Mentoring

In addition to coursework, doctoral students will receive extensive mentoring.  A close student-faculty interaction characterizes the program.  An important aspect of the mentoring process is that students will be involved in departmental research at an early stage.  Faculty involvement is important at all stages of the program, but particularly so in the second and third years when doctoral students begin to move beyond coursework and make the transition to research.  The purpose of the project for the third year Research Seminar is to cement this transition.  The seminar does not involve traditional classroom instruction, but instead requires students to conduct research in close consultation with a faculty advisor.  It also brings together all participating students and faculty periodically for general discussions of research ideas.  The project emphasizes the development of a novel and interesting research question, thus providing a bridge between classroom instruction and the independent research required for subsequent development of a dissertation.

Mentoring will also occur through the research and teaching assistantships that provide financial support to Ph.D. students.  These activities bring a student into close contact with faculty and allow them to participate in research projects from start to finish.  The Department’s weekly seminar series and a workshop in applied welfare economics will further assist students in finding and developing dissertation topics.  The workshop in applied welfare economics is designed as an informal “brown bag” seminar series to present work in progress, for both faculty and students near the completion of their dissertation.  Also, an active Seminar Series exposes students to the work of the leading scholars in the field (click on the link “Seminar Series”).

To enhance students’ professional presentation skills, teaching assistants will provide support for instruction and engage in supervised instruction of undergraduate courses.  Teaching assistants will also work closely with faculty members and help with grading, keeping class records, and holding review sessions in undergraduate classes, such as Principles of Microeconomics and Principles of Macroeconomics.  After successfully serving as a teaching assistant for two semesters, doctoral students who show particular promise will teach their own sections of undergraduate courses.