Picturing Hope

Recent graduate Ariane Gauvreau, Ph.D. ’15, finds innovative ways to improve communication for children with disabilities.

The IMA is free to use if you pay the Services and Activities Fee (Bothell and Tacoma students can pay to join), so you might as well take advantage. Besides the fitness center, the IMA offers a pool, climbing center, personal trainers, classes, roller skating, etc. Additional fees may apply.

Gold Star

Gold Star offers 1/2 price tickets on events around the Puget Sound area.

A Vet to Homeless Pets

Grad student Heather Fowler works as a volunteer veterinarian for pets of homeless people. Read how her research interests inform her volunteer work.

Commuter Choices

I commute by bike and spend most of my day in a shared lab space. What are my options for showering and storing my stuff?

—Anonymous

First of all, good on ya for biking! Don’t forget, Bike in the Rain is coming up! So your best option is the IMA, which is free (because it’s included in the Service and Activities Fee) to all Seattle campus students. Bothell and Tacoma students can join for a fee. If the IMA is too out of the way for you, ask your building coordinator if there’s a shower in the building for use. For storage, again, check with your building coordinator if there are lockers you can use. Otherwise, a great resource is the brand-new Commuter Commons in the HUB, which has storage units and a changing room. (It’s sponsored by First Year Programs, but completely open to graduate students.) The HUB also rents out lockers in the basement. Happy riding!

Ask the Grad School Guide is an advice column for all y’all graduate and professional students. Real questions from real students, answered by real people. If the guide doesn’t know the answer, the guide will seek out experts all across campus to address the issue. (Please note: The guide is not a medical doctor, therapist, lawyer or academic advisor, and all advice offered here is for informational purposes only.) Submit a question for the column →

Good Science for Social Good

Data Science for Social Good paired data scientists with 16 UW graduate and undergraduate students to work on projects to reduce homelessness, foster community well-being and map better sidewalk routes for people with mobility challenges.

Stand Up!

We’ve all heard about the dangers of sitting for too long. Are there quiet places on campus to study on a laptop while standing up that are comfortable for someone over five-foot-six-inches tall? Although super cool, the counter height tables in the Research Commons are too low.

—The Standing Grad Student

What a great question! Yes, indeed, sitting is verboten now. It was hard to get a definitive list of standing opportunities on campus, but here are a few options to get you started: As you mentioned, the counters in the Research Commons. They have outlets and space for your laptop, but are low for taller students. Could you just stack some big, heavy books and make yourself a stand? The Odegaard Library also has counters, with the same pros and cons as before. The H-Bar coffee shop in the Physics Astronomy Building has tall tables and counters, but is not exactly a formal studying space. The Suzzallo Lobby and Allen North both have desktop computers on counters, so if you can work on a UW computer, that might be an option. We’ll post this question on the Graduate School Facebook group page and solicit suggestions.

And don’t despair, some sitting is not bad; and sometimes sitting feels so good. If you don’t have a standing desk, just stand up at regular intervals. This alternative position also definitely looks doable. Good luck!

Student Parents

I’m a single parent. Are there any resources available to me? —Anonymous

First of all, congratulations! Kids are awesome. The Childcare Assistance Program provides resource and financial support, in the form of childcare assistance. You can also connect with other student parents. The center is located on the Seattle campus in Schmitz Hall. For Tacoma student parents, the UW Tacoma Childcare Assistance Program helps with childcare costs. (Unfortunately, Bothell currently doesn’t have any funds for childcare assistance.)

TA/RA Positions

Where may I look for available TA/RA positions for next quarter? Also, does working in a UW Library give any benefit as the ones received through TA/RA: Tuition waiver or graduate insurance? —Anonymous

Teaching assistants, research assistants and graduate staff assistants are hired directly by departments. If you are interested in a TA/RA/GSA position, contact the department in which you are interested directly for more information. Keep in mind that you can look for positions outside of your home department. Though most departments hire through their own student populations, other departments—particularly those that don’t have graduate students or administrative units that hire graduate staff assistants—will recruit widely for positions from relevant degree programs across campus. Every department runs its own hiring process and can let you know what it requires to be considered for such positions. Check the UW Employment site for TA/RA/GSA positions (category: Academic Student Employee).

The Graduate Funding Information Service is another resource and runs a blog for both UW and outside funding.

As for library positions, Erik Dahl, employment and payroll services manager of UW Libraries, says: “We generally have one or two salaried positions that are in academic student employee positions covered by the UAW contract and, thus, eligible for the tuition waiver or graduate insurance. Most of our student employee positions, however, are hourly positions that do not offer formal benefits beyond wages. Working in the libraries does offer the opportunity to learn more about our resources, programs, and services, which can be beneficial to employees’ academic work. Library positions also allow students to gain skills and work experience that, depending on career goals, may be directly related to their field or generally transferable. And of course (like any on-campus job) library positions are conveniently located and may offer tax benefits relative to off-campus work. Like other on-campus jobs, library positions usually find students working with staff and supervisors who are highly supportive and flexible when it comes to balancing work with their academic schedules and other demands.”

Good luck!

Death and Taxes

Filing taxes seems more complicated than it should be, and there seems to be no help from the university, despite the fact that many graduate students have very similar tax situations. What’s the best way to file to maximize our return (where do we put student fees and union dues and all of the other things that we can claim to reduce our tax liability)? Are there good tax help resources available? —Anonymous

Why are taxes so complicated? Albert Einstein once said, “The hardest thing in the world to understand is the income tax.” Anyway, yes, the UW does provide tax help! Student Fiscal Services is holding general student tax workshops Thursdays, April 2 and 9, 1:30-2:30 p.m. They are also holding a workshop specifically for graduate/professional students on Wednesday, April 8, 2:30-3:30 p.m. and one for international students on Tuesday, April 7, 1:30-2:20 p.m. All workshops are held at UW Seattle, Odegaard 220. If you can’t make a workshop in person, you can download their presentation. Also, the Seattle Public Library offers one-on-one tax help at various branches. United Way offers help at a few additional sites. (You must have made less than $60,000 in 2014 to be eligible for their free help. Probably not a problem for grad students?) Good luck!

“Taxation with representation ain’t so hot either.” —Gerald Barzan, humorist