Susan Sorensen ECE Rally Speech

[This speech was given as part of the ECE rally on 12/5/2019 in response to the events reported in a Wisconsin State Journal article.]

 

I am the president of the Physics Grad Student Council. Since the Wisconsin State Journal article broke in October, I have had several fellow students approach me, concerned for our department. Now, they aren’t in hostile research groups themselves. Honestly, I feel very lucky to be in a department where faculty has, on the whole, been very receptive to graduate student feedback. There are students on department committees, we have a new faculty mentoring program, and the department has been helping grad student efforts to write a climate survey like the ones done in Chemistry. So what reason do these students have to be concerned?

 

For many grad students, John Brady’s story rings familiar. The students who approached me in Physics had heard stories, just as I have, that are eerily similar to things that happened in Dr. Sayeed’s lab. John Brady’s experience speaks to fears that we’ve probably all thought about. What if something happened with my advisor? Would I speak up and risk having to re-start my research? Would I take the chance at being labeled a troublemaker and struggling to find other faculty who would take me on? Would I quit the program without my intended degree? Or would I just keep going, and hope that I could grit my teeth and bear it? I can understand why multiple students might choose to stay silent.

 

I don’t think that there are any labs like Dr. Sayeed’s in the physics department. I don’t think that…but how would I KNOW if there were? The university claims that the circumstances surrounding John Brady’s tragic death were an extreme and isolated incident. Extreme? Certainly. But isolated? The hostile environment in Dr. Sayeed’s lab was allowed to continue for at least four years, and how much longer might it have continued were it not for this great tragedy? An investigation wasn’t even launched until John’s parents brought up concerns, despite some faculty having experienced the problem firsthand. How can the university possibly know that this is an isolated incident? How can they be sure that there are not other labs like Dr. Sayeed’s across this campus right now? 

 

It shouldn’t take a student’s death to realize something is wrong. This is not a suicide-prevention initiative. It is an abuse- & exploitation-prevention initiative. But University changes since John Brady’s death have not treated it that way. The University response overwhelmingly involved expansion of mental health services. We applaud these initiatives. Those services are great and needed, but they do nothing to prevent an abusive lab, and may not even be able to identify one. Mental health issues can be a symptom of an unhealthy work environment, and while treating a symptom is good, it does not cure the disease. The University needs to take steps to be able to identify and prevent hostile work environments for grad students,… and it can start by showing us that its written standards for faculty conduct mean something, and that serious violations will be met with more than a slap on the wrist. The investigation into Dr. Sayeed’s conduct determined that his actions did not warrant dismissal. But I’ve read that report. This language may be disturbing, but allow me to quote just a few things.     Dr. Sayeed called his students

 

“Monkey”

Said they were “like babies and do not use the brain to think”

“Little no integrity moron”

He said “I am a bully, yes, and you are the liars”

He told an international student he “didn’t want to waste his funding for [them] and wanted [them] to go back to [their] home country.”

He even compared graduate students to “slaves.”

 

These statements are just one aspect of the horrible lab environment Dr. Sayeed cultivated. Even in his response to the investigation’s findings, Dr. Sayeed apologized but continued to deny charges that he had “abused his authority.” If these statements, if his actions, as reported by many people, are not enough to warrant dismissal, then what is? I shudder to think. Dr. Sayeed’s impending return to campus does not make me feel like I am at a school which prioritizes my safety over its own reputation.

 

We need university-level changes.

 

We need to look at the gaps that failed John Brady, and find things that, perhaps, could have helped identify the problems with Dr. Sayeed in time.

Graduate students have no shortage of reasons not to report hostile and abusive advisors, and so we need to make it easier for students to do so without fear. The university needs to give clearer guidelines for what kind of work environment grad students, especially RAs, should expect so that they can be confident and know if they are in a situation worth reporting. Current grievance policies tell students to start out speaking to someone in their department, but there is no way to escape an advisor’s sphere of influence within a department. Students need more ways to submit concerns truly anonymously, and outside of their departments. Regular climate surveys and annual advisor assessments give students the added protection/anonymity of strength in numbers. The issue of what to do for a student who has completed most of a degree but has to leave a bad advisor situation is, admittedly, a tricky one, I get that. But it is one worth addressing. As long as a 5th or 6th year student is afraid of going back to year 2 or 3 of their degree, things will go unreported. At the very least, and it is the least, students should be able to easily get a clear understanding of the potential consequences of submitting a formal grievance.

 

But the onus should not be entirely on the students. There are things that the university and departments can do to identify potential problems. Perhaps the simplest is just tracking attrition rates from research groups. This is data many departments probably have already as they know when a student has changed funding. People should be looking at that information. Having some kind of control set up could flag when a group is experiencing unusual attrition, warranting some investigation. Along with that, there could be simple, confidential exit surveys or interviews when someone switches groups or leaves the department entirely. Most of these responses will be completely benign, but periodic review may indicate concerning trends for certain research groups. We need to be looking for trends, because treating this as an isolated incident is an attitude that will fail other students like it failed John Brady if it continues.

 

Improving graduate student protections is not a student vs school issue. At least, it doesn’t have to be. The University says that this incident “does not represent the daily work conditions of the nearly 5,000 graduate students employed as [TAs, RAs and PAs], many of whom develop positive lifelong relationships with their mentors.” I believe that that is mostly true. Most grad students are doing okay. Most faculty want the same thing we want – for us to be happy and healthy and successful. And protected. We call on faculty to be active allies in working together toward that common goal. Because when it comes to student safety, most of us is not enough.

ECE Petition announcement (email from 11/19/2019)

Hi everyone,

You may have seen the recent news articles discussing the tragic death in 2016 of ECE graduate student John Brady, who worked in an extremely toxic environment here on campus. This page (http://taa-madison.org/taa-ufas-ece-letter/) shows the TAA’s response, and also links to a recent news article in case you would like to read about it. Dr. Sayeed, John’s former advisor, is expected to return to work at the university in January despite concerns that he will continue exploiting and bullying students in his lab.

Students across campus have criticized the university for allowing Dr. Sayeed to return to work, and for ignoring the fact that many departments have similarly toxic faculty members whose behavior goes unchecked. The ECE Graduate Student Association (similar to PGSC), with the TAA’s support, has drafted a petition voicing their concerns and asks all community members who share their concerns to sign. If you are interested in adding your voice to the list of people condemning the University’s reaction and asking that they revisit their decision to continue employing Dr. Sayeed, you can find the petition here: https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/commit-to-a-graduate-student-workplace-environment-that-is-free-of-bullying-and-harassment/

The PGSC has worked with the department to assemble a short list of some resources available to graduate students that can help with mental/emotional health concerns and reporting grievances/harassment. These resources can be found at https://pgsc.physics.wisc.edu/resources/. As always, the PGSC comment box welcomes any and all comments, and feedback can be submitted anonymously. Please feel free to reach out to your PGSC representatives for support.
Sincerely,
Susan Sorensen (Current PGSC President)
Adrian Fraser (Previous PGSC President)
and all PGSC Officers

First Year Rep. Election Results 2019-2020

Hi everyone, and Happy Monday!

We’d like to first thank everyone who voted in the election– we had an amazing turnout! We’d like to especially thank both Abby and Jacob for volunteering to run. PGSC can’t be successful without enthusiastic people like you offering your time.

Your first year representative for 2019-2020 will be Abby Bishop. Congrats!

As a reminder, PGSC committees are open to all graduate students, and if you’re interested in being more involved feel free to email the appropriate officer (info here: pgsc.physics.wisc.edu/officers/) or Susan or me, and we can help. There is also an anonymous comment box on our website (pgsc.physics.wisc.edu/comment-box/) that you can fill out at any time if you have ideas for how PGSC can better serve students.

Thanks again and have a great week!

Best,
Kayla & Susan for the PGSC Officers

Graduate Student Lounge Renovations

The long-awaited Grad Lounge renovations will begin Monday, October 7th! That means we need to have everything cleared out of the lounge by the end of the day on Friday, and we need your help! Please see below for details on how to help clear out the lounge, and where everything is going during construction. Updates about the grad lounge will be posted here on https://pgsc.physics.wisc.edu.
Clearing out the lounge:
  • Cleaning during Cookie Time: Today at 2:30pm, please come help throw out garbage and clean off furniture to prepare it for storage.
  • Take anything that is yours out of the lounge before Friday at 4:30pm.
  • Return anything you borrowed from the lounge before Friday at 4:30pm. For example, we are missing 1 light blue plate and a bunch of red-handled silverware (2 spoons, 3 knives, 4 forks). There should be 4 of each of these things.
  • Clearing-out Day: Friday at 4:30pm we will start clearing out anything that is still left in the room. This shouldn’t take too long as long as a decent number of people show up. Please do not make me do this by myself. Snacks will be provided.
Temporary storage locations:
  • Fridge and microwave will be moved to the Grad Computing Lounge (3309). Note that there is no sink in this room, so we probably will not store the dishes here. Everyone should have a key to this room. If you do not, please see Aimee Lefkow.
  • TV and games will be stored either in Brent Mode’s or Neil Leonard’s office. I will post the room number on https://pgsc.physics.wisc.edu once it is finalized.
  • Furniture and the (folded) ping pong table will be stored in a room on the 4th floor TBD.
  • Everything else will be stored in my (Susan Sorensen’s) office (5302). If you do not take your stuff out of the grad lounge before Friday afternoon, this is probably where it will end up. (Note that this is a shared office, so there will also be a lot of non-grad-lounge stuff in there. If you need to come pick something up from me, please be respectful of the space.)
  • Keep an eye out for emails from the PGSC social committee regarding the temporary relocation of Cookie Time.
As a (very) rough estimate, the construction may take around two months. We will update this estimate on our website as the construction progresses. If you have any questions/comments about any of this, please email me or post to the PGSC anonymous comment box on https://pgsc.physics.wisc.edu/comment-box/. I hope you are all as excited for the new lounge as I am!
Best wishes,
Susan Sorensen & the rest of the PGSC

Peer Mentoring Signups

PGSC is happy to announce the beginning of peer mentoring in our department! This is independent of the new faculty mentoring which the department is starting in the fall. The goal of peer mentoring is to establish lasting relationships between less experienced students and more veteran graduate students who want to give back to the department.

Thanks to everyone who has signed up already for the new peer mentoring program! While initial mentor / mentee groups have been assigned, you can still sign up using the following forms:

We will be using either a small group or one-on-one format depending on interest and numbers to ensure that mentors don’t feel overwhelmed or burdened by their involvement. We are taking steps to make sure that we can match mentors with mentees based on similar research interests as well as making sure that international students and women/gender minorities have an opportunity to be mentored by grad students who understand their unique situations. There is no deadline to sign up, but if you are interested, we encourage you to sign up as soon as possible for planning purposes. Please encourage members of your group to sign up for peer mentoring. This is a great opportunity to help our department become an even better place to be a student and researcher.

Thank you,
Brent Mode
PGSC Peer Mentoring Committee Chair

2019-2020 Election Results!

Hi everyone,

With 55 responses recorded, we’re certainly above our 25% requirement for a quorum, so last night I closed the polls. Thank you everyone who participated, and a big thank you to everyone who provided feedback! If you want to follow up on any of your questions or comments in the survey (it was anonymous so I have no idea who said what), please feel free to email me.

Now that elections are over, I’m pleased to announce the next year of PGSC officers:

  • President – Susan Sorensen
  • Vice President – Kayla Leonard
  • Chair of Recruit and Welcome – Megan Tabbutt
  • Chair of Professional Development – Rob Morgan
  • Chair of Peer Mentoring – Brent Mode
  • 2nd/3rd year Social Activities Co-Chair – Trevor Oxholm
  • 4th+ year Social Activities Co-Chair – Urvashi Gupta
  • 2nd/3rd year At-large Rep – Ben Harpt
  • 4th+ year At-large Rep – Leslie Taylor
  • International Rep – Leah Tom

Stay tuned for further updates on the peer mentoring planning process, social activities over the summer, committee sign-up opportunities, etc.

And thank you to everyone who got involved in some way this year, even just attending cookie time! It’s great to see that PGSC’s first year was a success.

Best,

Adrian

2019-2020 Elections

Hi everyone,

If you would like to run for a PGSC Officer position for the 2019-2020 year, please fill out this survey to indicate which positions you are interested in: https://forms.gle/KJviPDA89p5woN8ZA

Nominations will close at 5 pm next Friday, May 3rd. If not all positions are filled by that point, nominations will be held open until we are able to fill all positions.

As per the bylaws we started with last year (posted on the website), everyone may nominate themselves for up to two positions, so long as they indicate which of the two positions is their preferred position. If you win both positions, you will be asked to fill the position you indicated as being preferred, with the second position being filled instead by whoever came in second place. Also note that to be eligible for the President position you must have been a PGSC officer in a previous year.

Multiple people have asked whether the self-nominations will be publicly shared throughout this process, so that people can choose what to nominate themselves for based on what is in high or low demand. For that reason, we will post people’s nominations there as they come in.

Thanks,

Adrian

 

Current Nominations:

  • President
    • Susan Sorensen
  • Vice President
    • Kayla Leonard
  • Chair of Peer Mentoring
    • Brent Mode
  • Chair of Recruit and Welcome
    • Megan Tabbutt
  • Chair of Professional Development
    • Rob Morgan
  • Co-chair of Social Activities (2nd/3rd year)
    • Trevor Oxholm
  • Co-chair of Social Activities (4th+ year)
    • Urvashi Gupta
  • Representative for International Students
    • Leah Tom
  • At-Large Representative (2nd/3rd year)
    • Ben Harpt
    • Brent Mode
  • At-Large Representative (4th/5th/6th+ year)
    • Leslie Taylor
    • Susan Sorensen

Pizza Social

The Social Committee’s first Pizza Social features $1-2 slices of Ian’s Pizza on November 30th at 5:30 pm in Room 2104! Come hang out with your fellow graduate students!