Morningside Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences Student IDP Sample Stage 2 Form

The Stage 2 form is where you will report your complete action plan (the list of actions you will take this year) along with notes about who you consulted while developing this plan. The Stage 2 form does not currently allow users to format text entered. Therefore, in this sample Jess attached his plan to the end of the form.

When you scroll down to the attachment, you will see that Jess attached two versions of his plan. First, Jess developed his plan thematically: the first three pages of his attachment list SMART goals under each broad category area.  Then, Jess listed the same goals in chronological order (see the fourth and fifth pages). This two-step process seems to work well for many people. 

The thematic-then-chronological process may be done in different formats. For example, some people like to organize their actions (also called "SMART goals") thematically in a table format (with three columns: projects, skills, career advancement) or as a flow chart.  After having a thematic list of SMART goals, some people translate their goals directly to a calendar rather than to a list as Jess did. Or, type your SMART goals into the “Set Goals” section of myIDP and myIDP will automatically generate the thematic and chronological versions on the “myIDP Summary” page.  Feel free to be creative and represent your IDP in whatever format works best for you.

Important note to Morningside Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences students:

Regardless of the format you choose, be sure that there is a timeframe associated with each SMART goal and that the rationale for each SMART goal can be easily assessed by the reader.  At a glance, it should be clear which goals are related to your projects, skills development, and career advancement. You can turn in a thematic or chronological IDP (or both), as long as it satisfies these expectations.

Thematic IDP

In this format, the IDP is organized by theme (broad goal Jess aims to achieve).  Each broad goal has a set of SMART goals associated with it. This is an intuitive way to initially draft your IDP.

Chronological IDP

Here, Jess has taken the thematic IDP above and re-arranged it into chronological order organized by semester.  This allows Jess to better consider how realistic the overall plan is.  Jess likes to post this chronological IDP at his desk.