Orientation and First Week

The fall semester usually begins during the third week of August. On the day before classes begin, there will be an important all-day orientation meeting for all Department of Statistics incoming graduate students as well as current students. If you are unable to attend this meeting, please notify the department and make arrangements to get your keys and necessary paperwork completed. If you are an international student, you will receive information about an important and fun orientation for international students which takes place about two weeks prior to the beginning of classes. Outlined below are the topics which will be addressed during this meeting and items to which you should attend during your first week here.

Advisors

As a first year graduate student, an advisor will be assigned to you by the Graduate Studies Chair. During orientation, you will be given the opportunity to visit with your assigned advisor to decide upon first semester courses and to begin planning your program of study. As the year progresses, you are strongly encouraged to visit with faculty members concerning opportunities for thesis research activities. One suggestion for meeting faculty and gaining insight into possible research areas is to attend department-sponsored colloquiums and SAC sponsored SOS talks. After you decide on a research area, you should choose a faculty member in that field of research to be your advisor. You are responsible for informing the Graduate Studies Chair of advisor changes.

Course Load

Students supported by assistantships are required to be registered as full-time students. Full-time status is defined to be:

	Credits per semester
	Fall/Spring
1/4-time assistantship	9-14
1/2-time assistantship	8-11
3/4-time assistantship	6-8
Fellows and Trainees	at least 9

If you audit a course, it doesn't count towards the minimum, but it does count against the maximum. If you go over the maximum courseload, a memo must be sent to the graduate school! See Kellie for any details. Also see Section of this guide for an example of a first year program.

Assistantship Responsibilities

Most first year graduate students are given a 1/2-time assistantship and are assigned the responsibility of being either a teaching assistant (TA) or a grader for one or more undergraduate statistics classes. Both positions may require up to 20 hours of work per week, but typically amount to less. As a teaching assistant or grader, you will be responsible for grading homework and/or exams, holding office hours, and maintaining grade files. Several teaching assistants are assigned to Stat 200, an elementary statistics course that involves using Minitab in class computer lab sessions. These TA's assist students as they work on lab activities and hold tutorial sessions as well as office hours. A 1/4-time assistantship may require up to 10 hours of work per week either as a teaching assistant or research assistant. After the fall semester, assistantship assignments are based upon your interests and the needs of the department.
All graduate assistants, domestic or international, may accept concurrent employment outside the university only after obtaining permission from the head of the department providing the assistantship and from your advisor. All fellowship and scholarship students may not accept employment of any kind. See the Graduate Degree Programs in the Employment Section for more information.

Office and Key Assignments

When you arrive, you will be assigned to an office. Priority on assignments will be based on semester standing and funded versus nonfunded status. Due to a lack of space, some unfunded students may be asked to share desks. Each student will also be assigned a mailbox in Room 325 where department mailings and information should be checked for daily.

You will need to obtain several keys to the building because many of the commonly used rooms will be locked after 5 P.M. and on weekends.

• Thomas Building
• Assigned Office
• Rm 330 (Unix Computer Lab)
• Rm 424 (PC Computer Lab)
• Mailroom/Conference Rooms/Clifford C. Clogg Memorial Library

Keys are authorized by Laurie Roan, Secretary, and then can be picked up in 512 Thomas Building (Eberly College of Science Facilities Office) with a $10.00 deposit for each key. This deposit is refunded when you return your keys. In addition, a key for your assigned desk can be obtained from Laurie Roan in the main office.

Copier Code

You should obtain a copier code from Laurie Roan in the main office. This is a four number code which is necessary to use the copiers located in the mailroom. The copiers should only be used for department business, such as assistantship duties.

Student ID

You must get a student identification card during the first week (orientation) of the fall semester. The ID can be obtained by going to Room 103 in HUB.

Computer Accounts

There are two types of computer accounts available to statistics graduate students.

1. UNIX account: The UNIX system is the main operating environment in the department. Important departmental communication is done through electronic mail on this system. Instructions on the initial accessing of the account will be given during orientation. In addition, a UNIX class is held in the fall semester to help you learn about this computer environment.

   When you leave the department, e.g. due to graduating, your UNIX account will be deleted after 60 days unless prior arrangements have been made with the system adminstrator. You can have the contents of your account copied to a CD-ROM disk. You will need to make arrangements with the system administrator for this.

2. Center for Academic Computing(CAC) Access Account: This account is assigned to all incoming Penn State students and allows access to the Penn State network. There are several PCs in 424 Thomas Building that are networked to the CAC system. To get your Access Account, take your current Penn State photo ID card to an automatic signature station and follow the instructions there. Stations are located at 103 Boucke Building, 6 Findlay Commons, W111 Pattee Library, 112 Redifer Commons, 107 Waring Commons, 108 Warnock Commons, and 2 Willard Building. Your userid and password should be active within 24 hours and will remain active until you graduate.

   You can set your CAC account email to be sent to your Stat department account. To do this, use a web browser and go to http://www.work.psu.edu and click on the link to change your forwarding address.

First Paycheck

If you will be receiving financial support from the department, you will receive a monthly payment on the last working day of the month via direct deposit to your bank account. You will need to bring a canceled check and two forms of identification to the graduate secretary to set up direct deposit of paycheck. However, expect to receive double pay in September and no paycheck in August. Information about banking is available in the The Guide to Graduate Life. Many graduate students like to use the Penn State Federal Credit Union.

Instructional Development Program (IDP)

The Instructional Development Program throughout the graduate school offers workshops during the week before classes for first-time teaching assistants and instructors. By attending the workshops you will learn about some creative and effective teaching techniques, as well as what it will be like to teach at a large university such as Penn State. It is also a great way to meet incoming graduate students from other departments.