Friday, March 23, 2012

graduate office space

FSP posted recently about offices for grad students. In your academic institutions, how many grad students generally fit in one room?

In my department, we had every configuration imaginable, from one student tucked into a closet space to a big "party room" of about 25 students. I was in a converted lab with all functioning spigots and sinks, (it was "converted by throwing desks and a few random bookcases in there) and we squashed five students in an area that stretched from the hallway to the outer wall and was about 5 feet wide.

Other than the annoying ladies next door, my office was an ideal space for me: we had one window all the way at the end that could actually be opened (and climbed out of in case of emergency) for climate control, we had water for coffee/tea, and it had the perfect number of people: you generally had at least one person around to talk to, but it wasn't a zoo. I came in early in the morning and worked at least one day on the weekend, so I had a mix of time when I was alone and time when I knew there would be a crowd.

Our nasty old lab was a bit of a joke - my buddies in other departments were horrified by my digs. Yes, it was oddly noisy. Yes, we had a designated water tap for drinking because we had let it run for ages before the water ran clear. Yes, there was a problem with the former fume hood that caused bits of stuff to blow the wrong way (out into our office) on occasion. But I had room for all my books, a desk big enough to spread out maps, a lock for my laptop, and friends to bounce ideas off; and as a grad student, that was all I needed.

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