The Office: Graduate Admission

PhD in Clinical Psychology

This week's podcast is a doozy; it's on applying to the PhD in Clinical Psychology program here at Suffolk University.  I saw down with the program director, and we went over a bunch of different topics - concentrations in the program, what it covers, what they're looking for in each of the credentials they ask for, and what to expect after the fact.  It's one of our longest podcasts to date (I think it racks in at 27:09 with the bumpers), but it covers so many of the questions we typically get asked that I just couldn't see cutting it down further. 

For those who are inclined, we'll also be having our Virtual Information Session on November 8!  Check the Suffolk Graduate Admission website for more info!

Error!

So this week, I had two interviews lined up for the podcast - one on information sessions and one on graduate study abroad.  Unfortunately, Amazon has failed me - my new recorder has not arrived, and I surrendered the one I had been using back to media services! Hopefully, it will arrive early next week, in time for me to be able to meet with CB on information sessions, YH on graduate study abroad, and JR about Suffolk On the Road!

In the meatime, you can check out our newest bloggers - BunnyNorton and My Boston Waltz!

Administrative fellowships

This week, I got to sit down with CP, our Asst VP of Enrollment and the Director of Student Financial Services to talk about administrative fellowships.  I just finished posting the podcast of that interview.  

Now, every school I've worked for (not that there's all that many) has only run thanks to the work of student workers.  What many professors will tell you that they absolutely find their student employees and graduate students indispensable, students are no less important to the administration of a school.  If you come into the Office of Graduate Admission here at Suffolk University, you'll probably see at least two and maybe more of our student workers.  We typically have 3 graduate fellow positions, and a smattering of work-studies.  Our grad students lead tours, answer phones and walk-in student questions, work on marketing pieces, staff information sessions, and otherwise function as an integral part of the office  (and if all goes well, will start blogging this fall). 

At any rate, CP talks at length about how to go about getting a fellowship and why students who were not selected for merit fellowships should consider looking for an admin fellowship.  Now that we're getting close to the start of the semester, offices are shoring up some of their plans and making their final decisions about whom they will hire.  So go check it out!

Sustainability

Today's podcast is with Erica Mattison from Suffolk's Sustainability office.  I'd say she's the recycling maven, but really, the Sustainability group does so much more.  There's somewhat more impact on the undergraduate side, as she works on things like making the new doorms LEED silver/gold certified and with Sodexho to encourage the campus food to be local and organic.  On the side that impacts grads and undergrads alike, she works on using materials to improve air quality in classroom retrofits.  She works on encouraging and making it easy to get to Suffolk through lower-environmental-impact means (bikes, carpooling, public transport).  Yes, and she works on improving our recycling and composting efforts.

The sustainability thing is a strange one for us to try to really get the word out for - at the graduate level, people are not usually as interested in the goings on of the university in that way, but I think Suffolk's efforts really say something about the school.  Anyway, give it a listen!

OPT anc CPT

Today's podcast covers OPT and CPT - two types of professional training available to international students.  CPT is curricular training - it's oriented around doing training while you're still working on your degree.  OPT is the up to 1 year of training done after the completion of your degree.

I'll sort of say this about it - the podcast is very short (it clocks in at 3:46, without the bumpers).  The interview was really quite a bit longer - but much of it wound up in the proverbial trash bin.  Work authorization for visa holders is complicated (which is why we have immigration advisors in the Center for International Education).  I wound up asking questions to which the answers all sort of start "well, it depends." Frankly, in the interest of clarity (and to not confuse my prospective international students more than need be), we wound up going to "this is what it is and you should come speak with an immigration advisor to discuss what's best for you and what your next steps are."  It's not really the most satisfying way to go (I like being able to have a really solid, self-serve, find-your-information kind of podcast), but it is the best way to go.  I don't want to confuse people and I don't want to have incorrect information out there. 

Anyway, enjoy!

Bonus!

OK, not really.  It's just the weekly podcast - there are two this week because there weren't any last week, so now we're back on track.

This week, I sat down with Professor Han in the Finance department to discuss course waivers in the MSF program (and MSFSB).  I've been learning a lot about how different programs handle course waivers (and what the philosophy is behind them for each program), so it's sort of interesting as a college administrator to listen to this podcast vs the MBA vs Accounting.  I also hope that it's interesting to people interested in our graduate finance programs.

Enjoy the long weekend, folks!

Waivers

Today's podcast is the latest in our series on waivers, this time for the GDPA program.  When I approached MJP about doing an interview on waivers in the accounting programs, she asked if she could do two - one for the GDPA and one for the MSA, as they are separate programs and the policies on waivers and transfer credits are somewhat different between the two.

Next week, there won't be a podcast, as I'm going to be in California, but the following week the podcast on waivers and transfer credits in the MS in Accounting (MSA) program will be posted early in the week, and my interview with KH on waivers in the MS in Finance (MSF and MSFSB) will be posted on the normal Friday schedule.

Until next week!

Ahead of the game

I'm out of the office tomorrow, and so posting tomorrow's podcast tonight.  (I can move space and time - I have that kind of power.)

This week's podcast is on internships in the graduate accounting programs.  I sat down with MJP earlier this week for a LONG interview, which is ultimately going to be 3 podcasts: internships, waivers in the GDPA program, and waivers in the MSA program.  The internship interview I've been looking forward to for a while - a lot of students ask us about internships, but all I can normally tell them is that the internships aren't required for the MSA - which is what MP confirmed for me.  But, many, many students will do them, usually not for credit (because frankly, you don't have all that many credits free in the program), and parlay them into jobs for the future.  So, just like me, accounting students in internships are ahead of the game. 

I also changed the set-up of the special topics page in iTunesU a little bit, so that the newest podcast is at the top, and then subjects are grouped together a little bit below that.  I figured that I would rather the new information not get lost.  We'll see how that works for a while.

Work beckons!

Campus Options

Today's podcast is on campus options for the MBA - the Suffolk MBA is actually available in our main campus in Boston, in our North Andover campus at Merrimack Collge, and online - HH talks a little about them.

To sort of sum up - one of the benefits of the Suffolk MBA is its flexibility - aside from the fact that it is both part-time and full-time, and that there are a lot of different options as far as how you focus in on what is most important to you career-wise, there's also some location flexibility.  For people who live or work north of Boston, the North Andover campus can be really useful - it allows a student to be closer to home.  And then there's online (or as we usually think of it, the "web campus").  If you're a working professional who may need to travel during the semester (and let me tell you - with our fall travel season I'm well aware of the difficulties of trying to take classes while having to travel for work), the online option allows you to be able to be anywhere and not miss a beat.

Anyway, have a listen!

Welcome summer

Summer has come to the office - our fellowship students are mostly gone to their summer internships, jobs, and vacations (or they've graduated).  Final transcripts for some of our admitted students are starting to come in.  We've got part-time applications starting to pick up a little in advance of our June 15th preferred deadline.  Students and prospective students are coming in for tours.

Actually, since our student workers are away, the professional staff has been giving tours.  I can't speak to the others, but I'm way out of practice.  I managed to show a pair of prospective students a whole lot of the back staircase in the Sawyer Building while I was trying to remember where the Graduate Student Lounge is.  (It's on the 4th floor - for some reason I thought it was near the finance department and wound up getting off at the 9th.)  I think they got the kind of information they were looking for - at the very least, I could answer some questions or direct them to the program director who could fill in the blanks.  

In other news, it's podcast posting day.  We've gotten through most of our credentials, and so we're getting into some more special topics, which will be taking us through the summer.  Today's topic is course waivers in the Suffolk MBA and Global MBA.   Dr. Hallberg talks about both course waivers and transfer credits, and a little bit about proficiency exams.  It's a topic that is of use to both students who are looking to apply to the MBA (so they know what the policy is) and also for students already admitted to the Suffolk MBA (so that they understand the policy better than they may have).  I have interviews coming up to cover course waivers in Finance and Accounting programs as well, so students can stay tuned for those as well.

Work beckons, and I must go.