Hi, Definitely look into unions (student and work) as there is certain conditions which should be meet. However I was surprised to arrive at my university (XXXXXX) and find a lot of students in a prefab building which had many problems, heating, foxes and leaking rooms which went onto computers a couple of times! I dont have to work under these conditions thanks to a good funding grant but others do.
People put by with things because that is the way they are. Definitely fight to stop them changing things to poorer conditions. I am sure there are studies on light conditions and depression in medical journals. I do find it interesting that students and postdoc's are often treated like they are not employed by a university and therefore do not get the same standard of conditions. Good topic, Rebecca PS. If you had lots of people including lectures complaining formally ie. petition it might help On Fri, Apr 23, 2010 at 3:11 AM, Marty Pfeiffer <[email protected]> wrote: > The responses so far have primarily focused on the value of grad students and > not on the impact that workspace has on their productivity. > > My own experience as a grad student focused on productivity has been as > follows. I have appreciated the workspace offered to me on campus and the > incredible collegiality that I've experienced when taking advantage of that > workspace. However, there is a cost associated with the opportunity for > collaboration. And that is the cost of interruptions to "thinking" time. And > my experience has been that I need lots of thinking time to tease out and > communicate the main messages buried in my field data. > > I have the "benefit" of a home office and self-funding of my graduate > studies, so I have taken full advantage of the flexibility to say "no thanks, > I'm working from home today." Thus my collaborations have been rifle shots > and not shotgun blasts. I meet with people when there is a specific issue > that benefits one or the both of us. As a result, I am on target to complete > my research project about 15 months from the date it was started. This is a > Master's project and undoubtedly the timelines are longer for PhDs. But my > adviser has repeatedly expressed surprise at the speed with which I have > progressed. I, in turn, ascribe it to a bit of sacrifice in collegiality and > a whole lot more focus on getting the work done (by escaping to private > thinking space). > > As others have said, this is not a scientific position, but a sample of one. > I'm a people-lover, but let's face it, we're a social animal and that fact > will most assuredly show itself when we're thrown together in a big room. > > Marty > > P.S. There is no doubt that this is a question that transcends graduate > students. I worked for a long time in the business world, and I am quite sure > that employee productivity has been studied up, down, and sideways, including > organization of the office work environment. If you look to the business > world, I can assure you there will be lots of studies on this topic. Best of > luck to you. > > -- > Martin J Pfeiffer > University of Wisconsin > Nelson Institute > [email protected] > (608) 669-6619 >
