[Air-l] CFP: Graduate Student Research Group

[Lois Ann Scheidt]

I continue to be concerned about the attempts I see to ghettoize 
graduate students within AoIR.  These proposals are usual presented as 
“ways to increase student participation” but if approved would serve to 
separate graduate students into group's of lower status within the 
organization or at minimum would create a secondary administrative 
structure.

AoIR has an excellent history of graduate student inclusion at all 
levels of the organization.  In my five years of membership, I have 
done a wide variety of things to assist the organization and have never 
been hindered because I am a graduate student.  During that time I 
have, likewise, seen other graduate student members who have been 
involved in all levels of the organization.  The only separation of 
graduate students from the general membership that I find is the 
decreased organizational dues cost, a status that is available to other 
classes scholars as well.

I think this proposal is an excellent example of the issue that 
concerns me.  Graduate students are being asked to step forward and 
volunteer to be members of a pool to conduct “research” – projects that 
sound more like organizational evaluation efforts than academic 
research.  The title of the “project” separates these assignments from 
any other work the organization might choice to have done by an ad hoc 
committee, one that would not be burdened with a titling limitation on 
membership.

If the work needs to be done then create ad hoc committees/working 
groups to fulfill the need, that way membership could be sought 
throughout the organization.  This would also allow for those who are 
truly interested in the project to volunteer their service to the 
organization, rather than the current proposal that requires a graduate 
student to volunteer their service to the Graduate Student 
Representative for later assignment to currently ill-defined 
“projects.”  This would create organizational transparency something I 
feel has been a core value of AoIR.

I believe that before projects to “include” graduate students should be 
undertaken those making the decision should conduct an analysis of the 
roadblocks that are impeding graduate students from involvement.  
First, are there in fact roadblocks?  If so, are the roadblocks you 
find ones we can control organizationally?  If they are outside our 
control can we help members find work-arounds for the specific issue?

One of the ways to assess the existence of and potentially the types of 
roadblocks involved is to talk to those who you perceive to be 
affected, which could have been done on the graduate student list.  In 
truth, the low activity on the graduate student list may answer the 
question in part, students are active in the main list and likely see 
no need for a separate list.  However, since the infrastructure is in 
place it would have been good to use it to start the discussion even if 
the discussion then needed to move to the main list.

In short, to protect from the perception of ghettoization first a 
analysis should be done to establish that a true need exists.  Then a 
more persuasive argument must be presented that establishes the value 
of even pilot projects within the organization.

Lois Ann Scheidt

Doctoral Student - School of Library and Information Science, Indiana
University, Bloomington IN USA

Future Faculty Teaching Fellow (2005-2006) - School of Informatics, Indiana
University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI), Indianapolis IN USA

Webpage:  http://www.loisscheidt.com
Blog:  http://www.professional-lurker.com


Quoting Ted M Coopman <coopman at u.washington.edu>:

> See in-line comments.
>
> Ted M. Coopman
> Department of Communication
> University of Washington
>
> On Mon, 20 Mar 2006, Jeremy Hunsinger wrote:
>
>> I have a few questions:
>>
>> What sort of things are to be produced?
>
> Currently, we are trying to get a better picture on who attends the
> conferences. Please see the list of potential projects in the CFP.
>
>> What is this new organizational structure's relationship to AoIR
>> working groups?
>
> No specific relationship. These are more ad hoc.
>
>> Is AoIR going to become some sort of research consultancy,   where
>> AoIR produces research instead of the members producing research?
>
> No. I don't know where this question is coming from. Please refer to
> the terms in the CFP.
>
>> What is the audience of this research?
>
> This depends on the project. Mainly the exec, secondly the
> membership, lastly the general population interested in internet
> research.
>
> will it be vetted?  by whom?
>
> The exec and members that the exec may tap with specific expertise.
>
>> Who decides who gets to be on which project, given the natural
>> tendency for some projects to be more interesting than others?
>
> Anyone who qualifies (a student and a member) wants to participate in
> s GSRT will be able to, so it's  self-selection. Many hands make
> light work. In the case of topics that may not seem interesting I
> will likely ask people to step up. I have faith that those who
> volunteer for the GSRG will during the year feel obligated to be a
> member of a GSRT. Overall, I will manage the project as Grad rep.
>
>> How does this fit with the mission and bylaws?
>
> Looks like it fits right in there to me, do you have some specific
> concerns that this project steps out-of-bounds in specific or in
> general?
>
> -TED
>>
>>
>>
>> On Mar 20, 2006, at 4:08 PM, elw at stderr.org wrote:
>>
>>>
>>>
>>> 1)  What, exactly, does the exec have in mind?
>>>
>>> 2)  Wouldn't it have been a good idea to discuss the formation of
>>> such a
>>>      group on the air-grad list *first*, to see if there's interest
>>> in it?
>>>      (I haven't seen any such discussion, which is why I'm asking...)
>>>
>>> --elijah
>>>
>>
>> jeremy hunsinger
>> jhuns at vt.edu
>> www.cddc.vt.edu
>> jeremy.tmttlt.com
>> www.tmttlt.com
>>
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>>
>>
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>
>
>
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