IV. NON-FINANCIAL RESOURCES
A. Advising
The advisory relationship with faculty is one of the most important elements of any Ph.D. program. Incoming students in our program are assigned a first-year advisor to help guide them through their adjustment to the department. Students are encouraged to select their own permanent advisor who shares their substantive interests, methodological approach, and/or general orientation to sociology by the beginning of the second year. This may or may not be their first-year advisor.
All students are encouraged to have at least one meeting per semester with their advisor to discuss their progress on coursework, qualifying papers, the dissertation proposal, and the dissertation. Most students and advisor(s) meet more frequently when working on QPs and when preparing or writing the dissertation. Students may also consult with their advisor regarding other issues and concerns with teaching, professional development, research funding, and publishing.
Students are responsible for keeping their advisor updated on their progress and on any problems that arise in the program. Students are encouraged have a discussion with their advisor to establish expectations about how often they will meet, the type and volume of feedback for key projects (e.g., QPs, dissertation proposal, chapters), what constitutes a reasonable response time to an email inquiry and draft of proposal or QP. The conversation should include a discussion of the advisor’s overall mentoring approach.
Ideally, a student keeps their advisor updated on progress toward the degree, and the advisor checks in on the student to ensure that they are making satisfactory progress in the program. If a student is having difficulty getting a timely response from their advisor or other committee members, they should ask for assistance from the GPD.
In addition to consulting with their advisor, students are encouraged to develop working relationships with other faculty members and fellow graduate students. Obtaining multiple perspectives on intellectual and professional matters are critical for a student’s development as a sociologist and as a scholar more generally.
B. Mail and E-mail Services
Each graduate student has a departmental mailbox in the mailroom on the first floor of Davison Hall. All departmental e-mails are sent to the students’ sociology RU Connect e-mail addresses (i.e., accounts that use the @sociology.rutgers.edu domain). This is the main email address for department communication purposes. This email will be used to provide course or registration information, notifications about missing paperwork, key deadlines, funding opportunities, jobs, etc. Students should check this email twice a week at minimum, including over the summer. Forgetting to check this email account is not a valid reason for missing a deadline, opportunity, or failing to complete a time sensitive request.
The Rutgers also provides graduate students with a Scarletmail account (@scarletmail.rutgers.edu). This is meant to be compatible with Rutgers’ Google products. It is not used for department communication. Students should not send messages to faculty or department members from this account. They should use their @sociology account.
C. Computer- and Data Storage-Related Services
Upon entering the program, each student is assigned a Rutgers NetID that is used for accessing all kinds of Rutgers services: computing, email, the library, and much more. Consult this page for more details: https://netid.rutgers.edu/index.htm.
Take note of the following protocols and services for dealing with computer- and data storage-related issues, managed through the School of Arts and Sciences Information Technology office (SAS-IT).
a. IT Requests
The University uses ServiceNow for the management of IT-related issues. All technical requests must go through this system. Submit a request directly to SAS IT via their web page: https://ithelp.sas.rutgers.edu.
Typical requests include: the purchase of hardware/software; connecting computers to the Rutgers network; installing Rutgers software (antivirus, VPN, O365, Box, Adobe); connecting to a network printer; other hardware/software issues. The SAS IT site contains a lot of information that should answer most common questions: https://sasit.rutgers.edu/how-to-guides .
Rutgers policy states that major computer issues on personal machines cannot be handled by SAS IT staff. The full SAS Computer Maintenance Policy is here: https://sasit.rutgers.edu/images/policies/SAS_Computer_Maintenance_Policy_2013.pdf.
b. Network Storage Resources
We do not recommend storing data on local machines. Instead, Rutgers highly recommends students use Rutgers’ version of Box (https://it.rutgers.edu/box). The department stores many folders and files here for our collective use, but you can also set up Box folders of your own. It is, for example, a great place for storing data securely, as well as your own documents. We currently maintain a Box folder “Faculty, Students and Staff” containing this document, but also an expandable depository containing examples of dissertations, dissertation proposals, qualifying papers, grant proposals, job market letters, CVs, replies to reviewers, etc. Students should feel free to share their successful documents on Box, in order to help others succeed.
c. Printing
Rutgers provides access to network printers via the central computer labs. The department has a multi-function device in the mailroom (room 117) that provides printing, copying and scanning services. For information, see this page. If you have difficulty connecting to the printer, submit an IT help request (see above section on IT requests).
d. Rutgers Computer Labs
The Office of Information Technology (OIT) maintains central computer labs throughout the New Brunswick campus. Information about their locations and services offered is available at https://it.rutgers.edu/new-brunswick/new-brunswick-computer-labs. A virtual PC-based computer lab is also available. The virtual lab provides access to all the software that is available in the physical computer labs (such as SPSS, Stata, SAS) – see the following pages for the full list of available applications:
e. Duo -- Two-step Login
Duo is a software app that you install on your phone for two-factor authentication, which helps protect your account by adding an extra layer of security beyond your password. You are required to use Duo to access many University resources. Setup instructions are available: https://it.rutgers.edu/two-step-login. Students can purchase a physical hardware token as well. See here for more details.
f. Software
Rutgers has a site license to provide Adobe Creative Cloud products (Premiere, Photoshop, Illustrator, After Effects, Acrobat, and many more Adobe apps and tools) to all faculty, staff, and students. See https://it.rutgers.edu/adobe. Rutgers provides free access to various Microsoft Office products for all current students. Every student can install Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneDrive, Sharepoint, Office Online, OneNote, Publisher. Details can be found at https://it.rutgers.edu/microsoft-office/microsoft-office-for-students.
D. Student Organizations
a. GUSS: The Graduate Union of Sociology Students (GUSS) is an organization composed of all sociology graduate students. GUSS conducts new student orientations, sponsors social events, elects student reps to department committees, and manages the GUSS budget.
b. The GSA: The Graduate Student Association (GSA) is an organization for graduate students from all departments. All graduate students are automatically members of the GSA. The budget is generated from student fees (paid by all graduate students). With these funds and graduate student support, the GSA sponsors a wide variety of activities.
< Previous Section: III. Financial Aid | Next Section: V. Requirements For Program Completion: The 2-4-6 Plan >