Interns, Ready! On your mark... Get set...

GO! The 2014 Summer Intern application cycle has begun!

...Okay, so it was supposed to begin yesterday. But with "Blizzard 2014" closing RIT yesterday, I wasn't able to get it posted. Hopefully that hasn't caused too much of an inconvenience...

Anyway,

Get your application instructions here!

And now, I wait to see how my new online application works in practice... and how much things change (or don't?) in light of the changes to the program this year. Magic 8 Ball on my desk says:

Uh-oh. 

Good thing I'm not superstitious.

Being a scientist is all about experimentation, right?

You may recall that when I posted about my efforts to redesign the summer intern application, I vaguely mentioned that there would have to be some changes to the program moving forward in order for it to continue. Well, I am happy to say that my work towards a new application was not done in vain, as the program will continue next year. However, in 2014, all intern positions will be unpaid.

Yes, that's right - unpaid. I'm sure this will not be a popular change. I'll readily admit that the opportunity to receive a salary definitely influenced my interest back when I applied to be an intern. This internship was my first job, my first responsibility, my first time clock, my first income. It was a major turning point in my life that influenced my entire education and career path. And I'm not alone in that.

Be that as it may, our current situation simply does not afford the luxury of monetary compensation this year. RIT is undergoing cost containment, and budgets are tight. Labs can't help support the program with anything more than the work involved with taking in an intern. Industry sponsorship was waned to a point where we can only cover the costs of a single intern - and for the past few years, we have around 14 interns per cohort. When you consider that the price of a single intern is around $3,000 (including administrative costs), times fourteen, that is a significant investment. Granted, if we get even just one student enrolling in Imaging Science as a result of their experience in the intern program (and for the past few years we've been getting more than one), the return on investment easily makes it all worth it. But, to be perfectly honest - we just can't do it on our own anymore.

So, for 2014, we'll be asking interns to volunteer their time. This isn't to say they won't still be rewarded for all their hard work. Even though they won't get a salary, they will still get to work in real research labs, interact with college students and professors, gain significant skills and experience, participate in professional development activities, go on field trips, and meet students from other schools who have similar interests. We'll also provide interns with letters of recommendation, and we're still looking into the possibility of offering some additional form of compensation (though I'm unsure at this point what form that may take). These are all pretty significant benefits, especially in a world where competition among applicants, be it for college or for jobs, is ever-increasing.

Overall I feel pretty conflicted about the whole thing. I am afraid that we will miss out on some really good students. But then again, there are a lot of really good students. Just look at the massive applicant pool we had last year - there are way more deserving students out there than we have positions to accommodate them. Not to mention, the demand was getting out of control to handle. I suppose a few fewer applications wouldn't be such a bad thing... Also, there are still so many benefits to participating even without money. I would hope that if a student is passionate about getting this kind of experience, that they could overlook the lack of salary. Maybe this will automatically filter out those students who were looking at our internship as an opportunity to score some cash while beefing up their resume to go elsewhere, and we'll only get those who are genuinely interested in being here. But let's get real for a minute - there are a lot of people feeling strapped for cash, and it may not be realistic to expect that they could devote 40 hours a week to us when they could be spending that time making bank.

One could argue that this is unfair, while another could argue that we're under no obligation to offer the program at all. I think it is pretty easy to see both sides of the issue, but I find it extremely difficult to sort out my feelings about it all, especially because the program has had such an impact on me personally. But I suppose when it comes down to it, it really doesn't matter what I feel, because the bottom line is that we don't have a choice. I guess we'll just have to see how it all plays out.

Let's hope this goes better than the healthcare.gov launch...

As a follow-up to my planning for a new intern application, I have made quite a bit of progress on getting the process online. First and foremost, I developed an online application using Google Forms to take the place of the applicant information sheet and short answer questions. I have also put together a checklist with instructions on what materials are required and how they should be submitted.

I think these are pretty solid, but I also expect there will be some hitches. For instance, we are requiring that all e-mailed components (essay, lab report, recommendation letters) be in PDF format. I would not be surprised at all if that causes some issues, as I'm sure some applicants will disregard that requirement or perhaps won't have access to software that can create PDFs (which is a lame excuse, because there are most certainly free resources available, not to mention libraries). I am also not 100% confident with the Google Form; although I think it is set up very well (if I do say so myself), there could be some unforeseen technical difficulties, or perhaps applicants will want to save their progress along the way so that they may come back to it later (this is not currently an option).

But for every potential hiccup I think of, I can think of multiple solutions, so I should hope that our applicants can figure it out for themselves. After all, independence and problem solving skills are critical to being successful in the intern program; so if an applicant can't even figure out the application, that doesn't bode well for their chances of survival here anyway (sorry to be so blunt). Still, I expect I'll receive phone calls from confused/concerned/overinvolved parents, which I will do my best to address.

Speaking of addressing concerns, this past year's application due date met with some anxiety since it was the Friday after students returned from February break. If they hadn't already asked their schools and teachers for transcripts and letters of recommendation, they were finding it difficult to get them submitted on time. Naturally, my initial reaction is, "Applications have been available for nearly 2 months - you should have started before February Break," but that doesn't get me anywhere in the Nice department. (Note, this due date was set in reaction to 2012's due date being a week earlier and too close to February break; so apparently if it isn't one excuse for procrastinating, it's another.) So, this year I made the due date even ANOTHER week later, and we'll see how that goes. I may learn that there's just no pleasing anybody, but with any hope this later due date will cut down on frantic phone calls.

Anyways, all of this work on the intern program application has caused a new concern to arise: how CIS will even be able to support the program next year. I can't say too much about this yet as we have yet to discuss it in detail or organize a plan on how to proceed... I can only say that there will be some changes coming to how we offer the internship program. Stay tuned...

Meanwhile, if you have any helpful feedback on the new application form and checklist, please comment! Perhaps there are some glaring issues I have overlooked, or some wording is confusing. Constructive criticism is welcome!

Summer Imaging Connection Now Available!

Staying true to this four-week-behind holding pattern I seem to be stuck in, the Summer Imaging Connection newsletter is now finally available. Highlights in this issue include:

• Our NEW video about the Innovative Freshmen Experience class!
• Interns 2013
• Student Conference Presentations
• Alumni Giving Back

...and more. Check it out!

CIS Fall Picnic 2013

Yesterday was the annual CIS Fall Welcome Back picnic! It seems like each year we try something a little different. A few years ago, we did an Imaging Bash-style event. Then we returned to a more laid back cookout event out in front of the building. Even that started to get a little stale (and difficult logistically since we didn't have tables or chairs), so we changed things up a bit this year and went off campus to nearby Black Creek Park. Apparently, many years ago (even before I ever got here), the picnic was always held off campus. Everybody - and I mean everybody, according to legend - went, had a great time, knew each other's names, played all sorts of games, and morale was at an all-time high. It didn't really seem to me like the last couple picnics fostered the same kind of environment... In fact, they didn't even feel like the picnics I remember as a student (oh no, am I really old enough to be reminiscing about "the good ol' days"?). So, taking things off campus was our first step towards rekindling the spirit that used to thrive.

Meanwhile, there were some grand ideas of also incorporating some sort of a field day/homecoming vibe, with teams and partners and competition and multiple events. Unfortunately, that was way too much for just li'l ol' me to organize on my own, so without any support this never really got off the ground. Phooey. Maybe another time...

Anyways, despite the change in venue, other traditions remained the same: cookout food, raffles, the trusty old PA system, and volleyball. However, now we had the benefits of expansive green lawns, places to explore, and tables and chairs! Also, we really lucked out with the weather (as it seems we almost always do) as it was a gorgeous day. I'm not sure which of these factors, or maybe it was all of them together, contributed to the overall success of the picnic; but we had upwards of 70 people in attendance, which is the most I have ever witnessed in my (million-or-so) years of being connected with CIS!

Does it get much more perfect than this?

My roles in the event were to help with the organizing, make announcements over the PA, control music, and raffle off some swag. Sounds easy enough, but this still took a surprising amount of preparation leading up to the picnic itself, and there was a fair amount of setup (and later, takedown) involved. Thankfully other people took on the responsibilities of the food and the volleyball net. Meanwhile, I may have gone a little overboard on the swag...

What was I thinking? There was enough swag there for every other person to walk out with something.

There was so much stuff to raffle off that I spent basically the entire allotted time of 4-6PM on the PA reading off ticket numbers, many of which no one claimed because they didn't actually bring their ticket, or they weren't listening, or they just didn't care. Sigh. This was one of those, "Why do I bother?" moments. It was exhausting (not to mention it prevented me from being able to eat, or chat, or participate in volleyball or kan jam). Anyways, I did things a little differently this time by having a bag full of paper slips that represented each item, so that when a winner was picked they randomly selected a prize. Seems like a lot of extra work, but it takes any blame off me when someone gets a prize they're not so excited about, so it was worth it for me. If I do any raffles next time I'll probably do them the same way. (Notice how I put that "if" in there?)

Oh yeah, and there was one other new thing for this year: the kickoff to our new microgrants campaign that I teased previously - or, well, sort of. The picnic was going to be the kickoff, but then just before Stefi was going to make the announcement, our RIT Development officer told us about ROAR day, during which all contributions between $5 and $50 are matched by five of RIT's upper administration. So... Stefi ended up announcing the campaign, but telling people not to actually pledge anything for another week, so the whole kickoff ended up being a lot less climactic than anticipated. Nonetheless, it is a secret no more: introducing, the CIS Microgrant, Major Impact Challenge. Actually, I suppose I'll tell you more about it some other time, since this post is already awfully long winded, and we don't want anyone participating yet, anyways. So... stay tuned, I guess.

At any rate, the picnic ended up being a smashing success overall. Some other highlights include Sue Chan and Roger Easton playing volleyball (have you ever seen Roger when he's had too much sugar?), running jokes about some students trying to play volleyball, and some children who ended up being better than pretty much all of us at volleyball. Also, two of this year's summer interns came, ate with the students, and joined in the games too, which was awesome!!!! Oh, and let's not forget Jeff Pelz running around the parking lot dodging moving cars and eventually driving off in his Mini. We didn't end up packing up the volleyball net until close to 8PM, and only because it was getting dark... I think that's a good indicator of how well everything went.

See more pictures (including some amusing raffle wins) here: https://picasaweb.google.com/RITImagingScience/CISWelcomeBackPicnic2013#

Paper applications are soooo 2000

Now that I've had sufficient time to cool off after this year's batch of interns, it's never too soon to start thinking about preparing for next year. Because of the dramatic increase in applications this past year, it became painfully apparent that we need to update our application procedure to streamline the process.

First and foremost, we need to make as much of the application electronic as possible. When processing the applications currently, it is very time consuming to take their written-out information and type it into our database. If even just their personal and contact information were digitized so that that data could be easily copied and pasted, that would be a significant improvement.

Once the applicants are all entered into the system records, each application is reviewed by the selection committee. Having everything online and accessible by multiple reviewers at once would be advantageous, as you're no longer relying on passing paper around. So, it would be best to also have the short-answer questions, essay, and letters of recommendation sent to us electronically.

Under the current process, once the 24 applicants selected to interview are identified, their complete application packages are scanned one at a time to PDF and sent to the lab directors that will be conducting the interviews, This task is surprisingly tedious and time consuming, as there are staples to remove, combinations of single- and double-sided pages, etc. So to have everything electronic and eliminate this step completely would definitely be an improvement.

One thing we will not be able to handle electronically is official transcripts, so we will still have to scan those individually and match them up with their corresponding applicant. I don't think there is any way around this, but at least we would presumably only have one piece of physical mail for each applicant, as opposed to the 2, 3, 4, 5, sometimes more pieces we collect currently (depending on whether the applicant includes everything at once, or in pieces over time).

So, where does this leave us? In the current application, we provide:

• Cover letter
• Research group descriptions
• Application checklist
• Applicant information - to be filled out and returned with application
• Short answer questions - to be filled out and returned with application

And then we have additional required materials:

• 1 page essay
• Copy of a lab report
• Official transcript
• 2 letters of recommendation

What I plan to do is replace the application package with a website that contains application instructions, including:

• A link to the cover letter and group descriptions 
• A link to download the application checklist (for personal use)
• Instructions on how to:
• Complete an online submission form (replacing the applicant information and short answer questions)
• Email the 1-page essay and lab report
• Have letters of recommendation sent via e-mail
• Have schools mail an official transcript

It will also be explicitly state NOT to ask for confirmation that all materials have been received - if letters or transcripts are missing, applicants will be notified; and if any other materials are missing, applications will not be considered. Although I won't say this on the website, I hope to send out notification emails that the initial submission forms have been received... but it all depends on the volume to applications I receive. If I get as many as I did last year, there's no way I can address every applicant individually like that.

I think that this new process covers all the current bases while making the overall process more efficient. I also hope that this will help cut down on the number of last-minute submissions we receive (though I doubt there is any real solution for that... But at least I won't have lost parents wandering around campus looking to hand-deliver written applications to me). The only real way to find out is to try it, and address any problems as they surface. If you have any thoughts, please feel free to share in the comments! 

Now it's time to get to work creating the online forms and writing clear instructions... Hopefully I can find a decent free online tool that will support my planned approach.

Warm Fuzzy x 1000

Today I received a very special letter in the mail from one of this year's summer interns:

What can I possibly say??? I am humbled and honored.

Intern Final Presentations 2013

Well, today marks another successful conclusion for the CIS Summer Internship program. This is now my 4th intern-last-day as RIT staff, and each year it seems history repeats itself: interns get here to much excitement, things level off for a while there in the middle, and then everything ramps up to culminate in this big final presentation day - after which everything is suddenly over and everyone leaves, still full of adrenaline plus the added shock and disbelief that it's all over. One thing that will change this year, though: next week, despite the absence of 14 high schoolers running around, my quiet cool down is no more, thanks to RIT's new semester system!!! Boooo. So I'm still hopped up on adrenaline at the moment, and things are unlikely to change what with classes starting so suddenly on Monday. But anyways, this post is supposed to be about the interns' swan song!

I know that every year I say our group of interns tops the last, but I can honestly say that this year, we had by far the best overall group of presentations I have ever witnessed. (I suppose yesterday's dry run was a good indication that this would be the case.) What can I say about the whole thing - the presentations were great, everything went smoothly (even the break that Joe very adamantly told me to take out, but I didn't - and I'm glad I didn't), no one was disruptive, and we even ended a little bit early which allowed the interns some time to show their families around. The only flub was that I forgot to introduce myself at the beginning (what a typical Bethany thing to do), and I suppose there was some slight unrest at the very start when the projector resolution and the video recording did not want to play nice. Which reminds me - we recorded the presentations this year! You can get to them via the interns website, and then you'll understand why I'm so proud of our interns. (You can also get pictures of the presentations here.)

We provided lunch again like last year, as a last little celebration for the group. It was funny, a few of us went to all the effort to rearrange the furniture in the Fishbowl into clusters of tables, which the interns just took all apart so they could make one big table for them all to sit at. It was nice to see that they had all formed such a tight bond, which was also apparent with all the hugs and loud "GOODBYE!"s that accompanied each departure. I made sure to get a quick final group picture with everyone:

Yes, even including Robert - who let us take his picture, for once!

As usual, now that it's all over, it's hard to say goodbye. I'll miss you, 2013 interns! Best of luck to you all.

NAILED IT

Today being the second-to-last day of the 2013 summer internship (wait, how did that happen?!), we did our final presentations dry run. This year we did them in the morning (whereas we used to do them in the afternoon), which allowed time for any changes to be made based on any feedback. However, as it turns out, not many interns have much work to have to do, because a lot of them aced their dry run! (Or at least came really close.) There were no crashes-and-burns or meltdowns like last year - in fact it was quite the opposite. And not only was I impressed by the quality of the presentations, but the interns also were very involved in each other's presentations and gave lots of valuable feedback. Wow. I can tell from today that we are in really good shape for tomorrow, which I don't think is a total comfort I have enjoyed before (and definitely not last year). I can rest easy tonight!

I think a lot of this success and time management can be attributed to the milestones we established this summer. By having due dates and group critiques of titles, abstracts, and presentation outlines, the interns were given more feedback than in the past, not to mention the looming final presentations were kept on the front burner. I know that last year I struggled with how to develop this concept so as to not hold the interns' hands, but I think that we miraculously managed to strike an appropriate balance on our first try. Yeah! We'll definitely want to continue this format next year, based on how well it has worked.

Meanwhile, this year I put a little extra work into the presentation programs. Instead of a single handout that only lists presentation titles, presenters, their labs, and their schools, I put together a whole booklet that also contains the project abstracts (in addition to all that other information), as well as some information on the intern program itself.

I thought this might serve multiple purposes: it provides extra information on the presentations; it is somewhat of a promotion piece for CIS; and it could kind of be a keepsake for the interns and their parents (I know it sounds lame, but that is totally the kind of thing I would have kept when I was an intern). You can view the whole thing online here.

Well, wish us luck tomorrow - though, I don't think we actually need it this time!

A magical trip to Mees

Well today is off to a slow start... Why? Because last night was our field trip to Mees Observatory!!! We decided to essentially repeat last year's trip because it went so swimmingly, though we did make a couple changes. Instead of going to Sticky Lips ahead of time (since that was a bit of a boondoggle...) we ordered trays of BBQ and headed down to Mendon Ponds Park to eat.

Oddly enough, these interns are not big eaters, so we had way too much food.

Just look at how spread out we were - the whole place was ours!

This gave us much better control over both timing and budget, though with all the beautiful room to roam I did notice that us old fogies didn't get to bond with the interns as much as we did last year. But that hardly matters, because the interns got to chill with each other, and we're the outsiders anyways. Which, by the way, there were fewer of this year - we did not have additional REU or summer students with us this time, or even Joe or Maria, just the interns. I did bring Matt along again this year though, and since we told other people they could join at the observatory if they provided their own transportation, in fairness we drove separately. This also helped with the logistics of transporting all the food, but it did mean we were cut off [blissfully?] from all the action on the bus.

Anyways, the ever-enjoyable scenic drive down to the observatory didn't seem nearly as long this year, since being at Mendon Ponds actually already got us a decent portion of the way there. That, and this year we actually got to stop at the Gannett House first! (Another benefit of reining in how much time was devoted to dinner.)

On the patio of the Gannett mansion, overlooking Canandaigua Lake

While there, we got an introduction to the observatory, and took a (fun) astronomy pop quiz.

This year we had two presenters/guides from ASRAS (Astronomy Section, Rochester Academy of Science), Larry and Karen. They were fantastically entertaining, and their passion for science and astronomy was inspiring! During the slideshow and Astronomy quiz in the house, the sky grew dark, and - believe it or not - cleared up! Clouds and rain were forecasted all night long, but as luck would have it, the conditions were perfect for some star (and shooting star!) gazing. So we grabbed flashlights and trekked up the hill to Mees. (Well, the interns did; Matt and I drove up, as did Roger who joined us at the house.)

Obligatory group picture - only took roughly 34734 tries...

And what a beautiful evening it was - we purposefully planned for the trip to take place during the peak of the Perseid meteor showers, and they delivered! If you stared at a patch of sky for only a few minutes, sure enough a shooting star would eventually fly by. It was breathtaking! Meanwhile, using the telescope we observed a number of astronomical phenomena, including a binary star, a globular cluster (my favorite), and the Ring Nebula.

Oh, sure, my flash was useless when I was trying to take the group picture - some Imaging Scientist I am - but step inside where it's supposed to be dark and it accidentally goes off. Sorry, night vision.

Anyways, I'll let some of the interns sum it all up for me:

"Keep in mind I’m from Washington DC which has a lot of light pollution so I only get to see the Big Dipper on a good night. I was flabbergasted by the millions of stars out there. ... So anyways I was on the deck of the observatory and there was a meteor shower in its peak at the time. Occasionally you would hear the joyous “LOOK OVER THERE!!!!!” From the other interns who spotted meteorite"

"Our tours guides were very nice, giving us the history of the Observatory and testing our knowledge of stars and galaxies. The forecast was not great, but we got very lucky and the sky ended up being clear. We looked at double stars, the Ring Nebula, and other amazing things. I thought that the Ring Nebula was the coolest, it looked like a smoke ring floating through space. Last night was also the peak of the Perseid meteors and we were able to see some from on top of the Observatory. The sky was so clear of clouds and light pollution that you could faintly see the Milky Way. It was an amazing experience."

"Once it got dark, we headed up to the observatory and had the chance to see, close up, some cool astronomical oddities (my favorite was the globular cluster) through the telescope.  But just stargazing with the naked eye was equally impressive that night, as it was clear (clear enough to see the Milky Way dimly), and there was a meteor shower going on.  I find myself very lucky to have had the chance to see a few shooting stars and, if you want to see them, there should be more entering our atmosphere tonight.  All things included, it was a very enjoyable evening."

Check out more Intern reactions at their blogs.

To cap off the night, Larry gave us a printout of an NPR blog that coincidentally just came out and does a really fantastic job of putting things into perspective. I highly suggest you follow that link and give it a read.

All in all, another spectacular and awe-inspiriting Mees field trip for everyone involved. What an absolute pleasure to be a part of this! #bestjobever Oh and PS, I <3 space.

It isn't every day you get to lunch with a NASA scientist.

So you may have noticed a decrease in blog posts about interns compared to last year. This isn't an indication of my level of involvement with the interns, but rather of the smoothness of operation this year. For one, as I mentioned before we have done away with the Intern Challenges - although they were fun, they took a lot of work to develop and execute, and we got mixed reactions in the evaluations at the end of last summer. This is a bit of a bummer, though, because I had fun connecting with the interns in a different way, and I know some of this year's interns who read last year's blogs have been asking whether we would be doing any this summer :-(. Also, some things that were experiments previously are simply part of the routine this year - first day scavenger hunts were fun as always, we'll be having another Bring your Friend to Work Day (this Friday.... unfortunately I will be on vacation for it), weekly cookouts are a breeze, and we will once again feature dinner and a visit to Mees Observatory for a field trip this year. On top of all that, we have got a really great group this year that is exceptionally well behaved and mature (maybe that has something to do with the new ground rules and handbook?), so there is very little drama to report or anything for us to have to worry about or adjust. Wow, summertime and the living is easy!

For all that is old hat, there were additional new things brainstormed at the intern mini-retreat besides the handbooks and newly established milestones. One of these was to offer some professional development during lunch, particularly lunch discussions with imaging scientists who work in the field (especially since some lunchtime professional development outside of ImSci is already offered via the Summer Movie Series). Well, today we tried our first one - and with an alumnus, no less!

David Bretz is an MS Imaging Science alum who works at NASA's Johnson Space Center (how cool is that?!) and happened to be visiting campus recently. I was introduced to him because he is one of our alum, but I realized during our chat that he would be a perfect speaker for our new professional development lunch idea. Dave graciously accepted my invitation, but was going to be heading back to Texas soon, so we decided to do a Skype session. Bob coordinated the timing, technology, and free pizza, and voila! Our first professional development lunch was a go.

Dave briefly discussed the various research projects he's been a part of, including using images of the space shuttle to assess damage inflicted by space debris. He kept his talk short and sweet so that most of the time could be devoted to questions and answers - and although the interns were a little shy at first, after getting a few questions in they really opened up and started asking a lot of really great questions. Almost all of the interns had at least one inquiry, and as a result they got some great insight into college, careers, and even the relevance of their current projects. Overall, the whole event went fantastically!

Keep an eye on the interns' blogs to see what kind of impact today's session had. I am really proud to have contributed to the creation of this experience for them!

Meet the 2013 Interns!

Today marks the end of week 1 for the interns, and things have been great so far! We have a really fantastic group this year, all of which seem incredibly bright and motivated. Timekeeping has been rather smooth so far, with only a couple small exceptions which have been addressed and hopefully won't happen again. The interns in this year's group overall seem very responsible and accountable, some of which may be attributable to the handbook we handed out on the first day. Which, by the way, seemed to go over really well - the interns actually got excited over the fact that they received folders, and they were quite impressed with the CIS highlighter pens. They listened attentively to "orientation" as we went over the handbooks on Monday, and so far have been very conscientious. I think this is going to be a really great year.

Anyways, don't let me tell you about their first week - hear it straight from them! Introducing.... The CIS High School Summer Intern Class of 2013! <- Click the link to see their pictures, names, schools, and labs, and click on their names to read their blogs. Which, by the way, they all had set up in record time, AND, they have all been doing a great job updating. I have been keeping up with all of them and I can tell you, there is some really good stuff in there.

Most of this year's interns during today's cookout, which was yet another resounding success. Except for the typical non-intern moochers.... But we've got a plan for that.
Hey, wait a second... what happened to Robert?!? (He's hiding directly behind Elizabeth, apparently.)

Signed 1st ed. Copies Now Available

So remember that top secret Interns Mini Retreat that I mentioned? During that retreat we brainstormed some ideas to legitimize the intern program and formalize some ground rules. Although we had some great plans, we weren't totally sure how to implement them. Enter: The CIS High School Summer Intern Program Intern Handbook.

Da da-DA!

This whole thing started yesterday when Bob brought by a handy information sheet he normally hands out to the interns on the first day. After reading it over, I thought back to an idea I once had to establish some sort of "handbook" with information about CIS, policies, procedures, guidelines, and expectations. I mentioned the idea to Bob, and we thought it would be worth a try.

Oddly enough, I still have my employee handbook from Pictometry tucked away in an office drawer (why?), and we used that as a model to build from. We listed relevant sections and divided up the work, later recombining our drafts into a single document. We also worked out how we want to carry out some new procedures for this summer, such as a more formalized calendar system and establishing milestones that must be met throughout the summer. These then all got included in the handbook as if they've been established parts of the program all along, muahaha.

Anyways, you can check out the handbook for yourself HERE! For the interns, we got nice copies made by the Hub which we then bound ourselves with a clear plastic cover and a heavy cardboard back - which ended up making a pretty snazzy booklet, if I do say so myself:

2legit2quit

We then stuffed these into some Imaging Science folders along with a calendar (pre-printed with important dates including milestone deadlines), a small pad of paper, and a CIS pen. And with that, we've got some nice little welcome folders for each of the interns! (Which was another action item from the mini-retreat, so, CHECK.)

Intern Trek: Into Darkness

Today marked our interns' first official duty as interns: in-processing! Every year we bring in our new crop to get all of their paperwork, account requests, and IDs out of the way ahead of their actual start date, so that they are ready to hit the ground running on their first day (July 8). I sent them their paperwork well ahead of time, and coordinated with HR and the Registrar's Office so that everyone would be prepared. Well, as seems to be the trend with all of my well laid plans of late, of course something unexpectedly disruptive had to come up - this time, it was a power outage! Apparently a main line was disrupted by a construction vehicle near U of R, and half of RIT lost power. We still had power here in Carlson, but guess who didn't? That's right, HR, the Registrar, and everyone else in Eastman we were planning on visiting for in-processing. Yikes.

"Purported image from the scene"

Well, with no way to carry out what we needed to do, the plan was going to be to send the interns home and we'd just have to do it all on the first day. So much for all of my preparation! Luckily, an e-mail came out around 2:30PM saying that electrical service would be restored within an hour, which gave us hope for the interns, who were set to arrive by 3. We had no idea, however, whether service was actually restored, because for some reason a bunch of phone lines were disrupted as well; and when we tried to call over, no one was picking up. That didn't bode well, but we ventured forth with crossed fingers.

Luckily, when we made it over to Eastman their power was restored, so we were able to proceed as planned. Phew! Thankfully, there were no no-shows like last year. The only hiccup we experienced was a miscommunication between HR and the Registrar's, which just meant we sat around for a while longer than we needed to, so no big deal. It turned out that none of the interns would be driving themselves, so we were able to skip the walk down to the Parking Office, and everyone was done early. This gave me, Joe, and Bob some extra time for our planned Intern Mini-Retreat (because I'm not going to enough retreats lately), where we strategized some ways to approach the program this year and keep things fresh. We came up with a lot of great ideas that I think will make the intern program even better this year! Sorry, no spoilers; you'll just have to keep reading my blog all summer to see how it all unfolds. Okay, okay, one hint: no more "Challenges"...

In the eye of Hurricane Interns.

Although I haven't really posted about this year's crop of interns since the draft, there has been quite a bit still going on behind the scenes with regards to the intern program to prepare for their arrival in July. The offers went out, and happily every single offer was accepted (might this be a first?)! Unfortunately, some time later one of our interns had to drop out due to an unexpected family emergency; so although alternates were told the selection process was complete and they were no longer under consideration, we dipped back into the pool to select a replacement.In the end we have 13 summer interns for 2013: seven girls, six boys, coming from eleven different schools, and two from outside New York State.

Recently I have been busy assembling their hiring paperwork (just like last year) and getting things arranged with HR for in-processing coming up on June 17. HR actually decided to use our interns as a pilot group for a new I-9 procedure that begins online, instead of being a written-out form. I tried logging in and it seemed pretty straightforward, so, we'll see how that goes!

You've got mail!

Meanwhile, we tried something new this year, which I don't think I have mentioned yet. Because of the huge number of applications this year, we actually opened up our applicant pool to the rest of the College of Science in case they might want to hire someone for the summer. Most of the leg work was already done, and organizationally over the summer we would integrate any other interns with our own - so if someone wanted some free labor for the summer with very little effort to have to put in to coordination, here are 75 well qualified candidates. Well, only two people took us up on our offer, and in the end only one of them came through. So over the past few weeks I have been working with them to select some candidates from our applicant pool, schedule and carry out interviews, and ultimately select an intern - it's like intern interviews all over again! It has been a fair amount of work to duplicate these efforts, especially when weighed against the unexpectedly low level of interest we got from COS, so I wonder whether we will attempt anything like this again next year. The other interesting angle to this is that this position is unpaid, so it will be a learning experience to see how this whole experiment works out.

Anyways, now we are approaching the time of year that I can finally catch my breath, in between the crazy springtime outreach/recruitment/intern-selection rush and the arrival of the interns. I'm looking forward to catching up on a number of things and getting to branch out into some other projects I haven't had time to pursue yet. Ahhh, Late May and June - I'm so happy to see you!

Boston Strong

So despite a little uncertainty leading up to our Boston Alumni Reception thanks to current events, "The show must go on," and that it did. Thankfully everyone who had planned to get to Boston arrived safely, including Matt and I who planned to drive in on Saturday (thank goodness we didn't try to have a long weekend and include Friday...).

Our strategy was to actually come in from the north through Essex to enjoy a lunch of fresh lobstah at the famous Woodmans, before heading into Ipswich for a very quick Choate heritage tour (island, bridge, etc - ask me about it sometime) and of course a visit to the Choate Bridge Pub (who NEVER ID's me and doesn't accept credit cards!!! How else do I discreetly get them to notice I'm local royalty?). Our pleasant little day went uneventfully and as planned, and we arrived in our hotel just in time for their nightly wine reception they apparently do (score). We spent the evening wandering and exploring Cambridge, again rather uneventfully (which is a good thing).

On the day of the reception, we strolled across the Charles to the Museum of Science (yes, our hotel was seriously RIGHT THERE, and totally by chance since we Pricelined it) and arrived shortly after opening, which after our recent trip to Dallas we have learned is the absolute BEST time to go anywhere because we beat the crowds. There was supposed to be a portion of the alumni event at the Museum, but it got canceled due to lack of interest (seriously?)... but we wanted to go anyways so we just went on our own. One of my favorite things there is actually in the lobby before you even have to pay, and it is a huge mural that you view through rotating polarizers. It is so beautiful and fascinating and simple and complex all at once... I can't even describe it, so here is some random person's picture of it and a delightfully retro video about the making of it. (At this point you ought to be noticing the background of my blog and noting the similarities...) Of course we saw one of the electricity shows, and one of my favorite exhibits was all about the history of the museum - because anyone who knows me knows that I like old, boring, dusty museums that require reading and quiet thought (instead of these new-fangled interactive entertainment museums that are practically just glorified playgrounds with kids running around and screaming). There was a display in there about polarized light that I thought was very interesting, informative, and effective at explaining a complex subject; so I was sad to think that it's one of the "old fashioned" exhibits now relegated to being a relic meant to illustrate past times (but at least it's on display at all). Sigh, museums can make me so emotional.

Anyways, although I can spend my whole life in a museum, we eventually had to cross back across the Charles to Restaurant dante, which was literally directly across the street from our hotel (I did a lot of planning for this trip, but that was one thing I did not plan out... how lucky. Maybe I should put less effort into planning and just hope for more things to serendipitously turn out perfectly?). We had our own little dedicated lounge area, with huge windows overlooking the river, which was beautiful. All in all, we had three imsci alumni attend, as well as one accepted student (who was also one of last year's interns; and, attended our accepted student open house!) and his parents. I spent most of my time with the accepted student and his parents, who are such a great family. I then introduced the recruit to our current imsci student that was in attendance, as well as the alumnus who arranged for the generous sponsorship of the recruit's internship here at CIS last year. I was very excited to have been able to make those connections, and it appeared from afar that the conversations went very well. I really really hope we get this student, because he is a very well-rounded, outgoing, and intelligent young man that would be a fantastic addition to CIS. We would all benefit from his presence here. And, I think the feeling is mutual; one of his parents told me that,

"The internship last summer was such a positive influence. This school year, he seems more mature, has (almost drastically) improved his academics and became more accountable for his actions and decisions. As a parent,  I am very grateful for this opportunity that was given to him."

What wonderful feedback!! We often hear positive reactions from teachers and from interns themselves, but we rarely hear from the parents. I am so glad we were able to provide this opportunity and that this student was able to benefit so much from it. But I digress!

During the reception I did have a chance to slip in some conversations with our alumni. Most of the chats were casual, but one action item that came out of our conversations was to promote alumni involvement in the RIT Alumni Admissions Volunteer program..... Duh! Why did I only just think of this now?! RIT already has a fantastic program set up that involves alumni in college fairs, hometown receptions, and other various recruitment events organized by RIT. Since it is coordinated by the Admissions office, they can leverage all of their nationwide contacts, regional staff, and extensive resources. I've worked with them on this before and have represented CIS at these events on multiple occasions, but for some reason it only just dawned on me to have our alumni from all around get in on the action, too. Plus then I won't have to travel, nor will I have to plan and coordinate events of our own. It seems so painfully obvious now that we should tap into our talented alumni across the US for these admissions programs, rather than me doing everything or reinventing the wheel for events of our own. SMH! So, moving forward, I will include upcoming dates of Alumni Admissions events in the Imaging Connection newsletter, and I will make an addition to the CIS Ambassadors website about how to get involved.

All in all, the reception turned out great! I know we have many more than 3 Boston-area alumni, though - so hopefully the next time we make it out that way, we will have more people join us ;-) Thanks, Boston!

Planning and Preparation FTL

Remember that post about our first intern interview and how my careful planning and preparation allowed the day to go smoothly? Too bad the same thing couldn't have been said for basically THIS WHOLE WEEK....

What a crazy week this has been! Why? Because it was intern interview week, of course! Four straight days of 6 interviews each, with a couple of out-of-area phone interviews sprinkled in there to make things extra complicated. I'll give you the brief highlights of the week before finishing with the week's (surprisingly un-)dramatic conclusion:

Monday - One professor requesting a room change hours before interviews are to take place (requiring changes in reservations, assignments, labs). Another professor not present in the assigned interview location and requiring a hunt down.

Tuesday - Now that room locations are all sorted out, things should go smoothly, right? Nope. One applicant never showed (BIIIIIIG no-no!). No working phone jack in room assigned for phone interview, so it is relocated to my office at the last minute. I am locked out of my own office for 45 minutes.

Wednesday - Okay, this day was actually rather uneventful... but TOO uneventful. Lousy weather. Everyone was tired. My 15 minute pre-interview spiel seemed to drag on for centuries. I seem to remember the same thing happening on last year's Wednesday of interview week? Had my first parent stay throughout interviews.

Thursday - Original room change request from Monday had to be reversed and alternative room once again reserved. Two phone interviews this day, one with the same problem as Tuesday so a different room (other than my office this time) was secured, though my phone was used. The other room reserved could not seem to dial out - the number would be dialed and the phone would go right back to dial tone. (We found out later that the room could not dial out long distance). Labs doing the phone interviews somehow got switched such that they were in the opposite locations they were supposed to be, which got complicated when it came time to switch for the 2nd interview. Awkwardness ensued.

"The best laid plans", right? And then finally we conclude with today, Friday, the intern draft. Although judging by the length of the previous 4 paragraphs things got more complicated as the week went on, today defied all expectations and ended up being smooth as can be. All the labs got their first choices for interns, no trading or bargaining needed. On top of that, the selected group just happened to be almost evenly split male-female, and had a nice variety in school districts represented. Perfect!

The only thing not perfect is that we just can't take everyone - all 27 of the kids who interviewed were really great, but we only have the bandwidth to hire 13 interns (unless some extremely generous benefactor comes to our rescue). So while I'm very excited for the 13 who were selected, I really feel for the alternates...

Well, what a great way to end a Friday, especially after such a crazy week! Offers go out on Tuesday!

Planning and Preparation FTW

Wow, today was one of those crazy hectic days that really call for a huge sigh of relief when they are over. But thanks to some careful planning, I am happy to blog that everything went smoothly.

The day began with an accepted student coming in. This student has actually visited before at about this same time last year, but wanted to visit again so that he could sit in on some upper-level classes. I planned out a whole day for him that included meeting with students, sitting in on two upper level courses (DIP and radiometry), meeting with someone to discuss military and intelligence applications of imaging science (his particular interest), lunch on campus with a group of students, participating in the Freshmen Imaging Project, and a tour of the dorms with one of our students who happens to be an RA. Phew! It took a bit of coordination but I am happy to report that we showed him a fantastic day. He is a great student with a lot of potential, and his interests and personality are a perfect fit for Imaging Science. I really hope he decides to come here, as he would be a great addition!

Concurrent to this visit, we also had our first intern interview. I had mentioned in a previous post that one of our out-of-state applicants expressed interest in interviewing in person, so I wanted to make sure I planned a day's worth of interesting activities to help make the long drive worth it. After meeting with me for a bit first, this intern applicant met with the first of his two preferred labs. Afterward he too sat in on the freshmen class, and I hear the students put him to work. What better way to get involved than to actually get hands on? Following class he had his second interview, after which I gave him a personal tour of the whole building. After the tour his dad came to pick him up, and as it turns out he is an imaging science alumnus! Roger Easton (with the office across from mine) happened to walk by and was was excited to run into him, so he then took the applicant and his dad down to his lab to talk about what he does. I hear this ended up being a great impromptu meeting and resulted in heightened interest from the applicant in yet a third lab! This is a little extra treatment and attention than most intern applicants get, but then again he put in some extra effort to come here, and we wanted to make sure his day was fulfilling - plus this helped us to reconnect with an alumnus. Although there's no telling yet how this whole thing will fare for the applicant regarding the internship (since he is the very first interview), I hope that overall he enjoyed his visit regardless. And now I will refrain from commenting any further, since I don't want to introduce any possible bias into the intern selection process that I try my absolute best to remain independent from. (Although I will go ahead and independently point out that this potential intern had a totally rockin NASA jacket that was covered in Apollo mission patches. Yeah, I'm way jealous.)

In the end, a great day! I hope to see more of both of these visitors in the future (hopefully as students)!

Good times with the freshmen class.

Even more intern program behind-the-scenes: Interview Prep

As of this afternoon, I have heard back from all of the intern applicants that were invited to interview, fit them all into the complex matrix I mentioned previously, and e-mailed them all their interview schedules and directions. At this point it's time to execute all the preparation that has to happen behind the scenes to make the interviews run smoothly next week (does that make this a behind the-behind the scenes look?).

Before I can email the labs with their interview schedules, I need to assemble and scan all of the interview packages and load them onto a secure server. This may sound easy, but thanks to things like staples (UGGHH), mixtures of single- and double-sided pages, and combinations of portrait and landscape orientations, the process is much more time consuming (not to mention frustrating) than you would think. Not hard, just tiresome. (What was that I said about going paperless next year? Yeah, definitely working on it.)

Once that's finished, I reserve rooms for the interviews to take place in. Lab directors are asked to supply this information, but those who don't are assigned rooms so that there is a guaranteed place to go. Of course this requires shuffling around and careful planning, since there is basically no room in this building available for the same 1.5 hours 4 days in a row. To made things more complicated, I need to find rooms to do phone interviews with non-local applicants in, scheduled immediately after the local interviews. I also need to schedule the Reading Room for my introduction prior to the interviews commencing, and the Fishbowl for the intern "draft" at the end of the week.

With all of that done, I can send the interview schedules including links to the applications to each of the labs. Of course I also have to run around to find out who exactly is doing the interviews on which day so I can make sure all of the interviews are covered. Then all that's left to do to prepare is to print out signs to leave on the doors of the rooms to be reserved so that everyone is aware of when they need to vacate. And with all that, we're ready as can be.

More intern program behind-the-scenes: The first cut

The selection committee made its first round selections, so on Tuesday I sent out all the notifications to intern applicants of their status. Out of 90 applicants, 24 were chosen to come in and interview (plus a few from outside Rochester, but they are handled differently - more on that later). Selected interns are asked to respond with their preferred interview dates between April 8 and 11, and the labs they are most interested in. I then take all of these responses and try to fit all 24 applicants into a complicated matrix that represents all 6 labs across all 4 days at both interview time slots. Interviews are assigned at a first-come, first-served basis, but I do my best to get the candidates in with their preferred labs. It's definitely not easy to try to get everything massaged into the best possible placement while keeping all the variables organized and correctly prioritized. So far this year seems to be a little harder than last year, too; hopefully the candidates will be pleased well enough with their interview placements. Individual interview schedules will then be e-mailed to each candidate. If any candidates miss their deadlines or decline their opportunity to interview, then we start pulling from the alternates.

Meanwhile I am still running around making absolutely sure there are people available from each of the labs to actually perform these interviews! You would think that would have been straightforward, predictable, and already figured out by now - but how often is that really the case on a college campus? Trying to organize this many professors who all have their own schedules and other priorities... well, let's just say it's complicated.

In addition to all of this, I have several applicants from out of state whom we will interview separately from the local candidates, though all interviews must take place before the draft on April 12. Most of these applicants will interview by phone, so I have to figure out who from the labs they prefer can be available at additional times outside of the 1 hour - 4 days in a row, that can be scheduled consecutively, that will work with the applicants' schedules. YIKES. On top of that, one of the out-of-state applicants has asked to interview in person, so I will have to not only try to schedule in-person interviews, but also additional activities to help make his long drive worth it. This is a lot of extra work for me, but I can handle it. However, I feel really badly that professors are already having to take so much time to meet with local candidates, and now they are also being asked to devote additional time on top of what they originally agreed to on somewhat short notice. Because of all the extra complicating factors and additional manpower that is going into these out-of-area applicants, we will have to reconsider how many (if any) applicants from outside the greater Rochester area we will consider next year. In past years when we have had no more than one, it was not a big deal, but the increased volume this year has really tested the limits of this intern program.