SUNY-ESF graduate students feel sidelined in college’s COVID-19 response

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Rose Osborne first heard about SUNY-ESF’s plan to reopen its campus for the fall semester in early August. 

As a business agent at large for the Graduate Student Employees Union, a collective of graduate students across New York state, Osborne expected to work with administrators as they planned to reopen. At one of the other colleges that she represents, officials presented her with a draft of their restart plan so she could examine it and gauge how graduate students felt. 

But at ESF, graduate students weren’t even at the table, she said. 

“It didn’t even occur to the administration to include grads in a discussion,” said Osborne, who studies ecology at ESF.

The educational challenges of the pandemic have widened the disconnect between graduate students and administrators at ESF, students told The Daily Orange. 

After ESF released its 11-page restart plan during the summer, the college hosted a series of town hall meetings to address how public health restrictions would affect incoming students. Graduate students eventually requested their own meeting, unsatisfied with what some believed was a lack of concern for the issues facing them, Osborne said.

“Parents, undergrads and grads have different concerns,” Osborne said. “It does not make sense to put us all in the same town hall.” 

Though the concerns of graduate students sometimes overlap with those of undergraduate students or faculty members, it’s rare that graduates get their own platform to ask questions or express concerns, she said. At ESF, they had questions about whether their immunocompromised colleagues would be expected to teach in-person classes and how to request permission to work remotely or from out of state. ESF responded to many of the concerns on an individual basis within students’ departments, Osborne said.

Toby Liss, a 5th-year doctoral student and member of the SUNY-ESF Living Wage Campaign, said that graduate students are not usually treated as their own entity despite having unique concerns. Often, the lack of opportunities for engagement with officials prolongs issues, she said. 

“There’s a current of confusion and question marks over everything,” Liss said. 

David Newman, ESF’s interim provost and vice president of academic affairs, said graduate students have been given a voice in the governance of their college, despite their concerns. The presence of graduate students on the Board of Trustees and at the town hall meetings during the summer show that they had a voice in the university’s planning process, Newman said. 

“ESF is working to ensure everyone understands roles, responsibilities, legal obligations and levers we can pull to ensure everyone has the tools and resources they need to be successful,” Newman said. 

But Liss wasn’t sure that ESF’s efforts were enough.

“I don’t think one- or two-hour town halls for a large campus with so many different constituencies is enough time to address so many legitimate concerns,” she said.

The communication issues continued into winter break as the university began planning for the spring semester, Osborne said.  This time, there were no town halls, but administrators met with graduate representatives to hear their concerns, she said. 

ESF’s decision to delay the start of its spring semester means finals week will take place as many teaching assistants’ contracts run out. If the issue is left unaddressed by the college, some graduate students would see a significant increase in workload and unpaid labor, Osborne said. 

Financial security is another concern among graduate students. While the union has been working with the state legislature to eliminate fees for classes and enrollment for graduate student employees, ESF graduate students have set their sights on delaying the bills, if nothing else. 

Tuition bills are typically due before the first day of classes, when some graduate students haven’t yet received a paycheck. The union, the SUNY-ESF Living Wage Campaign and other students have asked ESF to push the billing deadline to mid-October in the fall and mid-March in the spring to take into account the financial burden the pandemic has placed on students. 

Newman, the ESF interim provost, said college officials have met with graduate representatives and are still working toward a solution. 

Another issue with the administration’s communication lies with their ongoing search for a new vice president of research, said Shelby Coleman, a doctoral student studying environmental chemistry.

More stories about SUNY-ESF and its COVID-19 response:

• What SUNY-ESF’s spring semester COVID-19 procedures are
• SUNY-ESF delays start of in-person spring 2021 semester to February
• SU alum Joanie Mahoney becomes first female president of SUNY-ESF

Coleman said ESF officials rejected her requests for graduates to have a chance to meet the candidates. She disagreed with the ESF administration’s reasoning.

“I have asked the provost two times now if graduate students could have a meeting with the (vice president of research) candidates since grads are directly influenced by the VPR’s decisions, but have been shut down both times because the schedule is already too full and grads don’t directly interact with the VPR like faculty do,” Coleman said.

The administration’s unwillingness to solicit graduate student’s input runs contrary to the narrative of inclusion that the school promotes, Osborne said. 

“‘Be part of the team’ is a phrase that admin has been really leaning on in the pandemic, but then they never invite us to be part of the team,” Osborne said. “We were not in the decision making meetings, and our opinions are ignored.”

Nevertheless, student organizations and unions will continue to work so their voice will be heard. Another graduate student, Jenny Frank, said that the ESF administration needs to cooperate with graduate students.

“They don’t want to work with us to better the institution, and that’s what we’re here for,” said graduate student Jenny Frank. “Without us, there is no ESF.”