Grad Employee Grievances

The Penn State Coalition of Graduate Employees' blog is dedicated to sharing grievances related to our working conditions. Please submit your stories here, or send an email to [email protected] with "Blog" as the subject. Submissions will be posted anonymously.

[pennstatecge-blog]

How to deal with sexual harassment from an academic adviser

I was a victim of sexual harassment by my research adviser in my 4th year of my PhD. The inappropriate behavior culminated in an extremely uncomfortable situation in my office. I realized I needed to do something when I could no longer work comfortably at my desk.

The day the incident happened I wrote everything down as best as I could remember. Every single inappropriate comment from previous interactions I recorded. It’s important to take as many notes as possible about what occurred, this is critical is getting things resolved quickly and smoothly. I then reported the incident to a female professor who advised me to talk to the Sexual Harassment Adviser for the college. She went on to make a report to the Office of Affirmative Action. This is the office that handles sexual harassment incidents. I scheduled a meeting with the Vice Provost of Affirmative Action and we decided on a path forward. I was moved to a new office (away from the perpetrator), I had to revise my dissertation committee, and I now have a research assistantship from a contingency fund from the college that caters to graduate students in situations like this (since I no longer work with that “adviser” I no longer had research funding from his grant). In case you didn’t know, the college has a fund under Title IX to help victims.

It was very difficult but I was able to pull the rest of my research together and continue on my path to getting my PhD. It still continues to be difficult but I’m glad I’m no longer in such a terrible situation. You don’t have to put up with sexual harassment as a graduate student. You will feel lost, like your world has just come falling down, but that feeling will pass. There is a way out and it’s the legal responsibility of the university to help students who find themselves in this situation. But you have to be strong. You have to report cases and demand they get you out of a toxic work environment and support you as you finish your degree. I received a lot of support from the professors and administrators I reported my situation to, and they were all proud of me for reporting this. There are people on this campus who will help you. Be strong. 

[pennstatecge-blog]

The Culture of Intimidation and Silence

I'm too afraid to tell my story. My advisor verbally harasses all of us in his research group, and since his letters control whether or not we get a job, we all stay silent. Even though I'm graduating soon, I'm afraid if I tell my story he'll figure out that it was me and punish the rest of my research group.   

[pennstatecge-blog]

Trying to get a degree without getting deported

International students coming to Penn State need two immigration documents to enter and to stay in the United States: the F-1 student visa, issued by the State Department, and a 3-page paper document called I-20, issued by the school and the Department of Homeland Security. The I-20 contains information about the school and degree program's start and end dates. In my 4 years at Penn State, I had to write the The Directorate of International Student and Scholar Advising (DISSA) office nervous emails 3 times because they were confused over paperwork. I wrote the first email in the summer of 2014. I got an "URGENT" email from DISSA saying that they are shortening my I-20 because I was graduating; my I-20 still had 3 more years before it reached the stated program end date. It took the entire summer for DISSA to fix it because the first DISSA employee I talked to simply forgot to fix the record. I had to write my second email asking them exactly the same thing I had asked them 3 months before.

 I wrote the third email just a week ago. International students were issued a new form of I-20s in April 2016. While going through passport control in June 2016, the control officer said that the school did not update my record, so I had to go through the secondary check so that they could find one. I spent an hour there, almost missing my connecting flight. As soon as I came back to State College, another “URGENT” email from DISSA was in my email inbox, saying that they are shortening my I-20 due to graduation (I am still one full year away from the stated program end date). I sent another email, inquiring about both of what happened in the airport and I-20 shortening. DISSA replied that they will not be shortening my I-20; the email sent out was for people graduating only, which was very different from what I got. The original email I received had the subject line of "URGENT: I-20 will be shortened due to graduation" and it stated: "I am writing you because iStart has received information that you have recently completed an academic program at Penn State." As an international student, these kinds of irregularities and errors in my immigration status make me very nervous, since I want to finish my program and get a degree without fear of a mistake resulting in deportation.

[pennstatecge-blog]

Getting a 20th of what you give

They say teachers are the most important school-based determinant of student achievement. Not only do teachers pass on knowledge to their students, but teachers also serve as role models who inspire and encourage students to strive for greatness, live to the fullest potential, and do good in society. I enrolled in a Ph.D. program at Penn State because I wanted to be an educator that does all those positive things listed above. Throughout graduate school, I have worried about passing the qualifying exams. I have worried about getting my works published. I have worried about finding a tenure-track position once I graduate. What never really concerned me was my paychecks. Being a graduate student, I obviously wasn't paid as well as some of my other friends who have gone on to become medical doctors, lawyers, financial analysts, etc. However, I was very aware of the financial limitations of being a graduate student and I carefully calculated every penny I spent so I would not be overwhelmed with those limitations. While I was able to get by for the most part, even my careful budgeting wasn’t enough when I became an instructor for a summer course that was cross-listed in two departments.

I was excited about the opportunity to teach, again, for the reasons listed above, but I certainly was not excited about the $2,500 (before taxes) I received for the summer that I taught. I taught for five days a week, an hour and 15 minutes each day, for six consecutive weeks. Being a responsible teacher, I devoted myself fully to the six weeks that I taught, which meant I spent far beyond an hour and 15 minutes every day on teaching. Preparing PowerPoint slides, lectures, group activities, discussion questions, practice quizzes, and exams easily took eight hours a day. Since I was on a $2,500 stipend, I only received $1,667 (again, before taxes) for one month. Given that the average rent is close to $1,000 a month, I didn't have much money left for other basic needs. It was the first time in my five years in the graduate program that I felt abandoned and exploited by my department. I had roughly 18 students in my class. Each student had to pay $2,821 for my three credit course, which adds up to the $50,778 that the University would receive in tuition from 18 students. Yet, my stipend was only 5% of the total tuition the University received from the students for this course. Where did the rest of the money go? Yes, the University had to pay for infrastructure, classroom equipment, staff, etc., which is all understandable, but were my efforts as an instructor really only worth 5% of the tuition paid by the 18 students? 

I raise this issue because perhaps like some students, I thought budgeting carefully and not ordering a beer when I went out would help me through graduate school without going into debt. But it shouldn't be this way, particularly when the University receives so much money from students' tuition. Graduate employees, particularly graduate instructors, at Penn State are not alone. There are thousands of other graduate instructors, adjunct professors, and non-tenure track professors who struggle as underpaid educators. How could the University expect me to devote myself to educating undergrads when I have to worry about putting food on my table? Or perhaps Penn State is sending a message to its undergraduate students and parents that its main focus is not on providing the most excellent education? Because if the administrators really care about undergraduate education, why would they pay their graduate instructors less than 5% of the total tuition received for a course with 18 students?

[pennstatecge-blog]

Why we need a labor contract

Last May, our department head had to step down because of some personal issues. Many of the changes he implemented during his headship had to be revised. For example, Ph.D. students all received five years of funding, but also an unofficial sixth year stipend. Accordingly, we grad student-employees planned our graduate career trajectories around this schedule. Anyway, the former head received some pressure from the College, and had to implement some new requirements in order for students to receive their sixth year. This included turning the sixth-year into a postdoc appointment if you finished and defended your dissertation during the summer before. So there was some grumbling, and then he stepped down as head, and then new person comes up as the new head. Everyone assumes they would keep these changes until last November, when the new director of graduate studies said: Okay, here are some adjustments, in the future, you need to have your whole dissertation ready by the end of the first semester of your fifth year in order to get that postdoc. For those of you who are already in the fifth year, we’ll make some slight adjustments, like you can still finish by the end of your fifth year. Oh, and we also need you to apply for this new system we told you about just ten days before its deadline.

How can the faculty change things every meeting, without involving the grad students even minimally? I think this is why we ultimately need a labor contract that prevents our stipends from arbitrarily being changed with little notice, and with no input by those who are affected.

[pennstatecge-blog]

(Un)welcome to Penn State International Students!

I know I echo a lot of international grad students when I say that the resources allocated to The Directorate of International Student and Scholar Advising (DISSA) and to helping us navigate the very confusing world of American visas, health insurance, work authorization, etc. are sorely lacking. One of the worst experiences I had concerned my stipend as soon as I arrived. I arrived in State College August 1st to begin my PhD because I was assured that would be enough time to complete my paperwork and attend mandatory international grad student orientation in order to be paid August 31st. Not what happened. I arrived, complied with every deadline and every requirement asked of me, and was still told that it would be impossible for my paperwork to be processed in time for payroll. This was for no other reason than they scheduled things incorrectly and just didn’t have “time” to get to it. DISSA blamed HR, HR blamed DISSA, and my poor department tried to sort it out on my behalf but couldn’t. That means I made an international move and didn’t see a single cent in income for 60 days. After paying first and last month’s rent, damage deposits, deposits on all utilities and my cellphone (since I have no US credit history!), it was a miracle I could afford to buy my books and feed myself for my first two months at Penn State. I felt completely abandoned and unwelcome by the administration and everyone I dealt with trying to explain my situation (except for my department) was utterly cold and uncaring. Not a great start to my life at Penn State.