Graduate Student Support

Department StafF

Below is a list of the key department staff that can help you with anything from payroll, purchasing, registering for classes to IT support. They make this department run and we appreciate their hard work and dedication to supporting our students – don’t hesitate to reach out if you have questions about department resources and policies.

Building Deputy

Mason Rufo rufo@purdue.edu; office: PFEN G079; phone: 765-496-7251 is the building deputy (of Smith Hall, EEL, and EFOB. Mason is in charge of placing work orders for general building repairs.

Rebecca (Becky) Stevenson rebeccas@purdue.edu; office: WSLR 128; phone: 765-496-7608) is the building manager for Whistler Hall (WSLR). She can assist with getting keys for offices and labs in WSLR and placing work orders for building repairs.

IT Support

Zach Hoyt and Kelly Spoth ENTMITHelp@Purdue.edu are the departmental IT specialists and can help you gain access to your Purdue email, which will likely entail contacting centralized university (ITaP) and/or college (AgIT) IT resources. They can also help you get set-up with a work computer, if you need one, and connecting your computer to local printers.

Bransen Shidler shidler@purdue.edu; office: Smith 209; phone: 765-496-1728 is the departmental web designer. He has oversight for all department managed websites and is responsible for ADA compliance of our web content. He can help you with changes to lab/personal webpages, edits to the departmental webpage, and contributes to the social media accounts for the department on Facebook and Twitter (PurdueInsects). He will also continue to oversee poster printing (current printer is out of order and department is considering the purchase of a new one or alternative options for posters). 

ENTM Business Office (Smith Hall 101)

Lori Edwards ledwards@purdue.edu; office: Smith 101B; phone: 765-494-4549 is the business assistant and can help with account numbers for grants.

Sarah Hart hartse@purdue.edu; office: Smith 101; phone: 765-494-9377 can help you with questions about travel cards and ordering supplies.

Erren Tapia tapia4@purdue.edu; office SMTH 101A; phone: 765-494-4551 is the business manager for Entomology. 

ENTM Main Office (Smith Hall 100)

Dr. Catherine Hill hillca@purdue.edu; office: Smith 100; phone: 765-496-6157 is the Entomology Department Head and Professor.

Mardelle Lorton lortonm@purdue.edu; office: Smith 100D; phone: 765-496-1119 is the Sr. Administrative Manager for the department, located in the main office. Mardelle manages the majority of the staff in the department and serves as the ISS department liaison and schedule deputy. Mardelle will coordinate the TA assignments each semester so let her know if you are interested. She can also help with scheduling conference rooms for meetings, organization of department activities and any general questions you might have.

Sabrina Shannon shannos@purdue.edu; office: Smith 100; phone: 765-494-4554 is the main office administrative assistant and provides additional support for department shipping & receiving, copy codes, organization of ENTM seminars, and scheduling conference rooms for meetings. Sabrina also organizes the coffee breaks on Wednesday and solicits volunteers to bring in treats. She will be the person you get the keys you need for building, office, lab, mailroom and a desk in one of the grad student offices. She also is the go-to person for the two departmental vehicle checkouts.

Graduate Student Administration

Amanda Wilson apendle@purdue.edu; office: Smith 127C; phone: 765-494-9061 is the department’s Senior Academic Advisor and Graduate Program Administrator and helps with course registration, plans of study, administrative requirements for graduation and GradTracker.

Diane Greenberg dgreenb@purdue.edu; office: Smith 127; phone: 765-496-6185 is the department Advising Administrative Assistant in Student Services and helps with course registration, plans of study, administrative requirements for graduation and GradTracker.  

Outreach

Emily Justus ejustus@purdue.edu; office: Smith 105D; phone: 765-496-9083 is the outreach coordinator for the department and organizes many K-12 and public education events throughout the year featuring insects, including Purdue’s Bug Bowl. She also maintains the “Bug Barn” in Smith Hall, which houses numerous exotic insects and spiders used for outreach. Feel free to contact Emily if you want to get involved in any of these activities; she is always looking for student volunteers to help.

Chris Wirth wirth3@purdue.edu; office: SMTH B16; phone: 765-494-4599 is the collections manager for the Purdue Entomological Research Collection (PERC). 

Department Resources

Below is a list of general department resources and policies to help you.

Shipping & Receiving - Mailroom SMTH 119

All grad students have a mailbox along the left wall of SMTH 119, alphabetized by last name. In the back of the room are two bins for outgoing mail; one for campus mail and one for US mail. If mailing via USPS for the department, do everything but the stamp and attach a mail form to the letter (on counter near bin). The appropriate postage will be placed on it by Purdue’s mail department.

FedEx and UPS will deliver at varying times throughout the day, though most packages arrive sometime in the morning. Sabrina Shannon will send you an email when you have received a package. Most packages will be placed on the counter in front of the student mailboxes.

All shipping, whether FedEx or UPS, is done via eShipGlobal. If shipping for university purposes, you will need a valid account number. Please fill out the form completely for each package and attach it to the box. Packages can be left in the outgoing mail bin for pick up the next morning. Mail is picked up at Smith once a day around 8:30am, so if you need to ship something that day take it over to the Lilly back dock before 3pm or directly to MMDC before 4:30pm.

Purchasing

For all purchasing, you will need a valid account number. Please discuss this with your advisor.

We have three credit cards that can be checked out and have a $250 one-time limit for purchases made locally (e.g., Walmart, Menards, etc.). These can be picked up in the business office (Smith 101). However, check-out cards are for emergency purchases only; all general ordering should go through Ag Purchasing as described below. 

To purchase items online, you must go through the central College of Agriculture business office who will place the order for you. To do so, fill out the purchasing form (found here) and submit to agpurchasing@purdue.edu using this subject line:

Dept Name/Customer Last Name/Vendor Name (e.g., ENTM/Smith/BioQuip).

Poster Printing

The department owns a large printer, which can be used for single poster needs (i.e., to use for professional conferences & events). Please contact Bransen Shidler for assistance. Currently poster printer is out of order and looking for options to replace it.

Scheduling Conference Rooms

Mardelle and Sabrina manage the schedule for the ENTM department conference rooms located in Smith 131 and B10A. They can also make requests for reservations in rooms in buildings outside of Smith, like Whistler and Lilly. Email her if there is a room, you’d like to schedule for a committee meeting, lab meeting, or other event.  NOTE: email gradtracker@purdue.edu whenever you schedule a committee meeting or exam, so the date can be updated on Grad Tracker.

Travel

When traveling for university-approved business, such as attending the ESA conference, you will need a Purdue travel card. This should be used for all travel expenses associated with the trip (flight, hotel, meeting registration, taxi, food). Keep all receipts over $75. See Sarah Hart in the business office (Smith 101) to apply for a personal travel card and to process your receipts upon return from the trip. As with purchasing, you will need a valid account number from your advisor. The Purdue travel card may not be used for local (Lafayette area) expenses of any kind, including gas and meals.

IT Resources

Below is a list of university or college IT resources to help get you started in the department and provide you support as a student – this is not an exhaustive list. For department-specific questions, you should contact ENTMITHelp@Purdue.edu. However, general questions should be directed to ITAP, which is the central IT group for the university with which AgIT is affiliated.

VPN Access

Using the university VPN can be extremely useful for accessing files and other digital resources from home or when traveling that are saved on university servers. To set this up on your personal computer, you will need to download and run the Cisco AnyConnect software using the following instructions.

Departmental List-Serves

The main office manages several email lists that are maintained by Mardelle and Sabrina. Your Purdue email should already be added to the ‘entm.grads’ and ‘entm.everyone’. This is essential as much of the news surrounding departmental events, activities, or general notices are sent via list-serves. Please contact Sabrina if you feel you are missing communications so we can double-check the list serve. All emails are monitored and will be subject to distribution approval by authorized individuals in our department. No spam, solicitation or inappropriate emails will be permitted. 

Grad Students: entm.grads@lists.purdue.edu  

Undergrad Students: entm.undergrads@lists.purdue.edu  

Post Docs: entm.postdocs@lists.purdue.edu

Everyone in the dept except undergrads: entm.everyone@lists.purdue.edu  

Faculty: entm.faculty@lists.purdue.edu      

AP Staff: entm.apstaff@lists.purdue.edu  

Alumni: entmalum@lists.purdue.edu

Data Storage

Department: Everyone in the department receives a personal user folder in the department Isilon share. Currently there is a one terabyte (1 TB) quota for each user. This folder is only accessible by you and IT staff.

University: All students have access to one terabyte (1 TB) of cloud storage via Microsoft OneDrive and additional storage via Box.

University-Owned Computer Purchasing

Please discuss the need for a university-owned laptop with your advisor ahead of time. The department has an inventory of computers to distribute to incoming grads if needed. ENTM IT Support will assist this process. If there are no computers in our available ENTM inventory and a purchase is required, AgIT provides a list of supported computers which includes desktop/laptop and Dell/Mac options. AgIT will only support devices purchased through this program; they will not provide support for personal devices.

Software

General: The university offers Office 365 to all students at no cost. Office 365 is the full Microsoft Office suite - available here. This is available for install on up to five devices, including personally owned devices.

Specialized: Purdue pays for group licenses on numerous specialized programs that are free for students to use. These include, for example, statistical programs like SAS, JMP, or SPSS. Programs can be downloaded here.

Video Conferencing

There are several options for gaining access to video conferencing when needed (e.g., virtual events, committee meetings with external members). Purdue offers web conferencing for free via Zoom or Microsoft Teams.

Developing a Mentoring Network

Major Professor

All graduate students are required to have one major professor who acts as chair of their advisory committee and who agrees to supervise the student’s graduate study, research and thesis preparation. In some instances, a student may have two co-chairs who share equally in the advisory role as major professors. The major professor is responsible for helping to secure funding to support the grad student’s stipend and their designated lab space is where students usually complete most of their research.

The nature of the mentoring relationship between student and major advisor varies with mentoring style, and we encourage open discussion of expectations early in the degree program. For example, some students meet with their major professor weekly or biweekly at a specific day/time, whereas others have a more informal schedule without set meeting periods (i.e., dropping by their office as questions or problems arise). Students are also encouraged to have an open discussion with their advisor about availability of funding to pay for research expenses (e.g., supplies, analyses), fees for travel to conferences, publication costs, or other routine activities associated with the student’s project.

Advisory Committee

Selection of the advisory committee should be done in consultation with the student’s major professor. Although criteria for inclusion is ultimately up to the student-advisor, committee members are typically chosen based on their expertise that contributes insight to some portion of the student’s graduate research project. The role of the advisory committee is to offer advice on graduate work (including research, thesis preparation, and relevant courses), provide professional guidance, and formally evaluate students during the preliminary exam (for PhD students) and thesis/dissertation defense to confer a degree. Students are highly encouraged to use their graduate committee to its fullest capacity, e.g., send occasional research updates throughout the year; stop by individuals’ offices to ask research questions or seek professional advice. While the major advisor is the primary mentor assisting graduate students, committee members can and should serve in a supporting role in this process.

Students must seek the consent of all desired faculty members requested to serve on the committee. This can be accomplished by sending potential committee members an email briefly describing the student’s proposed research project and explaining why they think that faculty member would provide valuable contributions to their work. This can also be accomplished by setting up a one-on-one meeting in person between the student and a potential committee member. At this stage, students simply need an informal agreement by the faculty member, stating that they are willing to serve on their committee.

The advisory committee is formally established when the Plan of Study is submitted by the student and approved by the OGSPS . A MS advisory committee must have at least three members: The major professor and at least two other members of the graduate faculty (either from ENTM or other departments). A PhD advisory committee must have at least four members: The major professor and at least three other members of the graduate faculty, one of whom needs to be from outside the entomology department. Note that MS/PhD committees are allowed to have more than 3 or 4 committee members, respectively; however, they cannot have less than this.

All people serving on the advisory committee MUST be Regular or Special Graduate Faculty, i.e., certified by the Office of the Vice Provost for Graduate Students and Postdoctoral Scholars (OGSPS) to serve on the committees of graduate students. Students may include non-Purdue members on the advisory committee; for example, faculty at other universities, scientists at federal labs such as USDA and NIH, or researchers in industry. However, these members require prior approval from the OGSPS in the form of a certification as special graduate faculty. To request special certification, the major professor of the advisory committee must request in writing to the graduate administrator (apendle@purdue.edu) with clear justification for the specific expertise that the outside member brings to the student’s research. An electronic version of the CV for the outside person being considered for inclusion on the advisory committee must be provided with this request. Once approved by the OGSPS, the outside person will be assigned a certification code and will be allowed to join the committee.

**Although non-Purdue individuals can be included, the majority (51%) of a student’s committee must be a “regular faculty” member (i.e., they must be on Purdue payroll and have regular graduate faculty classification).

The advisory committee must be selected prior to the second semester of graduate study. The request to the dean of the OGSPS for appointment of the advisory committee is made at the same time as the request for approval of the student’s Plan of Study, via MyPurdue “Plan of Study Generator”.

Addressing Graduate Student Needs

College of Agriculture Ombudsperson

The college offers formal Ombuds services, which is available free to all graduate students. The Ombuds service is an informal, neutral, and, in most cases, confidential resource for new and continuing graduate students to raise questions or concerns about any aspect of their graduate experiences. You can think of an Ombuds as a “Thinking Partner” - someone who will help you come up with options for the concern you are having. Examples of concerns that have been brought by students include relationships with major professors, conditions associated with graduate staff appointments, and academic difficulties. However, an Ombuds may assist with any issue related to your graduate education. Most meetings are usually 30 to 60 minutes. The setting is confidential to the degree allowed by law and university policy.

ENTM Graduate Committee

The Graduate Committee is a standing committee responsible for providing leadership in graduate education and research within the department. It collaborates closely with OGSPS, the college, and departmental leadership on matters related to curriculum and graduate research. Key responsibilities include student recruitment, admissions, curriculum and coursework review, and professional development initiatives.

The committee meets monthly throughout the academic year. Additionally, the committee meets with all graduate students in the department as part of the Annual Graduate Student End of Year Hoorah in April to share updates on committee activities and to identify priority issues in partnership with the student body.

The committee is composed of five departmental faculty members, the graduate student advisor/administrator (Amanda Wilson), and one graduate student representative. Faculty members serve on a rotating basis, typically for three-year terms, with a maximum of two consecutive terms. The graduate student representative is a non-voting member and does not attend regular committee meetings. However, they may be invited to participate in discussions on agenda items relevant to the graduate student community.
For communicating urgent issues to the committee, students are encouraged to contact either the current student representative or the chair of the committee (Stephen Cameron: cameros@purdue.edu; office: Smith 203A; phone: 765-496-6829).

Department Head

The department head serves as the Chair of the Entomology Graduate Program (this is different to the Chair, Graduate Committee). Dr. Hill (hillca@purdue.edu) is the current head of the Entomology department and should be consulted, as appropriate, if students encounter problems that cannot be addressed by their major faculty advisor.

International Student Volunteering and HR Guidance

Visa compliance is the responsibility of the student. As outlined in the policy, international students should not engage in any form of volunteer or paid work beyond their 0.5 RA/TA appointment (with the exception of recognized charitable events) and never without prior consultation with HR.

The HR policy available via the link below is a helpful reference and includes examples that may be useful in understanding responsibilities and expectations.

https://www.purdue.edu/vpec/resources/operating-procedures/volunteers-manual/#non_us

Students who are considering additional activities, or who have questions about whether something is permissible, should consult HR in advance. If questions or concerns arise, students may also speak with their advisor or connect with relevant campus offices (PISA, OGSPS, ARGE, department head, Graduate Chair, for example).