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Roles
Student and faculty
| Department |
Institute | Appointments to teaching and research staffs
Student and faculty
Each graduate student bears a responsibility for respect and
maturity in his or her behavior towards the Institute and
members of the Institute community. Ideally this respect will
be manifested by contributions to the MIT community beyond
his or her research. Graduate students form a large part of
the MIT community. Their involvement can have a significant
influence on the Institute.
Establishing and maintaining a proper relationship
between faculty and graduate student are fundamental to the
Institute's success. This relationship should be founded on
mutual respect and open communication. Responsibility
for the success of the relationship rests with both graduate
students and faculty members.
Frequent and open communication between graduate student
and faculty is important for many reasons. It provides the
graduate student an opportunity for evaluation of his or her
work. It improves the efficiency of research through discussion
of important issues. It prevents conflicts that may result
when a faculty member or student is unaware of or unwilling
to discuss a potential problem. Graduate students and faculty,
therefore, should make specific plans to have regular contact. Both parties bear responsibility to realize those plans.
To avoid unnecessary surprises, graduate students and faculty
have a responsibility to inform each other as soon as they
have knowledge of a possible change of their status. Faculty
members should inform graduate students promptly of matters
that affect their graduate status. Graduate students should
provide reasonable notice to their advisors if they intend
to leave or change advisors; have a medical or personal issue that interferes with study and research; or are experiencing other academic or life issues that an advisor might reasonably need to know about. When circumstances require leaving a research project,
graduate students should provide a summary of their work so
that any delay associated with continuation of the project
is minimized.
Graduate students must be notified of subject requirements,
including grading criteria and procedures, at the beginning
of each subject. Graduate students share with the faculty
the responsibility for securing, maintaining, and protecting
the integrity of grades, scholarship, and research.
The graduate student/faculty relationship should be free
of personal exploitation and harassment, in accordance with
MIT Policies and Procedures, Section
9.5. Both faculty and graduate students should avoid personal
or professional relationships which conflict with their respective
roles and duties at MIT, particularly those which may jeopardize
the relationship between advisor and student. (See also MIT
Policies and Procedures, Section
4.4, on conflict of interest.)
Graduate students should receive recognition for scholarly
assistance to faculty, and vice versa.
Graduate students should be encouraged to participate in
extra-academic activities and to recognize the value of such
activities for their intellectual and professional development. It is appropriate for faculty to encourage their students to acheive a reasonable balance between their academic and extra-academic lives.
Department
Each department should inform all incoming graduate students
of program requirements and procedures. Necessary skills and
prerequisites should be clearly stated, both in admissions
and recruitment literature.
In order to provide graduate students with the necessary
information to plan their work, each department should ensure
that their students have ready access to at least the following
information:
- Degree requirements
- Academic deadlines
- Time limits for seeking advanced degrees
- Departmental procedures for general and/or qualifying
exams
- Guidelines for resolving concerns or conflicts within
the department
- Individuals available for consultation regarding student
issues and problems
- Criteria for termination or withdrawal of a graduate student
- Rules governing teaching assistant and research assistant
appointments and fellowships
If a department is considering terminating a graduate student,
that student should be made aware at an early stage of the reasons for such
consideration, and should be notified in
writing when formal consideration of termination is initiated.
Students who believe for any reason that they have been treated
improperly are encouraged to raise their concerns. When possible,
concerns relating to academic or work situations should be
raised directly with the professors, instructors, advisors,
work supervisors, or other students involved. If the problem
remains unresolved or if direct discussion is not possible,
the student should attempt to follow the guidelines or procedures
available within his or her department. If resolution or discussion
within the department is not possible, the student is encouraged
to seek assistance from Institute offices or individuals responsible
for conflict management. At any time a student may request
that discussions be confidential. Individuals will not be
reprimanded or discriminated against for voicing a concern.
Graduate students should be able to provide opinion on departmental
policies affecting them. To this end, each departmental committee
that sets graduate student policy should either have graduate
student representatives or provide a mechanism for graduate
student participation.
Institute
The Institute should provide direction and leadership on policies
concerning graduate students, but graduate students should be
able to provide opinion on Institute policies affecting them.
Institute committees which set graduate student policy should
either have graduate student representatives or provide a mechanism
for graduate student participation in relevant decisions.
A student wishing to discuss a concern or to present a grievance
may seek assistance from the following Institute offices:
Office of the Dean for Graduate Education; Office of the Dean for Student Life;
and from the office of the Ombudspersons.
Discussions shall remain confidential if the student so requests.
Individuals will not be reprimanded or discriminated against
for initiating an inquiry or complaint. If a satisfactory
solution is not forthcoming, the student should follow the
grievance procedure described in MIT Policies and Procedures,
Section 9.6,
whereby a graduate student may request a formal inquiry concerning
his or her complaint or grievance. A formal inquiry may be
initiated through any of the above offices at the student's
choice. Other offices are available to provide assistance
to students, including the Medical Department, Campus Police,
religious counselors, counseling deans, and housemasters.
Appointments to teaching and research staffs
Teaching assistants and students designated Instructor-G help
faculty members in grading, classroom and laboratory instruction,
preparing apparatus or material for demonstrations, and conducting
tutorials and discussion sections. Research assistants contribute
to an Institute research program. In addition, some graduate
students are supported by MIT administered fellowships, but also participate in research and teaching.
The Institute continues to develop guidelines and provides current
information covering, but not limited to: resolution of concerns
and grievances; stipends; notification of renewal of funding;
and tax status of stipends by category of support. For an overview of rights and responsibilties for teaching assistants, refer to the brochure TAs@MIT.
The monthly stipend recommended by the Academic Council for
each assistantship category should be publicly announced in
Institute publications as soon as the decision is made.
A department should notify a graduate student of any unexpected
or unusual change in his or her funding status as soon as
the change is known, particularly if funding might be terminated.
The student should be notified of the type and amount of funding
in question, and one of the following:
- That the funding will not be renewed for the following
term;
- That the funding will be renewed if the student meets
certain specified conditions; or
- That the funding will be renewed if certain external conditions,
such as contract funding, will be met.
If a fellowship or assistantship is not to be renewed, the
reasons should be given.
All assistants are entitled to a clear description, from
their faculty supervisor, of their responsibilities when they
begin an assistantship, including a
statement of expected workload. Full time teaching assistants
should not be expected to do research unrelated to their theses,
and full time research assistants should not be expected to
assume substantial teaching duties. Thus, faculty should assign
assistantship responsibilities so that students have time
to study and prepare for their courses.
See also RA/TA appointments.
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