Combating Isolation, contributed by Jugal Kalita, University of Colorado at Colorado Springs

From CISEREUPI

Idea

Overcome social isolation that usually arises when REU students work alone, work in separate labs, or don't work together often.

Objective

To reduce the sense of isolation in the context of research and software development

What Works Well

• • The students should keep regular hours, say 9-5 or 10-6. Each student is expected to be present during these hours in the lab. This is likely to create friendship and cohesion among the students.
  • There should be a conference table or something similar around which the students can sit, read papers, have meetings, etc.
  • Provide the students with office space or lockers if possible. It connects them to the lab or site, even if temporarily.
  • There should be plenty of social activities outside the work environment. Some of these can be organized by the PI at his/her home. Others can be organized by the REU students themselves.
  • One of the local students, if any, can be given a little more stipend to organize fun outings.
  • There should be some social activities during the first weekend, when the students come in. Some local REU students or grad students should take the students out to local shops, malls, clubs, etc., so that the students get familiarized with their environment.
  • Exchange phone numbers, email addresses, and IM IDs of all participants right in the beginning.
  • Transportation may be an issue for the REU students. Give them local public transportation schedules, if any.
  • Use the office of the Dean of Students on campus, dorm RAs if applicable. The Dean of Students office should have contact information for key people/offices on campus as well as off-campus.
  • Use the office of the Dean of Graduate School, who may be interested in recruiting for various graduate departments.
  • Give the students a list of restaurants with phone numbers.
  • It may be a good idea to start a blog site where every student blogs a brief note every day about research and non-research stuff. It may be a good idea to use Facebook, Myspace or soemthing similar.

What Doesn't Work Well

You must actively plan the activities. It is unlikely to happen without pre-planning.

How to Measure It

This can be measured by keeping track of the number of activities, the number of participants in activities, student questionnaire before and after,

Assessment Data

Data should be collected during the REU session in the summer.

Resource List

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