Career & Tools
Check out this UCSB series on grad student and postdoc professional development experiences funded by the Individualized Professional Skills (IPS) Program. This week's featured video is by Cam Audras, a Master's student in the Music and Viola Performance department, who used the IPS funds to take private lessons on orchestral excerpts from top orchestral musicians. Read on to watch the video and learn more about the IPS program!
Have you ever wished you had support to take advantage of a professional or career development opportunity that lies outside the scope of your academic research? The UCSB Individualized Professional Skills (IPS) Program is designed to help graduate students and postdoctoral scholars fill in the funding gaps for pursuing opportunities that support your professional development in a variety of career trajectories.
IPS Insights: In our series, "IPS Insights," previous awardees share about their IPS-funded experiences in short informational videos. This week's featured video is by Cam Audras, a Master's student in the Music and Viola Performance department.
Cam used the IPS funds to take private lessons on orchestral excerpts from top orchestral musicians in the Los Angeles and Santa Barbara areas. Watch the video to learn more!
In Cam's Words: What I Learned
"I used my IPS funds to take lessons on orchestral excerpts from top orchestral musicians in the Los Angeles/Santa Barbara areas, including Michael Larco (LA Philharmonic section viola), Erik Rynearson (Santa Barbara Symphony Principal Viola), Philip Triggs (New West Symphony Principal Viola), and Principal Viola of the LA Philharmonic (who wishes to be anonymous). During the months of January through March, I received 5 private lessons from these musicians, which proved to be incredibly valuable. After playing for these musicians, I was thrilled to have been offered substitute viola positions in the Santa Barbara and New West Symphonies. Additionally, these lessons allowed me to successfully record auditions for prestigious summer music festivals. I was thrilled to have been admitted to the University of Michigan Center Stage Strings Music Festival this summer based on a successful audition. This would not have been possible without my IPS-funded private lessons, and I am so incredibly grateful for this opportunity."
IPS Program Overview
Awards up to $1000 are granted to eligible UCSB graduate students and postdoctoral scholars from any discipline who wish to individually tailor their career paths with outside professional development opportunities. The purpose of the IPS program is to help grad students and postdocs take greater agency in their own career path by funding exploration of a range of professional development opportunities across a variety of career and skill interests.
The IPS Program is a collaboration between the Professional Development Series at the Center for Science and Engineering Partnerships; Graduate Division; the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion; UCSB Innovation and Entrepreneurship Initiative and CNSI Technology Incubator; Career Services; UCSB's divisional deans; and external donors. Learn more about the program here!