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Student Leaders Report
Faculty
Advisors:
How They Can Make A Difference
In this month’s article I hope to accomplish two things. First, I would like to continue the topic from my last article by providing some depth to the discussion of the graduate student advising issue. Additionally, I intend to focus on how faculty can be involved in making a difference on student-identified issues. This will relate both to the particular issue of graduate student advising, as well as the general case of student educational issues.
I would be remiss if I failed to point out that for graduate students, cost-of-living issues continue to be of paramount importance. This manifests itself in the need for more safe and affordable housing close to campus, as well as more competitive stipend rates (see April's Graduate Student Newsletter (GSN) for analysis of the stipend rates at MIT) and affordable health and dental care. This case has been made for a number of years, and its efficacy is apparent to most members of the community – including the senior administration. Cost-of living issues, while pressing at the moment, are not the only critical need for graduate students. We are here to gain an advanced education and the academic environment is not always arranged to best meet our needs or even to recognize that graduate student needs are critical issues for MIT.
A graduate student’s relationship with his/her advisor has the potential to be the strongest educational component of that student’s time at MIT. I personally attribute much of my personal growth and professional maturity to the interaction I have had with my excellent thesis advisor. As a matter of fact, the Graduate Student Council has the honor of recognizing outstanding contributors in the arena of graduate student mentoring and advising by presenting the Perkins Award each spring at MIT’s Awards Convocation. Unfortunately, not everyone has such a fruitful relationship with their advisor and not only is it an amazing opportunity lost, but often it develops into a counterproductive experience where everyone loses.
The three main concerns that graduate students have expressed about advising at MIT are:
- Insufficient support structures;
- Abusive advisor-advisee relationships often linked to the power structure based on funding;
- Poor career advice for students considering alternative career tracks.
This information was first presented in an article written for the February GSN entitled "Advising Misadventures." The anecdotes in that article highlight concerns about funding, work ethics, and thesis signing and are merely a segment of the numerous concerns that we receive. As the article states: "Although there is support to help students through these problems, students do not usually have the confidence to report their problems. They can eventually end up in circumstances beyond hope. There is a great need to create a better atmosphere of support and understanding…." This could happen to any student and while formal mechanisms exist, they are often either impractical or insufficient. There are large disincentives for graduate students to talk about these issues and often they simply put their head down and trudge through hoping that they will be able to put this experience behind them once they get their degree. I hope that these are not the graduates that MIT strives to produce. We can do better and graduate students deserve better.
Now allow me to turn to the second goal of this article: How faculty can be of assistance. In the advising case, each individual faculty member can try to improve the mentoring relationship with the recognition that this is the critical part of the education that you provide to graduate students. Additionally, there is a commitment from the Graduate Student Office and the chair of the faculty to hold a seminar series in the fall for new students (roughly called "Grad School 101" ) intended to make students aware of what life at MIT will be like and the resources and techniques at their disposal. These are admirable measures, however I do not think they get to the core of the issue. I honestly believe that most, if not all, of the faculty actually put in their best effort on graduate student advising. Additional information is always an asset, so the seminar series is also attractive. However, the core issue lies in the situation when advisor-advisee personalities are mismatched or when the power relationship is being abused. Many times the individuals involved share much different perceptions of the situation and the extent of the problems may not be apparent to both parties. Where is the safety net in this situation? I believe one exists at MIT, however it is positioned far too low and the size of the mesh is far too coarse such that students fall a long way before finding help, and sometimes they slip right through.
So, again, how can the faculty be of assistance? In my opinion the solution lies in a simple, four-word sentence: Participate in the dialogue! At MIT, I believe that too much of the substantive discussion is missing when it comes time to make a decision or set policy. There is no dialogue on this campus on far too many topics, or if dialogue does exist it happens among small subsets of the faculty, students, and administration. Without a supporting dialogue, far too many of the decisions made are influenced by the personal background of the individuals involved and anecdotes (which may or may not be representative) replace the rich information that dialogue can yield.
How would I like to see this operationalized? First, when you see a topic or argument placed into the public discourse, respond. Whether you agree or disagree is not the important point. Rather, just expressing your opinion in response to an argument or statement can produce amazingly beneficial consequences. It seems that open discussion on non-research related issues at MIT is taboo – that is unhealthy. I have been president of the Graduate Student Council for the past year and I have yet to hear from a faculty member, either in a supporting manner or telling me that I am off my rocker. For exactly that reason, I approached the Faculty Newsletter to bring the discussion to you. Still, the silence is deafening.
I would like to believe the faculty agrees with all of the assertions I made about housing, advising, and career needs, but I am hardly so naïve. Don’t go easy on student leaders. We need your thoughts and criticisms to gain a better understanding and develop a better solution. The only way that happens is if you, the faculty, actually respond when we put issues into play. When you read The Tech, take the time to send a letter to the editor or even write an editorial. Speak with your research group about the issues and find out what students in your department think while also expressing your opinions. The single most useful thing that the faculty can do for graduate students is to participate in the dialogue.
We eagerly look forward to your thoughts and comments!
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