Two groups that should have good information about this are the Coalition of Graduate Employee Unions (http://www.cgeu.org/) and the Alliance of Graduate Employee Locals (http://archive.aft.org/higher_ed/grademp/about.html; there's also a Facebook group with contact info for current officers).
In terms of general support for the importance of graduate students to universities, university Presidents will often make useful comments in their state of the university addresses (I know that a recent Oregon State University address includes such comments, and I believe that the current president of the University of Oregon was amazingly explicit about the importance of graduate students at his former university -- contacting the Graduate Teaching Fellows Federation organizer (http://gtff.net/) would be a good way to get those comments). And, if you want more support from non-grads, the American Federation of Teachers is always interested in assisting more groups to organize into unions and prevent situations like this from occurring without employee input. Angela J Brandt Ph.D. Candidate, Oregon State University Secretary-Treasurer, Coalition of Graduate Employees Vice President at Large, American Federation of Teachers - Oregon > Date: Fri, 23 Apr 2010 08:20:43 +0100 > From: [email protected] > Subject: Re: [ECOLOG-L] Grad students: what are they worth, and does their > work space effect their productivity? Input gratefully accepted > To: [email protected] > > Hi, > > Definitely look into unions (student and work) as there is certain > conditions which should be meet. However I was surprised to arrive at > my university (XXXXXX) and find a lot of students in a prefab building > which had many problems, heating, foxes and leaking rooms which went > onto computers a couple of times! I dont have to work under these > conditions thanks to a good funding grant but others do. > > People put by with things because that is the way they are. Definitely > fight to stop them changing things to poorer conditions. I am sure > there are studies on light conditions and depression in medical > journals. I do find it interesting that students and postdoc's are > often treated like they are not employed by a university and therefore > do not get the same standard of conditions. > > Good topic, > Rebecca > PS. If you had lots of people including lectures complaining formally > ie. petition it might help > > > > On Fri, Apr 23, 2010 at 3:11 AM, Marty Pfeiffer <[email protected]> wrote: > > The responses so far have primarily focused on the value of grad students > > and not on the impact that workspace has on their productivity. > > > > My own experience as a grad student focused on productivity has been as > > follows. I have appreciated the workspace offered to me on campus and the > > incredible collegiality that I've experienced when taking advantage of that > > workspace. However, there is a cost associated with the opportunity for > > collaboration. And that is the cost of interruptions to "thinking" time. > > And my experience has been that I need lots of thinking time to tease out > > and communicate the main messages buried in my field data. > > > > I have the "benefit" of a home office and self-funding of my graduate > > studies, so I have taken full advantage of the flexibility to say "no > > thanks, I'm working from home today." Thus my collaborations have been > > rifle shots and not shotgun blasts. I meet with people when there is a > > specific issue that benefits one or the both of us. As a result, I am on > > target to complete my research project about 15 months from the date it was > > started. This is a Master's project and undoubtedly the timelines are > > longer for PhDs. But my adviser has repeatedly expressed surprise at the > > speed with which I have progressed. I, in turn, ascribe it to a bit of > > sacrifice in collegiality and a whole lot more focus on getting the work > > done (by escaping to private thinking space). > > > > As others have said, this is not a scientific position, but a sample of > > one. I'm a people-lover, but let's face it, we're a social animal and that > > fact will most assuredly show itself when we're thrown together in a big > > room. > > > > Marty > > > > P.S. There is no doubt that this is a question that transcends graduate > > students. I worked for a long time in the business world, and I am quite > > sure that employee productivity has been studied up, down, and sideways, > > including organization of the office work environment. If you look to the > > business world, I can assure you there will be lots of studies on this > > topic. Best of luck to you. > > > > -- > > Martin J Pfeiffer > > University of Wisconsin > > Nelson Institute > > [email protected] > > (608) 669-6619 > > _________________________________________________________________ Hotmail is redefining busy with tools for the New Busy. Get more from your inbox. http://www.windowslive.com/campaign/thenewbusy?ocid=PID28326::T:WLMTAGL:ON:WL:en-US:WM_HMP:042010_2
