Shared Success and Struggle

We propose each January to host a conference, Shared Success and Struggle, of all Morehouse College mathematics majors who are in pursuit of Ph.D.s in the mathematical sciences. This entire family of mathematics alumni, as well as our faculty, alumni who have recently earned mathematics Ph.D.s, and selected senior math majors, would be invited to attend. The college, in a cost-sharing agreement, would support the participation of our alumni who are neither citizens nor permanent residents of the United States. Occasionally, we may be more expansive and invite very select underclassmen to attend the conference, but this will not be the norm as we want to keep the focus on serving the needs of our targeted groups of graduate students. Among the numerous participants, conference activities will be directed towards the benefit of two specific groups of graduate students: those in the midst of their first year of graduate study and those who are newly advanced to candidacy.

In spite of weather risks, January was selected because it occurs at a potentially important time in the first-year graduate students’ development. After one semester, most new graduate students are sufficiently knowledgeable of the distinctions between graduate and undergraduate mathematics. By hosting this conference before or very early in these students’ second semester, the opportunity will exist for substantive changes in direction, if needed, for a more successful spring term.

As envisioned, the primary conference events would happen on a Monday. Participants would arrive the day before, Sunday. All activities targeting graduate students would occur on Monday so that attendees who must return that evening to their institutions can be excused. The remaining alumni would stay through Tuesday and will enrich the department’s efforts to guide our mathematics majors and other mathematics students, who will benefit from the graduate students’ presence and wisdom.

This is the tentative Monday conference schedule.

Time	Activity
7:45 - 9:15 am	Breakfast with individual Morehouse faculty mentors
9:30 - 10 am	Welcome and introductions
10 - 10:30 am	Reflections panel of first-year graduate students
10:30 - 11:30 am	Advisement panel for first-year graduate students
11:30 - Noon	Break
Noon - 12:30 pm	Reflections panel of new Ph.D. candidates
12:30 - 1:30 pm	Advisement panel for new Ph.D. candidates
1:45 - 3:30 pm	Luncheon and closure
3:30 pm - until	Departures or hospitality

Here is a more detailed description of the activities.

7:45 - 9:15 am

Breakfast with individual Morehouse faculty mentors

Most of the day’s activities occur in a group setting, which will be good for discussion of shared or contrasting recommendations for success in and beyond graduate school. However, on this occasion it will be important to learn the successes and struggles of our alumni individually. Thus, students in the targeted groups will be paired with Morehouse mathematics faculty members to talk over breakfast. The pairings will be determined by faculty availability and by student input about those faculty members with whom they have the closest relationships. Each breakfast meeting should help the student prepare to articulate the issues about which he will be speaking later in the day during reflections panels. The student will also have a chance to express concerns that he might be uncomfortable raising later in a group setting. The meetings should also help faculty members identify issues that need to be addressed during the conference or afterwards on behalf of our alumni.

9:30 - 10 am

Welcome and introductions

At the session for welcome and introductions, the department chair and I will extend greetings to the participants, review the day’s schedule, and articulate the day’s goals. We will hear brief introductions from each participant. The invited participants will include these categories of people:

• the targeted groups of Morehouse mathematics alumni who are in the first year of graduate study in the mathematical sciences or who have advanced to Ph.D. candidacy during the preceding twelve months,
• all other Morehouse mathematics alumni in pursuit of a mathematics Ph.D.,
• senior Morehouse mathematics majors who are applying for or planning on graduate school in the mathematical sciences,
• Morehouse mathematics alumni who have attained Ph.D.s in the mathematical sciences, and
• the Morehouse College Department of Mathematics faculty.

The conference activities will be directed towards the targeted groups, who stand at critical points of transition at which they will make decisions that may affect their success or failure in graduate school or their level of success as career mathematicians. Beyond the primary targets, other graduate students in attendance may also benefit from the advice, encouragement, and guidance. Furthermore, the senior mathematics majors who will attend graduate school the next fall may experience an easier transition because of information they receive at the conference. These seniors should also acquire knowledge that will help them make a more informed choice among the graduate programs to which they will apply and be accepted.

The mentoring will be conducted by the Morehouse alumni with mathematics Ph.D.s and by the Morehouse mathematics faculty. In addition, the graduate students will attend the conference in a dual capacity as both recipients and deliverers of mentorship, since they will be peer mentors for numerous other students.

10 - 10:30 am	Reflections panel of first-year graduate students
10:30 - 11:30 am	Advisement panel for first-year graduate students

The first-year students will have completed (in most cases) one semester of graduate level mathematics. Despite our best efforts to prepare them in mathematical foundation and in spirit for the difficulty of graduate coursework, the actuality is typically something that must be experienced to be fully understood. During the reflections panel, each first-year student will speak about his first semester, both his successes and his struggles. He should speak candidly about elements that fostered his successes or contributed to his struggles. He should also speak personally about his reaction to the transition from undergraduate to graduate study of mathematics, and he should speak to his plans for subsequent coursework and for preliminary or qualifying examinations.

During the advisement panel, selected mentors, especially continuing graduate students and perhaps new Ph.D. candidates, will address specific reflections of the first-year students and will offer general recommendations as well. A professor will moderate the panel. In addition to graduate coursework and exam preparation, the panelists should also address possibilities for productive use of the upcoming summer, fellowship opportunities for which first-year students are eligible to apply, and conferences that may prove valuable, such as the Conference for African American Researchers in the Mathematical Sciences or conferences organized by institutions like the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute, the Institute for Mathematics and its Applications, and numerous other mathematics institutes. If necessary, the panels should also address the question of whether or not to persevere in graduate school for those first-year students who may be reconsidering their decision. Additional recommendations and information will come from other participants in the audience.

11:30 - Noon

Break

Aside from the typical need for breaks in a schedule, we anticipate the informal conversations and sharing of experiences to be especially valuable to the conference participants. Students—especially the first-year students whose panels preceded the break—will receive additional advice and encouragement, for which time did not permit or which mentors may have wished to save for private discussion.

Noon - 12:30 pm	Reflections panel of new Ph.D. candidates
12:30 - 1:30 pm	Advisement panel for new Ph.D. candidates

The new Ph.D. candidates will find themselves at a happy and important stage of their development. They will certainly have success to share, having advanced to candidacy. But they still have significant work ahead in conducting the research for their dissertations and in preparing foundations for success in their career goals beyond the doctorate. During the reflections panel, each new candidate will speak about his path to candidacy, both his successes and struggles. He should also speak to his plans for his dissertation research and for his career after graduation.

During the advisement panel, selected mentors, especially advanced Ph.D. candidates and recent Ph.D. recipients, will address specific reflections of the new candidates and will offer general recommendations as well. A professor will moderate the panel. In addition to advice on successfully conducting dissertation research and writing it up, the panelists should also address suggestions for planning publication of dissertation results in refereed mathematical science journals. They should also address the availability of dissertation-year fellowships and postdoctoral opportunities for which the candidates might soon be eligible, as well as the process of seeking and applying for academic appointments and other jobs as mathematicians.

1:45 - 3:30 pm

Luncheon and closure

Mentoring will continue as discussions continue at tables over a closing meal. This concluding luncheon will be designed for inspiration and celebration. Highlights will include a ceremonial toast to congratulate our new Ph.D. candidates and congratulatory gifts to our new Ph.D. recipients. An invited luncheon speaker will address the conference participants. The speaker will be charged specifically to address themes that may provoke thought and reflection among the new Ph.D. candidates who approach the brink of important career decisions.

3:30 pm - until

Departures or hospitality

Some participants will need to depart after the closing luncheon. Others, such as those who will avail themselves to our undergraduates on Tuesday, will be invited to stay and continue to chat and share knowledge and experience in a hospitality suite or later over dinner.

Day Two

For the second day, Tuesday, we will expect many of our alumni conference participants to remain for outreach activities that will benefit undergraduates, specifically mathematics majors and other students of mathematics. Of course, we will excuse those alumni who must return to coursework or other responsibilities at their respective institutions. The alumni conference participants will make mathematics classroom visitations during the day. In the afternoon, one alumnus will be invited to deliver a research talk, accessible to many undergraduate majors. Afterwards, several mathematics alumni will engage in a roundtable discussion of mathematics research and of graduate school in the mathematical sciences. The roundtable participants—and other mathematics alumni in the audience—will discuss their fields of study, albeit in less detail than the previous speaker. The roundtable will also illuminate for the undergraduates the nature of graduate school and how it differs from college, and the speakers will highlight actions the students should take while they are still at Morehouse that will bolster their foundations for success in graduate school.