Next week, new graduate students to Baylor University will receive a link to an online orientation. I am pretty certain most of them will accept it and watch at least some of videos. I am pretty certain many will work through it carefully, finding many parts of it useful–from the resource fair to living in Waco to how to get a parking pass. This will be one of their first official introductions to graduate school at Baylor. They won’t want to miss it.
But what about three weeks from now? Two months? Deadlines will be mounting; readings will seem impossible; late night lab hours will be exhausting; and emotions will be running high. New challenges will manifest weekly: how to respond when assignments are overwhelming? what to do when you are unprepared for seminar? what to do when a lab mate disagrees with you, perhaps even pointing out a major flaw in your methods? what to do when you receive critical feedback from peers, seminar professors, or even your PI?
I can tell you what begins to happen. The desire to make a good impression, to act with respect and decorum (including in emails), becomes more difficult as the ordinary pressures of graduate school mount. Remembering that each seminar professor and PI is a potential letter of recommendation and/or dissertation committee member becomes more difficult to do in the stress of receiving critical comments. Remembering that the departmental administrative assistant is your golden ticket to a smoother graduate experience becomes easy to forget in the stress of a paycheck mix-up.
I can’t predict every stressful situation you will encounter in graduate school, but you will respond better if you follow these basic guidelines.
- Treat graduate school like a job. The work has to be done; class has to be attended; lab research must be done; readings must be finished. Just like in a real job, there are consequences for slacking off on your work. So be a responsible employee.
- Always go to seminar (virtual or in person). If it is in person, wear your mask and social distance. If it is virtual, be on time with your video on and your sound muted (at least to start). Only absolute emergencies and/or serious issues should keep you from class. If you suspect you have COVID-19, even showing mild symptoms, this is an EXCEPTION. Please follow the COVID-19 guidelines and keep others well. Otherwise, just show up to class.
- Always always let your professor know in advance if you have to miss class or lab time. If you have tested positive for COVID-19, please let your professors and Graduate Program Director know. Always make sure your reading assignments, written assignments, lab work, presentations, etc. are covered. If you are responsible for a seminar presentation but become seriously ill the morning of, you still should have completed that presentation and be able to send what you have to your professor. There is very little excuse for late work in graduate school.
- Treat your professor with respect. You should always use their title, unless they have specifically told you otherwise. You should always respond to their emails. If you feel as if they are treating you unfairly, you should go talk to them privately. Don’t accuse them of unfair treatment in the middle of seminar or a research meeting. These are the people who will help you get publications, grants, and jobs. You want to be on good terms with them, regardless of whether or not you like them.
- Treat the graduate administrative assistant with respect. This is the person who will help you figure our your pay schedule, register for classes, deal with university bureaucracy, etc. You need them, and their job is difficult. Be gracious, be kind, be thankful. Always use appropriate titles in your emails; always say thank you to someone who has helped you; always read over your emails before you send them to make sure they are not emotionally charged.
- Treat all faculty members, even those who do not work directly with the graduate program, with respect. Lecturers are professors too. In fact, their job is perhaps the most important in the department in regards to drawing in majors. You need them. You can learn from them. They are just as important as full professors to the department community and should be valued like any other professor (which is what they are).
- Remember you are in a shared space. The graduate lounge is not your personal study. The lab is not your just your research space. Be respectful of your colleagues. Especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, please wear your mask and practice social distancing at all times. It is up to us to keep our Baylor community as safe and well as possible.
- Graduate school is hard. It should be. You will be stressed. Figure out better stress relief than yelling in seminar, shooting off emotional emails, irritating your colleagues, and/or bad mouthing professors that criticize your work.
- Always ask for recommendations at least 2 months to 6 weeks in advance. Writing a good recommendation is hard work. Give recommenders enough time to do it well; give them reminders (they will appreciate it); and always give them the information they need to write the recommendation (they should never have to search for your c.v., for emails, for submission information).
- Respond to emails and communicate often. I stressed in my previous post how important this is. Your graduate experience will go much more smoothly if you develop good communication skills.
- Be proactive and take responsibility. Yes, we don’t expect you to know everything. But we do expect you to take responsibility for learning it.