Krannert Doctoral Student Association 2004 Survey Results

1
Krannert Doctoral Student Association 2004
Survey Results

• October 29, 2004

2
Executive Summary

• Main issues
• 3rd floor printer
• Double sided printer access
• Computing storage space (network drive)
• Laptops (loaners) available for conferences
• Software introduction / training

3
2004 survey of new doctoral students!

• 2003 11/07/2003-11/17/2003, 13 responses
• 2004 9/28/2004-10/18/2004, 16 responses

4
1. The application process (timing of offer,
deadlines, etc.) worked well for me.
Mean 4.4 (4.2 in 2003)
5
2. How could it be improved?

• Allow students to change their online application
  even after they submitted it.
• By giving fast information on what documents are
  missing etc. to process my application.
• I would have liked to know the profile of the
  people I was competing with. It would have helped
  me to better prepare my application.
• Overall I was pleased with the process. My only
  complaint is the lack of agreement of different
  sources on how to complete the process. For
  example, on some documentation the resume is
  listed as optional, apparently it is required.
• It's fine. There is not much difference in the
  application process between Purdue and many other
  schools. Purdue requires a shorter personal
  statement which I think is a good idea.
• Some schools had automatic emails notifying
  deadlines for the online applicants, which I
  thought was helpful.

6
3. What was your next best alternative to Purdue?

• Arizona St. University
• UNC Ch. Hill / UT Austin / Duke
• Sunny-Buffalo
• Arizona State University
• Law school or working.
• Substitute teaching
• Pennsylvania State University, Smeal
• MIT, School of Engineering (No funding)
• Getting a job
• Vanderbilt University.
• University of Minnesota

7
4. Which of the following most influenced your
decision to come to Purdue?
8
5. If other, please specify your reasons.

• Only American university participating in my
  program. In addition, the scholarship I got was
  also a key element for the decision.
• Actually it was a combination of all of the above
  items, in addition to the environment. I knew
  several students and recent graduates of the Econ
  PhD who spoke highly of the program. For me that
  was the most important.
• There were a lot of reasons why Purdue was
  appealing... it certainly has a great reputation
  and a great faculty, but I had geographic
  limitations and needed to find either
  post-undergraduate education or a job in the
  immediate area.

9
6. My expectations for this first year are being
met thus far.
Mean 3.7 (3.7 in 2003)
10
7. How could it be improved?

• I would like to be offered a general course
  (short?) on how to perform research, a course
  related to the databases commonly used for the
  Research in Finance, and another crash course on
  statistical software.
• Hope we can have more chance to meet PhD.
  students and professors. 4-year funding makes me
  feel uncertain. I hope to learn more about
  research even in the first year.
• Better planning for first semester courses.
  Having two theory classes start in the second
  module will be challenging with two other classes
  as well. It is too bad that one of them couldn't
  have been in the first module. That would help to
  spread the work load a little more evenly.
• I think I would like more information when it
  gets started. After the orientation week I had no
  more idea what to expect than before.
• My biggest problem is ECON 608, and I don't
  really think that the professor is the problem. I
  do not have a very strong econ background, and
  this class is not very "friendly" for newbies. My
  suggestion would be to send out some kind of
  reading the summer before (like Novshek did for
  615 and 607) to help people with a weaker econ
  background prepare more.
• The amount of material is very high.
• It would be great if each PhD student could be
  given a computer in their office rooms as it is
  difficult to work from a common PhD lab.

11
8. Additional comments or suggestions?

• People have been extremely helpful and friendly.
  I don't feel a competitive environment (in the
  negative way), on the contrary, it is challenging
  and encouraging.

12
Annual Fall Survey of Krannert Doctoral Students
2004 (all PhD students)

• 2003 11/07/2003-11/17/2003, 59 responses
• 2004 9/28/2004-10/18/2004, 62 responses

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ASSISTANTSHIPS
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1. I receive an adequate salary for the work that
I perform in my current assistantship assignment.
Mean 3.0 (3.4 in 2003)
15
2. My assistantship at Krannert helps my
professional/career development.
Mean 3.7 (4.0 in 2003)
16
3. Additional comments, concerns, or
recommendations regarding assistantships?

• Faculty/project matching should be better
  organized and goal driven towards journal and
  conference paper production. Conference travel
  should be more adequately funded (i.e. it's
  impossible to get even the promised partial
  funding for two conferences per year).
• Much like Cost of Living increases found in a
  normal job, we should get paid COL increases
  every year (like 3).
• Try and bring up to par with Engineering School
  assistantships.
• It is hard to allocate the right time to my RA
  duties in my case where I have to work for two
  professors and sometimes they seem to ask for
  more than the time for each one. In any case,
  this is a time-mgt issue.
• The work load is not standardized even though
  there are max hrs to work.. I end up working a
  lot more hrs than I am supposed to.
• I've taught four out of my first seven semesters
  - that's more than 50 of the time. When will I
  have time to focus on my research and
  dissertation? And how come my fellow students
  have taught half as much as me?
• The stipend needs to be revised significantly.
  The stipend should be made comparable to
  assistantships in engineering that range in the
  1800's.
• 4-year funding makes me feel uncertain.
• I appreciate the effort to make the assignments
  balanced. I recognize that it is a tough job to
  asses the effort level that different assignments
  require. Maybe the professors that ask for an RA
  can actually privately communicate to the RA
  coordinator what is the required RA duties .
• Moreover, it might be important that all the
  student that request it are at least once
  assigned to grade for the MBA courses. This might
  be a rewarding experience especially for the last
  years students.
• I think it depends on the faculty you are working
  with....
• I am very happy with my RA assignments.
• The salary we get is one of the lowest at Purdue,
  and there is no annual raises

17
COMPUTING RESOURCES AND SUPPORT
18
4. The Krannert Computing Center (KCC) labs
provide adequate software support for my research
and instructional computing needs.
Mean 3.7 (3.8 in 2003)
19
5. A (fully functional) computer is available in
the KCC lab when I need to use one.
Mean 3.8 (4.0 in 2003)
20
6. The KCC provides me with access to adequate
storage space for my computer files (e.g., data
sets, word processing files, spreadsheet files).
Mean 3.2 (3.6 in 2003)
21
7. The KCC help desk consultants and staff are
very approachable and helpful in resolving
computer-related problems.
Mean 3.4 (3.3 in 2003)
22
8. I am satisfied with the computing facilities
in the PhD lab.
Mean 3.5 (3.6 in 2003)
23
9. Additional comments, concerns, or
recommendations regarding computing?

• PhD students would like better access to double
  sided printing.
• 500 MB space is not even close to sufficient for
  empirical work.
• Would prefer a lab with cubicles or partitions to
  reduce distractions in the lab.
• There have been times last year when I needed to
  use AMOS and the AMOS computers were being
  occupied by someone running large SAS programs
  for hours at a time (s/he wasn't in the room
  because the program needed hours to complete its
  run).
• I would like more crash courses on how to use
  specific software (for ex. the typical software
  required for PhD studies SAS, STAT, etc).
• I would like to be able to connect to Purdue from
  my house for periods longer than 1.5 hrs.
• I need a lot more storage space for my files.
  It's hard to keep track of who is in charge of
  what in terms of KCC and ITAP, and the KCC
  "consultants" aren't nice when you approach them
  with a problem that should be directed to ITAP .
  . . as if I can keep track of who I should be
  talking to for each problem that comes up.
• We need to take serious steps to keep the PhD lab
  from being used as personal office spaces. People
  should not be allowed to lock out computers for
  extended periods of time, especially since
  certain software then becomes inaccessible to
  other students.
• I would say that the PhD lab printer (7th floor)
  needs to be changed

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9. Additional comments, concerns, or
recommendations regarding computing?

• I have not had a need to use the computing
  facilities as of yet.
• I think school laptops should be made available
  for take-out PhD students and not be restricted
  to faculty only. It is the PhD students that are
  more likely to have insufficient funds for
  laptops. When attending a conference and
  presenting a paper having a laptop would be
  useful.
• With regards to checking out laptops from KCC,
  graduate students should not need to have a
  professor present to sign one out for them.
  Trying to get time with professors to discuss
  research is hard enough, without trying to drag
  them to the 7th floor. Perhaps this rule could be
  amended so professors sign them out, but not in
  person.
• Sometimes it is difficult to print long
  documents. Maybe there should be a printer
  dedicated to this kind of printing for grad
  students.
• Most students I know try and stay away from the
  lab. It's currently totally utilitarian. A lounge
  atmosphere would promote idea sharing.
• I would like them to be more supportive of users
  who may use non-Windows based platforms. If you
  don't have a PC and you have problems with the
  network, you often have to jump through hoops to
  get any solutions.
• It would be great if PhD students could have
  limited but free access to color printer.
• Although computing lab works well, as a first
  year student, I don't have computer in my office.
• My office is in third floor and in order to do
  work with computer I have to come up to seventh
  floor and this is very inconvenient.

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OFFICE FACILITIES
26
10. I am provided with adequate office space for
my teaching and research needs.
Mean 3.2 (3.6 in 2003)
27
11. Do you have a computer in your office?
28
12. Additional comments, concerns, or
recommendations regarding office facilities?

• Much better than our cubes in the basement!
• Should have a better office allocation process
  and coordinate students by academic area.
• Shelf space is rather limited
• We need more shelving and storage space for
  research and teaching files.
• I wish I had a window, but I know space is
  limited
• My office and computer are nice.
• I don't like the fact that I have to share my
  office with mice. This may be due to less
  frequent garbage take-out.
• Some of the offices have too many people in them.
  I think two people per "large" office is enough.
  Some of the offices remind me more of a jail-cell
  than office (seriously).
• I got PC from Krannert but never use it. The PC
  provided by Krannert is too old and noisy to work
  with.
• My office mate can barely fit his files in the
  office. I have to move so he can get out of the
  office.
• Each PhD student should be provided with a
  computer in the office.

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RESEARCH/LIBRARY
30
13. Krannert encourages me to participate in
regional national academic conferences.
Mean 3.1 (3.4 in 2003)
31
14. The faculty in my department provide me with
adequate guidance and feedback on my research.
Mean 3.9 (3.9 in 2003)
32
15. The facilities (computing, database, etc.) in
the Krannert library are adequate for my research
needs.
Mean 3.6 (3.7 in 2003)
33
16. The journal collection (in both electronic
and hard copy) satisfies my research needs.
Mean 3.9 (4.1 in 2003)
34
17. I am satisfied with the printing facility on
the third floor.
Mean 2.8 (3.6 in 2003)
35
18. The library staff at the Krannert library are
approachable and helpful.
Mean 4.1 (4.3 in 2003)
36
19. Additional comments, concerns, or
recommendations regarding library or research
support?

• The times I have been in the library are times
  when the student staff are only available... and
  when I have a question, they can't answer it.
  More complete training needs to be given to the
  student temporary staff.
• It might be important to bring the old editions
  of Journal of Economic Theory back to the 3rd
  floor library.
• I would like to have access to some European
  journals in an electronic format
• PRINTING
• The printer on the 3rd floor is bad.
• Please! Please! Please! can we have a double
  sided printer on the third floor. Providing that
  is almost as vital as providing a water
  fountain.... both conserve important resources
  -)
• It will be helpful if a Printer with double-sided
  printing is installed in the third floor where
  the library offices are. This will result in a
  lot of paper being saved.
• We need a new 3rd floor printer. This one is too
  slow and make ink smear. It would be worthwhile
  to have one that prints 2-sided.
• We need a new/additional printer on the 3rd
  floor!
• Do something about that 3rd floor printer

37
TEACHING
38
20. I receive adequate guidance and support from
the faculty member(s) who supervises my teaching
assignment.
Mean 3.7 (3.8 in 2003)
39
21. I receive adequate administrative and
clerical support from Krannert in my teaching
assignment.
Mean 3.5 (4.0 in 2003)
40
22. Krannert provides an environment that is
conducive to high quality teaching.
Mean 3.4 (3.8 in 2003)
41
23. Teaching at Krannert has been a rewarding
experience.
Mean 3.7 (4.1 in 2003)
42
24. Additional comments, concerns, or
recommendations regarding teaching?

• There are some concerns over PhDs opportunities
  to teach with the reduction of doctoral students
  teaching.
• My academic support for exams, grading, etc.
• Emphasis here is on research. I've been told many
  times to not prepare for my classes until the
  hour before or the day of. This is not going to
  make the business people of tomorrow more
  effective.
• Should provide some type of training before we
  teach.
• I am not a TA
• The teaching load is not always well-balanced
  among students.
• With the exception of the 4th floor "printers",
  things tend to run smoothly.

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Ph.D. Office
44
25. The Ph.D. Office staff are are friendly and
approachable.
Mean 4.7 (4.7 in 2003)
45
26. The Ph.D. Office staff give sufficient
guidance regarding rules, policies, and resources
at Krannert.
Mean 4.5 (4.5 in 2003)
46
27. Additional comments, concerns, or
recommendations regarding the PhD Office?

• The web site with the job placement should be
  ordered chronologically. We want to see where the
  students ended up working in these last years.
  This is of greatly importance as it gives us an
  idea on where we can end up to. Besides it might
  be crucial for networking.
• Kelly is great!
• Great job by Kelly
• Great crew, very good support. Opportunities to
  be more proactive?
• Kelly and Cindy are great!
• Kelly and her team do a fantastic job.
• Great Staff!!!
• They do a very good job!
• They are good. especially Cindy and Kelley
• Not just Joyce.... even Kelly is Queen!! they
  both are....
• Just many thanks to Kelly and other members.
• The staff is very friendly and efficient.
• Overall they are very helpful.
• You guys do a great job.

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Krannert Doctoral Students Association
48
28. The Krannert Doctoral Student Association
(KDSA) effectively handles the concerns of Ph.D.
students.
Mean 3.8 (3.9 in 2003)
49
29. The weekly breakfast for Ph.D. students
provides an effective opportunity to interact
with other doctoral students.
Mean 4.4 (4.2 in 2004)
50
30. Additional comments, concerns, or
recommendations regarding KDSA?

• Should serve as a conduit between students and
  faculty/administration to deal with
  issues/concerns. Was very delinquent in this
  respect and in serving the students over the
  previous year.
• I like the little coffeecakes the best! You
  should get those every week!)
• Great people!!
• John does a good job.
• Clean-up is a major issue. A "clean up after
  yourself" police force needs to be set up.
• More people should be called for lunches
• Email KDSA (kdsa_at_exchange.purdue.edu) if you
  would like to attend a lunch.
• I really enjoy the breakfast, it gives me a
  chance to meet and discuss various topics with
  other students.
• It's too early in the morning.

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SOCIAL
52
31. Please choose a social event that sounds fun
to you or give your comments.
53
32. Additional suggestions?

• A camping trip in the summer (like, right after
  finals) would be fun. Difficult to get people
  involved in anything more than a happy hour
  during the busy semesters.
• More community service, too. I loved collecting
  trash and giving blood.
• An outside family picnic would be great (weather
  permitting)
• We should go for some trips organized by KDSA -
  outdoor stuff.
• Everyone should get ready for the Annual Krannert
  Ph.D. Halloween party!

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SUMMARY
55
33. Based on your experience in Krannert, how do
you rate the overall quality of the Ph.D. program
(of your department)?
56
34. Please indicate your area of study/major.
57
35. If mgmt, please indicate your area of
study.No comment given for 41 responses (33 in
2003)
58
36. Please indicate your year in the Krannert
Ph.D. program.
59
37. In the box below, please list any
comments/suggestions you have for improving the
Ph.D. program.

• More professional marketing, promotion, and
  organization. More alignment/connection with
  Rawls and the Krannert Graduate programs
  (currently there is none). Less alignment with
  the Econ program, which is considerably different
  in student body and focus than the management and
  OBHR programs.
• We need more cohesion among faculty members as to
  what is good for the students. Old grudges hinder
  our ability to work as "one" department.
• A short course on how to conduct productive
  research (Philosophy, methodologies, use of
  databases, use of software, etc)
• More cross-department interactions.
• There needs to be more of an emphasis on
  research, and less of an emphasis on teaching.
  Faculty should be encouraging students to go to
  conferences more, writing summer papers, etc. All
  this talk on teaching is just to influence us to
  teach classes that the faculty should be picking
  up.
• Despite the fact that the PhD is mainly aimed to
  prepare for the academic profession, it has to be
  understood that the PhD program need to market us
  also in the private sector. The MBA networking,
  job interview opportunities might be extended to
  us at very low cost. Job fairs and such should
  have a place for the PhD students, not only for
  the MBA. This would enhance the opportunities for
  a richer job placement.
• Give more research funds to graduate students. It
  would be very helpful.
• Please have better spam and virus controls.

60
Next Steps

• Benchmark Krannert Stipends with other schools
• Add volunteer information to the KDSA website
• Discuss printing options (3rd floor printer and
  double-sided)
• Discuss additional storage space for PhD students
• Network space beyond 500 MB
• Shelving for offices
• Storage of surveys and research material for 3
  years
• Discuss options for computer training (SAS, etc.)
• Discuss laptop options for students attending
  conferences

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The EndThank you to everyone that participated
in the survey!