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Originally posted in response to the burn-out as a result of the pandemics of 2020, this post is as relevant as ever. Juggling ever changing contexts and considerations at work, while setting boundaries to keep ourselves healthy can really wear a person down. And that's not even considering additional responsibilites in caregiving, at home and in our communitites. Needless to say as we approach the end of the calendar year, and with it a short break, here is some advice from MSU's Well-being at Work Guide: Taking time away from work, in the forms of breaks, vacation time, or strengthening boundaries around employees’ workdays, is important. Breaks throughout employees’ days have many benefits. Employees should also remember to take a break for lunch. There are additional resources that walk employees through how to maximize lunch breaks, as well as the benefits from doing so. Taking vacation time, whether vacationing away or staying at home, helps employees increase their productivity and improve their health. This information is important for both supervisors and employees in order to work toward supporting employees and creating a healthier workplace. Vacation TimeGoing on a vacation or taking time away from work improves employees’ productivity, as well as their energy and focus within the workplace. Employees then can come back to the office refreshed and excited to get back to work, which translates into better productivity, higher quality work, and more energy in their workplace. Organizations and supervisors supporting employees taking vacation time increases the retention of employees and their loyalty to the organization, as well as increasing their job satisfaction (Vinocur, n.d.; Mohn, 2014). Almost 70% of employees feel more satisfied with their jobs if they take regular vacations, and more satisfied employees will stay at their jobs longer, reducing high turnover and costs associated with hiring (Vinocur, n.d.). Taking vacation time also strengthens employee relationships with their families and those they care about outside of work (Hutchison, n.d.c; Kasser & Sheldon, 2009). Taking vacation time also improves employees’ health, preventing heart disease and other illnesses, helping manage anxiety and depression, and improving their sleep by almost 20%. This can result in lower healthcare costs for employers and reduced stress for employees (Vinocur, n.d.). Taking vacation time should be encouraged, as it leads to a happier heather work climate. For employees to get the most out of their vacation time, they should prepare their workspace for their absence. Taking care of any final emails, setting up their “out of office” email, and organizing their work area allows employees to step away from their work for their vacation and come back to as little catch-up work as possible. If an employee must work during their vacation, they should set up certain time periods to work, then not work outside of that time, including checking their email (Hutchison, n.d.c). Taking these steps helps employees focus as much of their time as possible on their vacation, to step away from work and de-stress, and be excited to jump back into work upon their return. For more information on MSU’s vacation policies, visit MSU’s Human Resources Solution Center for walk-in services in Suite 110 of Nisbet Building or email them at SolutionsCenter@hr.msu.edu.
Benefits of taking vacation time:

Improves productivity 
Improves employees’ focus and energy in the workplace  
Increases retention of employees and employees’ loyalty to the organization 
Increases job satisfaction 

Almost 70% of employees feel more satisfied with their jobs if they take regular vacations 


Strengthens relationships with those outside of work 
Improves sleep by almost 20% 
Helps manage anxiety and depression 
Helps prevent heart disease and other illnesses 
Gives the body a break from constant stress 
Lowers healthcare costs 

How to set yourself up to get the most out of your vacation time:

Take care of any final emails 
Set up your “out of office” email 
Organize your work area so you come back to a clean space 
If you have to work during your vacation, try to set a certain time period that you work, and do not work outside of that time period, including checking your email

For more information on MSU’s vacation policies, the HR Solution Center offers walk-in services in Suite 110 of Nisbet Building and answers questions via email at SolutionsCenter@hr.msu.edu Additionally, in Focus on Can and Serve, educator Erica Venton shares her own tips for being present this time of year, even if it brings difficulties, stress, or sadness. She includes being giving the gift of kindness and reflecting on what you have control over in her recommendations. Read the full article here.
Resources Supporting Wellness on Campus

Health4U  

Rest with Music classes 
Emotional wellbeing classes and one on one coaching 
Walking paths across campus can be useful for employees to practice grounding strategies throughout the workday. See Health4U’s maps to chart walks, runs, or bike paths: https://health4u.msu.edu/resources/msu-campus-walking-tour
See https://health4u.msu.edu/wellness for more information


Employee Assistance Program 

Free, confidential, up to six sessions of counseling, per issue

For MSU employees (faculty and staff), their spouses or partners, and their children (insurance eligible)


Counseling on work and employment situations 
Stress reduction classes 
Emotional wellness classes 
See https://eap.msu.edu/ for more information


WorkLife Office 

Professional staff offer one-on-one consultations to help employees deal with many issues, including stressors at work and at home

See the introduction page of this guide for information on how to request a consultation


The office also offers many presentations and trainings on a variety of topics, including stress and grounding strategies

See the introduction page of this guide for information on how to request a presentation





Sources
Hutchison, J. (n.d.c). Why vacations matter. Michigan State University WorkLife Office. https://worklife.msu.edu/news/why-vacations-matter
Kasser, T., & Sheldon, K. M. (2009). Time affluence as a path toward personal happiness and ethical business practice: Empirical evidence from four studies. Journal of Business Ethics, 84, 243–255. http://dx.doi.org.proxy2.cl.msu.edu/10.1007/s10551-008-9696-1
Vinocur, L. (n.d.). 10 reasons why vacations matter. Take Back Your Time. https://www.takebackyourtime.org/why-vacations-matter/10-reasons-to-vacation/
Mohn, T. (2014, February 28). Take a vacation: It’s good for productivity and the economy, according to a new study. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/tanyamohn/2014/02/28/take-a-vacation-its-good-for-productivity-and-the-economy-according-to-a-new-study/#7652f6a85a33
Photo by Kira auf der Heide on Unsplash

Copyright Basics
Many people believe there is a blanket exception in the copyright law for education.  This is not true.  There are exceptions that allow instructors to use copyrighted material without special permission in face-to-face and real time classroom teaching.  This does not translate over to the posting material on a web site.  Posting materials on a web site is considered re-publication and not teaching, so teaching exceptions do not apply for #iteachmsu.   
The most important thing you need to understand about copyright is that all original works of authorship are copyrighted, by default, from the moment they are fixed in tangible form.  Since 1989, the copyright symbol, a copyright notice, or copyright registration are not required, so you must assume that everything is copyrighted unless you can confirm that it is not.  
Copyright belongs originally to the author and (for works published in the United States since 1978) lasts the life of the author plus 70 years.  As noted above for your own work, authors can sign away their copyrights, or many of the rights of copyright, however, and often do, when they publish.  So, it is important that you think about this when you publish.
Copyright, by definition, only applies to original works of authorship, so the following cannot be copyrighted:

Facts, procedures, ideas, systems, concepts, and principles
Mathematical equations
Lists of ingredients
Strictly factual photographs, such as photos of histology slides

Holding copyright in a work gives someone a number of exclusive rights, including the right to:

Reproduce all or part of the work
Prepare derivative works from the work
Distribute copies of the work, including through the internet
Perform the work publicly
Display the work publicly

Some materials are considered to be in the public domain and do not have copyright protection.   The following types of materials are in the public domain:

Material published in the United States prior to 1924
Material created by a United States government employee and published by the United States government
Material which the owner has dedicated to the public domain

Using Outside Sources
The material that you post to #iteachmsu should be your own work, as you do not have the right to post, distribute, or display material that is not your own.  Of course, sometimes you will use outside sources in creating your own work, and you want to make sure that you do so legally. 
Public domain and uncopyrightable sources
It is legal for you to post and reproduce sources that are in the public domain (or uncopyrightable—see above lists in Copyright Basics) as well as create derivative works based on them.  Good scholarship says that you should still cite these sources and not simply plagiarize.   
Creative Commons sources
You may find materials on the web that are licensed under a Create Commons license similar to the one #iteachmsu asks its authors to use.  You should check which Creative Commons license was used to be clear on how you are allowed to use the material. 

Creative Commons attribution licenses allow you to use the material as you like as long as you give attribution. See How to give attribution.
Some Creative Commons licenses specify you may only use for non-commercial reasons or you must license your derived material similarly (“share alike”).
Creative Commons licenses that specify “no derivatives” mean that you may re-post the material but not remix or build your own work on it.

Other copyrighted sources
It is legal for you to use most copyrighted sources if you:

Cite ideas, facts, and other information
Link out to sources on the web
Quote short excerpts from textual works with attribution

However, even if you cite your source, you are probably infringing on someone else’s copyright if you:

Use larger portions of copyrighted texts
Closely paraphrase portions of copyrighted texts
Use parts of song lyrics or poems where even one line can be considered a significant portion of the work

Terms of use
On the web, some sources may come with licenses and terms of use that take precedence over basic copyright law.  MSU Library electronic resources all come with licenses and terms of use.  Using material that has terms of use means you agree to abide by those terms.

Look for “terms and conditions” on any web site, usually found in the small print at the bottom of the page or in an “about” section.
The terms may allow you to use portions on a site like #iteachmsu, or they may prohibit you from using any portion on any web site.
Terms of use may specify exactly how you may use the content. For instance, YouTube specifies that you may link to their videos or use their own embeddable player, but you may not download videos and save them on your own computer or server. 

Multimedia
Use of multimedia (images, music, video) can be especially fraught with possible copyright infringement issues.  For instance, most images that come up when you do a Google images search are not legal for you to reuse.  To stay legal you may:

Link out to videos and audio instead of downloading (which could violate terms of use)
Use a web site’s own embeddable player or a form of use that the site itself suggests
Use images that are marked public domain or with a Creative Commons license that allows re-use

Tip: To find public domain or Creative Commons images, you can search for “public domain images” or do a Google Images search, then, at the top of the page, click on “Tools”, then under that “usage rights”.  Limit your search using this link to images that are labelled for “reuse with modification”. 
 
Seeking Permissions
If you determine that it is probably not legal to reuse the work or the amount of the work that you selected, you may seek permission from the copyright holder to use the work.
There are a few caveats:

You must make sure you have identified the actual copyright holder of the material you want to use and not just someone else who is reusing the material. This can be difficult and time consuming if you are using material from Power Point slides and other non-traditional sources you find on the web.  
Because #iteachmsu may eventually be opened up to the public, you would need to seek permissions to post on the open web.
It is very unlikely you will receive permission to reuse commercially published material on a site like #iteachmsu.
If you are able to get permissions from commercial sources, the fees may be cost-prohibitive.

Because of these caveats and the nature of #iteachmsu, it is recommended that you please do not rely on being able to use or embed much, if any, outside, copyrighted sources in the materials you post. 
 
Getting Help with Copyright
The MSU Libraries Office of Copyright can be found at https://lib.msu.edu/copyright/ . 
Susan Kendall, Copyright Librarian, is available to help you work through a copyright question, although she cannot give legal advice.
The Office of Copyright can help with some permissions questions but asks that you consider copyright and the above caveats first before choosing your sources.

A central part of the student experience as a music major in a school or department of music is the studio. Studios are essentially a home-away-from-home for students and is where some of the most fruitful learning and social opportunities can occur. One could equate studios with working in a research lab in the sciences. With this in mind, the culture and atmosphere of studios and how studios interact with others are central to the culture and effectiveness of the larger school or department.
 
Music students often enter higher education with a fairly high standard of what classroom culture looks like. Ensemble music courses that music students likely took in high school, such as band, choir, and orchestra, foster a high-level classroom culture and community by the nature of the activity. This creates an expectation that music education, at any level and in any situation, will have that same sort of cooperation and community. The ensemble nature of large group instruction fosters a strong sense of shared identity and a culture that defines everything from day-to-day classroom routine to learner outcomes. University music programs (departments, schools, colleges, or conservatories) are structured in order to teach, perform, and experience music in a variety of ways. While the large ensemble (band, choir, orchestra, opera, etc) is a significant part of the school – and perhaps the most visible to the general public – learning also occurs in traditional classrooms and labs where foundational knowledge such as music theory, music history, music technology, music education, and aural skills are taught.
 
The core of a college or university music program or conservatory, however, is the studio. Each area of performance is organized by a studio and led by an applied teacher. At Michigan State, for example, within the College of Music there are areas of study for composition, conducting, jazz, voice, brass, woodwinds, percussion, strings and piano. Each of these areas consist of studios led by artist-teachers. The woodwind area, for example, consists of studios for flute, oboe, bassoon, clarinet, and saxophone and an applied teacher for each of those studios. For many students, especially graduate students, they elect to come to certain school to specifically study with that applied teacher. While students participate in ensembles, take classroom courses, and are educated through several avenues, the studio teacher is their major professor and advisor, and typically has the most contact time and influence on that student.
 
Studios in schools of music, however, can sometimes seem isolated from each other. This can occur for several valid reasons and not the fault of any one student or faculty member. Unlike large ensembles, where cooperation and a mutual understanding of each member’s role is an essential aspect to music-making, studios often focus on specific pedagogical goals based around the expertise of the individual teacher. And studios can have very specific ideas of what they want their “sound” or approach to playing to be. This can sometimes lead to issues in understanding the priorities of other studios and creates a divide in the school where philosophical conflicts may arise between teaching goals and strategies. This conflict is not the fault of the teachers, and usually is not caused or perpetuated by faculty. Faculty typically understand this dynamic because they have a vision of what they want their studio to be and each understands that other faculty may have different goals. While it is possible they may disagree with certain choices in other studios, each teacher comes to the job with their own unique set of skills and priorities. As long as students are choosing to come to the school, being successful within the school, and being productive musicians contributing to the field after school – the teacher’s work is often judged as a success.
 
Sometimes the breakdown occurs with how students perceive the work of other studios. Learning does not occur in a vacuum. While the studio is often the hub of the learning, much of a student’s time is spent in performing ensembles. It is in cooperative spaces like this that the breakdown can come to a head. Teachers have different priorities and students have different goals. When one person’s goal rubs against another’s goal, conflict can arise. Each instrument has inherent attributes that make them unique and different from others – and therefore difficult to compare. Oboist have to learn to make reeds, tubists may also need to learn euphonium, violinists sometimes also learn viola, trombonists may need to learn to read tenor clef, and saxophonists are always stretching their skills with extended performance techniques. Every instrument has its own challenge, and the fundamental knowledge necessary before moving onto the next step of learning varies considerably between all of them. Furthermore, every student focuses their study in order to be competitive for differing jobs following graduation. Students seeking college teaching positions may need to study theory pedagogy in addition to learning to play their instrument well, while other students may focus on obtaining an orchestral playing position – which has very specific skills you need to perfect.  These are facts often overlooked in the frustration that occurs when goals do not align in rehearsal. Understanding where students are coming from and the different paths and pacing each needs to take to meet different goals is something that my colleague and fellow DMA student Evan Harger calls “vocational empathy.” These unique and varied paths sometimes create a flawed perception of what really is progress.
 
Large ensembles are led by conductors who guide the direction, philosophy, and culture of the learning environment. Conductors navigate through the web of individual philosophies of each studio and performer to create an ensemble experience that proves to be a successful composite of a variety of pedagogical approaches. In addition to large ensembles, another significant performance opportunity for students are chamber ensembles. In these small groups, students have more autonomy and sometimes conflict can arise between contrasting ideologies and rehearsal priorities. It is not uncommon in chamber ensembles, where there is little faculty input and the music-making is purely student-led, to have differing approaches to the ensemble experience. Everything from rehearsal strategies and what components of the music needs addressing to ideas about performance practice and interpretation can differ and pose potential conflicts. While these are issues and topics to consider in any ensemble opportunity, even in the professional ranks, academia sometimes creates environments where students develop tunnel vision to their own learning biases and objectives.
 
In order to create healthier ensemble experiences, understanding and developing positive studio culture allows students to not only feel comfortable and foster deeper learning within their studios but also allows for more meaningful cross-studio learning. By allowing students the opportunity to understand the focus and approaches of other studios, students are able to more easily collaborate with those who might approach the same musical issue from an entirely different angle. This awareness of multiple ways to view the same idea, or even being presented with new ideas entirely, creates an environment where cooperation happens more deeply, naturally, and genuinely. This allows for the development of stronger ensemble skills in rehearsal and contributes to more authentic performances. Additionally, this awareness of why certain studios focus on particular aspects allows for students to be better colleagues in future professional, academic, and business environments. We approach conflict and problem-solving through a lens developed in rehearsal and through conversations in the studios. For future teachers and professors, we have a deeper toolbox of instructional strategies to pick from to use in our own future classrooms and studios. This shared knowledge combats the issue of tunnel-vision-learning that limits our capacity for performance as well as the capacity for understanding, cooperation, and growth. 
 
An awareness of vocational empathy creates an avenue where students can share what they value in their studios and as individual learners in order to better understand the values of others. To be a successful 21st century musician, a wide variety of skills are necessary. But what we focus on, the degree to which one does, and the end goal of that study is something that cannot be compared. Richard Floyd, a noted music educator and State Director of Music Emeritus for Texas, calls this space where students are engaged and seeking to learn in a variety of ways a “happy workshop.” And within this workshop, there are a lot of people doing a lot of different jobs in a lot of different ways that all work together to teach and learn from each other. This healthy culture knocks on the door of Paulo Freire’s view that teaching and learning are interchangeable and that the student and teacher do both.
 
Through working with the Graduate School as a Leadership Development Fellow, I was able to dig into what defines a successful studio culture and how we can best connect these cultures to foster a positive and productive learning environment within the entire College of Music. This past year served as essentially a fact-finding year: defining, through research and student voice, what a productive studio culture looks like and where conflict can arise and how to work through conflict. Higher education music rarely defines this awareness and implications of how studio culture effects an entire school. By and large, music studios look very similar today as they did twenty-five or even fifty years ago. Generally, many teachers still teach the way they were taught. MSU is fortunate that we have many innovative and progressive educators, but the notion of still teaching as we were taught is all too common in academia.
 
To define best practices in studio culture and to compare the music field to other fields, I looked for defining qualities in classroom culture in higher education. Some of the most relevant ideas of studio culture came from architecture. The American Institute of Architecture Students In-StudioBlog travels to architecture studios across the country, asking many of the same questions that we are asking in the College of Music.
 

Describe your studio culture.
Give one tip that helped you succeed in studio.
What motivated you to work hard in studio?
What aspect of your studio experience do you think will help you get a job?
What can professors do to create a helpful and supportive studio culture?
What should a high school student understand about studio at my university?
What can the College do to help improve your studio experience?
What would be your ideal studio care package?
I love my studio because….

 
Schools of architecture have a fairly well-thought out approach to what culture looks like in their studios. The Princeton University School of Architecture has a detailed “Studio Culture Policy” which aligns well with similar concerns in a music studio. From speaking with students in the College of Music, topics raised in these architecture policies are similar to concerns shared here – and I would venture to say any classroom can benefit from tough conversations about culture and productive, cooperative learning environments. These same conversations can apply to other close learning environments in the arts such as dance studios and theater programs; but they are equally relevant and impactful in scientific research labs.
 
Through the Graduate School’s Leadership Development Fellowship, we’ve created a forum where music students can share what makes their studio’s unique, what brought them to study at MSU, and also concerns or suggestions they have to improve our College. In an open environment where all can share ideas, we not only create a space where cooperation and understanding are built, but also allow ourselves to deepen our own toolbox that can be used in the professional world and in future classrooms and studios. An initial meeting of this forum quickly veered away from talking about our own studios and personal interests, but to larger questions in the discipline of music: ideas about music and its role in global citizenship, entrepreneurial skills in the performing arts, repertoire selection and variety, and diversity and representation. These are important topics beyond the scope of studio culture, but agreement exists that each studio can make a significant difference in these areas. Studios can be the start of grassroot change in tackling bigger issues in music and music education. When we come together to talk about these significant issues and how each studio confronts them, we are making positive change – not only in our studios and the College of Music – but in music and music-making at large. This year we just barely scratched the surface of the impact that we can have on understanding and developing the culture in our studios. From the initial research and student conversations, it is apparent that these ideas make a meaningful difference on our learning environment in real ways that will have impacts far beyond the walls of the College of Music.

You can find a full list of all workshops from the MSU Libraries here. SeptemberStable Links Workshop (Online)September 7, 2021, 10am -12pm

This workshop will take place on ZOOM, and registered attendees will receive an email the day before the scheduled workshop containing the meeting ID and password.  Questions can be emailed to leekrist@msu.edu.
Although many understand the value of sharing online library resources such as e-journal articles, e-book chapters, or streaming media in D2L or other course-related materials, the process for doing so is not intuitive or transparent. To complicate matters, copyright compliance and licensing agreements require the use of appropriate stable links for integration of proprietary content in a course. This Stable Links for Electronic Resources workshop will guide participants through the process of integrating journal articles, e-book chapters, or streaming media into their course(s). Instructions for creating stable links in various platforms will be provided and participants will gain hands-on experience in successfully integrating stable links into D2L and other course-related materials.

Stable Links Workshop (Online)September 15, 2021, 1pm-3pm

This workshop will take place on ZOOM, and registered attendees will receive an email the day before the scheduled workshop containing the meeting ID and password.  Questions can be emailed to leekrist@msu.edu.
Although many understand the value of sharing online library resources such as e-journal articles, e-book chapters, or streaming media in D2L or other course-related materials, the process for doing so is not intuitive or transparent. To complicate matters, copyright compliance and licensing agreements require the use of appropriate stable links for integration of proprietary content in a course. This Stable Links for Electronic Resources workshop will guide participants through the process of integrating journal articles, e-book chapters, or streaming media into their course(s). Instructions for creating stable links in various platforms will be provided and participants will gain hands-on experience in successfully integrating stable links into D2L and other course-related materials.EndNote and EndNote OnlineSeptember 21, 2021, 11am-1pm

A virtual version of our basic introduction to EndNote and EndNote Online.  Learn how to:
   * Import references from MSU's online catalog and article databases
   * Format citations and bibliographies in a Word document
   * Use EndNote Online to create groups and share references with other users
This workshop will be held over Zoom. After registering, attendees will receive a confirmation email with the workshop URL and password, and a reminder email the day before.
**It is recommended that you install the EndNote software prior to the workshop. For more information, visit http://libguides.lib.msu.edu/endnote or contact us at endnote@lib.msu.edu.Learn QGIS: Making a Color Shaded Map in QGIS (in person and online)September 22, 2021, 4pm-5pm

Learn the basics of QGIS, the free open source geospatial software—this workshop will demonstrate how to make a choropleth (color shaded) map and place graduated symbols representing data on it, load shape-files and .csv table files into QGIS, join data to spatial information and edit features.
This workshop will be held in person at the Digital Scholarship Lab computer lab (on the 2nd floor of the west wing of the library) and online via Zoom.OctoberEndNote Q&A SessionOctober 7 2021, 9am-11am

Have questions about using EndNote? Join one of our instructors for a virtual office hours-style session to get answers on how to do specific tasks using EndNote or EndNote Online.
*Note: this will not be an introduction to using EndNote. Please visit https://libguides.lib.msu.edu/endnote for available training opportunities.
This workshop will be held over Zoom. After registering, attendees will receive a confirmation email with the workshop URL and password, and a reminder email the day before.EndNote and EndNote OnlineOctober 18, 2021, 1pm-3pm


A basic introduction to EndNote and EndNote Online.  Learn how to:
   * Import references from MSU's online catalog and article databases
   * Format citations and bibliographies in a Word document
   * Use EndNote Online to create groups and share references with other users
For more information about this popular program, visit http://libguides.lib.msu.edu/endnote
*Previous experience searching article databases available from the MSU Libraries is highly recommended.
For more information, please contact us at endnote@lib.msu.edu.NovemberMSU GIS Research and Teaching Meet UpNovember 5, 2021, 2pm-4pmVisit with other MSU community members who are using GIS in their teaching, research and other work. We will be discussing any issues, projects and topics that community members want to bring to the meet up. Questions about new GIS products, GIS method questions, and strategies for teaching GIS are all possible topics of conversation. The goal of this event is to break through the usual disciplinary and departmental boundaries to have a lively conversation about GIS at MSU. EndNote Q&A SessionNovember 12, 2021, 1pm-2pm

Have questions about using EndNote? Join one of our instructors for a virtual office hours-style session to get answers on how to do specific tasks using EndNote or EndNote Online.
*Note: this will not be an introduction to using EndNote. Please visit https://libguides.lib.msu.edu/endnote for available training opportunities.
This workshop will be held over Zoom. After registering, attendees will receive a confirmation email with the workshop URL and password, and a reminder email the day before.

***This is part of a series of articles compiling useful resources and information for new graduate students. Some of the information in this series will be relevant for anybody new to MSU, including undergraduates, postdocs, faculty and staff. The topical areas range from settling into East Lansing and Michigan, getting to know which services can be found on campus to administrative steps and information needed throughout a graduate program at MSU. For the full series, see this playlist dedicated to (international) graduate students.***
 
Hello and welcome to MSU!
My name is Clara and I am one of your fellow international graduate students from Germany.
Moving to a new country and starting to study/ work at a new institution can be both exciting and a little stressful at times. I, along with many others in our community, definitely experienced both!
This “playlist” brings together many useful resources and information to make your transition into MSU and East Lansing easier. In the next few days, you will receive a lot of information at the welcome events organized by OISS and your individual departments. However, not every available resource will be covered and it is hard to remember them all afterwards!
As one of the Graduate Leadership Development Fellows in the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, I tried to create a ‘one-stop-shop’ for these information and resources. This “playlist” is meant to be a starting point to learn about MSU and your new home (without having to turn the search for resources into another research project). 😊
While I draw from and reference the official websites for most of the information, please note that this resource compilation is a work in progress based on both my experience and a survey among international students in December 2019 (for more information see the article on “My Leadership Fellowship experience”).
If you feel there are important resources missing, please leave a comment below the articles so that we can continually improve this resource list for future generations of international graduate students.
Go Green!

One of the possible ways to have students work on a course project throughout a semester is to have periodic concept map assignments. Journals were framed as homework assignments to be done individually. The purpose of these assignments was to help students prepare for their final project in ISB202.
 
Journal Assignment #2 Overview: During class, we learned how to search for primary literature, and students spent some time looking for articles. For this journal assignment, students will write a list of references with brief annotations of sources that they plan on using for their course project. These references will also likely be useful for future journal assignments.
 
For a full description of this assignment, including descriptions of source information, types of sources, reference formats, annotation, and the grading rubric, check out the attachment. You can also check out full descriptions of the reflective journal assignment and the following journals for the semester.

Photo by Caleb Woods on Unsplash
 
Learning Objects and Resources
Research Basics Modules: libguides.lib.msu.edu/modules 
Topics include: deciding on a paper topic, evaluating information, dealing with uncertainty, learning when to cite, and more
 
Two Minute Tips: libguides.lib.msu.edu/twominutetips
Quick introductory videos about using different library systems. Can be helpful for students who are unfamiliar with how to use the library website. 
 
News Literacy: libguides.lib.msu.edu/newsliteracy
Resources and activities around evaluating news and other online information
 
Instruction Session Request: lib.msu.edu/about/libinstr/sessreq/
May be referred to the appropriate subject librarian. 
 
Subject Librarians
 
Course Guides: libguides.lib.msu.edu/courseguides
Guides created by subject librarians for specific courses, often in conjunction with one or more in-class sessions
 
Research Guides: libguides.lib.msu.edu/researchguides
Guides created by subject librarians that cover a specific topic or discipline. Often include where to find information, search strategies, etc. 
 
Contact a subject librarian: lib.msu.edu/contact/subjectlibrarian/
 
 

Here is a syllabus template that 1) meets MSU requirements as of 2023, 2) is accessible for online documents, 3) meets or describes how to meet most Quality Matters rubric criteria, and 4) encourages an inclusive and welcoming class. This includes a thorough list of student resources, statements that reduce the hidden curriculum (such as describing the purpose of office hours), and notes that continually encourage students to seek assistance from the instructor or resources.This template was developed for the Center for Integrative Studies in General Science (CISGS), College of Natural Science, but most of it is appropriate for other departments. The CISGS-specific aspects are highlighted in green (or search for CISGS in the file) and therefore can be easily removed. The template begins with an introduction to instructors so that you can learn more about the development of the syllabus. It was developed summer 2023 and is periodically updated- if you notice any issues (e.g., broken URL links), then please contact Andrea Bierema (abierema@msu.edu). To see any updates since last you looked at the template, once in the file, click "File," click "version history," select any version dates since last you looked at the file, and turn on "show changes."Check out the syllabus template, use whatever information you find useful, or start from the beginning by downloading and editing the template for your class!Featured Image: curriculum by Candy Design from <a href="https://thenounproject.com/browse/icons/term/curriculum/" target="_blank" title="curriculum Icons">Noun Project</a> (CC BY 3.0)