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Volunteered to help rude prof - now what?


iphi

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A few weeks back I volunteered to work on a research project (actually, 3) with a professor who is in my department but not my concentration. He has no money to offer, so the incentive for me comes from the potential for publications. Because he has no funding, he has literally no one to help him. I am his only volunteer.

 

He asked me how much time I could devote, and because I was a stupid and idealistic first year at the beginning of my semester I tentatively said 8-10 hours/week. He agreed and said that anything less than that was "not worth it" that 10 hours/week is the minimum amount of time I could devote. Fast forward a few weeks and my classes, other research team commitments (actually in my area of study) and my assistantship are all heating up. I don't devote much time to this prof (we'll call him Prof X)'s research. I email him with a question about something and he responds snippily "what about the other things I asked you to do?" I ask to meet, I hear no response.

 

This weekend I receive an email from Prof X asking me to give a presentation to prospective research participants this Wednesday. I reply that I am willing, and I hear nothing from him. Today (Wednesday) I get an email saying "here are the details of the presentation you will make tonight" and just kind of generally orders me around instead of asking me if I am willing to do all this. He also wanted to meet within the hour of sending me the email, when I was not even on-campus. When I responded he ordered me to review the materials for tonight.

 

I feel like Prof X is being a little overbearing, and not exactly nice, especially considering I am the only one helping him. I know I can't quit (although I do sort of want to). How do I deal with this nicely but firmly? What are my options? Honestly his stuff is low on my list of priorities and just adding stress, especially considering the way he treats me. Advice?

Edited by iphi
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I would agree that for research projects, anything you can't devote at least 10 hrs/week to is not worth your time.

 

I would also agree that I personally would not like to work with someone with this attitude. It sounds a lot like there is some mismatch between what the prof expects of you and what you are able to do and the prof might not realise all the other commitments you have. 

 

If you are not putting the 8-10 hours a week you said you would, then I think it's time to re-evaluate. I'm not saying it's your fault for not working enough--after all, it's easy for grad students to accidentally over-commit ourselves! 

 

Why do you say that you can't quit? If I was in your situation, I might feel that classes and 2 other (more interesting?) research projects are a better use of my time. What's the benefit for you to stay on this project, and is it worth the additional stress and time away from your other projects? It is hard, but sometimes you have to cut your losses and walk away from a project that might lead to a publication but isn't worth the "opportunity cost". This recently happened to one of my side projects and I don't regret it at all! 

 

If you do want to stay then I think you have to be honest with Prof X and give him a real number of how many hours you can realistically work on his project. Then you and him both have to decide if that number is high enough for it to be worth continuing the project. Moving forward, whatever number you set, you should stick to it. Don't work less but also don't let yourself work more and add more stress while taking your time away from other projects. Other projects that are both more relevant and actually provide funding maybe!

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I would agree that for research projects, anything you can't devote at least 10 hrs/week to is not worth your time.

 

I would also agree that I personally would not like to work with someone with this attitude. It sounds a lot like there is some mismatch between what the prof expects of you and what you are able to do and the prof might not realise all the other commitments you have. 

 

If you are not putting the 8-10 hours a week you said you would, then I think it's time to re-evaluate. I'm not saying it's your fault for not working enough--after all, it's easy for grad students to accidentally over-commit ourselves! 

 

Why do you say that you can't quit? If I was in your situation, I might feel that classes and 2 other (more interesting?) research projects are a better use of my time. What's the benefit for you to stay on this project, and is it worth the additional stress and time away from your other projects? It is hard, but sometimes you have to cut your losses and walk away from a project that might lead to a publication but isn't worth the "opportunity cost". This recently happened to one of my side projects and I don't regret it at all! 

 

If you do want to stay then I think you have to be honest with Prof X and give him a real number of how many hours you can realistically work on his project. Then you and him both have to decide if that number is high enough for it to be worth continuing the project. Moving forward, whatever number you set, you should stick to it. Don't work less but also don't let yourself work more and add more stress while taking your time away from other projects. Other projects that are both more relevant and actually provide funding maybe!

 

Thanks, I definitely realize that it was my fault for over-committing, but also don't think that I deserve to be treated like this either.

I feel like I can't quit because it would look bad (although so does not doing the work, I know). I think you're right, I may have to explain things to him. I thought that Prof X would be grateful for any work since he has no one else, but that doesn't seem to be the case.

 

I also have plenty of funding, so I am all set for that.

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Thanks, I definitely realize that it was my fault for over-committing, but also don't think that I deserve to be treated like this either.

I feel like I can't quit because it would look bad (although so does not doing the work, I know). I think you're right, I may have to explain things to him. I thought that Prof X would be grateful for any work since he has no one else, but that doesn't seem to be the case.

 

I also have plenty of funding, so I am all set for that.

 

I dont think that quitting would make you look bad to the department in general. This one professor might hold some resentment but it sounds like you dont see yourself wanting to work with him again in the future anyway. People over committ themselves all the time and you did so because you were trying to help him out. I think that it would be fine to tell him that you have been trying your best to keep up but that realistically the time just isnt there. It doesnt sound to me like this project is worth the amount of stress that it is causing you.

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I don't think it would look bad at all. You said you just started a few weeks ago. You sound very unhappy with this project and it sounds to me like there are no benefits at all to staying (sure, you can publish the results, but you can also spend that time on another project or one of your current projects and publish too). The only reason, in my opinion, to stay is if you feel the last few weeks is not representative of what you think working with Prof X would be like and that you want to give it more time before you make a decision.

 

In academia (at least in my field), projects go flat all the time. The project I just dropped over the summer was something I had been working on for 2 years (not full time). It really sucked for both the professor and for me to not get a publication out of it, but we finally realised that the remaining amount of effort required to get to publication would not be a good use of either of our time--we would both benefit so much more if we spent those X hours per week on different projects.

 

Don't get stuck on a crappy project with a supervisor that does not match your work style. I think in my example above, both my supervisor and I would probably be happier if we recognized that the project wasn't going to work out a long time ago.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I would strongly recommend leaving this guy in the dust. One publication on a side topic (relative to your dissertation) is not worth dealing with his bad attitude. I also wouldn't worry too much about offending him, given the way he treats his volunteers. Who cares if he doesn't like you afterwards? You don't like working with him anyway.

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