Issues/Topics of Which Grad Students/Aspiring Academics Should Be Aware?

[Graditude]

 how to not murder your colleagues, etc). 

 

 

Wait, you're not planning to post on your blog about your coworkers for posting about their students, right? That seems like an invitation to trouble.

 

[Kamisha]

 

 

 

Of course not. I will do blanket posts about grad school professionalism, not rant about the people I’m in school with. 

[hashslinger]

Well it's nice to see that your buttons can also be pushed when being told really pedantic or obvious things!  As you recently wrote to me, Hashslinger, you may know these things, but others may not.  As to some common ground, now that we've corrected each other in kind, I have to agree that some grad students do need to be reminded to act like grad students. I like your phrasing that it's not an extension of undergrad. Some people just miss the boat on this, and it's hard to watch.

 

I've seen some students go the other extreme route of taking Semenza literally. During my first year, a lot of other students were afraid to miss class for illness, believing that, short of being in an iron lung or decapitated, you had to be there. A lot of other people took seriously the "Semenza grading scale" to the extent that one of my professors had to sit us all down and explain that a B+ isn't the end of the world.

 

I'm glad the Semenza book exists, and I definitely wouldn't want to go through grad school not having read it, but it's just one perspective.

Edited February 19, 2014 by hashslinger

[Kamisha]

I've seen some students go the other extreme route of taking Semenza literally. During my first year, a lot of other students were afraid to miss class for illness, believing that, short of being in an iron lung or decapitated, you had to be there. A lot of other people took seriously the "Semenza grading scale" to the extent that one of my professors had to sit us all down and explain that a B+ isn't the end of the world.

 

I'm glad the Semenza book exists, and I definitely wouldn't want to go through grad school not having read it, but it's just one perspective.

 

It’s really interesting to hear everyone’s take on this. I’d actually never heard of Semenza before this discussion thread, but several of the things you’ve all pointed out here are things that I have hear from faculty members.

 

One of the professor at my university, for example, told students that if you ever got less than an A in your graduate work, you shouldn’t be entering academia and that anything below an A- would be considered failing. Also, it wasn’t for illness, but I was out of town attending a conference last Spring and one of my professors made me Skype in to our 3hr seminar or fail the class (one absence = failing). 

 

It sucks, but it does happen. I don’t know if that’s the case everywhere, but I just thought I’d share my two cents. 

 

Thanks, everyone, for your insights! 

[hashslinger]

One of the professor at my university, for example, told students that if you ever got less than an A in your graduate work, you shouldn’t be entering academia and that anything below an A- would be considered failing.

 

That seems like an extreme perspective. Professors vary on this, but I know that not all view an A- as the kiss of death or something. And most people I know have a few A- grades on their transcripts, especially back from when they were MA students or very early in their PhD program. I have a few. (By the time you're finishing up coursework, you should probably be getting all As. However, no one really looks at your transcript anyway, so no one is going to care.) 

 

Also, it wasn’t for illness, but I was out of town attending a conference last Spring and one of my professors made me Skype in to our 3hr seminar or fail the class (one absence = failing).

 

That also seems extreme, but I guess it also demonstrates how much things can vary from professor to professor. Sounds like this one had a few quirks. Most of mine valued professionalization, so they were okay accommodating conference travel as long as you weren't missing more than one class. I wonder what this professor did in the days before skype? Like, I wonder if this hard-line toward conference travel was made possible because of new technology. Or, what would he or she have done if your panel was scheduled during class?

 

As far as illness goes--I never missed class unless I was sick enough to go to a doctor or urgent care. I always made sure to get a note to be on the safe side, but no professor ever asked to see one.

[Kamisha]

That seems like an extreme perspective. Professors vary on this, but I know that not all view an A- as the kiss of death or something. And most people I know have a few A- grades on their transcripts, especially back from when they were MA students or very early in their PhD program. I have a few. (By the time you're finishing up coursework, you should probably be getting all As. However, no one really looks at your transcript anyway, so no one is going to care.) 

 

 

 

 

That also seems extreme, but I guess it also demonstrates how much things can vary from professor to professor. Sounds like this one had a few quirks. Most of mine valued professionalization, so they were okay accommodating conference travel as long as you weren't missing more than one class. I wonder what this professor did in the days before skype? Like, I wonder if this hard-line toward conference travel was made possible because of new technology. Or, what would he or she have done if your panel was scheduled during class?

 

As far as illness goes--I never missed class unless I was sick enough to go to a doctor or urgent care. I always made sure to get a note to be on the safe side, but no professor ever asked to see one.

 

Yeah, I’ve never missed class for anything other than attending a conference. I think the long and short of it is that there is no standardization in academia in regards to the things we’re discussing. Some professors are hardline and extreme, while others are more understanding. I guess the best bet is just to play it as close to the vest as possible and deal with a situation should it arise. 

[Strong Flat White]

I've seen some students go the other extreme route of taking Semenza literally. During my first year, a lot of other students were afraid to miss class for illness, believing that, short of being in an iron lung or decapitated, you had to be there. A lot of other people took seriously the "Semenza grading scale" to the extent that one of my professors had to sit us all down and explain that a B+ isn't the end of the world.

 

I'm glad the Semenza book exists, and I definitely wouldn't want to go through grad school not having read it, but it's just one perspective.

 

Well, and so we've seen different things, haven't we?  Different things, different perspectives.  There you have it.