Changing mentors

[Thor2211]

So, I get up to school a few weeks early to begin my first year in a clinical Ph.D. program and the professor that I am supposed to be working with has me do a few small tasks for her (e.g., administer surveys). I don't officially begin work as a GA until August 16th.

Anyway, the clinical director calls me yesterday and tells me that there is a new faculty member involved in women's studies, which I am not interested in at all and I might be doing me GA with her this year because she has the funds. She is a full professor, prominent researcher, and was working in the sociology department before she transfered to the psyc department. Is this common? I thought I was coming to this school to work with one professor? The clinical director told me that I can pretty much do research with anyone and there is a lot of freedom in that respect, but I need to be funded from this new professor. I don't know how to take this...

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[psychanon]

So you can have a different professor as your adviser (including doing all research projects together), but you just have to be a GA for this other person? I don't know how common it is, but it doesn't sound too bad. You could think of it as being a TA-- you wouldn't necessarily do that for your adviser, or even for someone whose interests match yours; it's just a means of getting funding.

 

[JockNerd]

Yeah, my understanding is similar to psychanon's. You do your independent research and dissertations with your advisor, but your funding comes from whereever the money for it happens to be. I think schools would try to set you up with your own prof, but if that fails then the important thing is to make sure you're funded *somehow*.

It's not really ideal, I guess. I'd just suggest to make sure you're clear that you're not going to be spending more time on her stuff than you're being paid for, because you're going to have to devote time to your own research.

 

[Thor2211]

Now their telling me that I might work in the Pscy clinic answering phones or some ****!