An interview with our new Director of Graduate Studies (DGS): Associate Professor Jeffrey Geddes!
This summer, Professor Jeffrey Geddes took on the role of Director of Graduate Studies in the Earth & Environment department. We asked him about his goals, the challenges graduate students face, and advice for incoming students.
What are your goals as DGS?
“My first goal as DGS is to try and match the dedication that Prof. Kurtz gave to this role. I have long been inspired by his leadership, and am grateful for his deep commitment to advancing the graduate student experience in our department. There are many ways I hope to continue this work. As DGS, I would like to make sure we are serving our graduate students in the best way possible. Our graduate programs are internationally recognized, and the student experience should likewise be world-class. Fostering a sense of community, broadening professional development opportunities, advocating for additional resources, and offering support and solutions to the challenges we are facing are all priorities for me.”
What do you see as some challenges that grad students and the program currently face?
“Graduate students are of course facing a variety of challenges, on top of what can sometimes feel like an opaque and difficult process to navigate even under normal circumstances. Where is my funding going to come from, and what will my responsibilities be? How will I make time for everything I need to accomplish? How do I know if I am meeting expectations and am on track? What are my paths after graduation? These are some of the questions that I’m sure students are asking themselves every day, and part of my job as DGS is to make sure students have (or know where to find) the answers. I also want to make sure I keep a good “pulse” on the challenges that students are facing, so plan to make space for feedback both in the form of written submissions and in-person town halls or meetings.”
What was your experience in grad school like and how might that inform your work as DGS?
“Similar to most graduate students I’m sure, I distinctly recall having ups and downs during my PhD. Some moments were very discouraging and made me question what I was doing, while other moments felt triumphant. But when I reflect on the whole experience, I think most about the joy and value I felt from the community I had around me. My peers were often going through the same highs and lows: we celebrated and commiserated together, and even in commiseration we were able to find solutions (and certainly often a lot of humor). To me, this speaks to the importance of graduate students feeling like they “belong”. This belonging comes from making close friends over time, fostering connections with faculty in addition to your advisor, participating fully in the department culture, and contributing your ideas and service to others when you have the bandwidth to do so. I hope that this perspective is reflected deeply in my work as DGS.”
What advice do you have for incoming graduate students?
“This is a question that I could probably write a whole book to answer. But if I had to distill the most important advice, it might be three things:
(1) Be proactive with your advisor. Research group styles in the department vary significantly due to disciplinary standards, funding mechanisms and availability, team size, and personalities. Try to take the guessing-work out of what your priorities and progress should be by discussing expectations frequently with your advisor (and these expectations should go both ways!). If these conversations are difficult to have with your advisor, seek extra support from me or other trusted faculty members.
(2) Make time to develop and explore time management skills and approaches. Graduate student work can feel very unstructured, and without thoughtful intervention this can be a recipe for procrastination and feeling unmotivated. Your peers and your advisor could discuss strategies with you, but you should also explore enough to find approaches that work well for you. I have some of my own favorite resources that I am happy to discuss with anyone.
(3) Your research project doesn’t define you! In pursuing a PhD, you are developing well-rounded and transferable skills that transcend your current research project. Moreover, you are contributing to a community that extends beyond just the discipline you are studying. Your peers in the department appreciate you, the students you interact with in the classroom appreciate you, the faculty that are watching you develop into independent thinkers appreciate you. Be prepared for the eventuality that you may not always feel value from the research project you are working on, and be open-minded to all the other countless ways in which you are valued.”
Any last thoughts?
“Students should feel welcome to contact me whenever they need some advice about the program or their progress. I also welcome feedback and discussion about the program at any time. I’m here for students during both the highs and the lows that I alluded to above – but especially to provide support and solutions when they are navigating challenges related to the graduate experience in our department.”
