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Faculty-Student Relationships

Faculty-Student Relationships

Faculty-Student Relationships:
Promoting Mutual Accountability

On October 25 1999, the Graduate School hosted its fifth annual faculty workshop at the Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel. The workshop, titled “Faculty-Student Relationships: Promoting Mutual Accountability” was intended to enhance the effectiveness of student mentoring by graduate faculty and administrators at Penn State. A panel presentation and group discussions were part of the program, along with a keynote address delivered by Dr. Karen Klomparens, assistant provost of Graduate Education at Michigan State University.

Dr. Klomparens’ talk focused on the practice of interest-based negotiation skills to be used in setting expectations and resolving conflicts between faculty and graduate students. To demonstrate, Dr. Klomparens showed a video vignette titled “Restacking the Committee” and led the audience in an exercise to apply these negotiation skills. The exercise included identifying the issues in the situation, the parties involved, the individual interests, and the range of possible options for resolution.

Following the exercise, Dr. Klomparens discussed ways of setting expectations, such as improving graduate student handbooks, holding regular meeting, sharing information, and setting policies. She also noted that it is important to solve problems early on when more options are available.

Presentations and group discussions covered a variety of issues related to faculty/student relationships, including:

During the break out sessions, each group was given a case scenerio and was asked to provide a resolution based on their personal experiences and on information presented by the keynote speaker and panelists. Following are summaries of these discussions.

Dissertation Proposal A Contract?

A student devotes three years of research to a project. She/he has produced several papers with her/his advisor. The student then submits a proposal for a doctoral dissertation on this research to the advisory committee, which is approved. Shortly after, the advisor then stops the project and directs the student to pursue a new and somewhat risky line of research. This new direction essentially requires the student to start her/his dissertation work over. If the student does not comply, she/he risks losing funding and the supportive recommendation of the advisor. If she/he does comply, this will delay graduation considerably.

Solutions : Solve the problem at the department level; determine whether a proposal is a contract (if so, advisor may not be able to suggest such a change); choose a new advisor; seek funding to continue the research.

Grade Grievances

Student and professor are in dispute over course requirements. Twothirds of the way into the semester, the professor assigns an additional paper, which will count toward 40 percent of the course grade. The student planned her/his workload and has no time to do an adequate job on the paper. The student ends up with a C in the course, which may jeopardize continuation in the graduate school program.

Solutions : Clearly state course objectives and evaluation criteria in syllabus; set realistic goals/workload for the class; faculty should express concern for students and be approachable; a deferred grade may be given to the student.

Find Another Advisor

The doctoral student has successfully passed comprehensive exams, all course work, and has three chapters of a dissertation proposal completed but has not yet defended the proposal. The advisor says he/she can no longer work with this student and tells the student to find another advisor. The student asks other faculty members but cannot find another advisor. The advisor feels that the student doesn’t write well enough and is not bright enough, the work will take too much time, and the area chosen by the student is interesting.

Solutions : Ask advisor why; look for common ground and avenues of reconciliation; see graduate officer or department head; if possible, student should select advisor carefully by asking questions to other students and obtaining information about placement records of former students; set expectations for advisor and mentors at department and program levels; promote communication on a regular basis between student and advisor, to monitor progress and provide constructive feedback.

Slow Turn Around Time

The student is completing a master’s thesis and is on the job market. He/she is making good progress and is praised by the advisory committee. The student applies for a doctoral program and a fellowship from another university and asks his/her advisor to write a letter of recommendation. The advisor says she/he will do it, but never does. The student is told that his/her credentials would make them a “shoein” for the fellowship, but ends up not receiving this award because the application file was incomplete.

Solutions : Advisor should have informed the student when the request was made if he/she did not wish to write a letter of recommendation or felt that he/she could not write a strong letter; advisor could have asked the student to check back with him/her to be certain that the letter had been sent; it was in the student’s best interest to check back with the advisor to be certain that the letter had been written and sent; graduate students should be aware of such differences in attitude and response and to act accordingly. It is better to have a thoughtfully written letter from a junior faculty member than a perfunctory letter from a senior member, even one who is nationally or internationally known.

I’m Not On Contract

The student is working on their doctoral dissertation and plans to have the two final chapters completed in early May. A prospective employer offers the student a job contingent upon their receiving the Ph.D. When the student talks with the advisor about reading chapters and setting up a committee meeting over the summer, the advisor says, “I am not on contract from May 15 to August 15, so I will not read your chapter or set up any meetings during this time.”

Solutions : The student should try to finish up before May 15; advisor should prioritize and otherwise facilitate student progress in order to finish quickly; student can negotiate delayed start with employer; advisor can intercede with employer on behalf of student; summer policies should be established by department or University.

Who Should be Granted Authorship on Publications?

A Ph.D. student is in the final year of his/her research program and is supervised by a research advisor, who is an assistant professor. The advisor will soon be considered for promotion and tenure. The student has conducted a welldesigned, fouryear dissertation project, which was developed independently, but was given careful scrutiny and input by the research advisor.

In addition, the student was hired during the summer to collect data, analyze data, and provide a rough draft of the results on an auxiliary project related to but not directly part of the student’s dissertation project. The student feels that he/she should be senior author or sole author on all publications resulting from these two studies. The advisor has other ideas regarding authorship, especially since he provided funding for both projects and had some level of input on the design. The advisor also needs to get a “piece of the pie” because promotion and tenure decisions are rapidly approaching and additional publications would enhance the advisor’s dossier.

Solutions : It was recognized that the described scenario is highly dependent on the discipline. There are different cultural norms among departments. Policies, and therefore, possible solutions vary accordingly. Suggestions included: establishing departmental policies and procedures to address authorship issues; clearly state and talk openly about needs for first-authorship on a paper; if appropriate the department head, or another appropriate member of the department, should get involved in mediating a dispute of this kind.