Student and faculty | Department | Institute | Appointments to teaching and research staffs
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 funding or 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.
While it is possible to change one's advisor, this may be an easy process or a delicate one, depending on the progress made by the student toward his or her degree. The student should discuss options with a graduate administrator, the departmental graduate officer, a counseling dean, an ombudsperson, or with a dean in the ODGE.
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.
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:
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.
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.
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:
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.