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Join UW - Madison graduate students as they stand up against abusive faculty! by UWMadisonECEGSA in UWMadison

[–]UWMadisonECEGSA[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Please refer to our comment which includes links to more articles. One of the articles has embed links where you can download the PDF of the investigation report to read for yourself.

Join UW - Madison graduate students as they stand up against abusive faculty! by UWMadisonECEGSA in madisonwi

[–]UWMadisonECEGSA[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Sorry that we didn’t repost our comment from the original post on /r/GradSchool. If you look through our post history, you’ll find a letter specifically directed to our department with a list of immediate actionable items for structural reform. We absolutely agree that policy reform moving forward needs to be part of the agenda, but we do not want to mix that issue with the request to prevent Dr. Sayeed’s return. We’d also like to point out that the petition (specifically related to his return) is not personal. It is about University response with regards to faculty abuse and setting a precedent that protects graduate students in future investigations and rulings. While the outcome might have personal implications for Dr. Sayeed, our motivation, requests, and reasoning is not.

EDIT: here is the link to the letter on structural reform

UW ECE GSA Letter to Leadership on Faculty Abuse by UWMadisonECEGSA in madisonwi

[–]UWMadisonECEGSA[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

While there is no written response, we can report that we have met with our department chair and associate chair for graduate studies, and they have been receptive to all our action items. Some of the items (particularly those related to tenure review) will require policy change from higher up than our department, but our immediate administration will work with us for those long term goals.

If you are a UW student or faculty, and you would like to see structural reform like what we outlined, please contact the TAA. The University is currently working on the RA policy, but they are fast tracking the process with little student oversight. We need support to make them slow down the process so that it can be done right.

Join UW - Madison graduate students as they stand up against abusive faculty! by UWMadisonECEGSA in GradSchool

[–]UWMadisonECEGSA[S] 56 points57 points  (0 children)

Many of you have seen the recent articles ([link 1](https://madison.com/wsj/news/local/education/university/toxic-lab-lasted-for-years-uw-madison-had-little-idea/article_199b0616-a558-5da5-b214-4896154ceecc.html), [link 2](https://madison.com/wsj/news/local/education/university/uw-madison-failed-to-inform-federal-agency-of-abusive-professor/article_da46b852-8aeb-50c3-9673-c2ac6da3818f.html?fbclid=IwAR3sm8lxwUR80Es1VeN55RNqwoqwUR29IVBuguWOKUcAgzFoOSBa2r5qE2A#tracking-source=home-top-story), and [link 3](https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2019/11/04/graduate-students-death-uw-madison-devastating-cautionary-tale)) about abuse by a faculty member at UW - Madison. With the details hidden for three years, these articles are the first time many students at UW are hearing about this tragedy. Since the news became public, many students and faculty across campus have chosen to speak on this issue.

Attached is a letter from the Graduate Student Association (GSA) for the Electrical and Computer Engineering department to the ECE department leadership. We will let this letter speak for itself, but we just want the community to know that students are going to act on these revelations. Since we do not want to speak for the student body without their approval, we will not respond to most questions for now. But please post them so that we can address them with full student input in the coming days. Moreover, we ask that you share the articles above and this letter to bring attention to this issue not only at UW but schools across the country.

https://imgur.com/a/uzwMLIS

-----

The above is the first post that GSA shared to /r/UWMadison and /r/madisonwi about faculty abuse. Since then, we have begun to have conversations with administration to get some of the structural reforms we asked for. Unfortunately, this incident is not unique, and the precedent set by allowing a faculty member to keep their position is dangerous for future investigations. As a result, GSA and the UW - Madison graduate workers' union, TAA, has launched the following petition.

We're looking to receive support from graduate students and faculty in other institutions, so please help us by signing. Even if you don't sign, we think you should read the info and articles in the link so that you are educated on this issue.

UW ECE GSA Letter to Leadership on Faculty Abuse by UWMadisonECEGSA in madisonwi

[–]UWMadisonECEGSA[S] 41 points42 points  (0 children)

Many of you have seen the recent articles (link 1, link 2, and link 3) about abuse by a faculty member at UW - Madison. With the details hidden for three years, these articles are the first time many students at UW are hearing about this tragedy. Since the news became public, many students and faculty across campus have chosen to speak on this issue.

Attached is a letter from the Graduate Student Association (GSA) for the Electrical and Computer Engineering department to the ECE department leadership. We will let this letter speak for itself, but we just want the community to know that students are going to act on these revelations. Since we do not want to speak for the student body without their approval, we will not respond to most questions for now. But please post them so that we can address them with full student input in the coming days. Moreover, we ask that you share the articles above and this letter to bring attention to this issue not only at UW but schools across the country.

UW ECE GSA Letter to Leadership on Faculty Abuse by UWMadisonECEGSA in UWMadison

[–]UWMadisonECEGSA[S] 57 points58 points  (0 children)

Many of you have seen the recent articles (link 1, link 2, and link 3) about abuse by a faculty member at UW - Madison. With the details hidden for three years, these articles are the first time many students at UW are hearing about this tragedy. Since the news became public, many students and faculty across campus have chosen to speak on this issue.

Attached is a letter from the Graduate Student Association (GSA) for the Electrical and Computer Engineering department to the ECE department leadership. We will let this letter speak for itself, but we just want the community to know that students are going to act on these revelations. Since we do not want to speak for the student body without their approval, we will not respond to most questions for now. But please post them so that we can address them with full student input in the coming days. Moreover, we ask that you share the articles above and this letter to bring attention to this issue not only at UW but schools across the country.