HermoineG

I started learning STATA yesterday and I already feel so comfortable with it I love STATA!

Yes, it does constitute as harassment. But at this point, I just want to be done with my interactions with the profs. I'm just going to work and get out. I am not meeting him again!;)

Hi everyone, Really really appreciate you all taking time and giving me suggestions. Here is an update: 1. I met with the professor - the meeting did not go well obviously. He wasn't angry but visibly upset. I started with - I cannot work all next quarter.. I want to work until January end, because my health.. and then I started telling him my health issues. He did not let me finish my thought. He just cut me off and said "yeah okay, I understand. But what do I do now? What do I do with your students?" I had no response to that. He basically emphasized that this is a big inconvenience to him but he 'understands and will work with me to make sure my health is not compromised'. I said I want to work until January end and then start my 6 week paid leave so that I get paid for the quarter. He said 'it's not going to be possible. And no'. He asked me to stop working after this quarter and not teach at all in January. He ended things on semi-positive note "you can apply again next year if you are not planning to get pregnant again". I don't know if he was kidding or being mean! 2. I met with the university's teaching program coordinator. She was extremely helpful and understanding. She let me know my rights again. I told her about my conversation with the professor. She said you should not go on leave to make things easier for the professor and the class. Start your leave when you want to start. Do not go on a guilt-trip. She basically told me to tell the professor - no, but I am going to continue working until Jan end and not quitting like you suggested. She said "what to do once you go on leave is our problems. It is not your problem and you should not get financially penalized for being pregnant." She will let the professor know about what we talked during the meeting and she said she will send him an email telling him that the student will need to decide her leave schedule. The dept will have to worry about the administrative things. She said "prof might not know about this. Men generally dont know". okayyy... So now I have about a month to decide whether I want to do what I initially planned - work until January. I am legally allowed to. I have rights, thanks to my amazing TA union. But professor won't like it one bit. So there could be some hostility there. But I am going to think it through and decide what's best - financially, physically and for my mental health. I of course want to earn as much as I can. But at least I have about a month to decide. If I have learned anything at all from this experience - know your rights. Talk to people by reaching out. I would have never known about my options if I would not have reached out to the TA union. And if I would have just met with the professor - I would not even have received paid leave. Because that's what he had told me "I cannot pay you since you wont be working". I am just glad I have at least 2 people by my side if professor decides that he doesn't like me anymore because I am too much of a hassle. I understand - I could be a hassle for him, but I really cannot help it. Also, it is easy to advocate for others, but it is tough to advocate for yourself. Anyways, thanks everyone again! Really appreciate your time.

Thank you for these points! I did exactly this. I did go higher up and got myself informed as much as possible.

Yes, we discussed this possibility. And he said there is a risk that he will call you a bad TA (unrelated to pregnancy leave) but if we have students reviews and other faculty reviews, we should be able to fight it. I hope it doesnt come to that. Yes, my union rep offered to accompany me. But I declined. I will talk to the professor and this time I wont be pressured to commit to something I cannot physically do. Thank you so much for some really good points. You sound a lot like the union rep I met with about this issue. I am so glad that I met the union rep because I wasn't aware of my options and I thought I would be breaking the contract. @ everyone - thank you so much for your thoughtful responses. It is very helpful to know that I am not totally in the wrong. I tend to please my professors (guilty of that) and this seems like a pretty big deal to me. I have been thinking about this issue for past couple of weeks and finally decided to act on it and have a meeting with my TA rep. I will meet this professor this week and update you all about what happens. I hope he does not make it difficult for me. But even if he does, I am not going to be able to help it.

Yes, the professor is in tangential field and he cannot affect my career unless he decides to give me a bad rep if at all any of my future employers contact him. But I also have people who can give me glowing reviews. Completely agree. That is really progressive. Yes, I am working with two different doctors on this issue. They think the problem will persist during pregnancy but wont be an issue after that.

I am mostly concerned that he will give me a really bad employment review that will hinder my ability to find TA-ships on campus after that. I want to advocate for myself but also want to make sure my advocacy does not annoy the professor.

Hi all, Here is my situation: I do not have funding for my PhD program. The way my program works - you find your own funding. It is a big school and I have never had any trouble finding funds, so I am okay so far. I mostly find TA positions as it pays more than research positions. 1. I was selected to be a TA for a whole year-class (same students for 3 quarters) back in May 2017. 2. I found out I am pregnant and due in March (2018) in July 2017 3. I immediately contacted the prof and offered to back out since he really wants someone to be there for the whole year. He made it very clear during the interview that his priority is his students and he doesn't care about TA's personal problems. He actually said and I quote " if you accept this offer, I own you for a year. If you decide to leave in between I will put it on your employment record that you went back on your contract". I obviously had no reason to suspect that I would be going back on my contract - I was thrilled to be employed for a year. 4. When I offered to back out in July, the professor had almost 2 months to find another TA - but he said "do it as long as you can and stop when you go into that delivery room". He also said "I am glad you didnt say you cannot do it because that would have been really bad". 5. I said I can do 2 quarters but my baby is due at the end of second quarter, during finals week and I dont know if I will be able to help after that. He said he can get someone for the 3rd quarter but expects me to work 2 full quarters. 6. My pregnancy has been without complications but I am genetically anemic and there is no solution. My iron and hemoglobin levels are extremely low (they should be around 12, mine are around 8). This makes me tired, exhausted and frustrated. Even the walk from class to parking lot seems like a uphill hike to me at times. 7. I talked to the TA-union representative and he let me know that I am entitled to 6-week paid leave and 4 months unpaid leave - this means I can only work next January and then go on leave, without having to break my contract. 8. This will be a big blow to the professor. He is a pretty big-shot. He has bought in millions of $$ in grants and has won awards. He is on several committees as well. I am almost certain that he will hate me for taking leave at the end of January and not working until 2nd week of March. But I am really not enjoying teaching - I am exhausted. 9. I am torn. What should I do? Should I just carry on until I can? How should I tell the professor? There are other 3 TAs and they will not like me handing them over my share of grading and responsibilities in next quarter - they are all very busy as well. Thanks for reading my long post. I will really appreciate your responses.

Yes, will run this by the main faculty for the course. Thanks:)

Thank you so much everyone!! This was extremely helpful. Sorry for my late reply I will let you guys know what I end up doing, but it will most likely be one of your suggestions. Thanks again!

Its a Freshman neuroscience class.

Dinner could have been one of the activities/event. But I cannot afford it.

Hi everyone, One of my class teaching requirements is planning two community event for students. If students attend one of them, they get 5 points, if they attend both, they get 10 points. I am pregnant, so hiking is not very feasible right now - I am exhausted most of the times. I have two sections (20 students each) 40 students so buying dinner/lunch for all of them also is quiet expensive for me. What else can I do? I live near the beach, so may be going to a beach is possible - but what do we do after we go to the beach? Also, I am an introvert and I have literally never planned parties for people I just know. I only plan parties for my closest friends and family. Any guidance or ideas? Do you may be know about any board game that 40 Freshman (together) would like to play? I can probably buy it. Any tips would be helpful!

Hi guys, I just got a great cross-sectional dataset that I can potentially use for my dissertation. I am in my first year PhD right now but I am planning ahead as I want to get this thing done in 3 years. I plan to propose right after my comps (end of 2nd year - summer before my third year) and write and defend by the end of 3rd year. This is also because my funding is not guaranteed for third year. The problem is - my advisor is very hands-off (meaning - he would rather hear your plan and then approve/disapprove) rather than discussing plans with you. I meet him only once a quarter so I really need some outside help. What do you do after you identify a dataset and vaguely know what you want to do with it. Do you need to write some sort of an initial paper (10-15pages) to convince people to be on your committee? I talked to other grad students in my program and they were basically told by their advisor about next steps. And I am not going to have that. My department has super prolific researchers and unfortunately mentoring is not their strongest suits. What I am looking for is - some concrete steps that you followed once you knew what you wanted to do. Thank you so much!:)

Thanks fuzzylogician. This really helps. The toughest part is to not feel guilty about it. I'm trying. Thanks