A historian and academic leader at UC Davis shares insights on working with graduate students and postdocs and how to connect with resources to support them
Few people know the challenges for graduate students and postdoctoral scholars better than Ellen Hartigan-O’Connor.
As a professor of history and UC Davis associate dean for graduate students and postdoctoral scholars, she teaches and coaches them through both common challenges, like how to connect with a faculty advisor, and very thorny ones that don’t always have clear solutions.
In every case, Hartigan-O’Connor helps graduate students and postdocs to think through their problems and connects them to campus resources that provide support. The goal: help them find a way to keep moving forward.
“We're trying to make the academy a welcoming and collaborative space where lots of different people can thrive,” she said. “I'm fortunate that I work with graduate students who share and continue to cultivate that idea, and they also help to develop it in me.”
Common challenges for graduate students and post-docs
List of resources for graduate students and post-docs (bookmark this page, as this list will be updated)
Services for International Students and Scholars (SISS): Assists international students, postdocs, staff, researchers, faculty and their families with U.S. entry visa assistance, explains legal requirements for valid immigration status, provides advice and resources on financial, personal, cultural and academic concerns and many more forms of support.
Student Health and Counseling Services: Student-centered integrated services that are inclusive, innovative and promote health equity, which reduce barriers to physical, emotional and social wellbeing in support of student success.
Academic and Staff Assistance Program (ASAP): Confidential counseling for postdocs, faculty and staff.
UC Davis Ombuds Office: A confidential, independent, impartial and informal problem-solving and conflict management resource for all members of the UC Davis, UC Davis Health and UC ANR communities.
Aggie Compass Basic Needs Center: Provides access to nutritious food, assistance applying for CalFresh and other social services, access to economic crisis resources, case management and immediate shelter and support for unhoused students.
Office of Student Support: Case managers help students navigate challenges affecting their well-being, academics or safety by providing provide advocacy, offering ongoing support and consulting with faculty and staff about students of concern.
Student Disability Center: Addresses requests for accommodation for students with disabilities and approves and coordinates services to ensure equitable access to academic programs.
Graduate Studies Emergency Grant Program: Provides support for graduate students experiencing unexpected challenges that impede their progress toward their degrees that might include medical, dental or other health emergencies, as well as accidents and unexpected events such as natural disasters or expenses associated with family emergencies such as death in the immediate family.
UC Davis Graduate Studies Resource Guide: Landing page with links to multiple sites and content.
Over the years, Hartigan-O’Connor has seen graduate students and postdocs face many of the same challenges.
Graduate school and advanced professional training are hard. It’s not a slight step up from undergraduate study, it’s a leap. Mental health struggles are common, yet many try to manage their image by convincing everyone around them that they have it together when they really don’t.
“You want faculty and your colleagues to have confidence in you,” said Hartigan-O’Connor, “and that leads people to mask or to stuff down the serious emotional or other kinds of challenges that they're facing, and they don’t want to ask for help.”
Some graduate students and postdocs have a hard time developing a strong mentoring relationship with their faculty advisor. While the vast majority of students have good relationships, there are times when a student or postdoc’s communication styles don’t match with their faculty advisor’s. It could also be that a professor is still developing as a mentor, or that their research interests don’t fit.
Depending on the nature of the conflict, Hartigan-O’Connor said, helping find a different path, working on communication skills or simply slowing things down can all help.
Financial challenges are also common. Davis is an expensive place to live, and life often comes with surprises. Graduate Studies has an Emergency Grant Program to help students with unexpected financial emergencies. Dental work is one of the most common and expensive costs.
International students and postdocs face challenges right now that are very hard to navigate, as the federal policy landscape has continued to shift over the past year. Services for International Students and Scholars (SISS) in UC Davis Global Affairs is the best resource as a start.
Navigating the hidden curriculum of graduate school
There’s also what is called the “hidden curriculum” of graduate school. There are no courses that teach when and how to talk to a professor or how much independence is expected in research. Students’ past experiences may not have prepared them. A graduate student might think receiving a B+ for the quarter is a good grade, when instead it’s a message that they have academic issues to address.
“Those of us who are in academia may think we're sending a signal, and the student doesn't have the experience to receive that signal,” said Hartigan-O’Connor.
She coaches students one-on-one on about exactly this kind of knowledge. Students who are the first in their families to get a university degree need this kind of help, but even her own children, who are getting ready to apply to graduate programs, need guidance.
“People who go to graduate school have never been to graduate school,” she said. “Often graduate students aren't thinking about the bigger ecosystem of the academy, so I’m there to be someone on their side.”
Supporting all graduate students and postdocs
One of the benefits of Hartigan-O’Connor’s role as associate dean is that she has gotten to know each of the more than 100 graduate programs at UC Davis. They all run differently. Some train students in disciplines like history or literature that are driven by individual research. Others train students in labs that involve broad collaborations.
“I've learned a lot from my colleagues in all of these different departments and programs,” said Hartigan-O’Connor, “about how they work with students, how they integrate or don't integrate students into their own scholarship, how they mentor someone in a field and think about the student’s development while continuing their own research.”
She shared two suggestions on how faculty can support their graduate students and postdocs.
- Establish good communication early on. Ask questions to help align expectations about the details of working together, including how often you will meet and when they should expect feedback. Begin the mentoring relationship with an awareness of students’ or postdocs’ potential preconceptions.
- Educate yourself on campus resources for graduate students and postdocs. The majority of faculty do not have expertise in mental health or in conflict negotiation, but everyone can learn how to connect students to those who do. For example, it’s important to know who to contact about a student in extreme distress. If you feel uncomfortable addressing sensitive issues with your students, the Ombuds Office can also help coach you through difficult conversations.
Hartigan-O’Connor said that for her, working with graduate students has always been incredibly rewarding. In recent years she and colleague Lisa Materson mentored a whole team of graduate students on a project to research stories of women's contributions to the National Parks. The award-winning project generated work that the National Park Service uses in exhibits, guided walks, talks, podcasts, and special events.
“I’m trying to create the academic and research atmosphere that I would want to work in,” she said, “an environment where people engage with each other in good faith to try to understand different viewpoints and appreciate that we're all trying to expand human knowledge. When I see my graduate students furthering that ethic, it makes me very proud.”
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