Pathways to Success
Pathways to Success
About Our Workshops
Coordinated by the College of Graduate Studies, the Pathways to Success program offers free development opportunities for graduate students and postdoctoral scholars including workshops in Academic Integrity, Graduate Grantsmanship, Personal Development, Professional Development, and Research.
Students are encouraged to use the Pathways to Success portal to register for workshops, cancel their attendance, or download a Training Summary. The Pathways to Success portal is located in myUCF Student Center under Graduate Students then Pathways to Success.
Please see the Pathways to Success Workshop Registration Instructions for additional details.
Workshop Registration Instructions
A list of Upcoming Pathways Events is displayed below. Can’t attend in person? Check out additional offerings on our Online Workshops page.
Online Workshops
Do you have suggestions for future Pathways to Success programming? Please provide your feedback here.
Upcoming Pathways Events
Academic Integrity (RCR) Training
All students admitted to doctoral programs must complete training designed to instill an awareness and understanding of the fundamental issues of academic integrity and the responsible conduct of research (RCR) in a manner that is consistent with federal regulations.
To achieve this objective, doctoral students must complete the following required training:
- Four Academic Integrity workshops coordinated by Pathways to Success (or an approved alternative training offered as a program requirement; see list of exempt programs below)
- The online Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI) Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) training in the appropriate disciplinary area (all doctoral students must complete the online CITI Responsible Conduct of Research training, even those in a program with an alternative academic integrity training)
Both the CITI RCR training and workshops are provided at no cost and are open to all UCF graduate students and postdoctoral scholars. Please see the Academic Integrity Workshops section below for additional details and registration instructions.
Note: Doctoral students under a catalog year prior to this requirement who are readmitted with a new catalog year are required to meet the academic integrity requirement. Doctoral students who are moved forward in catalog year administratively are not required to meet the academic integrity requirements.
When Must this Training be Completed?
There is no set deadline, but all Academic Integrity training requirements must be completed prior to a doctoral student’s advancement to candidacy. Students will not be able to enroll in dissertation hours until this requirement is met.
Where Can I Find Information on this Policy?
- Graduate Catalog
- Academic Honesty, Flyer PDF
Questions?
Contact College of Graduate Studies at gradworkshops@ucf.edu if you have questions about academic integrity training.
Academic Integrity Workshops
The required Academic Integrity workshops are provided through the Pathways to Success program. Students must take at least two CORE workshops and at least two other CORE or ELECTIVE workshops, for a total of four workshops. Workshops are indicated as CORE and ELECTIVE in the workshop titles in the Pathways to Success registration portal.
Academic Integrity workshops are offered every Fall, Spring and Summer semester at no cost and are open to all UCF graduate students and postdoctoral associates.
Workshop Delivery Format
Each Academic Integrity workshop is offered as a two-hour session in either face-to-face or synchronous online format. Sessions typically include a combination of lecture and discussion with a focus on case studies. Students must attend the entire workshop session to receive completion credit.
How To Register for Academic Integrity Workshops
Students must register for Academic Integrity workshops in the Pathways to Success registration portal. Please see the following instructions or download the Pathways to Success Workshop Registration Instructions for additional details:
- Login to your myUCF Student Center, scroll down on the page to the Graduate Students section, and select the Pathways to Success link
- On the Workshops Search page that appears, select Search by Category and choose Academic Integrity to see a list of upcoming Academic Integrity workshops (or select Show All to see all workshop categories including academic integrity, research, professional and personal development workshops)
- Remember, Academic Integrity workshops are indicated as CORE or ELECTIVE in the workshop titles
- PLEASE NOTE: only workshops under the Academic Integrity Category in the registration portal will count toward this requirement (workshops under other categories are NOT the electives for this requirement)
Tracking Academic Integrity Completion
When attending a workshop, remember to sign the attendance roster or complete the attendance survey (for online sessions), so your completion of the workshop can be recorded by the College of Graduate Studies.
After you complete an Academic Integrity workshop, your myUCF Student Center To Do list will be updated to remove a core or elective workshop listing. Additionally, your To Do list will be updated when you submit your CITI RCR Completion Certificate to gradworkshops@ucf.edu.
Once all workshops are complete (and your CITI RCR training is confirmed), your To Do list will no longer show these requirements. Please allow 2-3 days for the To Do list to be updated following a workshop or submission of the CITI RCR Completion Certificate.
You can also view workshops you are enrolled in and have completed on the Training Summary page in your myUCF Student Center:
- Login to your myUCF Student Center, scroll down to the Graduate Students section and select the Pathways to Success link.
- On the Workshops Search page, select Your Graduate Workshops/Cancel Enrollments
- The Training Summary can be downloaded in Excel format by selecting the table logo at the top of the summary
Programs Approved for Exemption of the Academic Integrity Workshop Requirement
The College of Graduate Studies has approved the following graduate programs for exemption of the Academic Integrity workshop requirement. Students in these programs are encouraged to attend the Academic Integrity workshops but are not required to do so. These students must complete the CITI Responsible Conduct of Research training requirement, which is not included in this exemption.
Students must take the course listed below for their program. No substitution or waiver is allowed.
- Clinical Psychology Ph.D. – CLP 7623 Ethical and Professional Issues in Clinical Psychology
- Curriculum and Instruction EdD (previously named Education EdD) – EDF 7494 Identifying Complex Problems of Practice
- Education Ph.D. – IDS 7501 Issues and Research in Education
- Educational Leadership EdD – Executive Track – EDF 7471 Research in Leadership 1
- Educational Leadership EdD – Higher Education track – EDH 7040 Research on the College Student (exemption only applies to students admitted in Fall 2019 or later)
- Hospitality Management Ph.D. – HMG 7588 Research Seminar Hospitality and Tourism
- Industrial and Organizational Psychology Ph.D. – INP 7081 Professional Issues in Industrial and Organizational Psychology
- Nursing DNP – NGR 7855 Evidence-Based Practice Development for DNP
- Nursing Ph.D. – NGR 7805 Doctoral Scholarship
- Physical Therapy DPT – PHT 6606 Research Methods in Physical Therapy (exemption only applies to students admitted Summer 2020 or later)
- Sociology Ph.D. – SYA 7309 Advanced Sociological Research Methods (exemption applies only to students admitted prior to Fall 2017)
Academic Integrity Workshop Descriptions
As a reminder, students must take at least two CORE workshops; the other two workshops can either be CORE or ELECTIVE workshops, for a total of four workshops.
Core Workshops
Doing the Right Thing: What Every Graduate Student Should Know About Research Misconduct
Stephen Kuebler, Ph.D. – Department of Chemistry
In this session, students will learn the 12 core areas of responsible conduct of research (RCR). The core areas will be explored using a combination of case studies and facilitated discussion. Emphasis will be placed on recognizing the historical foundations of RCR within the broader landscape of ethics. Students will learn how to leverage communication and disclosure for the ethical and responsible conduct of research.
Authorship, Credit and Collaborative Scholarship and Research: Ethical Pitfalls to Avoid
Steffen Guenzel, Ph.D., Coordinator, Writing Across the Curriculum, Department of Writing and Rhetoric
Andrew Randall, Ph.D., Civil Engineering
This workshop will help to clarify rules governing authorship of peer-reviewed publications and ethical guidelines. We will identify issues and decision making with respect to authorship through the instructor’s personal experiences and example case studies.
Data Management: Perils of Fabrication, Falsification, and Confidentiality
Liqiang Ni, Ph.D., Department of Statistics
This workshop addresses research misconduct in the form of fabrication of data or experimental outcomes, falsifying data or originality of material (e.g., plagiarism) and breach of confidentially of data as it relates to human subjects or contractual obligations. A historical perspective is given to highlight some infamous examples of misconduct and the ensuing scandals when they were publicized. Some mechanisms for discovery of bogus data will be noted to suggest that ultimately research misconduct will likely be discovered. Some long-term consequences of research misconduct will be identified that demonstrates the paramount importance of maintaining data integrity.
Ethics: Personal Integrity as a Graduate Student
Jonathan Beever, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Philosophy
This workshop is an examination of relevant issues involved in the concept of “integrity” in one’s role as a graduate student. Among the issues discussed are professional codes of conduct the meaning of “honor” and personal responsibility.
Elective Workshops
Intellectual and Other Conflicts of Interest: Your Rights and Responsibilities
Douglas Backman, Office of Research and Commercialization
This workshop addresses the various conflicts of interest encountered by faculty during their academic and research tenure. The session will address conflicts of interest between faculty and students, financial conflicts of interests related to sponsored research and conflicts of commitments related to faculty members institutional assignments and their private business or consulting activity. The objective of the session is to make the student aware of the various types of conflicts of interests and the student’s role and responsibilities in mitigating such conflicts. The session will use directed learning and case studies to facilitate decision-making scenarios.
Intellectual Property Rights
John Miner, Office of Research and Commercialization
John Miner from the Office of Research and Commercialization will present this seminar which will address intellectual property rights specifically concerning graduate student and post-doctoral fellows.
Ethical and Legal Issues in Teaching
Nancy Stanlick, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Philosophy
A discussion of various issues that may and do arise in college and university-level teaching, including disruptive student behavior, academic dishonesty, FERPA, your responsibilities as an instructor or Teaching Assistant. Also included as a central feature is the place of the UCF Creed and UCF Golden Rule as guiding principles.
Ethical Decision Making in Graduate School and Beyond
Jennifer Wright, Dispute Resolution Services, Office of Student Rights and Responsibilities
Actions taken as a result of a decision made reflects one’s values and principles. Inherently, we know what is right and wrong behavior but do we understand how others judge right and wrong behavior. This seminar will provide problem-solving methods and critical questioning techniques associated with the practice of ethical decision making. During the seminar, participants will have an opportunity to strengthen one’s principles of professional conduct to be able to practice living by a set of ethical standards.
A Practical Guide to Preventing Plagiarism
Douglas Backman, Office of Research and Commercialization
This session will outline ethical writing guidelines and define commonly found plagiarism practices. The student will gain an understanding of how to prevent plagiarizing another person’s work and learn the proper use of citations when drafting research papers and journals.
Can I Use That Image?: How to Legally Use Images, Graphics, and other Copyrighted Materials
Sarah Norris, UCF Libraries
Can you use any image you find online in your presentation? Do you need to get permission to use a chart or graphic for your thesis or dissertation? These are just a few of the questions that we will explore in this session focused on the ethical and legal use of copyrighted images, graphics, and other visual materials. Attendees will learn about copyright basics with a specific focus on visual works and how to be good stewards of copyrighted content created by others.
Recognizing and Avoiding Cognitive Bias in Research
Flore Septimus, Office of Diversity and Inclusion
In this session we will learn about different forms of cognitive biases and how they can show up in the research process. We will also discuss ways to be intentional in acknowledging and managing bias to minimize impact and improve research accuracy, trust, and credibility.
CITI Training
The Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI) Program is an organization that provides online research ethics education to all members of the research community, including more than a thousand U.S. and international institutions. Provided at no cost to researchers, this training includes several training courses with options for different disciplines.
CITI Responsible Conduct of Research Training
All doctoral students must complete the CITI Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) training. However, CITI training is open to all UCF graduate students and postdoctoral scholars, and they are encouraged to take advantage of this free educational resource. Students should consult their faculty adviser and the UCF Institutional Review Board (IRB) for guidance on CITI training required for specific research projects. University policy requires doctoral students to complete the CITI Responsible Conduct of Research training module.
Creating a CITI Account for the First Time
- Go to citiprogram.org
- Follow the instructions on the CITI Main Menu to create a user account for yourself, giving special attention to these fields
- Select “University of Central Florida” as your institution
- For your name, enter the same First Name and Last Name that displays in your myUCF Student Center (my.ucf.edu)
- On the second registration page, provide the information requested by UCF, giving special attention to these fields
- Institutional email address – Enter your Knights e-mail address, which is your official UCF student e-mail address
- UCF Employee Number – Enter your UCF ID, example: a1234567)
- On the Select Curriculum page, scroll down to Question 3, Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR), and select the course that is closest to your discipline or area of study. Please note that the “Research Administrators” course is for those who assist in the administration of research rather than the direct conduct of research, so it is not applicable to most completing a graduate program.
- On the next registration page, you may also affiliate yourself with another institution, if you wish. Otherwise, select No.
- You have now completed CITI registration.
- To access the course, go to the My Courses section of the CITI Main Menu and you should see the Responsible Conduct of Research course.
- To start the course, click the red Enter link in the Status column.
You may choose to complete the training in one session or in multiple sessions. Always follow the instructions carefully in order to save your work and remember to check your progress as you go.
Once you have completed your CITI training, please send a copy of your certificate of completion to gradworkshops@ucf.edu.
Deadline
The CITI Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) training should be completed by the end of a student’s second major (Fall/Spring) term of enrollment. This requirement must be completed prior to a student’s advancement to candidacy.
Questions?
Contact the College of Graduate Studies (407-823-2766 or gradworkshops@ucf.edu) if you have questions about academic integrity training.
CITI Protection of Human Research Subjects Training
Federal regulations pertaining to the protection of human subjects require that all researchers on a study that involves human participants have current training. The UCF Institutional Review Board (IRB) provides more information about this training. Students should consult their faculty adviser and the IRB for guidance on CITI training required for specific research projects. Please note: The Protection of Human Research Subjects Training does not fulfill UCF’s Academic Integrity requirement for doctoral students; only the CITI RCR training will be accepted for this requirement.
Available are:
Group 1. Biomedical Research Investigators and Key Personnel Group
AND/OR
Group 2. Social/Behavioral Research Investigators and Key Personnel Group
Questions?
Contact the IRB office at 407-823-2901 or 407-882-2012 or email IRB@ucf.edu.
Graduate Teaching Information
Most programs offer assistantships in which students serve as a research or teaching associate or assistant. Graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) may be appointed as classroom teachers (instructors of record), co-teachers or classroom assistants, graders, lab assistants, or other roles directly related to classroom instruction. Please see our Graduate Teaching (GTA) Information page for additional details.
View GTA Information Page
GTA training information is available on our GTA Training Requirements page. This training mainly involves self-paced online modules and there is no cost to students. While it’s primarily intended to prepare graduate students to teach at UCF, it is beneficial to any graduate student who may teach in various contexts in their future positions.
View GTA Training Requirements Page
Preparing Tomorrow’s Faculty Program
The Karen L. Smith Faculty Center for Teaching and Learning offers a Preparing Tomorrow’s Faculty Program every semester. This is a voluntary program on teaching in higher education, primarily intended for graduate teaching assistants but open to all UCF graduate students. The format for this program is mixed-mode. Participants will be expected to complete a series of online modules and attend six, two-hour meetings, which will be held on the Orlando campus. Participation is limited, so please enroll early. There is no cost associated with registration.
View Preparing Tomorrow’s Faculty Program Page