Undergraduate Liaison#
The Undergraduate Liaison acts as an advisor and mentor to the undergraduate astronomy majors, especially in helping them get involved with and complete research projects and apply to grad school. Throughout the year, the Undergraduate Liaison should visit the undergrad lab, make a concerted effort to get to know the majors, and update and maintain the Astronomy Undergraduate Research Resources (AURR) webpage. The undergrad liaison should also work closely with Amber Banayat regarding events for undergrads; our responsibility lies more on informing undergrads about academic career paths, whereas Amber and the university are more in charge of industry career paths. In general, the undergrad liaison should stay on top of general undergrad/grad student mentoring opportunities, for example, the monthly UAS-sponsored undergrad/department lunches. A rough calendar of other major duties follows:
Late August: Congratulations, you’ve just scored this position at the grad student jobs meeting! The first things you need to do are send an email to astromajors@astro.berkeley.edu introducing yourself, visit the undergrad lab to meet students, and sign up for the Office of Undergraduate Research newsletter here. This ~monthly newsletter will keep you informed of research info sessions and research program due dates, which you can pass on directly to the majors or use to update the AURR page. September: Together with the undergraduate faculty advisor, organize a research symposium once or twice a year (good times are the beginnings of the semester, early September and late January). Advertise to both the faculty and postdocs looking for undergraduate students. Early/Mid September: Hold an “Applying to Grad School” night for the majors. Get 3-4 first or second year grad students to serve as panelists, and start a discussion about the General GRE, Physics GRE, letters of rec, the essay, where to apply, etc. Distribute copies of practice Physics GREs, which you can get from the previous Undergraduate Liaison. Order pizzas for this event; the department will reimburse you. Make sure to inform the students in Astro 7A about this event; many of them are transfer students who haven’t yet declared the major but will do so in the subsequent spring. Also, it seems that holding the event earlier in the school year leads to better turnout. Fall or spring: Along with UAS, organize a GRE workshop for junior and senior undergrads. This can cover the format of the test, study tips, and a discussion on the evolving role of the GRE in grad applications. December: Organize and hold an “Applying for REUs” night for the majors. Bring in majors who have already done an REU or other research project to talk about their experiences. Point the students to the AURR webpage to find information about REUs and other research opportunities. It is also a good idea to bring an example CV and discuss how an academic CV should look. Late January: Together with the undergraduate faculty advisor, organize a research symposium once or twice a year (good times are the beginnings of the semester, early September and late January). Generally, the beginnings of the fall/spring semester are better than the end of the spring, since many advisors may not be able to pay undergraduates, so the best strategy is to give course credit for research. Advertise to both the faculty and postdocs looking for undergraduate students. Spring: Amber Banayat will organize a career panel. This is mostly industry focused, but it may also benefit from having grad students and postdocs to allow undergrads to compare and contrast academic and non-academic careers. The undergrad liaison should therefore recruit a grad student and postdoc to serve on the panel.