IN THE last four years I have had the honor and privilege of pursuing my Ph. D. at the University, and I will always be grateful for the excellent education and teaching experience I have received here. As May 17 draws nearer, I have reflected on my experience here and I have thought of a few improvements the University could make in the graduate student experience.
Affordable housing at the University is difficult for graduate students, who generally support themselves on teaching assistant salaries, stipends or fellowships. The two main options on Grounds are University Gardens and the Range, but the first of these is restricted to students who have children or are married. While the Range provides a unique historical experience, as we all know, its rooms come with no bathroom, shower or kitchen, which only works for some people. In addition, there are a small number of double and single apartments at Copeley for graduate students. One great advantage of on-Grounds housing, for those who can get it, is the low cost compared to off-Grounds housing. Off Grounds, most apartments and almost all houses have multiple rooms, whereas most graduate students prefer to live alone, and the 1-bedroom apartments that are available sometimes cost up to 50 percent or more of our monthly incomes. This puts us in a tough situation, especially since a high percentage of graduate students come from outside Virginia, meaning that they must save up to pay for expensive travel home for the holidays.
A second area for improvement is the isolation of graduate students. In my experience there are several reasons for this. First, graduate students themselves should take more initiative and become more involved in activities around Grounds, from IM and club sports to CIOs. I have participated in several CIOs and met only a handful of graduate students in my four years here. Our counterparts at the University´s professional schools — the Darden, Law and Medical Schools — set a good example for us because they are much more involved than GSAS students. The Darden and Law Schools host proms every year, Law School students are active in journals, students from both schools run several active CIOs, and Medical School students recently held a date auction. There are currently few, if any, opportunities for GSAS students to interact with Darden, Law and Medical School students. In addition, students in GSAS rarely participate in CIOs, much less start their own, and GSAS´s Graduate Student Council sponsors only one regular social event (a happy hour once a month), which is not widely attended. Its annual Halloween party, while providing a social outlet, does not facilitate reaching across department lines – it´s not easy to meet anyone in a dark, crowded room with blasting music. To improve this situation, GSASC could make an effort to reach out to more graduate students through a variety of events, rather than sticking to just one or two.
A major factor which contributes to graduate student isolation is the stress we are subjected to both as students and as teaching assistants. Last year an external review of my department by Prof. Diana Sorensen of Harvard University and Prof. Ed Friedman of Vanderbilt University showed that the best students who apply consistently choose other institutions over the University due to our high teaching load and lower financial packages. For students who do accept, this situation creates high levels of stress and lowers performance, which eventually translates into a longer time-to-degree and less publications, which reflect poorly on the program. For example, the teaching load at the University is double that of my previous institution, while pay, course load and expected time-to-degree are the same. I have seen the toll this stress takes on my peers, many of whom used to socialize and have now become withdrawn and focused only on their teaching and their studies. Many graduate students feel overwhelmed, burned out, and suffer from high levels of anxiety. Needless to say, undergraduate students are not exempt from the effects of stressed, overworked teaching assistants.
My final suggestion is the removal of the $39 per month co-pay for summer appointments at Student Health. I hope that in the future the University will work with GSASC to address the current situation of only waiving this fee for the first few students who apply and eliminate the fee across the board.
I would like to end on a positive note and to emphasize that overall I have greatly enjoyed my experience the University, and I am grateful for the opportunity I have been given to study here. The excellent professors who taught me and the intelligent, motivated students I have had the opportunity to teach, as well as the friendships I have made both within and outside of my department have given me knowledge, training, friends and memories which will stay with me for the rest of my life. I hope that the University I have come to love can improve even further for future graduate students.
Julianna Gallardo is a fourth-year student in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, graduating with a Ph.D. in Latin American Literature.
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