FAQ

A communications appointment is an opportunity for current HGSE students to meet with a teaching fellow (TF), who is an advanced doctoral student, to develop the skills needed to respond effectively to assignments or other academic projects involving oral or mixed-media communication.  

To schedule an appointment, click the "CommLab: Make an Appointment" button under "Individual Student Support".  You will be sent a confirmation email after registering.

If you need to cancel an appointment, please do so using the link in the confirmation email.  

All appointments are currently offered virtually through Zoom. The TF will provide the relevant information via email. 

Appointments are open to students enrolled in HGSE courses. They are available to students of all levels of experience and expertise in oral communication. 

To make the most of the session, you should come with questions and be able to describe the goals you hope to achieve in working with a teaching fellow. If you plan to discuss a specific assignment, please provide the TF with a copy. 

Individual appointments for master’s students are 30 minutes. Small groups (2-4 people) may sign up for a 60-minute appointment. Doctoral students (EdLD, EdD, and PhD) who want to practice their defense or other doctoral milestone can sign up for a 60-minute appointment. 

Students may meet with a HGSE CommLab TF once per week.  

Appointments are not intended to review professional or application materials such as interview preparation.  

All work submitted to meet course requirements is expected to be the student’s own. In the preparation of all presentations and other related work submitted to meet course and degree requirements, a student must be careful to distinguish between ideas that are his or her own and those that have been derived from other sources. Information and opinions drawn from all sources are to be attributed specifically to these sources. It is the student’s responsibility to learn and use the proper forms of citation. Quotations must be properly placed within quotation marks and must be fully cited. All paraphrased material must also be fully cited. In all cases where ideas or material presented are derived from a student’s reading and research, the source used must be indicated. Students who submit work either not their own or without clear attribution to the original source, for whatever reason, face sanctions up to and including dismissal and expulsion. 

Students occasionally work with others or receive assistance in various aspects of their course work. Students should be very clear about how they are working with others and what types ofassistance, if any, they are receiving. Students should disclose to their professors any plans for outside professional assistance on editing, slide creation, statistical work, or other matters central to completing their work. The student's professor will approve those kinds and levels of assistance that support, rather than supplant, the student's final deliverable and learning. If assistance was approved, the student must specify what sort of assistance they received and from whom on the final deliverable in question, upon submission. The goal of this oversight is to preserve the status of the work as the student's own genuine intellectual product. Students should remember that the Gutman Library Academic Writing and Research Services is available to assist them with assessing and editing their own work. This assistance has been sanctioned by HGSE. 

A communications appointment is an opportunity for current HGSE students to meet with a teaching fellow (TF), who is an advanced doctoral student, to develop the skills needed to respond effectively to assignments or other academic projects involving oral or mixed-medium communication.  

Students can receive help on developing and delivering class presentations, academic posters, “elevator pitches”, and other academic projects or assignments involving oral or mixed-medium communication. Doctoral students can use appointments to receive helping preparing their dissertation or capstone defense. 

Appointments are not intended to review professional or application materials such as interview preparation.

You can encourage students to make appointments. You can share information on our upcoming workshops (see "Webinars" under "Resources") and distribute our workshop and other resource materials to your students. Communications Lab TFs are also available to make short presentations on the Lab’s offerings to students in your course. If you’d like to have a TF visit your course, please contact Ning Zou, Associate Director for Student Academic Services & Learning Design, (ning_zou@gse.harvard.edu). 

Appointments are open to students enrolled in HGSE courses. Appointments are available to students of all levels of experience and expertise in oral communication. 

You can email Ning Zou, Associate Director for Student Academic Services & Learning Design, ning_zou@gse.harvard.edu.