Group Projects 2006 – 07 Logistics

1. Group Projects 2006 – 07Logistics Bren School of Environmental Science & Management, UCSB

2. 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

3. 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

4. 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

5. 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

6. $$$ 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

7. 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

8. 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

9. 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

10. 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

11. 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

12. Computer Resources Nicknames • Greenhouse • CCNII • BlueOaks • Pharms • Climate • Stormwater • Big Sur EnergyWater ChiapasII VolvoII SantaMonica Nanotech Campus Bren School of Environmental Science & Management, UCSB

13. 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

14. 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

15. 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

16. 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

17. 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

18. 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

19. 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

20. 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

21. 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

22. 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 decision-maker (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

23. 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

24. 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

25. 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

26. 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

27. 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

28. 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

29. 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

30. 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

31. 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

32. 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

33. 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