The Communications Skills Requirement applies to the PhD and MS Statistics & Data Science degrees.
The ability to communicate effectively, both verbally and in writing and to audiences of varying levels of sophistication, is essential to a successful career in industry, research, or teaching. The communication skills requirement gives Ph.D. and M.S. students an opportunity to develop their capabilities in a variety of directions. To complete the requirement students must:
-
Prepare a basic web page containing information on their own research, teaching, and other professional activities and submit the web address to the Program Coordinator for availability on the Program’s web site.
-
Prepare a professional CV and submit it to the Program Coordinator for posting on the program web site.
-
Write articles or proposals and give lectures or presentations for audiences of various levels of sophistication so that at least one activity occurs in each row of the following table of examples. At least one of these activities must be verbal, and at least one must be written.
| VERBAL | WRITTEN | |
|---|---|---|
|
General Audience |
K-12 classroom visit Presentation to a professional student club. |
Newsletter article Essay describing your research to undergraduates. Report as a consultant on a project. |
|
General Statistical Audience |
Colloquium or seminar talk Brown bag presentation Master's thesis defense Student Representative |
Survey article Essay in statistics |
|
Specialist Audience |
Conference talk Poster session |
Research paper Grant proposal Master's thesis |
**For PhD students one of the items is expected to be attendance at a conference.
The entries in the table are meant to be illustrative and do not exhaust the possibilities. Each component must be sponsored by a faculty member who will review the text or presentation and provide constructive feedback. When the sponsoring faculty member is satisfied with a student's performance on a component of the requirement, this fact should be communicated to the graduate office by including the details in the annual progress report.