Monthly Status Report (MSR)

Each graduate student group member must submit a MSR by the first of each month.

Note

The contents of this page are adapted from the document “Monthly Status Report (MSR) written by Prof. Ward H. Thompson.

Content

At the top of the file, you should include your name, and title (e.g., MSR15_August). At the right top corner, please place your start date, and (one line lower) the number of years and months that you have been here.

Each MSR must include the following four items:

  • Accomplishments: What was accomplished in the last month

  • Accountability: Copy and paste each goal from the previous MSR in italics and summarize status of completion (in plain text)

  • Goals: What you plan to do in the next month

  • Hurdles/PainPoints: What you anticipate will be needed (from yourself, others, including me)

Note

The MSR should not be excessively long (between 1-2 pages) and writing it should not consume a significant amount of your time.

  • Please include the section names (bolded) so that it’s easy to find each one.

  • The Accountability section will be empty the first time that you write an MSR.

  • Do not include any figures.

  • You are not necessarily expected to achieve all of your goals. In fact, if you achieve all of your goals routinely, then this might suggest that you need to raise the bar. In the same vein, you are not expected under normal circumstances to fail to achieve any of your goals either.

Mechanics

Dropbox folders will be set up for each person to submit his/her MSRs. Convert your MSR to a PDF file using the naming convention “MSRYY_Month_Surname” where YY is the year (e.g., 15), Month is the name of the month (e.g., August), and Surname is naturally your last name. Please deposit your MSR in the Dropbox folder before the first day of each month. Your first MSR (MSR15_August_Surname) should be submitted on August 31, 2015. After the MSRs are submitted, we will schedule an approximately half hour meeting during the first week of the month to discuss it.

Semester Status Reports (SSR)

Semester stauts reports are similar to that of monthly status reports, except that they cover the aspects for the entire semester instead of each month. However, the content should be similar in nature to the MSR (i.e. contain the same concepts but with broader scope). SSRs are covered at the beginning of the Fall term (August), beginning of the Spring term (January) and the beginning of the summer (May/June).