Schedule
Check-in (8:30-9:00 US EST; 2:30-3:00 Germany; 3:30-4:00 Greece)
Participants will check-in to the conference online and download the materials for the day, as well as pick up their name tags from their home location.
Keynote Panel — “Collaboration Across Disciplines” (9:00-10:30 US EST; 3:00-4:30 Germany; 4:00-5:30 Greece)
Three invited experts from various disciplines will share what they have learned about collaboration through their experiences working with people in the business, government, community members, and nonprofit sectors. Speakers’ real-world experiences will illustrate the importance of collaboration, the collaboration process, and the skills they found were needed for successful collaboration. Local and international participants will be encouraged to send comments and questions via the internet in real-time to be posed to panelists during the session. Panel will be welcomed by graduate steering committee.
Break (10:30-10:40 US EST; 4:30-4:40 Germany; 5:30-5:40 Greece)
Professional Development Session — “Creating Your Brand” (10:40-11:25 US EST; 4:40-5:25 Germany; 5:40-6:25 Greece)
Jill Gugino Pante, Director of UD’s Lerner Career Services, and Heather Tansley,
Assistant Director of Communications & Operations in the UD Career Services, will lead the session and will show graduate students how to brand themselves professionally to attract potential collaborators and employers. Participants will learn to promote themselves in a memorable way through online platforms and social media.
Break (11:25-11:35 US EST; 5:25- 5:35 Germany; 6:25-6:35 Greece)
Professional Development Session — “Collaboration Technology” (11:35-12:20 US EST; 5:35- 6:20 Germany; 6:35-7:20 Greece)
Heather Tansley, Assistant Director of Communications & Operations in the UD Career Services, and Tanisha George, Graduate Assistant at UD’s Lerner Career Services, will introduce graduate students to the many useful technology platforms that can initiate and enhance collaboration efforts. Participants will learn methods to extend their reach across interdisciplinary and geographical boundaries to work productively with people from other departments, universities, and countries.
Break (12:20-12:30 US EST; 6:20-6:30 Germany; 7:20-7:30 Greece)
Small Group Workshop — “Identifying Barriers to Collaboration” (12:30-1:15 US EST; 6:30-7:15 Germany; 7:30-8:15 Greece)
Participants will work in small groups of 4-5 people in their home countries to discuss the culture of collaboration (or lack thereof) that exists in their departments. Groups will be tasked with developing lists of barriers to collaboration from a graduate student perspective. These lists will serve as the starting point for the small group workshop in day two of the conference that will explore potential methods to overcome these barriers. Each group at will be guided by graduate students from various disciplines who were trained to serve as facilitators for this activity.
Wrap Up (1:15 US EST; 7:15 Germany; 8:15 Greece)
Check-in (8:30-9:00 US EST; 2:30-3:00 Germany; 3:30-4:00 Greece)
Participants will check-in to the conference online and download the materials for the day, as well as pick up their name tags from their home location.
Expert Panel — “How to Become your Most Productive Team” (9:00-10:30 US EST; 3:00-4:30 Germany; 4:00-5:30 Greece)
A team of scholars from different disciplines at the University of Delaware who have worked together on a project will share different perspectives about their collaboration process. Speakers’ real-world experiences will illustrate how to best facilitate collaboration and potential pitfalls to avoid. Local and international participants will be encouraged to send comments and questions via the internet in real-time to be posed to panelists during the one and half hour session.
Break (10:30-10:40 US EST; 4:30-4:40 Germany; 5:30-5:40 Greece)
Whole Group Workshop — “Collaboration Self-Evaluation” (10:40-12:00 US EST; 4:40-6:00 Germany; 5:40-7:00 Greece)
Collaboration and team work are integral facets of graduate school and life. This session, led by Kathleen Murphy, will provide participants with a hands-on, self-discovery experience where they will conduct a self-evaluation quiz to evaluate their collaboration style. Each participant will recognize his or her own style of collaboration when working in teams and how he or she deals with conflict. Participants will leave the workshop with a better sense of their strengths and areas for improvement when collaborating and how to effectively work with team members who have different collaboration styles.
Break (12:00-12:10 US EST; 6:00-6:10 Germany; 7:00-7:10 Greece)
Small Group Workshop — “How to Cultivate Collaboration in Graduate School” (12:10-1:00 US EST; 6:10-7:00 Germany; 7:10-8:00 Greece)
Participants will work in small groups of 4-5 people to discuss ways departments can better foster graduate student collaboration. Each group will be assigned a few previously identified barriers to collaboration experienced by graduate students and tasked with developing solutions to these issues. Each group will be guided by University of Delaware students from various disciplines who were trained to serve as facilitators for this activity. This activity will result in an inventory of recommendations of how universities can better cultivate future collaborative experiences for their graduate students. These suggestions will be presented to the department heads of students participating in the conference, and may also be reported in news articles and research study manuscripts following the conference.
Closing Panel — “Future of Partnerships Between UD, Tubingen, and Patras” (1:00 US EST; 7:00 Germany; 8:00 Greece); Poster Awards
Department chairs from all three participating universities will share their vision for future collaboration efforts between the departments.