What kind of work should I be doing for me advisor? He seems to want me to be his secretary?

[sbalic]

Hi,

I just started a PHd program (in fact, I haven't even started yet classes don't begin till tomorrow) at a prestigeous school, with a senior professor as my advisor. But based on our communications so far he seems to be trying to turn me into his personal secretary.

I arrived in town a month ago and Emailed him to let him know I'd arrived. He responded immediately asking me to come in the next morning. We didn't talk about my research, he didn't give me any reading etc., he just asked me to work with him to organize some conferenecs he is putting on next year. I said sure looked over/corrected/edited/added to the two conference proposals, met with the departmental events manager about the budget etc.

I met him for the second time this week, bringing a list of talking points and some new ideas about potential areas of research and potential changes to my research question. He didn't offer anything substantial in response to my proposed changes in my research (just kind of 'humm' or 'yes') and asked me to work with him and other people organizing/analyzing some data they've just collected.

I was a bit surprised he wasn't pointing me in the directon of readings, but at least the above tasks are within the things that researchers do even it they are the boring buttwork sides. But now I just got an Email from him addressed to me and the events manager, he askes me to enter the names and details of the colleagues working together on the upcoming conferences into the online conference system, if I don't have their information I'm told to Email them and also work out how to delete a double entry. This task wouldn't take very long, but isn't this what the department has an event's manager for. I'm afraid if I agree to do this, I'm basically accepting that I will be his personal secretary before I've even started the term.

Also, I'm getting some conflicting signals in regards to how my thesis should be progressing over this year. He says the first year is just to get my bearings and says I should take all the classes that the department's master's students take (even though my master's degree is in a very similar area at a different university and most of what will be covered is very familiar to me). But the message I seem to get from everyone else is that I need to be working on refining my thesis immediately, the grad program director said only three classes are recommended in the first term (rather than the four my advisor seems to think I should take) and I have to do a 25 minute presentation on my research topic in the PhD student seminar in less than a month.

I hope that someone out here might have a comment on this "situation".

Thanks

[Nerd_For_Life]

Are you getting funded or is part of your funding package a research assistant (or some other sort) of position in which he is your boss? To me that seems like the only reason you should be doing any of this secretarial stuff. If this is the case, I would recommend being really clear with him and setting out meetings that are to discuss your school work and meetings that are explicitly to discuss your work for him. In regards to courses: is there a graduate adviser that you can talk to?

[Eigen]

You don't mention a discipline, so that makes this a bit hard to advise on.

Personally, what you're getting given seems like easy work that will help you make connections in your field- getting in touch with people, helping organize a conference. And helping to organize and go through data isn't a bad thing either- it might be an easy lead in to a part on an upcoming paper.

In the lab sciences, everything takes a "group" mentality- all tasks are divided up. Some of us do the ordering and talk to sales reps, some do the health and safety inspections and paperwork, some maintain instruments, spaces and labs. And we all grade for whatever class the PI is teaching.

[MoleMocha]

Honestly....I understand why you are frustrated but this all sounds quite normal to me. Until he's asking you to get him coffee, I wouldn't be concerned that you're his "secretary"

Asking you to organize conference sessions, and even to do all of the "grunt work" associated, is normal. Do it without complaining. I am a 3rd year and I am still expected to do the majority of the work when organizing a session with my professor. I am giving a presentation at the end of the month with my professor and her Master's student - I basically have to organize everyone but I told the Master's student to put together the power point - bwahahahaha ;-)

As far as feeling like he is not directing you enough or giving you readings - also normal. It took me a while to realize it, but the Ph.D. is much different than a Master's. He's not going to direct you as much. He wants to see what you do on your own. Don't wait for him to assign you a topic or a reading. Start looking up books and papers, find out the major journals in your field, and make your own reading list. That is what we're expected to do at this stage. If you wait for him to "guide" you, he's going to end up getting frustrated with you.

On the same token, don't be surprised if he doesn't give you many edits on manuscripts/grant proposals/etc. until later drafts. My advisor used to frustrate me, because she would give me hardly any comments on the first two drafts (so I thought it was fine), then she would rip apart the third one. Ok, it still frustrates me! But I understand it more now. She wants me to improve it as much as I can on my own.

And yes, you should be working on your thesis/dissertation from day 1, but your advisor is also correct in advising you to take it easy a bit. In other words, don't let it sit and never think about it, but don't obsess too much about it the first year. You should be thinking about your topic, reading as much as you can, and letting your interests develop naturally.

For classes - if you feel like there is a class that would be redundant for you, tell your advisor! You and he should work together to tailor your class schedule. Have you done a Plan of Study yet? My school requires it to be filed with the Graduate School in the first year. It is basically a plan of what classes you will take each semester and when you will finish your coursework. How many hours of coursework are required? How quickly do you want to get them done? Figure out a plan, and that should tell you how many classes you need to take each semester. Four classes is a lot for a Ph.D. student - if you do that many classes you will have less time to spend on other things, like your dissertation and conferences.

The main thing to remember is, this is YOUR program and YOUR time to step up and do what you want. You are a colleague now, not just a student. Your advisor is there for guidance, but he is probably being lax on you to see what you do your first year. If you want to push things forward, do it! But do it on your own. Read, study, write, really get into your topic.

Good luck :-)

[TakeruK]

If you are worried that your supervisor is only interested in you as an admin assistant rather than a researcher, then it's probably something you should talk to someone about -- probably best if you can speak to your advisor, but maybe the Director of Graduate Students or similar prof in your department.

I agree with the above people who say that you're a part of the "group" now or that you're a colleague as well, and also that doing conference organization work is a great way to make connections. However, this kind of activity should always be second to research -- I am always happy to volunteer to do this kind of work when I know I'm in a group/department/advisor where we have mutual respect for one another (that is, we both care about each other's success and I am certain that they want the best for me).

That said, every time I've done something like this in the past, it's always a call for volunteers. The prof(s) organizing the conference asks for volunteers and usually promises something like free registration and/or free food in return for helping with the prep work as well as on the day(s) of the conference. There is always tons of volunteers in a good department. If I was simply told to do the work, or if people were being "pressured" into volunteering, I wouldn't be happy about it.

In addition, Eigen mentioned marking for the PI. Even now that I'm in a US school, where TAships are assigned quite differently from what I'm used to in Canada, I know that this isn't common at least at my institution. Only students specifically assigned as TAs for a course should be doing TA work for the course! It's simply a sign of respect that the TA get proper recognition for his/her work. But maybe this is a big difference in some fields -- just my opinion.

Finally, are you tied to this advisor? Every advisor has a different advising style, and I think one of the most important things is a good fit between a student and his/her advisor. There might be nothing wrong with how he is doing things and there might be nothing wrong with the way you want to do things, but your styles just might not match! It might be worth thinking about what you really want from your advisor and decide whether or not your current advisor will work; otherwise, try to find someone else who is a better fit!

Edited October 10, 2012 by TakeruK

[rising_star]

Okay there are a bunch of separate issues that you've brought up and I'll give you my take on them.

Coursework: You don't actually have to take what your advisor tells you and you shouldn't waste your time taking courses that duplicate what you've already learned. To be sure that you already know the course content, check out the syllabus since you're likely to be responsible for those readings for your comprehensive/qualifying exams. If indeed you've already covered that material, take something else that will help you with your research and/or with someone that you want on your committee. For your first semester, focus on taking courses in your department so that you have a solid foundation. Then in subsequent semesters, you can take classes related to your area that might be outside your department.

Research: It's your first semester. No one expects you to be bringing a list of ideas and talking points to every meeting. Take this semester to read the broader literature in your area and identify the major areas that scholars are discussing/debating. Read any general lit reviews and take notes so you can reference them later. The best thing you could do is read enough that you can write your own literature review of your area, which will be a solid foundation for the research you decide to do. Try to identify unanswered questions, figure out whether those questions are important, and how you might answer them. Then, put all of this in writing and submit a brief summary to your advisor at the end of the semester. If you have questions along the way, then ask them. But otherwise, there's no heavy research expectations in your first semester, especially if you aren't in the lab sciences. Read, write, refine, figure out what's interesting/new and where the field is heading. If you can do that, you can position your research so that you'll be on the cutting-edge and people will want to hire you when you graduate.

Service: That conference organization assistance? That's called service. We all get asked/told to do it, whether we volunteer or get recruited into it. My first semester I had to help my advisor plan/organize a 2 day workshop. I got to meet and wine and dine with several big names in the field in ways that no one else in my department did. Huge boon for a first year PhD student when you've got top scholars willing to listen to your half-hashed out research idea and tell you what you might want to read or where you might consider going with it over a cocktail and some good food. Don't look down on this opportunity and take it for what it is: a chance to meet other scholars in your area, experience with organizing/planning a conference (something you will be doing later in your career on numerous occasions), and the chance to get to know your advisor better.

Hopefully this helps. Let us know if you have any more questions. Good luck!