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Current Update.PPOL Update May 18, 2007PPOL Students: I hope you are all enjoying a little breather between sessions. Just don’t get too comfortable! I have a couple of items for this Update: 2—Qualifying Exam Structure Change 6—Dissertation Research Funding Opportunities 7—Post-doctoral Fellowship Opportunity We have three classes running this summer. As some of you know, summer session courses are "off-budget," meaning they run on a cost-recovery basis. The Race, Class, and Gender course and the Death Penalty course are both making. The 2-credit hour PPOL 8000-001 course on factor analysis and time series analysis is short of students and in danger of being cancelled. If you are considering taking it, you should enroll immediately as the Powers That Be will make the decision over the weekend as to whether this course is taught. I scheduled it as a 2-credit hour course because I knew we would not be able to provide summer tuition support anymore. Two credits are much cheaper than three credits. I hope this works to your advantage. We (the PhD program directors and Summer Programs office) are putting together a case for more university support for doctoral tuition for summer classes. But that won’t help this year.
2.Qualifying Exam Structure Change
As mentioned in the last Update, the changes to the PPOL core curriculum were passed. One implication of this change affects the qualifying examination. For this point forward, Qualitative Methods and Quantitative Analysis II materials will not be covered on the qualifying exam. Here is the new structure. The first exam will be Economics and will have four questions, three of which the student must answer in a six-hour timed format. This is the same format currently in use. The second exam will be Methods and is different than in the past. The exam will include a computer-based analysis using the tools from Quantitative Methods I. There will be a question specifically focused on Program Evaluation. There will be a third question that forces students to integrate design/methods with appropriate analytical approaches (without having the student execute the analysis). This will stay in its nine-hour timed format. The final exam will be Nature of the Field which will be a three-day take home exam and will cover a policy theory section, a research design section, and a policy implications section. Each section will normally have two questions, only one of which the student will have to answer. The schedule for the summer offering of the qualifying exams is as follows: Monday, August 13th 8am-2pm Economics Wednesday, August 15th 8am-5pm Methods/Analysis Friday, August 17th 9am pick up Nature of the Field (due Monday August 20th). In addition to the courses already announced for the Fall semester, PPOL will also be offering a joint course with GEOG: PPOL 8000 and GEOG 6000/8000 Urban Labor Market (3) This course will explore the changing social and spatial structure of urban labor markets in post-industrialized cities, with special reference to immigrant and ethnic minority labor markets in the U.S. Topics include industry and occupation segmentation, job queues, ethnic networks, ethnic entrepreneurs, technological change and economic restructuring, and etc. Different methods and data sources in this field will be discussed as well. This course is offered for 3 credits. Questions are welcome and should be directed to Dr. Qingfang Wang at qwang7@uncc.edu. Graduate Student Paper Award 2007 The Association for Politics and the Life Sciences annually awards a prize for the best paper by a graduate student on a topic related to both politics or public policy and one or more of the life sciences. The range of eligible topics, methods, and approaches is reflected in the range of articles and commentaries published in Politics and the Life Sciences (tables of contents may be reviewed at the journal's web site, which may be accessed through the journal button at this site). Papers coauthored with a faculty member are not eligible. The award for the best graduate student paper is a cash prize of $500, recognition at the association's annual meeting, and consideration for publication in Politics and the Life Sciences. To be eligible, students must present their work at the Annual Meeting of the Association for Politics and the Life Sciences (held this year at the Garfield Suites Hotel in Cincinnati, Ohio, October 11-13). Please submit three copies of your paper for consideration, together with a letter of endorsement by a faculty sponsor (who need not be from the institution at which the student is formally enrolled, and who may be a scholar in any discipline) by August 15, 2007 to: APLS Graduate Student Paper Award Laurette T. Liesen Department of Political Science Lewis University One University Parkway
Romeoville, IL 60446
PPOL student Nick Swartz and Dr. Edd Hauser (GEOG) released a technical report entitled "Analysis of CATS Transit Operations and the South Corridor Light Rail Line." This piece garnered some recent media attention, having been in the Charlotte Observer (here is the online link: http://www.charlotte.com/171/story/115251.html) as well as being covered by WSOC TV news. PPOL has also had two comprehensive oral exams these past two weeks. Both Stephanie Southworth and Galen Smith successfully defended their written comps during their orals. They are the 12th and 13th PPOL students to get to this point in the program. Each now moves on to the dissertation phase of the program and deserves a congrats for clearing this hurdle on their way towards their degrees! 6.Dissertation Research Funding Opportunities SBE Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Grants The National Science Foundation's Division of Behavioral and Cognitive Sciences (BCS), Division of Social and Economic Sciences (SES), and Division of Science Resources Statistics (SRS) award grants to doctoral students to improve the quality of dissertation research. These grants provide funds for items not normally available through the student's university. Additionally, these grants allow doctoral students to undertake significant data-gathering projects and to conduct field research in settings away from their campus that would not otherwise be possible. Proposals are judged on the basis of their scientific merit, including the theoretical importance of the research question and the appropriateness of the proposed data and methodology to be used in addressing the question. In an effort to improve the quality of dissertation research, many programs in BCS, SES, and the Research on Science and Technology Surveys and Statistics Program within SRS accept doctoral dissertation improvement grant proposals. Items such as budget limitations, target dates and/or deadlines, page length restrictions, and review procedures vary widely across programs. Please consult the relevant program's webpage for specific information and contact the program director if necessary
See
link at the end of this e- mail to view abstracts of
funded awards.
CONTACTS For a list of cognizant program officers, please visit the SBE Doctoral Dissertation Contact List
PROGRAM GUIDELINES
The following Programs support dissertation research: Division of Behavioral and Cognitive Sciences (BCS) Division of Social and Economic Sciences (SES) Decision, Risk & Management Science Methodology, Measurement, and Statistics Division of Science Resources Statistics (SRS) Research on Science and Technology Surveys and Statistics Program For a list of cognizant program officers for the programs listed above, please visit the SBE Doctoral Dissertation Contact List.
RELATED PROGRAMS
REVISIONS AND UPDATES In response to this program solicitation, proposers may opt to submit proposals via Grants.gov or via the NSF FastLane system. Abstracts of Recent Awards Made Through This Program 7.Post-doctoral Fellowship Opportunity Humanities and social sciences (FELLOWSHIP)
Dr. David Swindell, Assoc. Professor & Director Previous PPOL Updates:
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