Department of Environmental Health

2015 Student Orientation

WELCOME!!!

You’re here—now what???

Orientation outline• Introduction to the Department of

Environmental Health• Who can help you with various tasks?• What is REQUIRED of you as a DEH

student?• Resources• Opportunities

Some facts about the Department of Environmental Health (DEH)

– DEH is part of the UC College of Medicine (COM)• Dean of COM: William Ball, MD• Associate Dean of Graduate Studies: (Iain Cartwright,

PhD)• Associate Dean of Research: Melanie Cushion, PhD

– DEH: ~200 students and 60 faculty

Structure of DEH• Department Chair: Dr. Shuk-mei Ho

• Amy Itescu, Kathy McCann: “front office”• Department Deputy Director: Dr. Glenn Talaksa

• DEH Graduate Studies Director: Dr. Mary Beth Genter (Kett 144; 8-

6266; marybeth.genter@uc.edu)• DEH Graduate Studies Program Coordinators:

– Holly Sanders (Kett 127; 8-5704; holly.sanders@uc.edu) – Brandon Workman (Kett 127; 8-1875; workmabn@uc.edu)

• Divided into multiple divisions and programs– 1° function is to structure educational programs

DEH Divisions/Programs and Contacts

• Biostatistics & Bioinformatics– Mario Medvedovic/MB Rao

• Clinical and Translational Research– Erin Haynes/Jackie Knapke

• Environmental Genetics and Molecular Toxicology– Divaker Choubey/Mary Beth Genter

• Environmental and Occupational Hygiene– Glenn Talaska/Kermit Davis

• Epidemiology– Ranjan Deka

• Public Health– Jun Ying

Brief history of DEH• Late 1920s: Dr. Robert Kehoe assembled a multi-disciplinary team

to study the toxicity of tetraethyl lead and freon• Supported by General Motors

• 1930: First stage of the present building was completed and named for Charles Kettering

• 1949: Kettering Laboratory combined with the Dept. of Preventive Medicine to form the UC Department of Preventive Medicine

• 1965: Renamed Department of Environmental Health• 2015: Celebrating the 50th anniversary of the naming of the

Department

And now to the present:

Who can help you with various tasks/issues?

– Graduate studies issues:• Your advisor; Dr. Genter; Holly Sanders, Brandon Workman• Meet with your advisor at least 2X/year

– Visa, other international student issues:• ISSO; 6-4278; www.uc.edu/international/services

– Keys:• Diane Bolden (Kettering 129)

– Badges• Kathy McCann (Kettering 130)

– Computer issues:• Kurt Roberts and the IT team (Kettering G19)

What is REQUIRED of you as a DEH student?

• Academic integrity– http://www.uc.edu/righttoknow/resources/code_of_conduct.html

• Curiosity

• Motivation

• Professional courtesy toward all

• Professional dress and conduct

• Adherence to UC’s NO SMOKING policy

• Taking primary responsibility for completion of your degree program– AGAIN—maintain close communication with your advisor re:

milestones for timely completion of your degree

Completing your degree• UC Graduate School Handbook

• https://grad.uc.edu/content/dam/grad/docs/Publications/handbook.pdf

• Division requirements & milestones:• Division Handbooks: Important resource; available on each

division’s website--READ IT!!!» http://www.eh.uc.edu

• Course requirements• Seminar attendance• PhD Qualifying exam

Completing your degree• YOU must take primary responsibility for all tasks

related to completing your degree requirements:– Course grades

• Instructors sometimes forget to turn them in!• Address NG and I grades immediately

– Regular meetings with your advisor and dissertation/thesis committees are mandatory and essential

DEH Seminar Series– Division requirements vary, but attendance is required by most

DEH graduate programs for first 1-2 years• ENV7001, ENV7002

– Meets Wednesdays in two sessions:• 10-11 a.m. Seminar in Kehoe Auditorium• 11-12 noon Lunch with the speaker in Room 121

– Those students who have a conflict with another required class at this time must do the following:

– Get approval from Graduate Studies office or Dr. Genter– Watch the recording of the seminar--available on the DEH website– Write a 1-page summary of the seminar and email to Holly or Brandon

Additional requirementsOEPT

• Oral English Proficiency Test is required for non-native speakers of English: http://www.cech.uc.edu/cesl/oept/– Can be taken free of charge 2X per academic year– Students who do not pass the exam may be required

to take an ESL course– Students who will be teaching assistants MUST pass

OEPT prior to starting TA responsibilities

Additional requirements—EH&S

• All students who will be doing lab work of any type (including handling of clinical samples) must complete training requirements of the Environmental Health and Safety Office

• http://www.ehs.uc.edu/itc/compliance.asp

– All individuals (not just students) who do any sort of lab work must complete Hazard Communication training annually

– Individuals handling clinical samples must also complete Bloodborne Pathogen training annually

• Laboratory Animal Medical Sciences is responsible for all laboratory animal care– http://medcenter.uc.edu/lams/

• Also responsible for training all individuals who handle or experiment on laboratory animals

• All new employees/students must complete a live training session

• Must retrain every three years• Species-specific training may be required• Current tetanus and influenza vaccinations may be required

Additional requirements—LAMS

• Any individual whose experiments will involve the use of any radioactive materials must complete a live training session and work under the supervision of an ‘Authorized User’– http://researchcompliance.uc.edu/radsafety/

• Annual re-training is required

Additional requirements—Radiation Safety

• All PhD students must register FULL TIME (minimum of 10 credits per semester) for one academic year (2 of 4 consecutive terms in semesters, including the summer term)

• No one can receive a PhD without completing this requirement

– Completing a PhD totally as a part-time student is not an option

Additional requirements—Residency Requirement

Research Credits• In addition to required courses and seminars for each curriculum,

most students must also take research credits to fulfill degree requirements– ENV7091 (MS); ENV8091 (Research); ENV9091 (Dissertation research)

• To promote better communication between students & advisors, students must fill out a Research Credit approval form prior to registering for research credits

• Grades will be given upon review by the faculty advisor at the end of the semester• Unmatriculated students MAY NOT sign up for research credits

Opportunities• Health Sciences Library

– http://libraries.uc.edu/hsl/

• Preparing Future Faculty Program– http://grad.uc.edu/student-life/grow/pff.html

• Grant-writing workshops– Announced periodically throughout the academic year

• Library workshops (Powerpoint, Photoshop, Endnote, etc.)

– http://www.libraries.uc.edu/

• Graduate Student Governance Association– (grants, travel funds for graduate students)

– http://www.uc.edu/gsga/

Advice• Be part of a network — e.g. classmates, extended lab groups, journal

clubs, etc.• Get to know the whole Department, not just your division or research

group• Take advantage of opportunities outside of DEH• Study hard; if you’re having academic troubles, contact course director

IMMEDIATELY– Most courses have TAs or study groups—use them!

• Be mindful of our environment– Print only what you need to print– Take advantage of opportunities to RECYCLE– NO SMOKING

Once again — Welcome!!

Upcoming events:

TODAY: 4:30 — Reception for Unveiling of artwork in the Atrium

October 9-10 — Celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the Naming of the Department of Environmental Health