On February 22, a group of UM Chemistry graduate students and post-docs traveled to Oberlin, OH to meet with the faculty at Oberlin College. As part of a large department, UM students looking towards academic careers have little exposure to the program logistics, departmental climate, and application process at smaller schools. For this reason, CSIE|UM sponsors seminars and site visits to uncover the variety colleges and universities available to teach at.

During their visit to Oberlin, UM students toured the facilities with the department chair, Professor Rebecca Whelan.On this tour, Prof. Whelan emphasized the importance of how lab spaces are designed to encourage collaborative project-based learning. UM students were then able to meet with tenured faculty about the benefits and limitations of PUI environments, interdisciplinary collaborations, and publication/funding demands during the tenuring process.

This discussion was followed by a QA session on the application and hiring process for small schools with recent tenure-track and visiting professors. The day concluded with an introduction to the academic support programs offered by Oberlin College with the program coordinator and how/why these programs were introduced to Oberlin. Throughout the day, UM students were able to meet with Oberlin College undergraduate students to discuss differences in their experiences between small and large school environments.