SPIN Values and Expectations

	A	B	C	D	E	G
1	General Notes: What is an expectation? do your best to meet it, and communicate if you can't/need help, its there to make things work better! These are all examples, context will impact how these guidelines are applicable, but generally do the right thing.
2	Value	This Value in SPIN, and its Parameters	Karon's Commitments	Student's Commitments	See Also (Notion sections and other relevant documentation)
3	Collaborative Mindset	SPIN members collaborate a great deal; it goes with the territory of longer-trajectory, complex research objectives with multidisciplinary roots and impact. Learning to collaborate effectively is hard, and its one of the big things you should get out of being part of SPIN. Part of this is establishing a collaborative culture; other related values involve communication, respect of others' time and contributions, and project management skills.	Ensure the lab is a good place to work (with regular student feedback), and steer lab's functioning and resources to allow the degree of flexibility that students need to balance their individual work/home and commute situation. Strive to be at UBC / in lab 2-3 days/week, available for in/person or online communication, while protecting my own "deep thinking" time with ~2 meeting-minimal days / week. Facilitate student growth and skillsharing within the lab by encouraging and helping to organize and balance collaborative and individual work Strive to recruit the right mix of student and external collaborator backgrounds and interests to satisfy our collaborative needs.	Maintain in-person presence in the lab (typically 2-3 days/week, including SPIN meeting day), to benefit from and contribute to lab networking and collaboration. Prioritize in person overlap with key teammates. Contribute some time to a lab job. Be willing to share skills with others, approach collaborative work enthusiastically. Come to the MUX meeting and participate in MUX-wide initiatives whenever possible. Be community-minded and open to connection with others.	Lab Space and How Seating Works Lab Jobs Socializing
4	Respecting One Another's Time	SPIN members are often balancing many committments and projects simultaneously; each individual may have different constraints and context which it is helpful to be aware of.. To allow everyone to function at their best, we prioritize respecting one another's time in some specific ways.	Provide time for students to meet, maintain schedule consistency when possible Give as much notice as possible when exceptions are needed	Don't let your teammates down. If you have to, let them know so they can deal with it. Prepare for scheduled meeting slots so that they are as efficient and valuable as possible; including sharing agenda 1-2 days in advance. Be proactive around scheduling and adhering to established calendars	Communication and Presence Conventions Meetings in SPIN
5	Thoughtful Communication	SPIN is a relatively large group which engages in an unusual degree of collaboration. For this to work, communication has to be smooth, and respect certain common elements.	Respond to student's needs and questions within a reasonable time frame Communicate given parameters (such as time availability, expectations, etc) regularly	Communicate when expectations will not be met ahead of time Communicate needs and questions as clearly as possible Communicate when processes/policies feel unattainable, and be ready to suggest alternate solutions	SPIN Writing Coordination and Procedures Communication and Presence Conventions
6	Empathy/Understanding for Individual Needs and Perspectives	Every lab is made of individuals, each of whom has a specific context and journey which the rest of us may not always be aware of. We need to both respect these, and communicate enough of what we ourselves need that others are able to reasonably accommodate.	Be receptive to each student's individual needs Be receptive to student's pain points, and willing to update systems/processes as needed	Be understanding of and adaptable to exceptional circumstances of Karon and other lab members and collaborators
7	Producing Quality Research	SPIN contributes high quality work to a variety of fields, which requires thoughtful, creative, and detailed work from all SPIN members	Provide timely feedback and guidance on progress towards the standard contributions for student's degree program, relying on jointly established goals as per above. Rely on both my own experience and that of colleagues in setting "how much/good is enough" standards for both publications and degree (thesis) goals. Coach students about project planning, with regular revisiting of thesis-level and project-level plans. Work with students to identify and learn to address particular challenges they face, while further investing in their special strengths.	Remember that research is fun, but it can be hard and most people don't personally find every aspect of it fun. The commitment is for all of this. Make responsible use of the flexibilty in work management offered, and communicate with supervisor when finding it difficult to progress for any reason. Be aware that project management is a big part of research. Make productive use of planning tools (e.g., scheduling charts) to scope work, communicate with others about where you'll need them, and generate realistic time estimates. When finding that specific aspects of the 'whole' research job are particularly difficult to meet (e.g., due to individual strengths and challenges), work with supervisor to find a solution and recognize that this may require additional effort and time on the students' part.	Study Procedures and Resources
8	Growth through Self-Directed Management	A core tenent of Karon's supervision approach is to (a) move students towards being independent researchers; and (b) to convince you that project management is a significant part of doing effective research. At every step, you are encouraged to practice self-direction, assemble and manage a team, and take responsibility for your role in your own and in group work - while we gradually remove the scaffolding.	Encourage and support normal periodic check-ins, which combine student self-reflection with student-supervisor discussion on e.g., goals, progress and our working relationship. Provide feedback whenever requested, and be open to receiving it.	Regard a research degree program as different from a punch-the-clock job with set hours: a lot of flexibility combined with the responsibility for meeting your own goals. This includes: Setting goals and manage your own progress; use appropriate tools to support articulating, tracking and communicating your workplan. Initiating periodic check-ins with Karon at a time that's best for you (recommended 2/year); take notes to review next time. Requesting and/or providing feedback when appropriate.	SPIN study plan template Check in/ Review meetings Examples Google Drive
9	Work-Life Balance, Flexible Work Hours and Time Off	Research is rewarding, but can also be hard work, and hard mentally. It's not a punch-the-clock job. SPIN members work hard ... but we also prioritize the wellbeing of ourselves and each other.	Be supportive of self-managed goal-setting and personal working styles within limits of practicality and consideration to others affected, supplying/requiring more structure when progress becomes a problem. Do my best to avoid and mitigate 'crunch times', through proactive joint planning and realistic goal-setting and revisiting, and doing my part on time. When a crunch does happen (as they inevitably do), be there with my students to plow through it and share the challenge (and the euphoria when we get through it!). Strive to be at UBC / in lab 2-3 days/week, available for in/person or online communication, while protecting my own "deep thinking" time with ~2 meeting-minimal days / week. Communicate in advance about times I'll be away.	Structure work and personal life with a view towards sustainability, giving yourself down-time and what it takes to keep you physically, mentally and emotionally healthy; in a way that also allows you to meet your professional objectives relating to e.g. coursework and research. Research & classwork hours/week will vary, with inevitable crunches and lower-effort periods, but should add to a steady, sustainable and measurable progress. Do your best to mitigate crunches by keeping up with the schedule, and providing early feedback about issues. Plan vacation in advance, be aware of impact of being away on yours and others goals, coordinate with supervisor (at least a month in advance) and close teammates, and M-F log time away on the SPIN gcal. UBC policy is 3 weeks/year.	UBC vacation policies Managing Committments Outside of Research
10	Adhering to Documented Lab Policies	Due to SPIN's size, collaboration, changeover, and degree of physical context of the research, SPIN may require more procedures and polices than some other groups. These are here to minimize the time we all have to spend on administrative headaches and keep lab operations moving smoothly.	Maintain transparency around policies and processes; periodically review them with students, and be open to their modification when they're not working. Keep policies up to date and available for students to access.	Adhere to all policies and processes as described in the SPIN Notion without prompting from Karon. Keep yourself up to date on these policies.	Finance Overview of Record Keeping Responsbilities Travel
11	Abiding by Department Guidelines	SPIN is part of a larger whole, existing in the context of the Computer Science Department.	Meet or exceed standard department expectations on topics such as communication, funding, teaching responsibilities, authorship policies and research, as laid out in the department's 2023 expectations template and in other departmental documentation (e.g. for guaranteed funding levels and TA expectations to receive that funding).		General Department Template Supervisory Expectations Doc	Department template for supervisory expectations: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_E3S0SFPCLaIHjqn_6SHeAdzRE5QxG1CCTDpR33dsWM/edit
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100