My grad student on Wed. sent me an urgent panicky email with some of her "data" attached and her effort at analyzing it. She wanted me to look it over "when I got a chance." But because she was clearly freaking out, she was hoping it would be ASAP.
I was in meetings and didn't get her email until Wed evening. Told her I'd look it over Thursday and get back to her. By Thursday AM she had talked herself down from the ledge and figured things out for herself. But she wanted to meet with me on Friday. I told her I couldn't come to campus, but she could come to my house, which is about 12-15 minutes drive from campus. Then I put her on my schedule and structured my Friday around that.
By Friday mid-day (one hour before our meeting), she decided that she really didn't need to meet with me yet and what she should really do is keep working on her proposal.
She is a very nice person. And clearly anxious about the things that made many of us anxious in grad school. She thinks she is doing me a favor by canceling our Friday meeting. But really, I wish she wouldn't make the appointment in the first place.
I think what I will do is have her make most appointments during my office hours once school starts. She is free to cancel those, but she must call me to cancel. And any meeting outside of office hours she is obligated to keep, except under a real emergency.
Saturday, August 6, 2011
Thursday, August 4, 2011
I want that!
I met with a colleague to talk about the (small) center that I now run on campus. He also runs a center and we are members of each other's centers. We are also both Associate Professors and both have had similar grants and pubs. But we are in different social science departments.
But in his office he has two huge flat screens and an iPad! And I don't.
Plus, his office is brand new and has a beautiful view. Many of our colleagues are in offices that don't even have air conditioning!
There is such inequity in the distribution of resources on this campus. Honestly, I'm surprised there is not even more bitterness and complaining here. His department also gets enough graduate funding to fund all their graduate students to the max. But another and closely related dept only gets enough to fund at 60%.
(But I have to remember to ask him how he justified getting an iPad with his research money! I want one.)
But in his office he has two huge flat screens and an iPad! And I don't.
Plus, his office is brand new and has a beautiful view. Many of our colleagues are in offices that don't even have air conditioning!
There is such inequity in the distribution of resources on this campus. Honestly, I'm surprised there is not even more bitterness and complaining here. His department also gets enough graduate funding to fund all their graduate students to the max. But another and closely related dept only gets enough to fund at 60%.
(But I have to remember to ask him how he justified getting an iPad with his research money! I want one.)
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Bad Grad
I'm working closely with two students right now. One just graduated with her B.A., the other is a grad student finished with coursework and almost ABD.
One shows up to meetings a few minutes early. The other (the graduate student) shows up 10 minutes late. I can't believe anyone would make an appointment with someone to talk about their own work, and then be late.
One follows through on everything she says she will do, taking care not to promise more than she can realistically handle. The other has done less than half of what she said she'd do this summer--and this after a near-disastrous fieldwork stint last summer when only a fraction of her promised work was completed. Might I add that her fieldwork was funded by my own internal grant--$4k down the drain.
I've committed to being the grad student's adviser. But her faults are so obvious when compared to this incredibly mature (and smart) recent BA who has been sooooo easy to work with.
One shows up to meetings a few minutes early. The other (the graduate student) shows up 10 minutes late. I can't believe anyone would make an appointment with someone to talk about their own work, and then be late.
One follows through on everything she says she will do, taking care not to promise more than she can realistically handle. The other has done less than half of what she said she'd do this summer--and this after a near-disastrous fieldwork stint last summer when only a fraction of her promised work was completed. Might I add that her fieldwork was funded by my own internal grant--$4k down the drain.
I've committed to being the grad student's adviser. But her faults are so obvious when compared to this incredibly mature (and smart) recent BA who has been sooooo easy to work with.
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