PhD advisor avoiding me in my first year + changing interests?

[moiws]

I'm currently in my first year in a Ph.D. program coming in straight from my B.A. I came to work with a professor who is currently untenured, but most likely receiving tenure in the next few months. My first semester with them was okay—mostly because I met with them often because they were the instructor of one of my courses. Now in the spring, I've hardly seen them. They seem to always be busy, juggling many tasks and taking on new roles (and new student advisees for next Fall). I understand that graduate study is meant to train us to be independent scholars, but I've been left with many unresolved questions about many expectations (e.g. funding applications, foreign language acquisition, conferences & publications, thesis work, committee formation, etc) that this Ph.D. program has for me. Maybe I wouldn't have some of the questions I have if I had entered with an M.A., but I still feel very confused about a lot of the logistics of graduate study.

Another second-year student who is also their advisee told me that he also has not gotten into much contact with our advisor—and has yet to update them on his changing research interests. The other day, a friend and I ran into my advisor. What shocked me was that when I waved at the professor, they didn't seem to notice me. And when my advisor approached us, they spoke only to my friend about how busy they were, hence why they supposedly hadn't answered my friend's email to set up an appointment for them. Since my advisor's up for tenure and have a multiple responsibilities, I want to give them the benefit of the doubt and think that maybe they had too much on their mind.

What has really made things harder is that my research interests have been shifting dramatically, as I've mentioned. This is mostly due to realizing that my research questions have already been answered by some of the literature in my field that I was previously unfamiliar with. Without revealing too much, I am an Area Studies scholar, and essentially my research interests are shifting from one country of study to another. There also happen to be no professors in our department that deal with the new region I am interested in researching. 

Since I only have a B.A., I'm leaving the option of "mastering out"—leaving the program with only an M.A. and continuing my Ph.D. work in another—open for consideration. However, I realize that this decision might upset my professors, since they invested time, money, and energy into me as an asset for their program, and they're most likely expecting larger returns than only an M.A. I'm not sure whether it's worth sticking with a region that a professor in my department might be able to work with for the sake of having a less unstable graduate school journey... or whether I should consider transferring Ph.D. programs to have a scholar with more specialized knowledge on my country of interest.

Have any of you had success is transferring Ph.D. programs like this? Do you think that the situation I've described with my advisor is worth having anxiety over, or is their behavior normal for most graduate advisors? 

Edited January 26, 2020 by moiws
Typo in the first sentence, of course.

[AP]

Ok, let me unpack this a little bit. (the following might sound harsh, but I mean it in the warmest tone):

• First, unless your advisor explicitly told you that your coming only with a BA is a problem, do not act as it is a problem. You were admitted into a doctoral program because of evidence of research and potential for development. No one lets you in because you don't have an MA. 
• Tenure is a very stressful time for any professor. Even in the friendliest, healthiest departments, it still is emotionally and mentally draining. If their tenure is coming up later this year, it's probably they submitted their file at the end of last (academic) year. That's a long time to be worried about your future. Tenure also means that your advisor will probably get some kind of sabbatical next year so they have to finish up several things before then. You are only one of many things that are going on in their professional life. 
• Grad school, simultaneously, is a very personal journey. That means that you are not only learning about your discipline but also about yourself. Sent an e-mail to your advisor saying you urgently need to meet to discuss some unresolved questions about X, Y, and Z. I know taking the initiative can be scary (I was terrified), but grad school is also about you taking the lead of your education. I don't think anyone explains that to any one. 
• The question of the MA is a different story I think you should consider based on more evidence rather than "they didn't wave back." It's very valid to want to live a program because you don't click with your advisor, but make sure that it's actually that. 

Good luck!

[moiws]

2 hours ago, AP said:

Ok, let me unpack this a little bit. (the following might sound harsh, but I mean it in the warmest tone):

• First, unless your advisor explicitly told you that your coming only with a BA is a problem, do not act as it is a problem. You were admitted into a doctoral program because of evidence of research and potential for development. No one lets you in because you don't have an MA. 
• Tenure is a very stressful time for any professor. Even in the friendliest, healthiest departments, it still is emotionally and mentally draining. If their tenure is coming up later this year, it's probably they submitted their file at the end of last (academic) year. That's a long time to be worried about your future. Tenure also means that your advisor will probably get some kind of sabbatical next year so they have to finish up several things before then. You are only one of many things that are going on in their professional life. 
• Grad school, simultaneously, is a very personal journey. That means that you are not only learning about your discipline but also about yourself. Sent an e-mail to your advisor saying you urgently need to meet to discuss some unresolved questions about X, Y, and Z. I know taking the initiative can be scary (I was terrified), but grad school is also about you taking the lead of your education. I don't think anyone explains that to any one. 
• The question of the MA is a different story I think you should consider based on more evidence rather than "they didn't wave back." It's very valid to want to live a program because you don't click with your advisor, but make sure that it's actually that. 

Good luck!

This is actually very helpful, thank you. Yes, I definitely have a lot of empathy for them in this time of their career when questions about tenure and book projects are up in the air. They definitely have a lot on their plate, which I guess made me not want to burden them any more. However, I think I'm starting to realize that's not a good mentality to have. I think that the wave thing was mostly my over-interpreting it, paired with my own anxiety about grad school. I really shouldn't even include it in my decision-making.

I will reach out to them about my changing research interests and see what they think. Even if they don't have time to meet in-person, I'll have the convo over email. I might also discuss it with other professors in my department that I've been working more closely with this semester who also have experience in advising Ph.D. students. 

Again, thanks for your insight ?