CIRTL Network Interaction: Karen Klomparens Visits UW-Madison
Melissa Tully

Karen Klomparens, Associate Provost and Dean of the Graduate School at Michigan State University, visited UW-Madison to offer a workshop on conflict resolution and to speak at the Delta Roundtable. The workshop, "Communicating Expectations and Working with Others," is offered at MSU as part of the PREP program. The PREP (Planning, Resilience, Engagement, Professionalism) program is based on fact that graduate students have different needs in various stages of their graduate careers. The program offers conferences and workshops throughout the academic year to help graduate students maximize their potential throughout their graduate careers. The conflict resolution workshop is just one of the many opportunities offered through PREP.

Dean Klomparens's workshop offered UW graduate students the opportunity to learn how to communicate their academic expectations to their faculty advisors and to prevent conflict by being pro-active. Through examples and discussion, students also learned effective ways to deal with conflict if it did arise. They were taught how to handle the power dynamics of teacher-student relationships and productive ways of approaching faculty members. The conflict resolution workshop was followed by the April Delta Roundtable. Dean Klomparens was the keynote speaker and spoke about gaining the skills to be effective faculty. Her speech sparked interesting discussions at the tables about opportunities for graduate students to learn how to be faculty members. The Roundtable ended with a large group discussion about the PREP and Delta programs, which focused on how they have been effective and how they can continue to improve.

By offering the conflict resolution workshop and introducing UW students and faculty to the PREP program at the Roundtable, Dean Klomparens participated in the exchange of ideas and interaction that is the foundation of the CIRTL Network. To learn more about the CIRTL Network, visit http://www.cirtl.net/network.html.

To learn more about the PREP program at MSU, visit http://grad.msu.edu/current/prep.htm.

October 17, 2006

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