Hello all, This is a very important topic. I dealt with similar negative attitudes towards grad students during my dissertation work. I know as scientists we like to point to empirical evidence to support a point, but I can't help you there. I don't know of any papers on the matter. However, if you want to quickly estimate your value to the university, just envision a simple scenario. Imagine if every graduate student immediately stopped doing any work whatsoever to support the university. Imagine the university's response. Their anger (and fear) will be directly proportional to your value. If you and your graduate students demand respect as a group then your value will be recognized by the university, one way or another. Good luck,
Kevin On Thu, Apr 22, 2010 at 8:39 AM, Julie Byrd Hebert <byr...@umd.edu> wrote: > Alisha > > I'm glad to see you bringing this topic up. I've been wondering what the > climate for graduate students is like at different institutions. I think it > is important to know because, in my experience, your description of the > value of graduate students (at least to the University Administrators) is > much like my own. I have to wonder if this is part of the reason for the > "decline of science and innovation" at least in the United States. Why > remain in a field where you don't feel valued? If the graduate students are > the future of science and technology one would think that there would be > value in spending time, money, and effort in training these students and > giving them a good work environment. I would like to think we are in the > minority, but I have to wonder... > > Julie > > On Thu, Apr 22, 2010 at 7:49 AM, Alisha Dahlstrom < > alisha.dahlst...@gmail.com<mailto:alisha.dahlst...@gmail.com>> wrote: > > > Hi all, > > > > I am currently a phd student in my second year. Currently, within my > > department, grad students share a small building with several rooms, 5-7 > in > > a room. There is a proposal to uproot all the students (and combine them > > with grad students in a similar department) to a renovated basement that > is > > currently not being used because it is moldy, has poor ventilation and no > > natural lighting. Apart from a few short partitions, this would be a > large > > shared space that "packed as many students in as possible" (about 40; you > > can imagine the potential noise and disruptions). As the grad student > rep, > > when I explained this to the proponent of this new plan and asked for his > > justification, it was that "grad students aren't worth much to a > university > > (monetarily speaking, at least, undergrads earn a school more) and it > would > > be nice for visitors to see all the students in one space." > > > > As this plan seems to be moving forward rapidly, I would really like to > > pull > > together some documentation that supports my belief that 1) grad students > > will have a higher completion rate and better output in a better (e.g., > > quieter and well-lit) work environment and 2) grad students are actually > > valuable to a university. In my cursory, search, I haven't had much luck > - > > does anyone have any suggestions or input? Feel free to email me > directly. > > > > Cheers, > > Alisha > > >
