Difficult situation / issue with admissions/graduate study

[SublimeDelusions]

I've heard about this forum a lot as of late in my 4th round of applications, so I thought I'd come here for advice as I seem to have been placed into a difficult situation at my current institution. Yes, I did register so that I could post this and get some advice. I'll apologize ahead of time as this is rather long.

For a bit of background, I'm gunning for a Ph.D. in biology or geology with research in vertebrate paleontology. My first two rounds of applications were put out with very little experience and were met with no admissions anywhere. I was able to find ad mission to a M.S. program that was coursework only, and I graduated with a M.S. in biology. During my next round of applications, I was rejected at 12 of 13 schools and finally found admission at one institution.

This school wasn't that bad of a choice and several former graduates and trusted advisors agreed that it was a good choice to go to. On my first day here, I was informed by several students that my advisor was going to be fired at the end of the year. I immediately set up a meeting with the chair of the department and posed the question to them, along with the concerns for my education as i had already spent a large sum of money to move out here. I made sure to point out that, if my advisor was indeed being fired, I would need to know so as to be able to submit applications for the fall of 2009 immediately. I was assured that, no, he wouldn't be leaving, and, even if he did, everything would be fine and I'd be able to finish my degree.

In March/April of this past year I was called into the chair's office and informed that my advisor was being fired. I was also informed that she was aware of the high probability of this at the beginning of the previous semester when we had met, but she was unable to inform me of any of that due to "school policy". I found out that my advisor would have a terminal one year contract which would allow me to tie up any loose ends and make decisions regarding my academics. Over the past summer, my advisor made some very unethical decisions and took several actions which resulted in his immediate dismissal from the university. Looking back, I can agree that his removal was most likely in the best interest of the school and the department, although it would impact me very negatively. As a matter of fact, I only came to this institution as it was the only one to accept me, and I had a possibility of important field work which would have supplied me with ample graduate research and projects after graduation. I'm slightly concerned as to the effect that his actions, and the black spot that they have placed on his reputation, will have on me in my applications to other programs.

After my advisor's dismissal, I'm finding myself in a very difficult situation. On campus, I can make NO changes to my program of study due to the fact that I do not have an academic advisor. I've spoken with the two other professors in my field, however, one is nearing retirement and will not take on students and the other refuses to take me on as a student due to the fact that his research focus is in a different sub-field than the one I am currently interested in pursuing a career in. This leaves me with no one in my field to act as my advisor, technically leaving me as my own research/academic advisor at the moment. The problem here is I can not make any changes or adjustments to the program of study or any other vital documents in order to make alterations which would help to keep me on track, or from falling too far behind. This includes even filing a research proposal, which is due by the middle of next semester.

In addition to this, I have been urged to seek admission to another graduate program. An issue here is that it seems as though the school is not willing to do anything to help me find placement aside from having the provost write me a letter explaining why my advisor was released, and why I need to seek admission elsewhere. Then again, I'm not sure that I can really expect much from the department or the university at this point. After meeting with the provost, I was given the options of: 1)wait to see who is hired in place of my advisor and work with them, 2) go elsewhere, 3) stay here and get one of the current professors in my field to advise me, 4) quit, 5) try and find an adjunct advisor for my study here. As I stated previously, the current professors here won't work with me, and I've already been informed that the new professor being brought in will not specialize in my subfield of research. After speaking with the people currently in charge, they aren't comfortable opening up any option for an adjunct professor until they know that I have been unable to find admission to another program. The negative portion to this is that any institution that I would attempt to enroll at most likely would not consider counting any of the credits I've taken and I would have to start my Ph.D. over.

I am very concerned regarding my possible admission to other programs. In contrast to previous years, I have sought out programs which are a very close fit between my interests research currently being conducted. After speaking with potential programs, I have found six options, however, each of them was very clear in stating that they are highly uncertain as to if they will be taking students this year and, at most, many could only take one student if any. Meanwhile, across the board, each of the schools had taken several students last year. So if I'd have known to apply last year, I'd have had better chances than I do this year it seems. I have two applications which are still due to be submitted in the next month. I'm not sure that my personal statement is very good, as I am also concerned if I were to get an interview, due to the fact that I have issues "selling" myself or discussing myself when put on the spot like that. To attempt to compensate for that, I have sought out five letters of recommendation which I believe to be very good, and I hope that those will help me to gain admission somewhere.

In these institutions I am applying to, one school sticks out as they do not "formally" have any programs or research in my area of study. However, a former research advisor and current committee member of mine is an adjunct professor at that institution and I have been assured by the school that it may be possible to gain admission and work with him. The one drawback being that I will not be eligible for much, if any, funding from the university as I wouldn't be working under their full-time faculty. While this situation concerns me due to its similarity to the program I am currently in, it does have the benefit of having an advisor which would not be leaving the institution in the near future. The other programs all have tenured, or tenure-track, faculty which would be capable of advising my research along with the possibility of funding opportunities.

While I should have had some added research experience over the past year, I have had little to no luck in that area due to the issues with my former advisor. This leaves my experience slightly lacking on my CV which is of great concern to me. It is an issue that I have been working to remedy as of late, as I have been working on several research projects that I've sought out with the help of the collection's manager on campus. In this regard, I can't fault my institution since the main research focus of the school is different than my own, I have been able to find several projects which were disregarded in previous years as no one at the institution focused in that area of research. So while a degree may not be possible, I have been able to gain some experience, albeit slightly too late. While I hope that this may positively affect my applications, I'm still slightly worried as to if it will be enough.

My GPA was a 3.84 at the close of the last academic year, however, that has slipped slightly this fall as I had been struggling with an overloaded semester, attempting research on my own, dealings with administration, and attempting to get applications out. However, that has dropped to roughly 3.67 as my school only gives a solid A, B, C, D, F scale lacking + or - and my final grades came out to A,B,B although the B's were in the B+/A- range of other schools. So I'm certain that this may affect my applications in a rather negative way to drop a GPA roughly a tenth to two tenths of a point within a semester.

As of current, I'm 100k in debt from schooling alone, 30k of which is from these past two years at the institution where I am currently enrolled and most likely will not receive a degree from. I'm very concerned financially at this point, especially since I don't think there's much I can do with the degrees I currently hold. Part of me if very concerned that this shot at applications will be the last chance I have for pursuing any further graduate education. At the same time, part of me is upset that I have spent two years at a school where I could have used that money for somewhere I'd actually get a degree from.

At this point, I'm highly concerned and nervous regarding this round of applications and the implications that they will have on my academic future. This is why I thought that I might as well come here and see if I might be able to gain any advice from other graduate students as to how it may be best to handle my current situation, what I should do next, options that may be available... Anything really. Right now, the over-all stress of the situation is getting to me a bit in that I really don't know of many other students who have been placed into a situation similar to the one that I am currently in. Like I said, any advice that might be possible is greatly appreciated at this time, along with any suggestions as to what course of action may be best at this time.

[fuzzylogician]

Sounds like you're in a tough situation. It's admirable that you're so understanding of your current school, I'd be pissed. Here's what I think about your situation, for what it's worth:

First of all, this business of not having an advisor who can sign documents for you is beyond rude. If the school fired your advisor, it should make someone available to take his place, at least in this regard. Can't the DGS do that for you? The chair? It's ridiculous that you can't make needed changes to your curriculum for that reason! I'd contact someone about this right away, if I were you. It should be easy enough to fix.

Secondly, it really sounds like you don't have any other choice but to leave the school and reapply. I suppose the school can force someone to take you on as advisee, but that can't be good for your relationship. If there's no one who can guide you on a project that's reasonably within your interests, you don't have anything to do at that school anymore. Is there a way you could at least get an MA from your current institution? You will have been there two years when you leave, and that's enough time and work to earn you some recognition.

I assume you're applying right now and your SOP should be more or less finished. You should be able to talk about your past/current projects at your school, and say that you are leaving because your advisor left and there is no suitable advisor to take his place. That fully explains why you're back reapplying and doesn't reflect poorly on you. Consider saying this either in the SOP or in a supplementary letter, so schools don't look at you suspiciously. You could talk about how your interests no longer match your current institution and how you've decided to make the hard decision of starting over because your passion for your research is that great. I'm sure there's a way to spin the situation so it paints you in a favorable light.

Re: credentials. You say you have good letters, so that's no problem. The drop is your grades doesn't seem large enough to raise red flags, so I wouldn't worry overmuch. Programs know that the first 1-2 years in the program are more about coursework than research, so you shouldn't be too worried about not having done too much research. Simply explain what you've been doing - courses, whatever projects you have worked on, etc. I'd apply to more than 6 places if I were you, to increase your chances in this year with its bad economy. Fit is crucial, so don't choose places that don't have advisors for you. If there's anything to learn from your experience, it's that one potential advisor at a school is not enough. Try finding departments that have at least 2, if not 3, potential advisors.

Re: interviews. That's something you have to work on. If you're not confident that you can succeed, no one else will be. You could maybe post your SOP here or on LJ for feedback; consider going through resources for interviews on both communities (I just posted resources in a different thread today, you could look it up in Applications) - go over the questions you could be asked in an interview and script answers. Rehearse them until you're confident you know them well enough. Say them out loud - in front of friends, or even your cats. Maybe take a public speaking/leadership course, if they offer one at your institution. I know I benefited from one I took a few years back. Selling yourself is a skill you'll need in academia and outside it in the future--for grants, for getting hired later on, even just to be confident in front of a class as a TA, so it's worth it to invest the time in improving that skill. In the mean time, fake it til you make it. Everyone on this community has their doubts, but the application shouldn't reflect that! It should be as positive and confident as possible.

Honestly, in your situation I don't know if I'd go to a school that didn't offer any funding, but I think that's looking too far into the future at this point. You should be concentrating on applying right now. After you receive offers, then you can worry about their conditions.

Good luck!

Edited January 8, 2010 by fuzzylogician

[SublimeDelusions]

Secondly, it really sounds like you don't have any other choice but to leave the school and reapply. I suppose the school can force someone to take you on as advisee, but that can't be good for your relationship. If there's no one who can guide you on a project that's reasonably within your interests, you don't have anything to do at that school anymore. Is there a way you could at least get an MA from your current institution? You will have been there two years when you leave, and that's enough time and work to earn you some recognition.

Re: credentials. You say you have good letters, so that's no problem. The drop is your grades doesn't seem large enough to raise red flags, so I wouldn't worry overmuch. Programs know that the first 1-2 years in the program are more about coursework than research, so you shouldn't be too worried about not having done too much research. Simply explain what you've been doing - courses, whatever projects you have worked on, etc. I'd apply to more than 6 places if I were you, to increase your chances in this year with its bad economy. Fit is crucial, so don't choose places that don't have advisors for you. If there's anything to learn from your experience, it's that one potential advisor at a school is not enough. Try finding departments that have at least 2, if not 3, potential advisors.

Honestly, in your situation I don't know if I'd go to a school that didn't offer any funding, but I think that's looking too far into the future at this point. You should be concentrating on applying right now. After you receive offers, then you can worry about the conditions.

Good luck!

As for an M.A., that probably won't happen. I'd need one of the professors here to sign on as my advisor for that, and I'd still need to accomplish some sort of research project of their choosing. So basically, the best I can hope for is that some school will let me transfer some credits which, as I've heard regarding the graduate level, isn't likely. I do like the idea of it though, and I will have to check with some people in administration, etc (both here and at other schools) to see what would be possible along the ideas of the degree or the credit transfer.

The SOP is basically done. I have a letter from the provost covering my reasons for having to re-apply, so hopefully that will help. For the most part, it seems as though the people I ran it past all said to cover a lot of the advisor thing in the SOP. Sadly, there's not a lot said regarding my research in it. I mean, I touch on the aspects that interest me, and go over some of my previous experience. I also included an expanded CV going over what else I've done in terms of formal projects and work in more detail. Once again, this comes down to me doing a poor job of "selling" myself, and the fact that I don't have a lot of experience.

Sadly, there aren't that many schools that have faculty specializing in what I need. Yes, there are a lot of schools that offer Geology or Biology, but most schools don't have someone who could advise vertebrate paleontology on staff in either department. Of the ones that do, about 1/2 don't specialize in my subfield. When I applied to 13 schools, I applied to the majority of schools that did cover my research interests. Cutting it down to six schools is accounting for programs that have "gone under" in the past couple years, and I'm trying to hit the schools where I stand a chance of admission, my interests would fit best, and that have advisors in my subfield.

Also included in there is the issue that, of the schools that DO have someone in vertebrate paleontology, and my subspecialty, most only have ONE professor on staff. I know of three schools in particular with two professors, however, those are the only ones I know of with more than one possible advisor on staff. Of those, I applied to the two I stand a reasonable chance of getting in. I interviewed at one previously, and one professor at the other said they'd like to see my application again, but can't guarantee anything. I chose not to apply to the third as it's an Ivy League school where my academic achievements just aren't up to par, plus that school has very tight ties with my former advisor. That may be a good thing, but my former advisor has a habit of trying to blacklist anyone he doesn't like and the school gave him plenty of false reasons to hate me. So I think not applying to the third one was a smart decision.

The funding thing is one reason I'm not too upset about leaving here. I was promised funding my first year, only to find out that you're ONLY funded your first year and it is up to your advisor to try and find funding. Like I said though, I'm not concerned about the funding right now, I just want to find a school and get the degree. Like any other grad student, I do hope that I find somewhere that will fund me, but I really just want to stop wasting time towards getting my degree.

I won't lie. At first I was very angry with the school regarding this. There's no excuse for me being where I am other than the school keeping some information from me, and mis-advising me all along the way. The fact is, I can be as angry as I want, but it won't get back tuition or get anything done about the situation.

Edit: In regards to the DGS... When I met with him regarding my issue on the first couple days I was on campus, he openly admitted he doesn't have much control over anything, and it all comes down to the department making the decisions.

Edited January 8, 2010 by SublimeDelusions

[fuzzylogician]

You seem to have a good practical approach to all this, which is very admirable!

Since that's the case, I wonder about two things.

First, re: advisors. I don't study anything remotely resembling vertebrate paleontology so maybe I'm just wrong here, but what is it you actually need in an advisor? Obviously someone with the same specialty and interests as yours is best, but what do you really need? Someone with the same knowledge? Methodologies? Relevant research projects? Maybe suitable advisors could come from slightly different subfields or methodologies, as long as they're open minded?

Second, re: SOP. Have you submitted it already? For a very organized person, it doesn't make sense that you would submit something that's not truly representative of your abilities. There isn't much more to say except that if you haven't submitted yet, try rewriting it again. Have a friend look it over, go to the university's writing center, even post it here. You'll get important feedback. A large part of the process is selling yourself, as you say yourself. Don't just resign yourself to saying it's not a strong suit, work on improving it. I've also read and commented on several community member's SOPs who asked me to, though I'm not sure if I'd be able to help you, since I'm in a very different field. But seriously, give it all you've got, don't submit something that you say yourself doesn't do the best job representing you.

Lastly, regarding the MA. In your place, I'd seriously consider doing a project with one of the current professors in your school. The project might not be the most interesting, but a degree is a degree. If you think one of them is a good advisor, personally I think that's more important than having an interesting topic (at the MA level). There's a thread right in this subforum about choosing an advisor over a thesis topic for a Masters. I think it's worth it, and you still have enough time. But, obviously, that's up to you, since it'd mean a serious workload increase.

Adding about the DGS: You just need a person to sign your forms. They don't have to control any decisions to do that, do they?

Edited January 8, 2010 by fuzzylogician

[peppermint.beatnik]

This school has a responsibility to you. They should be the ones arranging your transfer AND you should be compensated.

If it was me I would get a lawyer.

[SublimeDelusions]

Since that's the case, I wonder about two things.

First, re: advisors. I don't study anything remotely resembling vertebrate paleontology so maybe I'm just wrong here, but what is it you actually need in an advisor? Obviously someone with the same specialty and interests as yours is best, but what do you really need? Someone with the same knowledge? Methodologies? Relevant research projects? Maybe suitable advisors could come from slightly different subfields or methodologies, as long as they're open minded?

Second, re: SOP. Have you submitted it already? For a very organized person, it doesn't make sense that you would submit something that's not truly representative of your abilities. There isn't much more to say except that if you haven't submitted yet, try rewriting it again. Have a friend look it over, go to the university's writing center, even post it here. You'll get important feedback. A large part of the process is selling yourself, as you say yourself. Don't just resign yourself to saying it's not a strong suit, work on improving it. I've also read and commented on several community member's SOPs who asked me to, though I'm not sure if I'd be able to help you, since I'm in a very different field. But seriously, give it all you've got, don't submit something that you say yourself doesn't do the best job representing you.

Lastly, regarding the MA. In your place, I'd seriously consider doing a project with one of the current professors in your school. The project might not be the most interesting, but a degree is a degree. If you think one of them is a good advisor, personally I think that's more important than having an interesting topic (at the MA level). There's a thread right in this subforum about choosing an advisor over a thesis topic for a Masters. I think it's worth it, and you still have enough time. But, obviously, that's up to you, since it'd mean a serious workload increase.

Adding about the DGS: You just need a person to sign your forms. They don't have to control any decisions to do that, do they?

Regarding advisors: I need to have someone who does research in vertebrate paleontology but they can really be in any department. From what I've heard so far, Biology or Geology are the most common departments. I've talked with several people in the field, and that's one thing they're all agreed on. So the department issue works, however, to do graduate work, you usually need someone in the same field as you since the research is usually pretty specialized. Many Biology and Geology departments simply don't have a paleontologist on staff which, unfortunately rules out a lot of schools. Many of the methodologies are relatively similar between the subspecialties in paleontology and an open-minded advisor could easily advise any project, but often advisors only take students to work on projects similar to the work currently going on in their lab mainly because it's easier to fund someone that way. Basically, if you want to work with mammals, you go to a mammal person. You don't go to a mammal person if you want to do dinosaurs.

As of now, I need to find a program in biology or geology with a vertebrate paleontologist on staff who focuses on dinosaur research. That's a tough order to come by. As a matter of fact, two programs that would fit the bill for that either just closed down this past year or have stated that they will not take students as the department is being dissolved (Wyoming, Michigan). On the bright side, my interests in that are pretty broad, so I'm able to apply to more programs. However, at least 4 programs are way out of my league (Johns Hopkins, Chicago, Penn, Yale). Some schools, I don't have a shot as the schools are hesitant to touch me due to my former advisor (UT austin, USC, Chicago, New York). Some I don't meet the qualifications for, or I just don't know enough about the research going on in those labs (Florida, Montana, Utah, North Carolina). This neglects some schools out of the country as I've already been told that I have 0% chance of funding, and I simply can't afford to pay for a Ph.D. program outside of the country (U.K., Canada). Of these, there are a few schools I've had some luck with, I'd have reduced tuition, or worked with current grad students/professors/alumni (Ohio, D.C., Penn, Drexel). Aside from the ones I've named, there are many smaller programs, but after speaking with possible advisors, the departments aren't taking students or can't afford to. If you neglect the smaller programs that told me they won't take students, this gives roughly 20 schools, subtract the closed ones, and the ones outside of the country, and you're down to 15. If you take out the ones that won't touch me due to my advisor, you're down to 11. Eliminate the ones that I don't know about the research in, and you're to 7. By applying to 6, I've gone against a lot of advice I was given to apply to the 2 or 3 I had the best shot at. Believe me, I WISH there were more schools I could apply to.

As you can see, it's a very small pool, which is partially why all of the stress is getting to me considering this whole situation.

Re: SOP. Yeah, four of the applications were already due. I didn't have a lot of time this semester to work on them due to having a 10 credit semester (not much over the 9 credits allowed), including my research, and about 20-25 credit hours worth of work for those 10 credits. I spent the entirety of the thanksgiving break working on a reasonable statement that I was happy with, only to have it torn to shreds on the first review. So I had to start from scratch. The first SOP I sent out was passable, but not great. After that, I had it at something I was comfortable with, but not happy. Due to the rapidly approaching deadlines, I didn't have much of a choice but to submit what I had or miss the deadline. It probably would have been a smart idea to take the semester off and just focus on applications, but I was advised on all fronts to not do that, and openly told I'd be dismissed/have no access to material for research if I did that. I tried to find a writing center on campus at the beginning of the semester for help, but the campus is too poor to have one and the english professors wouldn't even consider looking over it. I don't think it does a poor job of representing me, but it's just lacking on a lot of detail. For the most part it explains what I want to study, why I want to, shows that I can be self motivated and handle multiple projects at once, lists research topics I'm interested in, and briefly covers why I feel that school would be a good choice for me.

Re: DGS. They won't touch it. I sought them out the first week in that I wanted to see what I could manage to do to get a committee resolved. They refused to sign it and vehemently stated that I must have a full committee to make any changes to the program of study as it is linked with my committee forms. To substitute the classes I need, the DGS and Chair won't consider it unless I convene a formal committee vote that they agree on all submissions. I attempted to explain that there was no way I could get a new formal advisor on campus as none were willing to work with me (bias on research and former advisor disdain), and that I really needed to get the committee thing resolved so I can change things. I was once again told in a very blunt manner "then you need to get a new committee, that's not something I can do." Basically, the guy refuses to do anything as it's not technically his job to. My school has a really messed up system of distribution of authority. As a matter of fact, the administration of my school hates the way that graduate studies and my department are run, so even the school realizes there's an issue.

This school has a responsibility to you. They should be the ones arranging your transfer AND you should be compensated.

If it was me I would get a lawyer.

I kid you not, this was my initial feeling on it. They brought me in, and they should place me somewhere. However, after speaking with someone who understands some of the legal goings on at the school, all the school is entitled to is "give you grades. If you have grades, then they've fulfilled their part of the contract". So I'm not sure I'd get compensation and they definitely are not going to arrange enrollment for me somewhere else. I spoke with the Provost, the chair, the dean of students, and Human Resources, all pretty much agreed that they weren't responsible for anything regarding my placement in a new program or compensation. The consensus was "the school doesn't owe you anything, and we really don't know what to do with you at this point." That was back when I was still really upset about this, and it's how I wound up spending my summer. I actually asked the head of sponsored programs (done everything with law except take the bar), who was on my side in all of this, what the school would be responsible for, and, if necessary, what legal action could be taken. He pretty much told me that I could NOT go after the school for anything legally, and they weren't responsible for anything since my admission decision was made by the former advisor. The baseline of it all is that the highest this will go is to the provost, and the provost won't do anything at all about it other than provide me with a letter of support for my application.

As for how they absolved themselves, well, it goes back to what I stated above regarding the disorganized distribution of authority. Basically, I was told that the only reason I was accepted was that my former advisor wanted me there and anyone else in graduate studies/the department (except my advisor) did NOT see my application before I was accepted or before I showed up for my mandatory meeting with the chair to discuss an initial plan of study on the day before classes started (at least this is what I was told). Basically my enrollment at this school seems to have been billed as a last ditch effort to keep his job by a professor that knew he was on his way out.

Part of the reason that I can be so calm about this now, is that my entire summer was spent nearly having a nervous breakdown due to having to handle all of those meetings and having the feeling of being constantly screwed over. After that, I'm kinda burnt out on getting too upset at the second.

Frankly, I'm not sure what I could do in terms of holding the school responsible and helping to arrange a transfer, let alone any kind of compensation. At this point, applications for 75% of the schools have already been due. If there are any suggestions as to what I could attempt to do, or who I could attempt to talk to, I'd appreciate it.

As for the lawyer, I have a sinking feeling that lawyering up and going after this school (especially when I'm this far in debt) may frighten away other potential grad schools from accepting me. That's part of the main reason that I haven't formally spoken to anyone yet regarding that. The last thing I want to do is become a leper to potential programs.

Like I said, this is why I started this thread. I wanted to get some kind of discussion going about possible options/actions/advice. These past few posts have been great in that.

Edited January 8, 2010 by SublimeDelusions

[liszt85]

As for how they absolved themselves, well, it goes back to what I stated above regarding the disorganized distribution of authority. Basically, I was told that the only reason I was accepted was that my former advisor wanted me there and anyone else in graduate studies/the department (except my advisor) did NOT see my application before I was accepted or before I showed up for my mandatory meeting with the chair to discuss an initial plan of study on the day before classes started (at least this is what I was told). Basically my enrollment at this school seems to have been billed as a last ditch effort to keep his job by a professor that knew he was on his way out.

If they actually told you this, I'm sure there has to be a way in the legal system to hold them responsible for this. I'm sure they have policies in place for their admissions procedures. They cannot wash their hands off by saying that none of them ever saw your application prior to your arrival at the school! I'm sure they have procedures that they have to follow while recruiting their grad students. If they did follow those procedures, this would not have happened to you. I suggest you consult a lawyer about this. So far, you've only been talking to officials associated with your school. It might be a good idea to go outside and get a consultation..nobody has to know about the consultation and its not going to affect your future with other grad schools. Just make sure you have no legal rights regarding this before you submit yourself to the situation and submit yourself to all this extra debt that you probably wouldn't have had to incur had you been given information about this situation earlier (which the school had full knowledge of before you came in).

[SublimeDelusions]

If they actually told you this, I'm sure there has to be a way in the legal system to hold them responsible for this. I'm sure they have policies in place for their admissions procedures. They cannot wash their hands off by saying that none of them ever saw your application prior to your arrival at the school! I'm sure they have procedures that they have to follow while recruiting their grad students. If they did follow those procedures, this would not have happened to you. I suggest you consult a lawyer about this. So far, you've only been talking to officials associated with your school. It might be a good idea to go outside and get a consultation..nobody has to know about the consultation and its not going to affect your future with other grad schools. Just make sure you have no legal rights regarding this before you submit yourself to the situation and submit yourself to all this extra debt that you probably wouldn't have had to incur had you been given information about this situation earlier (which the school had full knowledge of before you came in).

As for being told exactly that, it came up in a discussion I was having with the chair or the collection's manager at the museum. In that discussion I mentioned that I found it odd that I was brought into a geology program with all of my classes in biology, only to have to make up at least a year's worth of "prerequisites" the department had. When I mentioned that, it was brought to my attention that no one in the department saw my academic records aside from my advisor and that it was under his recommendation that I was accepted.

I've taken the advice and put a call in to a local lawyer's firm. Sadly, the free legal advice places won't help me as I'm an out of state student, and the legal places at home won't help me because it's out of state. Someone was supposed to get back to me yesterday regarding this, but, as of yet, no one has gotten back to me.

[SublimeDelusions]

Well, not so good of an update.

I spoke with several lawyers regarding the matter. None were even willing to let me get past the name of the school. Apparently every law firm in the area has business with the school, or someone in an administrative position at the school and, therefore, can NOT advise me of anything due to conflict of interest. Looking like I'm kind of screwed on finding a lawyer.

In addition, the two or three I found that WERE NOT in any association with the school had already been visited by my former advisor and refused to speak to me at all.

In addition, one did inform me that they are the direct legal counsel for the school. I'm guessing that this means that my going to see them will be reported back to my school now leaving me with another problem.

[rising_star]

In addition, one did inform me that they are the direct legal counsel for the school. I'm guessing that this means that my going to see them will be reported back to my school now leaving me with another problem.

Wouldn't it be a violation of attorney-client privilege if they did? Can you contact other law firms in your state?

[SublimeDelusions]

Wouldn't it be a violation of attorney-client privilege if they did? Can you contact other law firms in your state?

The only other law firms are 6 hours away. I'm waiting on a call back from the last firm in town right now (another no-name firm). Hopefully something pans out there before I have to try and start searching for firms all the way across the state. From what I heard from the lawyers I did talk to, it would require me going to physically meet with the other attorneys. The problem being a 6 hour drive that I can't afford. I hate being an out-of-state student and, therefore, non-eligible for free legal help.

As for attorney-client privilege, I'm not sure. I wasn't officially their client. As soon as they heard what I was there for, and the school's name, they told me it was a conflict of interest.

[liszt85]

The only other law firms are 6 hours away. I'm waiting on a call back from the last firm in town right now (another no-name firm). Hopefully something pans out there before I have to try and start searching for firms all the way across the state. From what I heard from the lawyers I did talk to, it would require me going to physically meet with the other attorneys. The problem being a 6 hour drive that I can't afford. I hate being an out-of-state student and, therefore, non-eligible for free legal help.

As for attorney-client privilege, I'm not sure. I wasn't officially their client. As soon as they heard what I was there for, and the school's name, they told me it was a conflict of interest.

You know, I was faced with a lot of challenging questions (about my future) at the time of applying and I managed to forge friendships with professors in the field through friendly emails asking for advice. I also applied to a few of them. So they all responded with heaps of advice. I would also suggest you to email professors in your field who you might be interested in working with. Be truthful and explain your situation. Ask them if there was any chance you could continue your graduate education with them. Its basically come down to that OR a long legal fight with your university. I would advise you to first also explore your options (at other universities) because once things get heated up (if you manage to find attorneys who will help you), things get unpredictable.. some people might do stuff to harm your reputation or whatever. So it might be better to first contact other people, ask for advice, see if you have options to attend some other school.. maybe a lower ranked place if it comes to that? Definitely start exploring your options.

I'm sorry that you're in this situation..hope it gets better soon.

[jacib]

While not that practical of an update, I read the whole saga and my heart goes out to you. I'm in the social sciences, but I want to study a pretty specific thing for my thesis (a mix of subfields with a regional emphasis) and I was trying to figure out what would happen if, God forbid, one of the folks I wanted to work with left! This was especially relevent becasue I applied to two UC's, and apparently many of the good folks there are being snatched up by institutions that still have money. You situation seems much worse, however, than anything I had imagined.

I guess I'm in the minority because I don't think you have much legal standing (could one sue the school if one's advisor died? moved to a better position?), but I would by all means make sure of that through free legal advice.

The question that's killing me though is: what did your former advisor DO? Academic dishonesty? Shoddy workmanship? Nailing an undergrad? Just being a horrible guy to be around? What! I understand you not wanting to go into details, or feel comfortable sharing at all. But I feel obliged to all ask for the goss. Private message? It's pretty shysty that he knew he was on his way out... but still tried to take a grad student... but it's way worse that the department knew that he might be fired and still gave him a grad student!

Lastly, I would definitely try to arrange for an MS/MA whatever. Even if you have to do research you don't like for six months. Just tell the department head, "it's clear I have no home here... please just let me leave with dignity." If they don't want you there, see how sweet a deal you can get for leaving. "Okay, dude, I expect the sweetest ever rec explaining that I'm a brilliant student and have been an asset to the department that you're sad to see go." I think it will make everything, from getting a new grad school, to opting out of another stupid round of prereqs, to getting a job working for a museum or something, much easier.

If you can at all afford it and any are still open, consider applying to the schools where you don't know the research (surely they must have some sort of websites where you can find out basically "paleontology? dinosaurs? good enough!"), and the schools where your former advisor had contacts? There is no guarantee that he'll badmouth you, and his friends might sympathize with you rather than shun you. If what he did was not so heinous as to estrange him from all of his former colleagues, perhaps you can write him a make nice concillitory email, "It seems they are forcing me out too... I never had anything to do with your plight... can you think of other programs that fit my interests? Oh those really? Yeah you know people there? Can you see if they'll let me apply late?" I obviously don't know how bad the situation is but it seems possible that your advisor's contacts have just as much potential to be a boon as a burden.

[SublimeDelusions]

I have looked at other programs and explained my situation to other professors. Sadly, no school is willing to accept/promise an outright transfer. I basically have to re-apply, which is leading to my problem with no programs having room for new students this semester.

As for looking for somewhere that may be lower ranked, there IS nowhere lower ranked than where I currently am as far as I, or anyone else I've spoken to, is aware. I didn't choose here for the best reasons. I had actually interviewed at my top two choice schools (mid-high range for the field), and didn't get a position due to not having space for students. I only went here under the advice of some contacts in the field that I've previously worked with. They're just as unhappy right now as I am about this, but none of them are professors, so they can't open up a spot for me.

I guess I'm in the minority because I don't think you have much legal standing (could one sue the school if one's advisor died? moved to a better position?), but I would by all means make sure of that through free legal advice.

The question that's killing me though is: what did your former advisor DO? Academic dishonesty? Shoddy workmanship? Nailing an undergrad? Just being a horrible guy to be around? What! I understand you not wanting to go into details, or feel comfortable sharing at all. But I feel obliged to all ask for the goss. Private message? It's pretty shysty that he knew he was on his way out... but still tried to take a grad student... but it's way worse that the department knew that he might be fired and still gave him a grad student!

Lastly, I would definitely try to arrange for an MS/MA whatever. Even if you have to do research you don't like for six months. Just tell the department head, "it's clear I have no home here... please just let me leave with dignity." If they don't want you there, see how sweet a deal you can get for leaving. "Okay, dude, I expect the sweetest ever rec explaining that I'm a brilliant student and have been an asset to the department that you're sad to see go." I think it will make everything, from getting a new grad school, to opting out of another stupid round of prereqs, to getting a job working for a museum or something, much easier.

If you can at all afford it and any are still open, consider applying to the schools where you don't know the research (surely they must have some sort of websites where you can find out basically "paleontology? dinosaurs? good enough!"), and the schools where your former advisor had contacts? There is no guarantee that he'll badmouth you, and his friends might sympathize with you rather than shun you. If what he did was not so heinous as to estrange him from all of his former colleagues, perhaps you can write him a make nice concillitory email, "It seems they are forcing me out too... I never had anything to do with your plight... can you think of other programs that fit my interests? Oh those really? Yeah you know people there? Can you see if they'll let me apply late?" I obviously don't know how bad the situation is but it seems possible that your advisor's contacts have just as much potential to be a boon as a burden.

This is going to be a long one. You may want to get a snack.

I agree that there is no legal standing as of this second. The way it looks, there is NO free legal advice either. The last link I had still hasn't gotten back to me, leading me to believe that they have connections with my school. So I'm about ready to give up on the prospects at this point. Like I said, I'm not looking to pursue legal action. I just want to know if the school is responsible for helping me at all as any time I have asked what they're willing/required to do, the answer has been "Nothing. But we'll write you a letter if the other schools require it. Sorry." They were unwilling to talk me up in it at all to help my admissions, and would only state that my advisor was indeed terminated leading to my need to seek admission elsewhere.

All of the applications have closed out at this point, so I don't think getting into those programs is an option as of now. No schools appear to be willing to make an outright concession to me and really have said "all you can do is apply like anyone else". The only thing being is that there is an addition to my application required by all in that they demand a letter from someone in authority at the school explaining why I'm applying, or else my application will not even be considered. I was able to get a letter from the provost of the university which was impartial enough to the situation to write an objective letter for me.

And, from what I've heard, the school blamed the major reasons for his termination (and evidence) on me. The guy tried to blacklist people because they decided they didn't want to work under him anymore because THEIR research interests changed. This resulted in him calling up numerous people he knew complaining that they were worthless / trying to steal his ideas / whatever he could come up with to ruin their reputation. The outlook isn't good that he won't blacklist me, but his reputation is shot to the point that me having any association with him really screws me over. So asking for his help, is a very bad idea at this point. As for the evidence of the burden of association, I spoke to a university where he received his Ph.D. from and explained to them my situation. They openly stated "ok, you were X's student... right? Good luck. You're REALLY going to need it if you want to get in anywhere." They didn't say not to apply, but mainly that my chances are extraordinarily slim due to any association with him.

I would have asked the chair of the department for a letter, except for the fact that she has made it known that she's openly against me and does NOT want me at this school. This is also mainly due to me being a student of my former advisor. He wasn't well liked here. Based on some of what I've heard, I'm not sure that any letter from her would be very flattering in any sense. She seemed way too enthusiastic to write me a letter an get me out. In addition, she met with me this morning to inform me that, even though I lack an advisor, and WILL NOT be able to find even an adjunct one until May/June that I will have to test out of all deficiencies in the first month of next academic year, along with taking my qualifying exam before the end of the fall semester. The problem there being that it's a literature review for your dissertation. I won't even HAVE a dissertation topic until the fall semester, let alone be able to do a literature review in time. She's not willing to budge. In addition, I MUST take my comprehensive exams before the end of that spring semester. This is after EVERY other Ph.D. student does not have to take them until right before they defend their dissertation (usually year 4 or 5). So there's definitely a point of trying to make things a bit harder on me.

Before getting further, the reason for giving him a student even though he was being terminated, given to me, was that he was the only one to see my application and openly pushed for my admission. This comes into play a bit later. The fact is, I met, and exceeded, all of the school's criteria for admission so they didn't have grounds to reject me. As for giving me to him as a student, he was the only advisor on campus capable of dealing with my research interests. My guess is that they figured that I would wind up fleeing from him and changing my interests as easily as all of his other students did. Granted, I think that's a poor reason on their part to admit me and/or assign me to him. I've had this discussion previously, and everyone I've spoken with agrees that I shouldn't have been admitted to this program due to having no advisor.

Now for the big one. I figured I'd put this here. I'll try to stay and vague as possible regarding this matter since giving out details is probably something that could get me in more trouble. A lot of this started well before I got out here, which was enough for them to deny him tenure. This was the initial reason he was being terminated, however, several events took place after my admission into the program which led to his immediate termination via the Governor of the state leaning on the Board of Regents. This should give a rough idea of the scale of what he did. I'm going to refer to him from here out as X. The first on the laundry list of items was that X refused to file any research proposals he submitted through sponsored programs. As anyone working with research at a school knows, this is a very bad idea and will get you in a lot of trouble. He refused to account for any of the school's overhead costs on research. This led to X submitting all of his proposals on his own behind the school's back.

After dealing with the issue of the not handling funding in the manner he should have, he also decided it was up to him who would get access to collections at the museum. This was determined after he failed to submit proper applications for permits to major governmental agencies regarding their fossils. Instead, he would view one or two things that he easily had access to, and then let whoever he was working with view the collections that he wasn't given access to as, well, he never filed the proper permits. This got him, as an assistant curator of the museum/collections, banned from using roughly 50% of our school's collections. This also caused him to upset a major governmental agency at the same time. Instead of seeing that he was in the wrong, X took this as a sign that, well, it was just a bunch of people going against him. This leads to a refusal to work with the museum on campus at all as, in his own words, "they won't let you use anything!". This comes after I had been given permissions to work on several specimens even other people in the nation would not have access to just because I asked nicely. At this point, X also refused to let his students work on anything that was associated with the school's collections.

Speaking of collections, I have heard via second hand that there is a possibility that he had participated in the purchase or sale of vertebrate fossils, which is highly illegal unless they came from your own private land. This has been brought up by several students working under X previously. I can make no formal bearing on this, other than that if these allegations are true, there is yet another large issue at hand.

Throughout all of this, he took shots at anyone that seemed to go against him. As I stated before, several of his former students were fed up with the issues they had dealt with under him, and decided to leave. This led to him calling anyone and everyone he knew in the field to blacklist them and try to get them banned from anywhere else. When the school decided to make any decision against him, it led to the same outcome of him calling other places and slandering the university.

Even better than slandering the school, X had a habit of telling stories in class that were all outright lies in order to make himself look better. These often involved embarrassing aspects or situations with other researchers which, often, turned out to be false. In these stories, the researchers would often seem incompetent, etc. meanwhile X played the genius of the group. One of these stories got out regarding a large falsehood with a specimen housed at another museum regarding its near destruction before study by another colleague. This colleague saw the story posted on a student's facebook page who he was also a friend of. They were quick to point out that they NEVER observed said specimen in the timeframe stated, which was rapidly followed by people at the institution where it is held jumping on and saying that no such event ever took place. Thus showing that my advisor was an outright liar who would easily fabricate things to increase how he looked.

The next mark against X deals with an interaction with a few of his students. This interaction stems from a class which he taught that required the students to submit a paper and then submit said paper for publication. In doing this, they asked him for reviews, and he gave them no criticism. X's name and the students' names were on the paper. Before submitting it, they removed X's name from the paper and into the acknowledgments due to the fact that X contributed NOTHING to the paper, and often refused to review it. This led to him making claims of plagiarism to the President of the university. This drug him and the students into a legal battle over if there was. In the long run, it was found that he was arguing for his name on a paper that 1) he didn't contribute anything on, 2) was written by the students, 3) went completely contrary to anything he had to say, yet, was EXACTLY all of his own work. Of course he was found at fault for that one. The situation became much worse though.

In addition to that situation, the people whom he did the field work for, and that he had the students base their paper off of, were upset that this paper was done. They claimed that they NEVER gave permission for this information to be used and that they were upset with the students for using it. This was founded in a claim from X that the students did this paper without his knowledge or approval. They demanded all information be handed back over. The school pointed out that X told the students to write the paper as an assignment for a class, and, therefore, could NOT hand any information back over. This proceeded to get X fired from working for the people who he lied to about the information.

He seemed to accept me as a student under some sort of plot to keep his job. As it stands at the second, it appears as though X knew he was on very thin ice and had been attempting to do anything he could to hang on at the school. This means attempting to take on students so he can say "Hah! You can't get rid of me, I have students that I have to advise." As I have mentioned before, my advisor was also starting to become slightly paranoid and possibly schitzophrenic. Which leads to his final "hurrah", so to speak.

At this point he refused to discuss anything with me in his office and instead would rather discuss matters in the parking lot as he felt the school had his phone, office, and computer bugged in order to spy on him and fire him. He said that he had a plan that, after which, there was no way that the school would fire him. He wouldn't tell me what it was, just that it was something big. This something big turned out to be an article which he had published in a major, world-renowned journal. The matters he brought up were something previously handled by the university, and were found to be false allegations. However, X believed that they were not and decided to have someone he knew at the journal publish it. This wouldn't have been bad on its own, aside from being libel against the school and several faculty members, but this article couldn't be published on its own. There just wasn't any reason for it as a stand-alone. However, at the same time, there was an article coming up relating to a project that the school was part of, and that the state was very proud of. X's friend (or possibly X) decided that would be the article to attach it to. Very bad idea. He tried to paint his termination as "There's a scandal! They're covering it up and firing me because I won't play ball!" In his mind, it was "they'll see this, and realize that something is wrong, and they'll have to keep me!". Sadly, publishing something like this leads to only a couple reasonable outcomes (in his mind): 1) The school looks bad, sees X as a whistle-blower, sees a scandal, and keeps him on for bringing it up, 2) The school looks bad, sees X as a whistle-blower, covers up a scandal, and keeps him on to save face. There was a third, outcome, the rational one: The school looks bad already, regardless of any scandal, X is already in deep and is only making things worse, and they terminate him immediately for jeopardizing the other projects at hand.

As a result of that, the terminal one-year contract he was given to get his affairs in order was revoked immediately. X cleaned out his desk with police supervision. X is barred from campus under threat of arrest and he is not permitted to contact anyone affiliated with the school without violating a blanket restraining order.

As it stands, I was unaware of most of this until the spring semester of last year, long after the application deadline for this past fall had passed. If I had known this on entering, I would have applied elsewhere immediately. Upon finding this out, I began contacting other potential advisors at other schools and requesting the advice of anyone that might be able to help. With all of that said, it's probably a little more clear the environment in which I was brought into, and why I'm stuck in the situation that I am as of current. I am VERY highly concerned that anything that X did will follow me and cause problems for my future education/career/admissions. I'm currently taking every possible measure to avoid any association with him. As I stated, I'm not sure that all of this is best to be placed here as it is possible to trace some of this back, which could easily find me in some hot water.

So at that, I'm going to ask that no one quote the above paragraph in the event that word somehow gets back to my current school and I'm forced to remove it or face worse consequences than the ones I am currently facing.

Edited January 16, 2010 by SublimeDelusions

[jacib]

Damn.

[SublimeDelusions]

Damn.

Yeah. Also, you were right, I have NO legal recourse. I'm assuming this as NO lawyer will consider my case since it's against a state school, even lawyers on the other side of the state. So, I'm on my own.

In addition to that, admissions aren't looking the best so far either.

[SublimeDelusions]

Ok, now I'm looking for advice. From what I've heard around, I should have heard positive answers or interview offers by now for the majority of schools I applied to (Read: all but one). I've heard nothing.

In the event that this fails, and I don't get in anywhere, are there any suggestions as to what I do next? The obvious "get a job in someone's lab for a year" isn't an option (unless I want to live on 0 income for a year) as most labs not having any cash to bring someone in is part of the reason I'm having bad luck. At this point, I'm definitely concerned that this may be a career ender.

[ScreamingHairyArmadillo]

My suggestion is look for summer internships, even if they are only tangentially related. I know the Cleveland Museum of Natural History has one (the vert paleo project has not been determined yet, but they also have mineralogy, invert paleo and paleobotony projects).

Don't see it as a career ender though. You may need to step away for a year or two, but there are always ways back in.

[twocosmicfish]

Oy. You are in deep.

I think legal options are nil, but not for the reasons you think - you have a case (I believe), but it is not in your best interest to advance it. If you were admitted by the university, the fact that it was based solely on this professor's recommendation is irrelevent - they allowed him to act as their agent in admissions and are responsible for his decisions, especially since they had right of review and refusal. Also, you have invested time and money (at least in lost opportunities) for the opportunity for a graduate degree - there is an implied contract there, in which you are giving them money and/or services in return for the chance at the degree. If their internal system is preventing them from fulfilling that contract to you, the onus is on them to correct it, not you - this gets complicated and depends a bit on their own published regulations, but at this time it does not appear that they are making any good-faith efforts here at all.

The downsides are that finding a lawyer will be difficult, both because of the university's connections and because the financial reward for taking the case is pretty small. Worse, as you have noted, pressing the case will alienate the university and probably your entire field of endeavor. Winning is not actually winning, because it is unlikely that the best judicial decision will prevent them from simply failing you at any of several points (quals, prelims, final defense, etc.) for which their opinion is essentially inviolate.

So legal options are out.

You have 3 options from here.

(1) Academics: Keep applying to prospective programs. Take courses in a non-degree status to bolster you resume, and stay active in the field, perhaps helping as a volunteer. Forge new relationships with professors who have NOT disgraced themselves. Lots of people get in starting from bad positions. It just takes more time and effort.

(2) Work in the field: There may be some options here, ranging from internships and paid lab jobs to peripheral options like teaching (either college or high school) or assisting at museums or on digs (even unpaid). Not being in your field I cannot recommend any specifics, but this keeps the door open for building you resume and trying again later.

(3) Get out of Dodge: Find a new field of endeavor and make vertabrate paleontology a hobby. Not fun, I know, but sometimes you have to acknowledge that you need to jump ship and try something else. Unfortunately, it sounds like you are inching closer to this necessity.

Good luck.

[SublimeDelusions]

Oy. You are in deep.

...

So legal options are out.

You have 3 options from here.

(1) Academics: Keep applying to prospective programs. Take courses in a non-degree status to bolster you resume, and stay active in the field, perhaps helping as a volunteer. Forge new relationships with professors who have NOT disgraced themselves. Lots of people get in starting from bad positions. It just takes more time and effort.

(2) Work in the field: There may be some options here, ranging from internships and paid lab jobs to peripheral options like teaching (either college or high school) or assisting at museums or on digs (even unpaid). Not being in your field I cannot recommend any specifics, but this keeps the door open for building you resume and trying again later.

(3) Get out of Dodge: Find a new field of endeavor and make vertabrate paleontology a hobby. Not fun, I know, but sometimes you have to acknowledge that you need to jump ship and try something else. Unfortunately, it sounds like you are inching closer to this necessity.

Good luck.

I've decided to avoid pursuing any legal options at this point.

I've sent out my 6 applications to the programs where I'd fit best, or where I'd have the most chance of admission. Sadly, of those, they all cautioned me that they probably can't take students. In addition, two programs outright said "we don't have any of your application materials" until I told them I have the tracking invoices from FedEx saying that they were signed for. Then the story became "oh, we found them... they fell behind someone's desk. You'll know by May if you get in".

So I'm not sure any of my chances are looking good. I'm also not fond of the idea of jumping ship (even though I might have to) as, simply put, I'm not qualified to do anything else. Also, being 100k in debt makes it difficult to get into school to become qualified for anything.

I've been asking around regarding jobs or internships, just trying to grab anything really, but it seems that everyone I talk to is telling me the same thing "we don't have the money for it, sorry." So I'm not even sure at this point how to keep myself viable if I don't get in.

The worst part of it all was that I got pulled into a meeting with HR. They openly asked about how my situation is going, etc. So after discussing everything with them, I was told "while it's my job to keep students here, judging by how you've been treated by other grad students, and the situation you're in now, I'm going to have to say it's probably best, personally and professionally, if you were to leave and go somewhere else." This pretty much solidifies that if I don't get in anywhere this year, I'm pretty much done.

Edited February 3, 2010 by SublimeDelusions

[liszt85]

judging by how you've been treated by other grad students,

How? (and Why?)

[SublimeDelusions]

How? (and Why?)

As for why, I have no real idea, but I wish that I understood more of why I was.

As for "how", it's a bit more obvious.

I was constantly harassed and mistreated due to who my advisor was out of spite. This amounted to a lot of problems and concern from professors in that I was doing the same things as my advisor. Since he's gone, this has calmed down slightly, but people are still skeptical of me as a person due to any association with him.

I had my research interests constantly mocked, and I was publicly insulted over them several times since most people at this school aren't interested in the work I do. This portion ballooned to a larger issue. One time in particular, I had permission from the collection's manager to be doing research in a common "lay out" room where we work with fossils still in collections. I'd been working on a project aligned with my specialization that everyone else on campus had neglected for roughly 20+ years which the collection's manager had asked me to take on. One of the other grad students (probably about a year or so away from finishing, who also believes he owns the entire space for laying out fossils) comes into collections in a different building where I was meeting with several other graduate students and yells "you! you need to get your S*** out of the room now. It doesn't belong there and we don't need that useless stuff taking up space." This is in light of the fact that there are years of projects sitting in there that people aren't working on, and haven't been worked on, for years as opposed to my one active project that I was told to work on in there. This led to the collection's manager and post-doc sitting this guy down for a reprimand. This type of thing happens to me regularly, while the other students are more than willing to bend over backwards for anyone else.

The above situation with space has led to me finishing up my work in that office (after weekly "when are you going to be done so we can get rid of this trash?" questions) as quickly as I can, and I'm now currently working on the project in the basement of a condemned building where our collections are housed (and where people aren't really permitted to work) until being moved into a new facility. Working in the basement has become a bit easier as now I'm working on larger specimens that we really don't have room for, plus I get a little bit of an escape from people insulting me and my work.

Along with the other graduate students, I was given an office, however, this office was shared with two other graduate students. Over the past year, the other graduate students took it upon themselves to joke around and move things like anyone else would. This was fine, and I figured it was just normal interaction. Then, one of the other grads developed a problem with me. Apparently, they were upset with me because I refused to fail the students (in my section of a lab we both taught) because they didn't know material on an assignment. I should note that the questions he put on the assignment were for a class that they HAD NOT taken yet, that is often taken the year AFTER the one we were teaching. He has a habit of trying to make himself look really good to everyone on campus. So I decided to not hold my students responsible for material that didn't even pertain to the class we taught. He wound up looking bad and getting in trouble for trying to do that. So he seemed to hold it against me for some reason. Over the past semester, I had been rushing around with classes at odd hours, applications, and other research leaving me out of the office for most of the semester, even though I'd come in every now and then to put things in or take things out of my desk. I come in the first day of this semester (knowing full well he had been in the office the entire winter break doing research) to find that he had stolen my chair, the nameplate for my desk was taken off, scratched up, and tossed in one of the drawers, the other things in the desk had been re-arranged and moved, and he decided to use it to store all of his field samples, along with making it a nice trashcan stand, which he often missed with throwing things into it.

Last spring, I had a class with two other grad students where we were working on a group project. Throughout the entirety of the project, I seemed to be behind on deadlines for the project, and generally out of the loop. This came up whenever the collection's manager (who taught the course) asked me about why I was never at meetings with everyone else. I explained, that neither of them had informed me of ANY group meetings, or even what I was supposed to be doing on the project. I assured her that if I knew when the meetings were, that I'd show up, but that both of the other students were ignoring me entirely. I found out after our next meeting that I was to be in charge of the rationale for why we were doing this project, however, I'd need help from one of the grad students in contacting someone who was on their committee that I didn't know, along with information from their thesis for the rationale. This was agreed to, and I figured that I'd be able to handle it. The other student never got me the contact information, nor did he ever give me the information I needed from the thesis. I took the information I was able to gather, and spoke with the collection's manager again. I was informed that she noticed that I seemed to come up for the reason of blame in several meetings with the other students, even though neither of them were providing me with the information I needed, which only they had. She also mentioned that she was also getting the feeling that I was purposely being excluded from the project. This resulted in me having to turn in my portion of the project separate from them. In the end, it turns out the project they proposed, failed to produce results and only my portion succeeded in its goal.

So in summary, I've been mistreated in regards to classes, had my workspace defaced, and had been treated very unprofessionally regularly in regards to my research. Like I mentioned previously, I'm pretty much the "whipping boy" of this department. A lot of this treatment has lessened so far this semester, so I'm thankful for that.

While I have had bad experiences, several members of the staff and a couple of the graduate students have been very kind towards me and helped me along the way with the research I was doing, etc. In this case, I believe it's the few that outweigh the rest as the few that have helped are some of the most skilled and professional people I have ever worked with. I'm definitely glad to have made the acquaintance of these few, and I hope to continue that acquaintance in the future.

[fromeurope]

There are no words. I think you're last post might be the worst. The situation is not of your doing, and the way you seem to have been treated by some people! No words.

[mudgean]

I think you would be better off moving on as soon as possible. I don't see what you stand to gain from this place.

Edited April 10, 2010 by mudgean

[StrangeLight]

on your way out of this program, you might want to publish this little story in your student newspaper. i think just leaving without causing too much trouble for these students and your department sort of validates the way they squeeze certain students out with harassment.