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Students Committee

Report of the Students’ Committee

Since the Midterm Report, the Students’ Committee has taken significant steps toward implementing its goals of increasing committee visibility, facilitating dialogue among students nationally, and identifying and developing ways ASA membership can empower graduate students and enhance professional development. In response to suggestions from the Executive Committee and others, we have also placed the re-definition of American Studies—in particular the inclusion of ethnic studies fields and careers outside of the academy—on our advocacy and programming agendas.

Pending Resolutions

We have asked the ASA to support: 1. The right of graduate students to unionize (Be it resolved the American Studies Association supports the rights and efforts of graduate students to organize independently and bargain collectively with universities in promotion of their interests as graduate students and in support of a fair living wage and adequate benefits); 2. Alternative and less expensive accommodations for students attending the annual conference (The National Council will take all steps necessary to reduce financial barriers to student attendance at the annual meeting, beginning with the conference to be scheduled for 2001); 3. An increase in the membership of the Student’s Committee from six to ten, and an increase in the number of student councilors from one to three.

A full explanation of how these resolutions support the agenda of the Students’ Committee and the goals of the ASA were included in the Proposed Resolutions presented to the Executive Committee in May 1999 revised and submitted August 18, 1999.

Subcommittee on Ethnic Studies

At the May Executive Committee meeting, Past President Mary Helen Washington asked about the Students’ Committee’s interaction with ethnic studies departments. In response, co-chairs Lynn Sacco and Debra DeRuyver initiated a committee discussion of our relationships with ethnic studies departments and organizations of students of color. We recognized our efforts to work in coalition with the Minority Scholars Committee, but acknowledged that we had not established the types of sustaining networks that would enrich our committee’s service and programming. We also recognized that the Students’ Committee should not be defined in opposition to the organizations of students of color, i.e. there should not be an implication that the Committee’s agenda does not include the concerns of students of color or that such concerns are merely peripheral.

We formed a sub-committee of incoming members, Co-Chair Kate Masur and Alice Y. Hom, who have existing ties with ethnic studies programs and have agreed to develop panels, programs, and outreach that will broaden the Committee’s inclusiveness. However the Committee is also aware that the relationship between American studies and ethnic studies is complex and that a special presidential committee has begun to address it. We have asked past-student councilor Estevan Rael y Galvez, who is serving on the presidential committee, to act as liaison with our sub-committee in any ways the committees deem appropriate.

Re-definition of “Alternative” Careers

The use of the phrase “alternative” careers to identify non-academic professional paths assumes that an academic career is the primary goal of graduate students. While many American Studies graduate students view academia as a first employment choice, this is not the case for all students. The phrase implies a hierarchy that devalues the choice of a non-academic profession. In programs and departments, non-academic careers are frequently viewed as “fall back” choices and students are not provided encouragement or preparation to find work outside the academy.

The Students’ Committee has tended to assume that an academic career is the first choice of our constituency. However, we are fortunate to have a new member whose goal is not a career in academia. The Committee recognizes that our future programming on professionalization must include more panels to prepare students for non-academic careers. We hope the Nominating Committee will seek at least one new Students’ Committee member each year who is not on an academic path.

The Students’ Committee may participate in the Community Resource Fund by coordinating the energies of students who like academic work but do not necessarily envision an academic career. The fund might be a vehicle for making meaningful connections with community-based groups and for forging alternative career tracks.

New Web Site

David Silver worked with Crossroads to revise the committee’s web site, http://www.georgetown.edu/crossroads/interests/student. The new site includes our reports, conference events, a description of “what we do” and an e-mail address to allow students to contact us. The site also serves as an institutional archive that traces our efforts and activities from the last three years. Moreover, the site keeps students in tune with our current programs by offering up-to-the-minute information on, for example, our roommate connector service (see below) and mock interview sessions in Montreal. We have posted messages to many h-net and related lists over the past month, and these have included our web address and an invitation to visit our site. We hope the site will increase our visibility, facilitate dialogue, and provide useful information to students about matters ranging from graduate life in general to conference events in particular.

Because of David’s existing relationship with Randy Bass and his expertise in computers and the Internet, we have been able to use electronic communication in ways that might not have been available otherwise. We suggest that the Nominating Committee search for at least one candidate each year with “web expertise” so we can continue to keep our site current and maximize its usefulness.

Alternate Accommodations

Until such time as the ASA is able to offer significantly lower rates at conference hotels, we remain committed to making conference attendance less costly for students. We have set up our “Roommate Connection Service” for the second year. We also used our new web space to post a list of cheaper accommodations and other travel information for students in Montreal. Both of these services were posted widely on listservs

Fund Raising

We sent out donation requests to 134 chairs/directors of American Studies programs and departments and 83 chairs/directors of Ethnic Studies programs and departments. We asked each chair to donate between $25 and $100 to finance bagels and pastries in our conference Hospitality Room. Last year we received $1300, which, due to the high prices charged by conference hotels, was insufficient to keep the room supplied with food. (Over 358 students attended the 1998 conference in Seattle, and innumerable others in the AS community also used the Students’ Committee Hospitality Room.)

To date we have received 28 donations from American Studies programs and departments, totaling $1655. Generally, most departments do not reply to us and many send critical and cynical messages complaining that the request is outrageous in light of their funding shortages. While the Committee is cognizant that AS departments may feel financially strapped, we are disappointed that so many refuse a nominal contribution to the professional development of graduate students. Schools seek new hires whose CVs feature long lists of papers and presentations, but too few help produce desirable job candidates within the ASA.

The Students’ Committee calls on the ASA Council and officers to take a leadership role within their departments and among colleagues to improve the level of institutional financial support for students attending the ASA conference. The Committee will request donations earlier next year so all contributions can be acknowledged in the conference program.

Unionization

After the Council votes on our pending resolution we plan to submit an article to the ASA Newsletter about further steps the association and its membership should consider in response to the labor crisis in higher education.

Regional Student Liaisons

Regional committee chair Jennifer Tebbe should be credited for her insistence that each regional ASA chapter name a student liaison to the Students’ Committee. Dr. Tebbe spent over two years accomplishing this goal. With her help we have formed a joint Students’ Committee/Regional Student Liaison listserv. We hope this connection will provide new sources of information about students’ concerns, help the Committee reach more students, and familiarize students nationwide with the work of the Committee in the hope that regional liaisons may apply for Students’ Committee membership in the future.

1999 Conference Events

The program committee accepted all of our proposals. We are sponsoring two panels, “Wired Graduates” and “Crossing Academic Borders.“ We will open the Hospitality Room on Friday and Saturday mornings. Mock Job Interviews will be held on Friday and Saturday afternoons. On Friday afternoon we will hold our first Town Hall Meeting, which we envision as an annual event. At the Meeting we will provide a forum for ASA students from the U.S. and Canada to discuss common concerns and solutions to issues of empowerment and professional development. We will incorporate the information obtained from the discussion into our agenda for future programming and advocacy.

We wish to thank Dr. Mary Kelley and Dr. John Stephens for the guidance they have generously offered us in support of our work. Thank you.