Graduate Student Expectations
Purpose Statement
You have made an incredible, brave, and time consuming decision to come to graduate school. You took the time to decide that graduate school in psychology was what you wanted, you took the GREs, asked for letters of recommendation, made application, spent the money to interview, and accepted our offer of admission. It is an incredible honor to be able to pursue a post-graduate education. In addition, you are getting this degree in a department that has been ranked consistently in the top 15 in the country.
However, many undergraduate programs do not adequately prepare students for graduate school. Therefore, it is difficult for graduate students to know “how” to be a student at this level. It is a qualitatively different professional relationship than most students have ever had. Even students who have been graduate students at other universities or in other types of graduate programs are often still faced with understanding different expectations at their new program. I want to address this with you because I have seen a wide range of different attitudes towards graduate work and coursework in general and I think most graduate students could use some advice on how to best approach such work. For the most part, the students that have been admitted to the M.Ed. program here at UT have hard working, conscientious, and dependable. However, even the best of students sometimes need guidance.
I distinctly remember one of my professors making the following statement: “If graduate school is not the hardest thing you’ve ever done, than you’re not doing it right!” Having been through the experience myself, I agree with this statement. But operationalizing “the hardest thing you’ve ever done” can be a difficult task in and of itself and could mean different things to different people. The purpose of this document is to outline general expectations of graduate students. It is to help prepare you for graduate work at the University of Texas at Austin and to help you get a sense of what you can expect from your professors, as well as from yourself. The success of both the student and the professor is intertwined and by being aware of the expectations professors may have of you, you’ll be in a better position to help us know what your needs are as well.
By far, the more worrisome and bothersome are the students that complain about the workload, do not read assigned readings (much less the extra reading that is often required if one is expected to learn), come across to their instructors in class as bored or inconvenienced, and otherwise behave as if they are entitled to an “A” in a class just because they registered for the class and showed up. These people often try to fake their way through their classes, want to be spoon-fed their knowledge, come to class late (or miss class entirely), and want to know “what’s going to be on the test” rather than taking the initiative to learn the important material needed, regardless of whether or not they will be tested on it. These students are not invested in the process of learning, only the destination of the degree or the grade they seek. Just statistically speaking, there will be these people in your class. I encourage you not to let these people pass this negative energy on to you. I would also encourage you to be an ethical and professional example to these people as well. Begin your graduate school experience with a realistic assessment of yourself, the professional you strive to be, and how you plan to get there. Remind yourself of the seriousness of the commitment you have made. This commitment is not just to graduate school or to your own personal future, but also to a field that is largely responsible for the mental health of some of the most disenfranchised people in our culture.
Student Handbook
Most of the answers to fairly straightforward questions can be found in your handbook. A lot of time and effort has been put into the handbook in order for you to have a resource to turn to when you have a question about your education. You should have two handbooks: one for the Department of Educational Psychology and one for the M.Ed. Program. I have had instances where students have come to ask me a question and it is clear they have not looked at the handbook before making an appointment to see me. This does not make a good impression. Reading the handbook should be the first thing you do when you start your graduate program. You should have it handy throughout each step in your educational process in order to help you stay on top of your education.
Addressing Professors
Whether or not you call a professor by their first name or title (Dr., Professor, etc), depends largely on the culture of the program and the preference of the individual professor. It is always most professional to use a professor’s title until he/she asks you to call them by their first name, even when you might hear other students call that same professor by his/her first name. In the M.Ed. program, we have generally been on a first name basis with our graduate students. However, this may not apply to all professors in the Department of Educational Psychology or in other programs/departments/colleges on campus.
Mutual Respect and Professionalism
This is probably the “golden rule” in a secular setting. Treat others as you would like to be treated. Be respectful, particularly concerning areas of diversity, which reach far beyond those we can see like race and ethnicity. There are some behaviors that will not be tolerated. Those involve things “unbecoming of a future psychologist” like making racial slurs, jokes at the expense of others, yelling or losing your temper with faculty, blatant disrespect of faculty or site supervisors, and other similar behaviors that communicate to us that a profession working with other people is probably not the career path for you.
Modes of Communication
There are several ways to communicate with your professors: email, telephone, in office appointments, and office hours. Regarding email, each of us uses our emails at different levels. Some may check their emails a few times a week, others of us seem to be surgically connected to our modems! However, it is clear that email is a viable, accepted mode of communication. As such, it is your job as a graduate student to check your email daily, at a minimum. Often professors may need to convey valuable information for the next class period, cancel an appointment with you for later that day, or try to make an appointment with you for that afternoon. Of course, such events on such short notice may not have the most optimal outcomes. However, most professors do expect that you will be checking your email at least daily and thus place this responsibility on you.
Along the same lines, you need to have a working email with a large in-box. Especially in cases where a professor is trying to get a message to an entire class, it is impossible for a professor to continue to try 2 or 3 student’s emails because of returned email error messages that read “inbox is full.” This is often true with aol, msn, or yahoo accounts when student’s receive large files from someone else or do not check their emails on a regular basis in order to delete spam or large files. Many professors will not re-email messages returned due to full mailboxes and thus students ultimately miss out on important information. The University of Texas has an excellent email system that is 1) accessible from any computer; 2) free to students; and 3) has excellent spam-guard. Recently, the doctoral program has decided to require each graduate student to have and regularly use these utexas accounts. This decision was made in part based on it being easier to send and receive e-mails from these accounts as well as the fact that you, as students, are representatives of the university and our program. This fact is made more clearly when your emails are linked to the university email server. However, because the duration of the M.Ed. program is much shorter, it is optional, but encouraged that you have a utexas account.
The final note on emails is to always return the message. Assume that professors are emailing you for a reason. Even if the return simply states a “will do!” or “thanks for the info!” you need to let the professor know you got his/her email. Since you will be checking your email daily, these emails should essentially be returned the same day they are received. If a question is posed in an email, the response should either be the answer to that question or an immediate response indicating that while you do not know the answer, you will convey the answer once you have it. You may think these e-mails are not necessarily or even annoying (as if it’s another e-mail to read for the recipient). I can assure you that this is not the case, instead it is considered to be respectful and generally very good e-mail etiquette.
Different professors also have different levels of usage regarding the telephone. For example, I rarely check my office messages (and say so on my voice mail, directing people to my email), but I encourage students to call me at home if they have any questions about an assignment or project (provided it is before 10pm!). Other professors consider their home a sanctuary and would prefer not to be contacted at home. You will get a sense of each professor’s preference as you have him/her for class. But the phone is just like the email: return messages promptly. Since professors typically use email more than the telephone, I would encourage students to return telephone calls even more quickly because it is likely that a telephone call signals more urgency than an email.
There will be many times a student will need to see a professor in person and we encourage as much of this as needed. If you make an appointment with a professor, be on time and call or email if you will be late or need to cancel the appointment. This includes when you sign up for office hours. If you sign up for time with a professor and no longer need the time, just send a brief email indicating so. In addition, if you need to meet with a professor, it is best to email and make an appointment or sign up for office hours. We do generally keep our doors open when we are available for quick questions and brief interactions. However, if you feel as if what you need to discuss may take more time, just ask the professor if he/she has the time available at the moment or if it would be better to make an appointment. It is perfectly fine to drop by on the off chance a professor will be available, just clarify that it is an okay time with the professor.
Finally, keep your professors abreast of any major incidences that are going on in your life that might affect your performance and responsibilities as a student. In the event of such circumstances, provide your instructor a context for why an assignment might be late, why you’ve been late to class, or maybe even why you’ve been a little distracted or less conscientious lately. Of course, we do not want to “pry” into your personal life. And keep in mind that often things that are shared with one professor may need to be passed on to other professors in the program in the interest of your professional development (although this is not always the case). However, knowing how you are doing in and out of class gives us a context for times when you may not be at your best.
Attendance
Class attendance is a student’s number one priority. This is a priority over all other graduate school responsibilities. Students should not schedule research subjects or practicum clients during class time. Students should not schedule doctor’s appointments or job interviews during class time. I had a student ask me if it was okay to miss my class because the time fell during the office hours of another professor the student needed to see. Trust me, other professors will schedule appointments outside of their office hours in such a case. If not, notify the professor of your class first and maybe that professor can help with such arrangements. Any time you have to miss class, you need to discuss this possibility with the professor as soon as you become aware of it. Of course, there will be days you will be ill as well. You need to email or call the professors of your classes that day and let them know ahead of time that you will be ill and unable to attend class. Please note, this standard is true for every class, including practicum and courses offered in other departments or programs. At this level, doctor’s notes and similar documentation is typically not required when a student is ill. It is expected that a student will be honest about such issues. However, repeated illnesses or similar problems that interfere with attendance will need to be addressed either with the professor of the course or within the program. This same general standard is also true about coming to class on time, both at the beginning of class and after breaks. It is disruptive and disrespectful to fellow classmates and the professor to be repeatedly late to classroom activities.
Also keep in mind that according to most instructors, attendance does not equal participation. It is definitely a good start. However, it is very disrespectful to be in a class and not actively engaged or listening. I have had several occasions where students have been checking their palm pilots, cell phones, and even passing notes in class. This is unacceptable. We do realize that you have a lot of other courses and responsibilities as a graduate student with everyone having a full set of responsibilities and considerations in your home and personal lives as well. However, do keep in mind that professors are looking and expecting for you to be involved and active in discussions.
Studytime
The general rule of thumb in graduate school has been for every one hour of class, students should be spending three hours studying outside of class. Since most classes are three hours, that means you should be spending 9 hours a week studying and working for that class. This is of course not a static equation. There will be classes that will not require that many outside hours of prep time. In those cases, it is often expected that you are doing some self-directed outside study of your own. There is only so much material a professor can cover in a given 3-hour time slot. It is up to you to go to the library and research things you don’t understand or seek out information about specific aspects of a topic that are beyond the scope of a particular course. But even in these cases, you may still not spend 9 hours working on a 3-hour class. At the same time, there will be classes that will likely require more than the 9 hours a week studying and working for the class. In some classes, this is just the nature of the course topic and cannot be helped. Finally, specific students may need to spend more time in some classes than in others. For example, statistics may be a particularly difficult course for some students, but for others, it may be a breeze. In general, averaged together, you should expect the 1:3 ratio in your class/study time.