How to communicate effectively with faculty

1. How to communicate effectively with faculty Tali Yuz, Psy.D. Yiling Zhang, Ph.D. Northwestern University

2. Faculty - Graduate Student Relationship

3. Power Differential

4. insecurities

6. Faculty don’t necessarily have good communication skills

7. Listening Skills- be an Active Listener • Verbal • Open-ended questions • Avoid using ‘why’ or leading questions • Non-verbal • Tone • Eye contact • Posture • Head nodding • Paraphrasing • Check perceptions • Summarizing

8. What has been helpful when communicating with faculty/adviser?

9. Communication Skills • When meeting with a professor, be organized. Have clear-cut goals so that you can make the best use of your valuable time and that of the professor's. • Personality of the individual needs to be taken into account • Destructive behaviors, such as ordering, threatening, judging or criticizing act as vehicles for communicating unacceptance rather than opening doors for further problem-solving. • assertiveness and active listening are important

10. Conflict Resolution • Don’t argue about who is right: explore each other’s positions • Don’t assume they meant: disentangle intent from impact • Be assertive, not passive or aggressive • Frame the issue as one that enables the two of you to collaborate

11. Coping Skills • Initiate relationships with older students or other faculty as mentors • Get involved outside your department with family and friends • Self-care: sleep, eating, exercise • Have guilt-free fun

12. Resources • CAPS (847-491-2151) • Individual, group • Stress Management Clinic • Office of Student Conduct and Conflict Resolution • Career Services • Books: • 1) How to Complete and Survive a Dissertation by David Stemberg • 2) Making It in Grad School by Mark Sanford • 3) Dissertation Destination by Sonja Foss and William Waters • 4) Difficult Conversations: How to Discuss What Matters Most by Douglas Stone et al. • Women’s Center • Individual, dissertation support group