Good day everyone, I have been reading this thread and have been fascinated by it because I think it's a great question to ask. I have just been accepted to grad school and while applying, one of my main concerns of my potential school and adviser was how I was going to be treated. Unfortunately, while applying to grad schools, students get so wrapped up in whether or not they are good enough for the schools they are applying to, they forget to ask themselves whether the school is good enough for them. I think the most important question to ask is, what is our worth as a grad student to ourselves? I worked extremely hard during my undergrad years so that I would be 'good enough' to attend one of the prestigious schools for oceanography but during my quest for a graduate school, I forgot to ask what school is good enough for me. If a student is aware that they are a great candidate for which ever schools they are applying for, then I think that they should take into account how they would be treated as a student, not only by their potential adviser, but by the school as well. I know that this may not be possible for all students applying to grad school, but for those of us that have a choice I think that we should start making it clear to the schools that one main factor in our decision to accept them is how we will be treated. Will we have quiet work spaces? Will we have ample opportunities to interact with our adviser(s)? Will we have the freedom to present new ideas in our research? Will I just be a slave to teaching classes and grading papers? I know one student that wanted the TA experience because she wanted to teach in the future, but was forced to do nothing but research. In her case, she picked the wrong adviser. But why? Did she not ask the right questions before making her decision?
I think that as someone who just went through the application process, I advise others to remember why you are going to grad school and who you are trying to benefit in the the end. I am not going to grad school just to get a prestigious degree, nor am I there for the university or the adviser's sake. I am there to learn from the best people in my particular niche of oceanography, to get a great education (from both the research and class work), and to have the best possible work environment for me. I took longer than normal to make my decision as to which school I want to get my doctorates degree from, but I think that taking the time to make sure that both the school and my adviser was going to be a good match for me, is going to pay off in the long run. I think that those that are still in the application process should remember their own value, what they are worth, and the skills and assets they are able to bring to the university. Just my two cents. Melissa On Mon, Apr 26, 2010 at 7:15 AM, Frank Marenghi <frank_maren...@hotmail.com>wrote: > > > Hi all, > > > > I graduated with my master's last year from a State University with a > relatively new (<10 years) graduate program. In our Dept., they had 15 > students sharing one small office with 4 computers, one of which was rarely > functioning, and the IT "staff" were largely absent. Some of the students > had their own laptops but trying to work in this space was very difficult, > for obvious reasons. Even with 5 or 6 people it was quite loud and > distracting. I was fortunate to be able to work on my laptop from home > often, which allowed me to be very productive despite the on-campus > environment. The issue was not with my advisor but firmly with the > administration. It was very clear to me that the undergraduates (because of > tuition?) were more "valuable" to the University than grad students. There > were university-run forums that heard graduate student requests on a montlhy > basis, but I beleive these were mainly for show, since I did not see any > real changes come out of them while I was there or since and many of the > student commetns were rebuffed or dismissed at the forum itself, showing a > callousness and lack of understanding that was surprisiong to me at the > time. Complaints made directly to the administrators went nowhere, for > example, completely unused lab and office space remain locked and off limits > to students, while the number of students increased and the amount of > funding decreased. Even the dean of the colleage, the VP of academic affairs > and the president would often defend the corrupt practices of the "junior" > administrators rather than use their authority to promote fairness and right > action, as it applied to the graduate students who were conducting the > research that gave the Dept. the funding and visibility it wanted. As so > wisely suggested by others on the list, grad students organizing seems to be > the only way out of some of these situations. > > > > Additionally, upon telling some faculty members (both within and outside > this institution) about some of the long list of unfair, unethical practices > grad students were asked to endure, more than one responded, "so you mean > you are a grad student!" As if this was a normal part of some sort of > academic hazing practice, akin to joining a fraternity or sorority. I am > curious of what the list thinks of this phenomenon? > > > > That being said, I feel that I received a good education and was able to > conduct some important research during that time in spite of the problems. > So, while it was certainly not a perfect situation, it was not > insurmountable. > > > > Regards, > > > > Frank Marenghi > > > > > Date: Sat, 24 Apr 2010 09:01:41 -0400 > > From: aar...@ufl.edu > > Subject: Re: [ECOLOG-L] Grad students: what are they worth, and does > their work space effect their productivity? Input gratefully accepted > > To: ECOLOG-L@LISTSERV.UMD.EDU > > > > Hi Alisha, > > > > I'm going to piggy back on what Marty said. I've been working in > > the professional world for about 2 years (Museum administration), > > and about 9 months ago my supervisor and I were forced to give up > > our private office with a window and move to a group workspace > > with 9 total people and no window. Though we have no empirical > > evidence, tensions have increased and productivity and morale have > > decreased considerably in this time period. Feeling valued and > > supported by your department is a major part of any institution's > > draw, whether it be professional or academic. > > > > I recently decided to go back to school and get my master's, due > > to these (and other) poor conditions. I looked at several schools, > > and the one I ended up choosing supports its grad students wholly, > > through small office shares (2-5 students in each room), funding, > > general comradery and administrative support. There is no way I > > would ever select a school with such poor graduate student > > conditions as you describe. > > > > Even if you can't find any papers directly linking productivity > > and working conditions (which as Marty said, I'm sure you can if > > you reach outside of the academic setting), check out some > > papers/books on educational psychology and learning theory. I've > > come across several great documentations of learning environment > > and classroom culture, and how they directly relate to > > productivity within the classroom. > > > > Good luck!! > > Amanda > > > > > > > > > > Amanda Arner > > aar...@ufl.edu > > (727) 798-0642 > > > > "Those that know, do. Those that understand, teach." - Aristotle > > _________________________________________________________________ > The New Busy think 9 to 5 is a cute idea. Combine multiple calendars with > Hotmail. > > http://www.windowslive.com/campaign/thenewbusy?tile=multicalendar&ocid=PID28326::T:WLMTAGL:ON:WL:en-US:WM_HMP:042010_5 >
