Advice on Assistantship Negotiation

[hopefulPhD2017]

Hi all! My dept has offered me a GA position for my first year of a PhD program, which is great. I'll get a stipend and tuition remission. 

However, it's assigned to me and I was just told what the work will be. It's not in my focus area and it's not going to fit it with my program or research at all. I was disappointed to say the least.

It's going to fill a need for the university, which is good for them, and I'm not opposed to service, but to my mind if I'm going to leave a job to be an impoverished scholar-in-training, I'd like to actually apprentice under my advisor or someone else who will help me build my CV and applicable research skills.

My advisor has indicated that there will be a position in her research group next year, which is what I'd like to be doing, but nothing has been written down and I'm nervous   that I'll be doing this unrelated grunt work for years to come.

Should I just be grateful that I'm being offered anything at all? Ask if I can have another GA position instead? Attempt to get a future GA-ship under my advisor put into writing?

Is this kind of thing typical? I guess I thought I'd have some say in the work I'd be doing as a GA.

Thank you for any advice on how to navigate this.

Edited April 10, 2017 by hopefulPhD2017

[TakeruK]

My understanding is that this is typical in many programs outside of the STEM PhD programs. GA work basically exist to fulfill a service/administrative need for the school/department. Even in STEM PhD programs, TA work will also be worked assigned based on what the department needs, it is not meant for students to have work aligned with their research interests. So, I wouldn't think that you are being cheated but if a school can offer you something more relevant to your interests, then that would certainly be a plus if you are deciding between programs.

My advice for this particular situation is if you choose to attend this program (in another thread you said you were deciding between two possible programs), then you should convey this concern to your advisor and ask if they can offer you an assistantship in their lab for 2018-2019. It is not likely they can promise you this in advance because very few programs will promise you this a year in advance. But you can gauge how likely you are going to get the offer based on your interactions with this advisor. If you are not satisfied with the response, then perhaps you would consider the other school's offer more appealing?

 

[hopefulPhD2017]

7 hours ago, TakeruK said:

My understanding is that this is typical in many programs outside of the STEM PhD programs. GA work basically exist to fulfill a service/administrative need for the school/department. Even in STEM PhD programs, TA work will also be worked assigned based on what the department needs, it is not meant for students to have work aligned with their research interests. So, I wouldn't think that you are being cheated but if a school can offer you something more relevant to your interests, then that would certainly be a plus if you are deciding between programs.

My advice for this particular situation is if you choose to attend this program (in another thread you said you were deciding between two possible programs), then you should convey this concern to your advisor and ask if they can offer you an assistantship in their lab for 2018-2019. It is not likely they can promise you this in advance because very few programs will promise you this a year in advance. But you can gauge how likely you are going to get the offer based on your interactions with this advisor. If you are not satisfied with the response, then perhaps you would consider the other school's offer more appealing?

 

It's helpful to know that this is not atypical. Sometimes my assumptions are not correct, which is why I ask more questions. 

You're right, the other offer is more appealing in many ways.

I was told there would be a spot in '18 pending a successful grant application, so that's something.

Thanks for taking the time to help me think through this!

 

[AP]

Yes, it's common. And in many programs it is even a requirement to TA/RA for professors/in projects unrelated to your interests. At the least, it shows your ability to adapt. 

11 hours ago, hopefulPhD2017 said:

It's going to fill a need for the university, which is good for them, and I'm not opposed to service, but to my mind if I'm going to leave a job to be an impoverished scholar-in-training, I'd like to actually apprentice under my advisor or someone else who will help me build my CV and applicable research skills.

Unfortunately, this is not a valid argument for negotiating a GAship, least of all in your first year. Nobody is forcing you to leave your job to be anything, you are making this decision on your own based on the offer. You are not being offered a job, where you would negotiate a package worth leaving everything for. If you are going to be an impoverished Gard student, that's your call. I don't see any harm in asking, though, if there could be a reassignment based on your interests. 

That said, everything you do in grad school builds your CV. You can strategize this GAship to serve your career goals. First, it may connect you with people outside your interests who could eventually read drafts of papers, grant applications, chapters, etc. Second, it may expose you to people who are not experts in your field or familiar with your jargon. In the long run, explaining your research and its impact to this audience will help you have a wider readership. Third, it may build research skills. Take advantage of your time there as you could be learning on data recollection, information organization, research management, or whatever that you could apply in your own work. Fourth, it may expose you to other interests that you may consider for your own research or for including as part of your academic conversation. Fifth, being exposed to another research helps you be a better reader of others' work. 

 

[rising_star]

Wait, people get GA positions related to their research in the social sciences? That's news to me! (Just kidding. Sorta.) FWIW, I was a TA or sole instructor for three different courses as a grad student that were completely unrelated to my interests. Only one of those times included being a TA for my advisor. It's part of doing what you do to get paid. Think of it as similar to all the work-study jobs you might've had as an undergrad. Were they related to your interests? Maybe not. Did they give you valuable experience that you could list on a future job application? Yep. 

[TakeruK]

1 hour ago, hopefulPhD2017 said:

I was told there would be a spot in '18 pending a successful grant application, so that's something.

Grants are very competitive, even for big shot professors. Maybe your field is a special one that is more generous with grants, but the typical success rate for my field is something like 10% to 20% for external grants (internal grants may be higher). So professors in my field spend most of their time writing grants proposals to fund all of their students. If the money isn't already there for you in 2018, I would not count on this (money could already be there if they do have a multi-year grant, or a startup fund, but they want to wait a year before spending it on you or they are spending it in 2017-2018 on a current student that is about to graduate etc.). 

So, it could work out that you get what you want in 2018. But do not factor this into your decision, unless you get a more solid promise. It's nice that it sounds like the prof does want to hire you, but just needs to get the funding (**however, this is a common/nice way for professors to say no without saying no).

[hopefulPhD2017]

Thanks to everyone who took the time to weigh in. @TakeruK I think I needed the extra reminder that nothing is certain and that I really do need multiple years. So, I told them that and am glad to effectively have made a decision!

[hopefulPhD2017]

Welp. It's April 14 today. 

I wrote to the school asking if it'd be possible to put into writing multiple years of funding to match another offer. That was 4.5 days ago. I've gotten no response as of yet and since we're 10 business hours  (if you count Saturday as a business day) away from end of day on April 15, I guess that's that and that I'm turning down the offer entirely.

I wish they'd respond, at least, but I feel confident that I will be better supported in the long term at another school. 

Again, thanks to you all here, especially @TakeruK, @AP, and @rising_star; your thoughtful responses are what I needed to think this through in agonizing detail.

[TakeruK]

You're welcome. Sorry to hear about the frustration and agony of the non-response. But thanks for the update and I am glad that you feel good about the choice you end up making! Good luck next fall

[rising_star]

22 hours ago, hopefulPhD2017 said:

Welp. It's April 14 today. 

I wrote to the school asking if it'd be possible to put into writing multiple years of funding to match another offer. That was 4.5 days ago. I've gotten no response as of yet and since we're 10 business hours  (if you count Saturday as a business day) away from end of day on April 15, I guess that's that and that I'm turning down the offer entirely.

I wish they'd respond, at least, but I feel confident that I will be better supported in the long term at another school. 

Not sure what school this is but it's worth keeping in mind that Friday was a religious holiday and many schools were closed. I mean, even the US federal government extended the tax deadline past April 15 this year because of the weekend and religious holidays.