INFORMS Combined Colloquia

Saturday, October 19

The 2024 INFORMS Combined Colloquia will be held on October 19, the Saturday preceding the 2024 INFORMS Annual Meeting in Seattle, WA. This Combined Colloquia will feature:

• Teaching Effectiveness Colloquium – TEC
• Doctoral Student Colloquium – DSC
• New Faculty Colloquium – NFC

All three colloquia are designed to provide the attendees with technical material, career experiences from senior and junior OR/MS professionals, and an environment for networking.

Registration Deadline is September 6th

Registration Fee
The fees to attend the colloquium are $250 for non-students and $150 for students.

All colloquia participants are required to register for the 2024 INFORMS Annual Meeting in Seattle, WA. The registration fee for the colloquia does NOT include the registration fee for the INFORMS Annual Meeting.

We made it easy for you!

Prospective colloquia participants will no longer be subjected to a lengthy nomination review process. Simply choose the colloquia that best fits your professional development needs and purchase it when registering for the Annual Meeting! It’s that simple!   However, please research which colloquia is best for you, and if you have any questions, feel free to reach out to the colloquia Chairs listed below or Bill Griffin, INFORMS Professional Development Manager (bgriffin@informs.org).

Intended Colloquia Participants: Choosing the Right Colloquia for you!

The 2024 Teaching Effectiveness Colloquium is designed to address the needs of graduate students about to enter the academic job market as well as faculty looking to stay abreast of the “best practices” regarding OR/MS/analytics pedagogy. The colloquium features a wide variety of speakers from business and engineering schools who will address different aspects of incorporating and assessing effective teaching techniques in any undergraduate or graduate curriculum. Sessions are organized around topics such as teaching fundamental topics like optimization, successful methods for implementing active and experiential learning methods, leveraging the use of the flipped classroom, the use of cases in the classroom, DEC pedagogy, and using OR/MS tools to generate managerial insight.

The 2024 Doctoral Student Colloquium is intended for doctoral students who need guidance choosing their future path. The colloquium suits the needs of doctoral students who are deciding between a career as an academic or a practitioner. It will include sessions dedicated to examining both career options and comparing/choosing between the two. It also addresses topics like navigating the job hunt, dealing with work-life balance issues, and suggestions concerning job market preparation and positioning. It has been organized with current doctoral students 2-3 years from graduation in mind; however, students in their final year of a doctoral program will be accepted as well.

The 2024 New Faculty Colloquium is expressly tailored to meet the needs of academics at the beginning of their career. It gives faculty in their first three years insight into successfully navigating the tenure process, including how to build and maintain a research program, advise students, balance research, teaching and service, write successful proposals, and more. Faculty in their first or second year are preferred.

Combined Colloquia Activities

Participants will have opportunities to interact with each other and with the colloquia participants and speakers during meals, breaks and of course, the Networking Reception after the event.

Combined Colloquia Committee Chair
Mihai Banciu
Freeman College of Management
Bucknell University
Email: mmb018@bucknell.edu

2024 Teaching Effectiveness Colloquium (TEC)

To be eligible to participate in the Teaching Effectiveness Colloquium, an individual must be a:

• member of INFORMS or have applied for membership at the time of the nomination;
• faculty member or instructor in one of INFORMS’ constituent disciplines or be within one year of completing all degree requirements for a PhD in one of INFORMS’ constituent disciplines.

Faculty members who have attended a previous year’s TEC may participate again, but we strongly encourage first-time participants.  The chairs may reach out to the participants prior to the event, to request

1. List of OR/MS courses taught or expected to be taught by the nominee;
2. List of INFORMS TEC and workshops that the nominee has attended in the past;

Teaching Effectiveness Colloquium Co-chairs

Sadan Kulturel-Konak
Flemming Creativity, Entrepreneurship and Economic Development (CEED) Center
Penn State Berks
Email: sxk70@psu.edu

Tallys Yunes
Herbert Business School
University of Miami
Email: tallys@miami.edu

All TEC questions should be directed to Drs. Kulturel-Konak and Yunes.

2024 Doctoral Student Colloquium (DSC)

To be eligible for the DSC, an individual must:

• be a member of INFORMS or have applied for membership at the time of the nomination;
• have completed basic coursework and initiated research;
• be within three years of completing all degree requirements;
• have excellent potential for contributing to theory and/or practice in the fields of operations research, management science, or a related field;
• have good communication skills;
• have never attended an INFORMS Doctoral Student, Future Academician, or Future Practitioner Colloquium;
• attend the 2024 INFORMS Annual Meeting.

Prior to the DSC in October, you may be asked to provide a one-page statement of purpose from the nominee including career goals and purpose for attending the DSC.  Each registrant is responsible to ensure that they meet the eligibility criteria.

Funding Opportunities for Doctoral Student Colloquium

These grants will be awarded in September.  If you receive a grant, INFORMS will refund you the Annual Meeting and Colloquia fees you paid.

Application Deadline is September 6, 2024.

• Women in OR/MS (WORMS) will sponsor one student member to attend the 2024 Doctoral Student Colloquium. The award includes registration to the INFORMS Annual Meeting, registration to the Doctoral Student Colloquium, and a year membership to WORMS. To be considered, please include the following additional items in the nomination package and indicate whether the student is interested in applying for the Women in OR/MS (WORMS) Doctoral Student Colloquium Award (open to both male and female students): A brief paragraph from the nominee describing their interest in supporting women in OR/MS (50-150 words). A letter of recommendation from the department chair or supervisor.

  

• Minority Issues Forum (MIF) will sponsor one student member to attend the 2024 Doctoral Student Colloquium at the INFORMS Annual Meeting. The award includes registration to the INFORMS Annual Meeting, registration to the Doctoral Student Colloquium, and a year membership to MIF. To be considered, please include the following additional items in the nomination package and indicate whether the student is interested in the MIF award: A brief paragraph from the nominee describing their interest and past efforts in supporting minorities in OR/MS (50-150 words). A letter of recommendation from the department chair or supervisor. All applicants must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents, and a minority.

  

• The Seth Bonder Foundation will sponsor five students to attend the 2024 Doctoral Student Colloquium at the INFORMS Annual Meeting. The award includes registration to the INFORMS Annual Meeting and registration to the Doctoral Student Colloquium. Priority will be given to students from programs that traditionally may not have nominated participants for the INFORMS Doctoral Student Colloquium. Students from smaller programs or HBCUs are encouraged to apply.

  

Doctoral Student Colloquium Co-chairs

Pelin Pekgun
Wake Forest University
Email: pekguncp@wfu.edu

Andreea Popescu
Shipt, Inc.
Email: Andreea.Popescu@shipt.com

All DSC questions should be directed to Drs. Pekgun and Popescu.

2024 New Faculty Colloquium (NFC)

Faculty members who are in their first three years of being a faculty member from all academic units granting degrees and undertaking research in operations research, management science, and related fields are invited to attend this colloquium.  The day-long event will include tips on what not to do, difference between business and engineering schools, opportunities to interact with panelists, and more.

Prior to the colloquia, you may be asked to prepare the following:

• a copy of the participant’s curriculum vitae,
• a statement by the participant outlining expectations from the colloquium including a set of up to 10 questions that they would like to be addressed.

New Faculty Colloquium Co-chairs

Saurabh Bansal
Smeal College of Business
Penn State University
Email: sub32@psu.edu

Austin Buchanan
Industrial Engineering & Management
Oklahoma State University
Email: buchanan@okstate.edu

All NFC questions should be directed to Drs. Bansal and Buchanan.

Agenda