The "Grad Student Gripe Session" is intended to be an informal way for students to provide feedback directly to those people in the department who can help institute change. It will be a town-hall style open forum where students can voice their praise, criticism, and suggestions on all matters pertinent to graduate students. I have asked the ECE department chair and curriculum committee chairpersons to moderate the debate. In the ECE department at UF, the only formal method for students to submit feedback on the requirements they are subject to in order to graduate is to fill out a course evaluation at the end of the semester to critique the structure and presentation of a class. To be fair, this form is rather extensive and asks for feedback that would be helpful to improve the course for the future. However, graduate students do much more than take classes while in school. At UF, we must also complete two semesters of supervised teaching (PhD), pass an oral and written qualifying exam (PhD), perform a mock interview (Master's), and perform research among other things. These requirements can be found in a handbook, here is a link to the UF ECE graduate guidelines page.
Having completed the majority of the requirements for my doctorate, I have seen how these requirements are defined in the handbook (loosely) and how they are actually implemented in practice (even more loosely). There were clear discrepancies and room for improvement. I scheduled a meeting with our department chair to discuss some of my more "big picture" ideas on formalizing the requirements in a way that makes it more transparent for both students and faculty. While I had a large list of topics, my greatest interest was in identifying a means for the average student to give feedback on these matters. I suppose if every student wanted to, they could schedule a meeting with the department chair, but that could be time consuming and likely repetitive. This is where the open forum idea was born. The first ever Graduate Student Gripe Session (in the ECE department) will be on January 29th, 2019. Students will share their opinions, both positive and negative. I have asked complaints to be pointed and structured in way that captures the problem and its effect on the student and includes a proposed solution or alternative approach to the problem.
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A few weeks ago I signed up to take the Electrical and Computer Engineering Fundamentals of Engineering Exam (FE). The FE exam is the first step in the path to becoming a Professional Engineering and displays to a future employer that you are serious about the profession and have an interest in advancing your career. By registering for the exam, I have also provided myself with an incentive to go back over some of the fundamental concepts in electrical engineering that I have been wanting to take a look at for a while. It looks like I may even have to learn a few things in the process! The FE exam covers just about every topic in the core ECE curriculum in significant depth. Its not to say the exam is outrageously difficult, in fact it is designed for recent graduates, but I will need to take some time to prepare.
To get ready, I purchased a practice exam from the NCEES, the engineering licensing organization, and bought a supplementary 3rd party exam prep book. I expect to provide more details on my experience preparing and taking the exam in the near future! Quick update: I passed! [Feb. 20th, 2019] [ID# 19-934-58] Verifiable Link: https://account.ncees.org/rn/1993458-1176467-34e84c7 In the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at The University of Florida, incoming PhD students are required to take and pass an entrance written qualifying exam. The exam covers a broad range of topics from undergraduate ECE course with limited depth. I passed the exam my first year at UF and have led review sessions the past 3 years to help other students prepare for the test. I lead a review session in the fall covering the information on the provided study guide and lead a problem solving session in January to go over specific questions students have struggled with on past exams.
Review Slides: [2016] Digital Logic Review Session [2017] Digital Logic Review Session [2017] Computer Architecture Review Session [2018] Computer Architecture Review Session [2018] Introduction to Caches Study Links: Roth, Fundamentals of Logic Design [7th Ed.] Patterson and Hennessy, Computer Organization and Design [5th Ed.] Hennessy and Patterson, Computer Architecture, a Quantitative Approach [5th Ed.] UF Exam Page [link] |
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