What Texas Tech University can do for Graduates Students

Texas Tech University is one of the best Universities in the United States. Their variety of programs this university offers, their good athletic teams, and a peaceful campus environment are some of the things that makes this University so popular among students. From all the universities that I have attended or visited, Texas Tech is the best one. However, that does not mean that this university is perfect. This is my first semester as a TTU graduate student, and I have noticed that the administration can make some changes to facilitate graduate students’ life and working conditions. Hence, in the next paragraph I will explain the things that could improve and make more easy the life and research work of graduate students here in Texas Tech University.

            First of all, I believe that the administration should allow graduate students to drive and park freely all over the campus. I think this is crucial to every graduate student, because sometimes we need to go to other building to do research or for a conference. The fact that we need to take the bus to move through the campus complicates things and prolongs the time required to make a task. I will give my example to support my argument. Currently I am a graduate student in the Animal Science Department. As part of my research, I use the GC/MS machine in the Chemistry department. Because I can’t get to the department in my car, I need to take the bus. The problem is that the bus does not start until 7:30 am. For that reason, I need to start my work at 8:00 am and finish late, because I am not able to start earlier in the morning. This situation makes me get late at home, and makes me unable to be with my children.  

            Besides what I mention above, I urge the university administration to increase the salary of graduate students. Actually, a graduate student assistantship is only 18,000 dollars annually. This barely allows the student to pay for their rent and basic articles. If we consider the amount of work that a graduate students are required to do and to the risk they are exposed to in laboratories and farms, we will realize that a graduates students are under-paid. I believe that the university needs to consider the rent, and other utility cost that graduate students need to afford, to establish a reasonable salary. In my experience, I know a friend who only earns 1,000 dollars monthly, and she has a rent of 600 dollars. That leaves her with only 400 dollars for food, cellphone, gas, and other expenses. With this I am not telling that they should pay us like professors, but at least a little more would allow graduate students to be out of the concern of running out of money and being un able to eat.

            The third but not the least important aspect, is that I think that the university administration should give graduate students and their dependents health insurance. As mentioned before, the salary of a graduate student is so low that they can’t afford health insurance for them or for their families. To make things worse, the governments’ Medicaid program would deny the benefit, because according to their charts graduate students are overpaid and can afford private health insurance. The reality is that is impossible for a graduate student to afford rent, and health insurance with the actual monthly payment. I believe this is very bad because with all the anxiety and stress that a graduate student has, he could get sick very easily and he would not be able to pay his medical bill.

            In my experience those are some of the aspects that, if the university administration changes them, would improve graduate students’ life and working conditions. I guarantee you that if a graduate student can drive and park all aver the campus, and receive a better salary and health insurance for himself and his dependents he would be a happy student and it would produce more for the university. I just hope with this essay that a university member, after reading it, could reflect on it contently and make some good chance for the benefit of all graduate students.