PhD | For Students

Overview

While students usually first speak with their advisor about problems they have, there are several reasons why they might seek out another faculty member for additional advice. Note that if a student reaches out, this does not necessarily mean that they are unhappy with their advisor or the support they are getting in their research group. At the same time, as a faculty ally, you should let students know if you don’t feel comfortable discussing issues with the student’s advisor for some reason (e.g. because the advisor is your personal friend).

I am a student...

Congratulations on seeking advice on your PhD life! The faculty members we spoke to when putting together this program said that they themselves immensely benefited from asking for advice during their PhD, and thus, they want to make sure Stanford PhD students also have all the support they can get!

Remember that the faculty members on the provided list are volunteers and are doing this because they want to speak to students like you and help them! They will not be annoyed if you contact them. All of them have been PhD students at some point, so remember what it feels like when you are afraid that your question is too small or unimportant. So don’t hesitate to reach out.

Important information:

Please make sure that you read the information in Sections 1-3 completely before you reach out to a faculty ally to understand the purpose and limits of this program. We cannot guarantee that a volunteer answers you as fast as you might want. Please remember that you can always reach out to phdstudentservices@cs.stanford.edu or Jay or Omer. We also provide a list of other resources here. If this is an emergency please do reach out to TimelyCare right away.

Requirements:

You are a CS PhD student or a PhD student from a different department working with a CS professor.
Make sure that you understand the confidentiality statement.

Choosing a faculty ally:

Considerations when choosing an ally:

Area If you need area-specific advice, do reach out to someone who is in that area. We aim to have faculty allies representing each major area. On the other hand, it can help a lot to speak to someone outside of your area as well!
Prior connection Do you prefer a faculty member who already knows you well or someone you don’t interact with regularly? Remember that in the future you might still work with that faculty member even if you don’t currently.
Similar background Sometimes it can help to speak to someone with the same background as yourself. Please respect if a faculty member does not want to share their experience though.

Contacting a faculty ally:

Please use the method of communication the faculty ally prefers. If a faculty ally answers you and says they don’t have time to meet you, you will have to accept that. All our faculty allies are volunteers who want to give you good advice, but in times of high stress that might not be possible. Send a reminder if a faculty ally does not answer within a week. During university closures and breaks, there might be longer wait times. If you feel comfortable, you can let the faculty ally know beforehand what you want to talk about, but this is not necessary.

Please do not email more than one faculty ally at a time. You should pick one to reach out to and then only move to another one if that one doesn’t work out. Keep in mind that you can always contact Jay or Omer for urgent issues.

Below are some examples of questions and topics that would be appropriate to discuss with a faculty ally. Of course, questions are not limited to the ones in this list.

Wanting to talk to someone with a similar background or identity (or area)
- Example: I am a woman in Tech; I want to speak to a female faculty member about it.
- Example: I want to become a professor and I’d like to speak to a junior faculty member about their experience on the job market.
Questions about lab culture
- Example: I don't work together well with another student in my lab. How can I deal with the situation effectively? How can I communicate this best to my advisor?
Advice on their relationship to their advisor:
- Example: I am not sure how to tell my advisor that I don't like my research area and would like to switch to something else. I am worried about my advisor's reaction. How would you as an advisor like to be informed about something like this?
- Example: How can I set boundaries for a better work-life balance in a professional way?
Concerns about pursuing a PhD
- Example: I am thinking of pausing or quitting the PhD program, but I am not ready to share this with my advisor yet.
Rotation Troubles
- Example: I am worried that I won’t find an alignment.
- Example: I am struggling in my rotation, but I worry that if I tell my rotation advisor, they will not want to align with me

Report problems:

If you feel that a faculty member you spoke to has behaved in a manner that violates the guidelines in this document or has conducted themselves in any other inappropriate way, please reach out to Jay or Omer. We take all concerns seriously, including violations of confidentiality. Even if you have not participated in the program but have noticed a breach of confidentiality of another student's information, we urge you to reach out.

If you notice any outdated information such as:

Faculty member has left the department;
Contact information has changed;

Please let us know. Also, let us know if a faculty member has not gotten back to you within 2 weeks even though you have sent a reminder email to them. While it is always possible that faculty don’t have the bandwidth to help you at a particular time, they should answer you to let you know that.

Suggest allies:

Feel free to send us suggestions for new faculty allies. We will contact them and ask them if they are available and interested.

The program is not meant to answer questions on or help with:

Severe problems with another student, staff or faculty member, including harassment. For such cases, the student should reach out to Jay. If it involves an entity external to the department, reach out to the office of the ombuds (ombuds@stanford.edu). See also the section on resources.
Administrative questions, such as PhD requirements (e.g., breadth requirements, quals), immigration issues (e.g., visa requirements), etc.
- You should always reach out to the department (or Bechtel) for these. Even if a faculty ally has an answer, it might be outdated. The best way is to contact phdstudentservices@cs.stanford.edu to ensure you get accurate and timely help.
  - Example: A meeting with a faculty ally is a good place to discuss whether a leave of absence is the best way forward for the student, but the faculty ally should not be expected to provide information about how to request a leave of absence or what the deadlines are, and furthermore, they should not be asked to use their influence to ensure it is granted.
A lot of problems have a mental health component to them. If you are a student, you are not alone! It is a good idea to seek advice and speak to a faculty ally. However, talking to a faculty ally is not a long-term replacement for therapy or coaching and should not be seen as an alternative to speaking with a trained mental health expert. If you have a significant or long-term mental health issue, we strongly encourage you to reach out to professional mental health resources (see here for a list of free resources).
- We expect students, on average, to have 1-3 sessions with a faculty ally about the same issue. They should not expect lengthy or frequently recurring (e.g., weekly) meetings. Faculty allies are expected to set healthy boundaries (see here).
- Students should remember that faculty members are volunteers and have not received training for solving mental health issues. They offer their time to help students and should never feel pressured to deal with matters they don’t feel comfortable with.

Don’t be shy to reach out. Even if you have a question that seems insignificant, our volunteers love to chat with students. You don’t have to have a big problem to use this program. Everyone is welcome.