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Automatic punishment at the Rockefeller University

Automatic punishment at the Rockefeller University

1 signatures 49 to reach 50
L
Lukasz K. signed
Started by Anonymous 18 years, 11 months ago
Dear Deans, The Rockefeller University offers an unprecedented amount of freedom to its graduate students and treats them personably, with limited bureaucratic hassle. As Sid has said on many occasions, we are names here, not numbers. Having an automated reminder service with an automated threat hanging over our heads for failure to schedule a FAC meeting goes entirely against the spirit of the David Rockefeller Graduate Program. It is a step back in the Dean\'s Office efforts to meet the students\' needs. We understand that in case when the policies are not respected, measures need to be implemented, as was the case with the abuse of student budgets. However, the Dean\'s Office memo clearly states that there has been no lack of compliance. Why fix something that is not broken While we accept the usefulness of the reminders, we think that the threat of immediate academic probation and stipend termination is not an appropriate measure. Our program\'s size allows case-by-case assessment, in line with the culture of the graduate program, respecting individual students. We hope that our voice will be taken into account. Sincerely, The undersigned Graduate Fellows of the Rockefeller University

Updates

October 9, 2007

I honestly did not think this would gain this much steam so fast, but seeing so many of you jump on board really validates that I'm not the only one feeling stressed about these automated threats. It feels like the administration might actually have to listen now because we are just showing them that we know our worth here and we aren't just invisible cogs in the system, even if the emails make it feel like that sometimes.

6 Comments

D
David Vega
18 years ago Featured

Why mess with a system that works? Bureaucracy like this just kills moral.

M
Mark Shepherd
18 years ago Featured

This is totally unnecessary. We arent robots and the program shouldn't act like we are.

E
Elena Collins
18 years ago Featured

STOP treating us like numbers. This is supposed to be a place of higher learning not a factory.

S
Sarah Atkinson
18 years ago Featured

Ridiculous to threaten students who are already doing what they are supposed to. Keep the personal touch.

J
Jessica Sharma
18 years ago Featured

Exactly. If there is no compliance problem then leave it alone.

T
Tom Nair
18 years ago Featured

The threat of losing a stipend over a scheduling reminder is just insane. Let's keep it reasonable.

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