Recruiting Graduate Students

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Recruiting Graduate Students

• Mark Sheplak
• Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

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Topics

• Importance of good students
• The students view of an advisor
• Desired skill set
• Domestic vs. International
• Pros and Cons of volunteers
• How To?

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Importance of Good Students

• Amplify vs. attenuate your research productivity
• Enhance vs. tarnish your reputation and legacy
• They can assume some project management tasks
• Steel sharpens steel
• The 80/20 Rule applied to graduate students
• 80 of you time will be consumed by 20 of your
  needy students
• One poor student can kill a grant
• Group dynamics can quickly sour

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Students View

• Research Area
• Often ignorant, but not always
• Reputation global and local (other students)
• Website
• Publications (quality, author order)
• Funding / Resources
• Visibility (conferences, author order)
• Group size
• Group quality
• What other students say matters!

compiled by 2 of my recent grads
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Students View (cont)

• Relationship
• Time spent with students
• Attention to details
• Career development mentorship
• Past student placement
• Misc.
• Career stage of faculty as related to resources,
  project type, availability, etc.
• Time scale for graduation
• Career goals academic, industry, government lab,
  etc.

compiled by 2 of my recent grads
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Desired Skill Set

• Interest area theory, experiment, computation,
  or mix
• Match is key for motivation
• Educational level BS vs. MS
• Educational training function of school / major
• Communication oral and written
• Interpersonal skills (match for group dynamics?)
• Leadership potential
• Emotional maturity
• Ability to work independently or in group

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Domestic vs. International

• Diverse, international lab can be very beneficial
  
• Intellectual skill set, interpersonal chemistry
• Concerns / Challenges for internationals
• ITAR, Government funding?
• Communication?
• Cultural adjustment
• How to evaluate quality applicant?
• GREs may be misleading, GPA vs. CPI vs.
• Personal recommendations, phone call, etc.
• Funding differences
• Fellowship opportunities

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Pros and Cons of Volunteers

• Pros
• Free!
• Test drive before purchase
• Cons
• You often get what you pay for
• No skin in the game lack of attention?
• curse of the NSF fellow
• Alternatives
• Lease with option to purchase (OPS trial period)
• Work your way on board

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How To

• Know your departments recruiting policy
• Incoming vs. existing 1 year
• Retreads (buyer beware?)
• Actively contact and recruit
• Leverage departments / colleges funding
• Graduate student fellowships, TAs, etc.
• Participate in UG opportunitiessome may stay
• Local farm team
• University Scholars, honors thesis
• harvest UGs in your classes
• Host a summer student (US vs. foreign)