciences Journal Club. All students are strongly encouraged
to enroll in this course</i></b>, which will be coordinated by two faculty
members each year. This is an excellent and efficient way to fulfill your
journal club requirement (2 semesters, MS students; 4 semesters, PhD students),
and a fantastic opportunity to broaden your knowledge of key advances in areas
of relevance to our school while gaining critical skills in evaluation of the
scientific literature. Please consider enrolling in this excellent opportunity
starting in spring 2014. <i><b>The class number will be PLS 695A.</b></i></p>
<p class=""><b><i>2. You also can fulfill your journal club requirement
through 'research discussion' courses taught by faculty outside of the Plant
Sciences Journal Club. These can be within our school, or outside the school.</i></b> The
topics may be more specialized, at times, depending on faculty interests and
faculty perceptions of student interests. Within-school options will be offered
primarily (when possible) in fall, to provide a curricular balance between spring
and fall terms. </p>
<p class=""><b><i>3. Dr. Judy Brown is kindly offering such a 'research
discussion' course this fall, and it is open to all.</i></b> Please
contact Georgina if you would like to register for this. It will focus on
plant-pathogen-vector interactions. </p>
<p class=""> <b><i>4. If you find another 'research discussion'
opportunity outside of the school, please let us know that you intend to take
it (email Betsy and Georgina, please).</i></b></p>
<p class=""><b><i>5. If you want a research discussion course on a
particular topic, and feel that there's sufficient interest from a number of
students to make it work, please let us know and nominate plausible faculty to
coordinate it </i></b>(ideally after having spoken with said faculty!).</p>
<p class="">Thank you for your attention, and for your patience as we
continue to improve our graduate curricula. <br></p>
<p class="">Cheers,</p>
<p class="">Betsy</p>
<p class=""> </p>
<br><br><br><div><div><div><br><div><div><div><div><br clear="all"><br>-- <br><font size="1">---------------------------------<br>A. Elizabeth (Betsy) Arnold<br>School of Plant Sciences<br>The University of Arizona<br>Tucson, AZ 85721<br>
<br><a href="http://arnoldlab.net" target="_blank">http://arnoldlab.net</a><br><a href="mailto:arnold@ag.arizona.edu" target="_blank">arnold@ag.arizona.edu</a></font><br><br>
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